NOTES BY THE WAY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 14 January 1928, Page 14

NOTES BY THE WAY.

The drying spell has favoured the haymakers and has given them a great chance to get their stacks erected and iinished oft' for the coming season. But now that they have had their innings, the dairying side of their industry needs a change very much and a solid downpour would be most timely. The pastures, however, are still looking extremely well, a fact which is commented upon by visitors from other centres. A s the result of the soaking rain just before Christmas and abnormal amount of white clover came up and this was exceptionally good for milk production. One farmer reports a very material increase in his day's returns and no doubt others would have a similar experience. But the tendency of the grass in the dry weather is to go to seed and this is no good to the dairy farmer. The early riser will notice the heavy dew that lies on the grass. It is a great help and serves in some measure to mitigate the absence of rain. Lucerne in these dry times proves its exceeding great value. There are very few farmers who have not a considerable stand of this luscious feed.

It is good to be able to record that the total of butterfat for the year 11)27 is jus over seven per cent, ahead of the previous year for North Taranaki. In some districts it is greater than this and the total value of the increase estimated on only a conservative basis represents a very large sum added to our export figures. Referring to the 1928 business in dairy produce, a leading exporter in Auckland said that ‘ ‘most contracts made for the disposal of the produce of the 1927-28 dairying year expired at the end of 1927 and as yet there was little or nothing to indicate upon what basis the New Year’s buying was to be placed. There was & distinct, wariness in the market.’’ It has been disappointing that the two shillings rise of the first day of the year gave way so soon to a similar fall and that the market now is somewhat unsatisfactory.

(More than half the trouble experienced by fa'ctory managers in the manufacture of butter and cheese is caused by carlessness on the farms, is the opinion of many men of wide experience. Scrupulous cleanliness in every detail is essential and would help tne factories very matrially, and probably lad to better prices, in addition to minimising the expense of production. In view of the remarkable success secured on the London mfirket by New Zealand dairy products and the somewhat dictatorial attitude adopted at times by the board, it is interesting and pertinent to note that of twelve countries supplying the English .market no fewer than nine have more dairy cattle than this Dominion. A table published recently in London shows that in all there are estimated to be .56,735,554 cattle being milked, of which the States have no less than 22,255,000, Germany 9,723,238 and France 7,303,940. The" output of those three countries may be tealised and if it were not for their huge consuming populations, there would be very large amounts to export. That fa'ctor, coupled with the quality of output, makes the position of this Dominion so strong on the Home market.

Modern farming methods are changing the formerly rather protracted operation of* hay-making into a much quicker business. Recently, says an exchange, Mr F. W. Walters, a wellknown Waitoa (Thames) farmer, put up a stack with a base 16 feet by 25 feet and a heignt of 30 feet at liL Springdale farm in a single day. Eleven men were employed, also three sweeps and a stacker. *A start was made at 4.30 a.m., and at 7 p.m. the last load was placed in position. Instead of a horse being used the lift was raised by means of a tractor. The old “pitchfork” method of stacking was done away with, the hay not being touched with the fork until it was actually on top of the stack. . . “I will not go back into dairying unless I can obtain cows with milkin cr records. ’ * This statement was made by Mr. Edgar J. Marsden, of Victorian State Parliamentary Select Committee on dairying. Mr. Marsden told the committee that poor cows and low prices for milk had been his greatest drawbacks. On a farm of 100 acres his best return from 23 cows in the last live years had been 134 quarts of milk a day. It is estimated that last season fully 100,000 sheep were exported from Poverty Bay to the South Island. Large numbers are leaving the Bay this season/but the number will not be nearly so large. On the other hand it is stated that the graziers of the Bay were very shy of selling their cattle, althougs tempting offers had been made. There has been such a good season that with the great supplies of feed they actually meed more cattle at the present time. It is understood that female cattle are scarce also and that farmers are breeding from any animal that can be mated. This has caused a strong demand for bulls: and some well-known breeders have sold nearly all their bulls. The supply of well-bred young bulls has not been nearly equal to the demand in Southland during the past few weeks, and nearly every studmaster in Southland has had to turn down orders. Apparently the dairy farmer in the southern province is at last taking heed of the warning to do away with the scrub bull.

“Liming pays in Tennessee,” states a recent American Experimental College bulletin. In eleven experiments with red clover the average yield of fild cured hay on limed soil was 2.31 tons per acre, whereas similar soil unlimed gave only 1.48 tons per acre. In five series of experiments on representative soils in different sections of Tennessee, the average yield of lucerne hay on limed soil was 3.13 tons per acre, but on similar soil unlimed the yiled was only 1.16 tons per acre. These results were secured the first season after seeking. In twelve series with maize t.h average yield per acre on limed soil was 36.5 bushels, but where no lime was applied it was only 30.8 bushels. In Knox County plots which received six tons of manure per acre every two years gave a total of 279 bushels of corn per acre for eight years of continuous cropping. In the same period and under the same conditions, except that an application of two tons per acre of ground limestone was made at the outset, adjoining plots produced at the rate of a total of 350 bushels per acre for the S years. The increase for the 2 tons of'limestone was 71 bushels maize. Largeg rowers of lucerne in Taranaki havep roved amply by practical experience how liming pays them handsomely. •“Lime and phosphate dressings have been the saviour of the Whangarei district this year, as far as butter-fat production is concerned, and without it the yield would have been disastrous,” said

a well-known North Auckland authority on dairying to a . newspaper representative last week. The recent spell ,of weather, lacking a really good soaking rain, had, he maintained, reduced but-ter-fat production by 15 per cent. Had top-dressing not been so generally adopted last year the percentage would have been much greater. A very clear example of the way m which members of the farming community flock to the assistance of one of their trouble who happens to be in trouble was given at Meanee. recently, when a haystack became ignited, seriously endangering the house and .five other stacks surrounding it. Within a short time after the outbreak was discovered, many farmers and workers from the surrounding properties had assembled and were busy fighting the flames. The fact that the house and the stacks were saved was greatly due to the bright idea of one farmer, who secured his tractor. Having brought the machine to the spot, the fire-fighters placed a chain round the blazing stack, connected it with the tractor and let in the clutch. After many efforts half of the burning mass was removed to a safer quarter and another like procedure succeeded in placing the fire at a more healthy distance from the danger zone. Countries in various parts of the world often experience diametrically opposed “samples” of climate, but it is not often that one reads on the same day of lovely mild weather, ideal for bay making, in New Zealand, excessive frosts, floods and storms in England, and hailstorms in New South Wales. Such conditions abroad should moke matters better for New Zealand produce. T - Vi non -Tmin rl ■f’Tlfl.'lt .’f’.Tl-A. TnDl’P.

It lias been touna tnat tne, . mere water a cow drinks the greater is her milk yield. Animals which previously could only obtain intermittent supplies of water and were “poor milkers,” have since become most generous in this respect when they have been able to obtain water whenever they desire it. In the case of biennial or perennial crops like clovers, or lucerne, the time they occupy the land enables them to develop a greater root growth, and even though the top growth of such crops may be largely removed, the roots and stubble add much organic matter and nitrogen (being legumes) to the soil. In order to secure the full nutritive capacity of a pasture the grass must be utilised in its leafy stage. Under this system of manuring growth starts earlier in spring, and must be stocked earlier. If the head of stock is insufficient to keep down thev igorous growth part of the pasture should be cut for hay. , „ _ „

Brood sows should not be fed for at least 24 hours after farrowing. If fed, the sow may become restless and trample on the pigs, and the little pigs scour or acquire other digestive disorders. The first food for the sow should be a slop of soft feed in small quantities. Give her a liberal supply of clean fresh water at all times, but do not get her back on full "feed for nine or ten days at least. The pig’s temporary teeth or milk teeth are shed and replaced by permanent ones in the following order: At six months old the corner permanent incisors (that is, the front or cutting teeth) begin to appear. At nine months old the permanent tusks, or pointed teeth at each side of the mouth are rather more than half-way up. If you have an idea of the actual length of these tusks when fully developed and the normal rate of growth the age between six and nine months may be guessed pretty accurately. The appearance of these tusks will also tell the age months by month to a year old. It inay interest farmers to know that in Afghanistan, in the south and east, they have two harvests—wheat and barley (spring), and rice, millet, sorghum and maize (autumn). The Turkman of the plains is as good with the spade as with spear, and has much success as an agriculturist.

‘ 1 Clearing 50 acres of land at £5 per acre from a woody State for agricultural and other purposes, viz., falling heavy trees, removing the roots, making ditches, • hedges and other enclosures, £300.” Entry from a statement of expenditure in connection with land close to Sydney in 1803. It will probably be of interest to present day farmers.