FARM AND DAIRY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 24 March 1928, Page 16

FARM AND DAIRY

“Borrow to top-dress,” says a farmer of long experience, “if yon cannot get your supplies otherwise.'.’ He says he jias proved, the value of top-diessing time and again and is getting gieat Jesuits every year. Dairy tanners all over South laranalu report continued increases in milk supplies with improved tests. , country is looking real well, especially the south ; from Patea to Waverley, pastures are splendid- .With the improved prices tor produce on the Home market, the prospect is good. A touch of pathos surrounded the ceremony »f opening the vacuum cheese containers last week when it is realised, as stated in a recent issue of the “Napier Telegraph,”, that the inventor, a Napier boy, died not long after making “the revolutionary discovery, which it "appears, may alter our cheese packing methods and: allow us t.Q 1 land our cheese in England in absolutely perfect condition.” It is rarely that the Government Meteorologist has to' record “ml’-’ for rainfall for a month in our centres of the Dominion. That was liis joo in January for Nelson, New Plymouth, Foxton, and Wliangamomona. Several other place® came perilously near to zero,' Down the West Coast copufcus Tain fell during January*. .. Authorities state -that a cow will give more milk if she is dried up for a period of six weeks before calving than if she i.s milked continuously. The explanation of this lies in the fact that milk production is hard work, and the cow gets no rest from calving to calving unless it is provided for by her drying off. _ ‘ , The farm on which will stand the Massey Agricultural College is some 860 acres in extent, about twothirds being heavy clay and the remainder river flats which vary from loam to light sandy loam and gravel. The property thus possesses a wide range of soil types, a distinct advantage to- an agricultural college. The -stock being carried at present consists of purebred and gratae Jersey and Friesian dairy cattle, Aberdeen Angus bullocks, Romney and Southdown sheep, and Berkshire and Tamworth pigs. The crops being raised represent the range of forage and root crops normal to the North Island. The courses of -study provided by the college embrace those for the degree of Master and Bachelor of Agricultural Science, there being in addition short courses in dairy farming, dairy manufacturing, and herd-testing. It is anticipated that the dairy factory, which is to be erected for teaching and research purposes, will be completed in time for the courses in dairying to he held during the winter ol 1929. Besides Barbara, the latest heifer bred by Mr. Olson, of Egmont Village, on his well-known Ayrshire herd, to qualify under semi-official test, has put up a record of 552.791 - butter-fat from 12,8551 b milk in 365 days, this as a junior two-year-old. This is a great record for her age. On the 365th day of her test Barbara gave 221 b milk with a 5.4 test-, ancl came in again within three weeks. The record is all the- more creditable when it is borne in mind that it was put up running with the herd on land generally conceded to be only second class, and with practically no pampering. Mr. G. A. Holmes, M.Sc., B.Ag., of the teaching staff at St. Andrew’s College, Christchurch, has been appointed farm economist at the Canterbury Agricultural College, Bincoln. He will give special instruction in agricultural economics and carry out investigations in farm costing. A small mob of young cattle released on the Wairain (Marlborough.) riverbed to eat down willow growth flourished so well that the river board, who made the experiment, have realised a profit of over £22 in the course of a few months.

Tlie Matamata correspondent of the “Waikato Times” records a wonderful change from the excessive drought of the last two months. He says that the whole countryside hears a healthy, green appearance, and the benefit can he seen of the large amount of manure put on last year. Paddocks which were cut later than usual for hay are showing exceptional growth. A large amount of ensilage was also saved, and though a good deal of this fodder has been fed out there is still plenty left. Most oi those fanners who found it necessary to feed out ensilage have been able to stop it again, as their paddocks have come on so well. Though it is difficult to forecast with any accuracy, the opinion of experienced men is that there wilt be an earlier season next. >par. The cows will have had a longer spell, ami should commence the coming .season under most favourable conditions.

Writing of a famous Friesian cow, Pietje 22nd, a- critic in, an Australian paper records that two bulls-, Woodcrest Jo and Woodcrest Pietje Pontiac, imported to New Zealand, were sons of Pietje 22nd’s daughter, and they are two of the foremost sires of dairy cattle. Besides having many show-ring winners among* his descendants, Woodcrest _Jo had two- daughters in Victoria which each gave over 7001 b of butter-fat in 273 days, and five others of them in New Zealand have each given 6001 b of butter-fat in a year. Woodcrest Pietje Pontiac has five daughters showing an average of 7521 b of- butter-fat per head under New Zealand test, and four others under New South Wales and South Australian test averaged over 8201 b of butter-fat yearly per head, and another gave 6881 b in 273 days at five years old. Breeders of pure-bred stock who- concentrate" on a- proved strain of cattle, and in breeding thereto and use only well-shaped animals of sound constitution are almost certain to succeed. ‘There is more money in sheep than in dairying at the present time,” is the opinion of a dairy farmer near Dannevirke. A few days ago he sold two pedigree- lambs at £1 10s and £2 10s respectively, while the fleece off the ewe weighed 12} lb fo-r which he got Is 10}d a lb, bringing the total receipts, to _£s 3s 6s —an excellent return, considering the work which would be entailed to reap the same benefit from a cow. A mob- of 3000 sheep passing through Waihi during last week-end, says an exchange, provided a most unusual spectacle- for residents' of the goldfields from Tokoma.ru Bay to Taukau. The mob was under the control of three drovers, who had 20 working dogs with them. They had been oh the road for nearly seven weeks, and averaged about nine nines a day. , Tliere have been good honey crops m Poverty Bay this season, according to a statement made this week by. Mr. 33. H. Barry, apiary instructor. The weather early in the season suited the growth of clovers, and the dry spell did not interfere with the honey-making process, which was now practically completed for the season, and extraction had started. A good sample of honey had been produced, and the quantities had been appreciably larger than those of last season. There has also been good' production in Hawke’s Bay and the Wairarapa. A South Taranaki bee farmer, who operates in a large way, is reported to have a record output for the Dominion, totalling the large volume '"of fifty tons.

Professor James Wilson, say's _ a Home paper, in answering the question as to what are capable stock, states that they are cows that can yield five or six gallons a day at the flush, bullocks that can put on 21 to '3lb a day till they are two years old, sheep that can put on half a pound a day when they weigh a hundredweight, and pigs that can put on nearly 21b a day when they weigh a hundredweight and a quarter. Animals and breeds of lower capacity should be avoided. And what are capable- rations? They are rations which have some regard for the size of the .animal’s stomach, for its digestive peculiarities, and for the ease with which the bulkier ingredients can he manipulated. A healthy cow should he, always either eating, drinking, ruminating or sleeping. The nose should he covered with! moisture, like dewdrops, and saliva, be frequently seen hanging in -silver threads from her nose or mouth. There is rarely much the matter with a cow that Chews her cud. She should have- a well-filled and rounded ban-el. And if, in her sleeping, there be mucin loud grunting as may be heard at a distance—that tolls of happiness and rapid thriving, and is- a sure sign that she has been well hilled and filled, as the saying goes. The healthy cow herds with- her companions, but the one that is amiss often shuns them.

In Southland, chou moodier has been developed to a very remarkable degree, and is used not only to feed sheep and cattle, hut also pigs. A s a pig food it would appear to have vei-y decided possibilities, for in addition ro tile- valuable green food which it provides, the stalks comprise what practically amounts to a concentrated food. The very great advantage of this food is that it can be grown and fed all the year round. The system in the south is to' sow in ridges and cultivate well so that a big juicy root will he developed. The leaves are pulled and fed to the pigs after which the roots and stems are given them. "These are rich in fat, and when chopped up provide a very useful food. Hue of the most necessary —and most neglected—things required in proper pig feeding is ample green food. This keeps them in perfect health, and allows them to make the maximum gains for the fattening food that is being given them. Some iarmers. remembering that green foods do not fatten, think it is a. waste of money to provide these for pigs. They are making a, very great and costly mistake. Our abnormally high pig death rate could be considerably reduced if proper methods of feeding were generally adopted, and if pigs were given access to green food. The fruitgrowers and pastoralists of Havelock North (H. 8.) at present are in the position of the man who prayed for rain and, a terrific downpour following, he objected strongly, • stating that he had only asked for enough and no more. The district has had enough of the rain.

For 1927, stated Mr. J. A. Hud dick. Dairy Commissioner of Canada, at a Convention of Dairymen in London Ontario recently, the cheese production of that Dominion decreased by no less than 373,24 S boxes or approximately 31 million, pounds, as compared with 192 G. He hazarded the opinion that, if the consumption in the States increased in the near future in the same proportion as it had done in the past 40 years, that country would absorb all the surplus from Canada. It is recorded that in 1890 the States had one cow to every 3.9 persons while in 1910 it had decreased to one for every 5.2 persons; in 1920, to 4.9 and 1927 one cow to 5.2 persons. Although the yield per cow has increased, it is. offset by the increased per capita consumption. The great operatic soprano;, Ho.sin a Buchman, should he flattered by having a fine Jersey heifer called after her, in the herd of Mr. A. S. Hazard, Waimate. North. It has turned out the loading senior two-year-old heifer under 0.0. H. Test for the past year.- Mr. Hazard had six cows under official test and they averaged 5151 b fat for the year. If the heifers are handled before freshening there will bo less trouble breaking them in. One dairyman recently claimed he had yet lo have a heifer that kicked when being first milked. He attributed this to frequent massaging of the udder before freshening and to kindness at all times. A number of farmers in Southland, says the “Times,” are now considering the question of autumn sowing of crops. The present season is ideal for this purpose in view of the good weather experienced and the fact that the oat. crops will be cleared off at a reasonably early date. Farmers who carry out autumn sowing can l>e assured of plenty of green feed in the early spring and possibly a. farther return in the crop next autumn. The main seeds used for this purpose are Western Walths, Ttalian rye, Crimson clover, Dun oats, rye, corn and black barley. The latter line seems to have come greatly into favour as far as cereals are concerned, but there only a limited quantity of Southland grown seed available. .Some of the samples are of very fine quality.

A; striking contrast is afforded, in statistics issued by the Government, .in the ratio of pigs to every hundred dairy cows, in New Zealand and in Denmark. In 1920 there were 30 pigs to every hundred cows in the Dominion and this increased to 35 in 1921, but then the dairy herds increased more rapidly in proportion with the result that by 1924 the ratio was 32 to 100 and again it increased by 1927 to 40. As against these figures, it is worth notice that the ratio increased from 93 in 1920 to 211 in 1826 per 100 dairy cows, and this in spite of an increase in dairy herds of over 20 per cent. This would explain the surprise expressed"' by men of experience in Danish conditions, at the small number of pigs in New Zealand. 30.57 per cent, of total pigs of the Dominion are. in the Taranaki Land Districts and 26.36 per cent, of the total dairy cows.

. DAIRYING IN GREENLAND. Over a hundred and fifty yeans ago horned cattle were sent to Greenland from Europe, the first being calves sent to the missionary and later heifers and a hull, “to be kept at the expense of the Royal Trade.” For oVer a hundred years, at a. settlement called Tgaliko, one family continued to breed' cattle, combining it with fishing and other oceuptions. A -writer on Danish Greenland in 1877, Dr. Rank, Director of the Royal Greenland Board q.f Trade, says “they turn out their animals to graze

and find their food as loii' as possible, but if there is any extraordinary" deficiency of provender they slaughter them.” These methods are drastic, but necessitated no doubt by the exegencies of the climate and the country. ‘‘The animals roam about at liberty,” he adds, “over the surrounding hills, feeding on different grasses, shrubs, and leaves of bushes. At milking time a boy assembles them and they thus require hut little care. The only difficulty arises from the long winter season. Grass growing sufficiently thick and high Jo he mowed is very scarce except in those parts which have received some sort of manure. In such places grass continues to supplant every other vegetation and grows luxuriantly.’’.

CHINESE AGRICULTURISTS'. In a description of China’s remarkable system of agriculture—the people have been farmers since the days of Noah —a writer in a recent “National Geographic” says of the country, “with none of the advantages of scientific bureaux for study of soils, crops, and weather conditions, China nevertheless, stands in the world to-day, just as it did, according to Ptolemy ”000 years ago, as a land of plenty, inhabited by a quarter of the human race. This enviable position it owes to the note of permanent agriculture struck by its husbandmen when our ancestors were skin-clad Nomads. In no- other country on earth is it so- true that “all trade as all life, rests upon the farmers’ primitive activity.” The writer pays a tribute to the" people when he says that “they do not like the pioneers _of America, “wrest a living from the soil,” but work in partnership, as it were, with nature, loving and understanding the land.”

million sheep of ISSO dwindled to the less than 35,000 of 1925, and to-day the dairy cow, says the writes, is taking the place sheep once held in Vermont’s scheme of things. The cow must be fed all winter long, but she abundantly repays the expense. Milk trucks squeak through the winter snows to gather cans at every cross road. Milk trains, roar through the early dawn, bound for the, great cities. Three illustrations show a typical Jersey herd and a pair of pure-bred Ayrshires, just as one would see them moving along the road “homeward bound after a day in pasture” and some dairy cattle drinking from troughs, in Which are placed “stoves to keep the drinking water flowing to quench, the thirst of the Jersey cows when the thermometer is well below zero.” • ,

FAI ?iMELIS’. TOU RS

The tours of farmers from overseas Dominions, one of which will begin next month, are productive of a great deal of good by the interchange of views and by the mutual knowledge acquired of the various countries of the Empire and their problems. _ One of the principal objects of this year’s tour is the formation of an Imperial Committee to work the organisation of such a-tour, qn the same lines as has been done by the South African National Union for South Africa and the United Kingdom for the last 20 yeans.

TOUR OF NEW, ZEALAND IN 1928

It is also intended that the tour for this year should bp a forerunner of tours iiv. the future, yearly to other portions of the Empire, ami already plans are in contemplation for a visit to Australia and Nhw Zealand in 1929; in all probability to bo followed up by a similar tour to Canada in 1930, and to South Africa in 1931. These, however, are matters which will he> thoroughly gone into at the congress to be held towards the end of the year. The question of price is now being thoroughly gone into by a small. committee. There is no idea to make it a pro-fit-making concern, but it is intended that the trip shoxtld pay for itself, in the same Way as all future tours in con-

IN IOWA:, U.S.A. “The dairy cow lias displaced the sheep,” says a writer recently in an American monthly magazine, concerning the Green Mountain State of lowa, U.S.A. “Once famed for merino sheep, it became the inheritor of the Spanish Grown when the royal flock were dissipated under the threat of Napoleon’s invasion.” Many of the sheen are descended from the famous Weathersfield sheep brought to' the State in 1809 by Consul Jarvis, once of Lisbon. The

nectioii with South Africa will' be carried out. Those Who are included in this tour will have to make their own arrangements up t,o the time of arrival in London, and when the tour starts on June 4 and again after the tour ends on August 17. . The provisional committee invites applications from farmers who desire to join the tour, the address to which letters should be sent being: The South African National Union, 237-238 Moorgate Station Chambers, London, E.C. 2.

notes bv the wav.

C.G.R. LIST.

. DEPARTMENTAL STATISTICS. The outstanding performance in the list of Jerseys under test by the Department for January was the fine figure of 812.341 b fat for 3G5 days returned by Mr. R, C\ Jury’s (Tikorangi) mature cow Orofton Countess and Mr. J. T. Belcher’s (Cardiff) Lady- Lily Warrigal, 727.731 b. Another interesting record is that of Mr. G. N. Bell’s (Karere) milking shorthorn cow, which at over 17 years of age, has returned 613.291 b fat for the period.