NOTES BY THE WAY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 12 January 1929, Page 14

NOTES BY THE WAY.

Dairy farmers of the district, watching the abnormal growth of the pastures, have realised that it would pay well to have some at least of the paddocks mown, for the milk yield was not advancing as they had hoped. Hut they remembered the dry spell last year, ’and feared this might happen again, when they l would be caught with a shortage of grass. This season has been a contrast to the last, and mowing would probably have paid handsomely. farmers report that hay crops are extraordinarily heavy, more so than they have ever previously experienced. In most cases these have been got in to the stacks in' perfect condition. There should be winter fodder in quantities never experienced before, because* of this fact and because of the great amount of material for ensilage, coni' bined with the very favourable weather for root crops, except in the case of very early sown seed. farmers in many- of the districts work in co-operation in the' garnering of hay and the “pitting” of ensilage, and in some of them there is a regularly organised band of workers, with each man, so far as is possible, allotted to the job for which he is most fitted. This ensures always that efficiency rules in the farming operations. Those farmers, too, who have special machinery take along their plant, and this naturally lightens the work. Such operations are now proceeding in a number of parts of South Taranaki, and farmers in those areas are “going at top.” “What with the milking and the harvesting,” said a farmer a day or two ago, “we have no time for much else and are pretty well tied to our farms.” It is a strenuous time, and is accentuated this year by the heavy crops of grass and otlier materials used in hay or ensilage. Stock experts state- that- there is an ever-increasing difficulty in securing stock of all kinds, and it lias to be an exceptionally good price to tempt a holder to sell. In most cases lie wants more stock than he has, to deal with j the abnormal growth of feed. The death is reported from Qtorohanga of Mr. William Babe, the popular and efficient manager of the local butter factory of the New Zealand Cooperative Dairy Company. At the, time of his passing hie was a commissioner of the Otorohanga Town Board, chairman of the School Committee, vipepresident and a very active member of the Amateur Operatic Society, president of the Tui (ladies) Hockey Club, a member of the Bowling Club, a prominent Oddfellow, and held many minor offices of public and social importance. Stock from supply the needs of many far-away countries and always do well if the climate and conditions suit them. The latest exportation is sheep from Australia' to Timbuctoo, ill the centre of the Sahara, and great interest in their welfare will be taken by breeders. One tiling is certain, that the standard and breeding of the stud stock exported from Dominion flocks is appreciated as being of the best in the world.

A grazier in Natal, South Africa, supplies the “Farmers’ Weekly,” Bloemfontein, with some information regarding dehorning calves. Years ago- he gave up the caustic potash method in favour of a hot iron. With caustic, he says, you. have to clip the hair, rub off the top of the horn with a rough file, and rub on the caustic for about half a minute. Even then most of the calves will develop “crumpets,” or small, curly horns, some of which will grow round into the check and have to be sawn off. But with the hot iron you never miss, and all will he clean pollies. He takes a round piece of iron half an inch thick and two feet long, slightly flattens one end, makes it red hot and t-oi.elicsAlie horn, and it frizzles off and is finished with. To heat the iron lie uses a kerosene tin, cuts a. square hole halfway up tlie side, makes a few holes in the bottom, -to draw, stands it on two stones and makes a fire in it.

Cropping is going out in favour of stock on many of the farms of Canterbury, the -reason being the much more dependable return from stock. The wheat lands of South Canterbury have m the past grown wheat of a quality second to none, hut overhead expenses have increased so much that economically sheep are the sounder proposition. Crops on the whole are good, but in the case of wheat the average yield will be some bushels under lastyear’s record. Good bright days are required from now until the harvest, which will be about two days later than last year.

Canada shifted her enormous crop of wheat—which for the first time passed the lialf-billion mark —-with tlie swift efficiency of a nation which has learned by experience the technicalities of every phase of its chief activity. The handling of tlie 550,000,000 bushels indeed provided a remarkable instance of tlie advance made even during the past year of harvesting and transport and in the adaptation of machinery to the multifarious operations of garnering. It is reported from Alberta, for instance, that never has there been a more speedy harvest, thanks to the introduction of new equipment. At Magrath one young farmer cut and s looked one thousand acres of wheat in eight days. Some further idea of what is being done may he gathered from the fact that in Saskatchewan alone, where most of the British harvesters were profitably at work, 4003 combine reaper-threshers and 7000 motor trucks were brought into service.

According to the “Daily Telegraph,

the weighing of the daily yield of each milch cow is said to have been practised in Denmark for upwards of 100 years, but fat-testing and co-operative recording are of more recent origin. Early iii the “nineties” a beginning

was made in the systematic recording yield and quality of milk produced Iby individual cows, and there was a »herd competition, in which prizes were awarded on these results, together with accounts of the quantity of food consumed by each cow, a matter of considerable importance, if not equal in importance to output. From the point of view of the breeder it is of some moment to know whether a certain yield has been obtained by heavy feeding of concentrates or by less forcing methods. The Danish societies have adhered to the practice of food recording, and in their returns to the Provincial Agricultural Federation they give particulars of the amount of food consumed by each cow, as well as the J usual information concerning yield and quality of milk.