MODERN FARMING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 214, 24 August 1927, Page 8

MODERN FARMING

SPEED TO MAKE MONEY.

There is a dairy farmer on the Hauraki Plains whose aim is a not income of £2OOO a year from his one hundred-odd-acre farm, and the indications are that it will not be long before this is attained. At the present time he is probably making more from his cows than any other farmer, but every -penny he makes, and more besides, is spent in improvements to his farm or on his cattle. He believes and has demonstrated beyond any shadow of doubt, that the only way to make money is to spend money. Thus, for instance, he has spent during the last three years over £lOOO on concrete. He has a concrete road to every paddock, concrete feeding places for his cattle and pigs, and concrete floors in the sheds and yards. Having this he was able to bring his cows into profit early in the season, when butterfat was at a good price. His biggest return for the season was August last, when his herd gave over 20001 b, and the factory was pacing out 1/4 a lb. There is no necessity for him to wear gum-boots and he can bring his cows in to the yards all the year round wearing carpet slippers. Naturally, he keeps good cows. Being able to keep the stock on his farm all the year without detriment, he can buy and sell when prices are favourable. A good judge of cows, he goes outside to make his purchases and secures only big-framed Shorthorns and Friesians. The herd is culled rigidly, and rejects are fattened for beef in such a manner that ho has secured a reputation for topping the market at the local sales. Last season his herd returned him 19,51T01b

of butterfat, and there are few farms of little more than 100 acres, even on the Hauraki Plains, with such a record.

Experiments in cropping have proved to him that ensilage is the most suitable- supplementary feed, and it is his intention to erect a large concrete silo.

Machinery will be used wherever possible, and at the present time this farmer is experimenting to ascertain whether a motor truck will haul agricultural implements when fitted with special grips for the wheels. If the experiment proves satisfactory no intends to dispense with three draught horses, which have to be fed all yeat round though required only to work during a short period. A truck was purchased instead of a tractor so that it could be used for the cartage of shell and gravel for concreting, and large quantities of fertilisers and lime which he intends using in the near future.