FARM AND DAIRY

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVII, Issue LXVII, 16 May 1919, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY

NOTES AND COMMENTS

Tht age l r°A m ? y£ney> Published in The Argus of April 24, quoted as exfefry seA a cow a*> Casino (IV.fc.W), which had been in milk continuously for three years. Mr Smith caretaker of the Flemington racecourse! states that Victoria can do much better than that, for he had had a cow in milk for over eight years.

The principal food constituents which are contained in the herbage of pasI tures form no exception to those of the ordinary crops of the farm and garden Nitrogen,- potash, and phosphoric acid are the only soil constituents which reII quire replacing by fertilisers, all other I forms being found in abundance in most soils.

A cool bath is very soothing to a pig during the hot weather. It cleans the scurf from the skin and protects the pigs from flies. Crude oil, sufficient to form a thin layer on top of the water may be poured into the wallow about every ten days. This will tend to keep the pigs free from lice and other skin parasites.

With respect to foods, animals have their individual likes and dislikes, and, whenever it can be managed within certain bounds, it pays to feed according to individual preference. More particularly is this the case with respect to milch'cows, where to humor the appetite to a-certain extent means a better filling for the milk pail.

Two car-loads of prime Herefords were sold recently in the United States for the New York Kosher trade at 83s 9d per hundred, live weight. The cattle averaged 13731b. The secretary of the Australian Hereford Society points out that beef of this quality costs a good deal to produce, and comes only from well-bred cattle that have been properly and quickly reared. Mongrel bullocks that take seven' years to mature do not make prime beef. Australians do not appreciate sufficiently quality in meat; but housewives are becoming educated to the value and cost of tender and juicy beef.

A notable addition to the Friesland breed of dairy cows in Victoria has been made by the purchase, through Dalgety and Co., Ltd., Geelong, of a bull and two heifers from the herd of Mr John Donald, of Wanganui Mew Zealand, by Mr A. W. Jones, of Geelong (says an Australian paper). The young bull's five nearest dams average over 6001b butter-fat, and his granddam gave 8051b fat as a two-year-old. The two heifers were prize-winners in New Zealand, and are in calf to sons of those well-known butter cows, Woodcrest Johanna Tehee (21,4831b milk, 7551b fat), and Westmere Princess Pietertje (24,1991b milk, 9401b fat).

The Sydney Morning Herald of May I 2 stated: There was a heavy fall in i values at the Homebush stock sales ! yesterday. This applied to both sheep ! and cattle. The decline was due to several causes. In the first place the market was heavily stocked, and the continued dry weather throughout the country forced stockowners to forward large supplies in both the beef and mutton sections. In fact, it was the largest offering seen at Homebush market for a long time. There was also the difficulty of handling large supplies. The

freezing chambers are already well | nlled, and many of the butchers at the '- I abattoirs are working shorthanded I owing to the majority of their staff I being down with influenza. Exporters I and the trade generally were, therefore, | not inclined to purchase heavily, and ' with the continued dry weather I throughout the State restockers were ' ; forced to stand off. The result was • that both the sheep and cattle markets * were difficult to handle, and from the ! outset prices fell from 2s to 4s on the i sheep and from 30s to £3 on the cat- ' , tie. This made cattle about £4 a head ■ cheaper than they were a week ago. |

The Farmers' Non-Partisan League, a combination of farmers and trade unionists, recently captured the State of North Dakota. The party has decided to establish the following State enterprises: State-owned elevators, State flourmills, State lignite coal mines and briquetting plants, and a State Bank. Of the plan of this last enterprise we take the account given by the International Labor News Service of February 12: "The farmers of North Dakota propose to create their own bank. Their caucus, attended by two-thirds of the members of both houses of the North Dakota Legislature, has voted unanimously for the measure. A Bill embodying the necessary legislation has been introduced. The capitalisation is to be 2,000,000 dollars, and is to be supplied by the State through the issuance of bonds. It will be under the control of the Industrial Commission,- composed of the Governor, the Attorney-General, and the Commissioner of Agriculture. The deposits will be made up of the following three classes: All public funds, reserve funds deposited by banks, and private deposits by individuals or corporations. "Under the terms of the Bill the Bank of North Dakota can loan money to any of the State industries that are created by other Acts pending before the Legislature—the State-owned elevators, the State flourmills, the State lignite coal mines, arid briquetting plants. The bank can further loan its money to farmers, on first mortgages, up to 50 per cent of the value of their property, and on teiv minal warehouse receipts, up to 90 per cent of the value of the farm products covered by the receipts."

An extraordinary year for dairy products is that reviewed by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, whose report states that "the latter part of the winter was the coldest on record, and these climatic conditions continued far into the period when spring conditions should- have prevailed. The two previous winters of 1916 and 1917 had been mild, and this fact had contributed in a great measure to inadequate provision being made by way of winter feeding to meet the altered conditions. Consequently the mortality amongst dairy herds was heavy, and considerably above normal. The above conditions continued in several districts to the end of the year, and, togther with the general effects of the late epidemic, materially - influenced the supply of milk and decreased the output. However, since the beginning of the year 1919 matters have improved, and the autumn output indicates that any losses in production during the earlier period of the season will be made good." . .