CONDITIONS IN TARANAKI.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 29 April 1922, Page 3

CONDITIONS IN TARANAKI.

INTERESTING COMMENTS. !

In conversation with a man closely identified with the dairying industry in South Taranaki a few days ago a Star representative brought up the question of which foods were the best for-cows in milk. Turnips, our informant said, always .presented the difficulty that unless .very carefully fed, and at right times, they gave trouble by tainting the milk. "Can the taint be eliminated by any process .in butter making?" asked theiwriter. "No, not completely," was the reply. "You know the taste of turmpy ,milk in tea. Well, that taint goes into the butter to some extent, but-in the case of cheese the taint cannot be noticed." Our informant much preferred feeding .with lucerne. It was a. more reliable food, and was not subject to:the same drawbacks as turnips,' which, in a wet season such as South Taranaki has experienced, are probably very soft and watery. j Speaking generally, our informant said ihat ,he -thought there was a much, larger percentage of farmers going in! for systematic cropping. A few werej striving ..to reach,an ideal of a cow to j the acse all the year round. It was '■ good tc see such efforts being made, j but it \was a standard .which it was i hardly likely could ;be attained. Reference-was ; also made to the mort-! gage difiict^tie^, our informant stating j that in the part of the district with! .which he iw&s connected there were very few ,of the present occupiers in serious difficuiliies. Three or four might be forced to gi^e up their farms, but the others, he thought, '«?ere all ri>.'lit. The season had been exceptionally favourable, and a pay-out of Is 4d «.r j Is. 5d was expected, and there should not be much to complain of in that. Of : course, out in the western p&rt of the | province, where the land was poorer and ' too high prices had been paid, there, would be more who would have to give j up, Ibat in the block containing the' rich lands in the area Hawera-Manaia-Okaiawa^Eltham there should not fee raany yfho will find it impossible to carry on, unless they had paid exeep- . tioj-.ally high prices for their land. '