Farming Column

Hokitika Guardian, 15 October 1932, Page 8

Farming Column

IN THE FOWL YARD. The end of October should see all chickens hatched, if they are to have sumcient stamina to withstand the heat of the summer and make satisfactory development by the time .the {season of high-priced eggs arrives. It is common experience for late-hat-ched chicks to grow well .or a time, but when the hot weather arrives to make slow development, and in consequence to have a stunted appearance to quence to have a stunted appearance. The necessity for feeding the young birds well and managing them with every care cannot be overstressecl. Shade is a matter which must not be neglected ; it is the only, hope for late-hatched stock, but it is also an essential for birds of every age. Green food is also an essential requirement for healthy development. Shelled oats are always a valuable addition in the diet of the growing birds. Gravel grit should be in reach of the chickens at all times, likewise broken oyster-shell; the former assist the birds to digest their food, while the latter is essential to provide lime for bodily requireme. ts.

IN THE APIARY. In the absence of a natural supply, | water should be provided. Bees re- ! quire a good deal of water for brood--1 rearing throughout the whole season, land it often happens that numbers of. I bees are lost if water is not clbse lat hand. Moreover, bees often become • a nuisance at cattle-troughs and by I congregating round domestic supplies. Where a large number of colonies is kept it is imperative that the beei keepers should see that the bees are well supplied. Many contrivances are used for the I purpose of supplying water. “Simplic- ! itv” feeders make excellent vessels for containing water, but they require to be filled .frequently and occasionally A good contrivance is to use a kerosene or petrol tin as follows: : Having thoroughly cleansed the tin, punch in the bottom a hole about the ; size of a sixpence; through this hole 1 pasg a piece of clean rag so that the ! water will fall a drop at a time. Under the tin a container may be placed to ■j catch the water, and this, if filled with sand, will afford an excellent wat-ering-place for the bess. The supply can be regulated according to the requirements of the apiary. Bees prefer to take water from damn situations, and they may often be noticed in numbers sucking water from the ground where there has been any over-flow. Containers should be placed in a sheltered spot.

IN THE GARDEN. October sowings will include £he halfhardy crops of dwarf and runner beans; the gourds-marrows, pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons; also the winter crops of savoy, red cabbage, kale, brocolli, cauliflower, leeks, and celery for planting out early in the New Year. These are all important crops and should be grown where the land is suitable.

Beans may be used in the pod, shelled, oi* dry. In the latter form the white, light green, and pale dun haricots are a popular nutritious vegetable. Stained seeds for sowing should be regarded with suspicion as possibly being infeoted with the bacterial wilt disease which has recently made its appearance here. If they are affected the trouble will soon develop in the young plants, with results fata] to cropping. A light, rich, warm soil is most suitable for this crop, and where lime has been used, a dressing of an ounce or two of superphosphate to the square yard will be beneficial. Sow thinly—3in or 4in apart is not too wide—and leave about 2ft between the rows of dwarf varieties. The depth of the drills should be 2iti or 3in. the latter being adopted in the case of light land. The runner bean is of altogether a different botanical, species from the kidney or French bean ; it is a perennial plant, while the latter is an annual. For this reason runner beans may be planted where they can be cropped for two or three years before resowing in a fresh locality..

RUINOUS COSTS, Recently a Wellington farmer shipped; to London 171 carcases of first quality ewe • mutton, the total weight being 10,1341 b. The net proceeds in London were £7B, equal to 1 7-8 d per lb. From this, however, had to be deducted the New Zealand charges for freezing, etc., amounting to £69 17s 4d. This left only £8 2s Bd, which, with .exchange (£7 10s) added, gave a total return to the farmer of £ls 12s Bd, equal to Is 10d per carcass net ° n the farm. The London charges, it may be added, were equal to .404 d per lb. In another case 1382 carcasses of first quality wether mutton returned to the farmer 5s 7d per head after paying gll charges. The net proceeds to another farmer for 410 carcasses of prime lamb averaged only 7s 3d a head. Yet another instance was that of 990 car casses of prime wether mutton, which netted £586 in London. The New Zealand charges amounted to no less than £36, leaving only £2OO net to the farmer, plus £53 for exchange which brought up the return to £253, an average of a bare 5s Id per head.

MEAT QUOTAS. It was stated recently that although the meat import quota system in France Us been responsible for

raising meat prices up to 40 per cent, in the period of a month, French are complaining that they are not benefiting from that increase. According to reports from Brussels, beef, pork, butter and frozen meats imported into Belgium will in future require special import concessions from the Belgian Ministry of Agriculture. NEW ZEALAND BUTTER.

New Zealand primary producers particularly those engaged in the production of butter and cheese, have been watching with interest the efforts of their representatives, both Government and private, to open new markets that will absorb the surplus supplies that otherwise would be sent to the English market, tending there to depress prices.

In this connection the following letter, from a former New Zealander now a prominent business man in Vancouver, British Columbia, to a Te Awamutu friend, is interesting:—

“As the British conference at Ottawa is drawing to a conclusion, and the results predict a satisfactory situation between Canada and New Zealand, there will no doubt be a considerable increase between the exports of both countries. I had hopes of meeting some on their return trip, but they are, I believe, going home by way of England. “Butter- will be needed in Canada this winter. Knowing this branch of business, and also knowing the abuses to which New Zealand butter has been subjected in the past, due to the fact that it i s cut and labelled here, and that second grade Alberta butter has been filled in and sold as New Zealand 1 butter at New Zealand prices, I consider that it is time that New Zealand placed the distribution of her product in the hands of an independent and e ' liable individual acquainted with the trade. Commodities other than butter could be included in this arrangement, j “I am desirous of establishing this project in Western Canada, and to the eastern seaboard if necessary, and I am .writing, this to see if you could i* l ! any way investigate and bring this pro- ' ject to the attention of the proper authorities.

“This butter has been handled in the past through large firms and independent brokers, and I have found through practical experience that they invariably use the imported produc: as a means to an end, .with regard to local commodity prices. “I personally know where, through the agreement of firms, New Zealand butter has been purposely stored to advance prices of the local pioduct. These conditions can be eliminated only by having a direct representative conversant with existing conditions, and distributing through one channel. This I have advocated for years. 1 trust you'may find it convenient to give this matter your consideration. ”

EFFECTS OF AGE ON MILK YIELD. The milk yield of a cow, and also the fat content of the milk, change somewhat with the animal’s age. The influence of the age-factor on milk and fat yields have been studied at many centres of investigation in England and America, and some conclusions of, practical interest to farmers have been established.

Experiments with Friesian, Jersey, Guernsey and Ayrshire cows in America indicate eight years as about the average of highest milk production. British investigations suggest eight to nine years as the period of maximum yields with the bigger breeds (Shorthorn and Friesian) and seven years with the smaller breeds (Ayrshire, Guernsey and Jersey). Thus tlie Shorthorn and similar breeds , attain their maximum rather later in life than Jersey and Guernsey cows, and it appears, too, that, thenyields show greater variation .with age. Two or three year Shorthorn heifers give only 60 per cent, of the yield they will give when mature (with their fourth or fifth calf), whereas two year Jerseys and Guernseys give as much as .80 per cent., of wlncli they will yield at maturity. Concerning Jersey cows, too. the figures accumulated in connection with the. milking trials of the London Dairy Show, indicate that as they get well on in a lactation they apparently maintain their yields better than c-ow s of other breeds. It has been found that the percentage of fat in the milk of cows of all breeds increases at first with age till the animals are from three to five years old, after which it declines. Fhe milk of young cows, no matter of w lat breed, is richer than that from cows of six to seven years old. »>t h Shorthorns the age when milk of highest fat percentage is given appears to be four to five years. Guernseys, Jerseys and Ayrshires reach their maximum at three to four years. Consequently it appears that it a cow dose not show a high fat pc . k u age in her first lactation it is useless to expect her to do '.o later. Fat content in the milk declines with advancing years, hut only at a slow rate. Within the ordinary range of age there seems to be little risk of a fall in fat content sufficient to bring it below three per cent. In spite of the falling off in tat content, and in that of the milk .vie also—the latter setting in after seven to eight, years of age—a high-yielding cow is well worth retaining so long as she is capable of breeding, since her good qualities are likely' to be inherited by her progeny.