Farming Column

Hokitika Guardian, 13 May 1933, Page 8

Farming Column

FARMING 1 TN'fIINGI.A ND

HEAVY HORSE BREEDING

In this mechanical! 1 age it ishardly • surprising that- the breeding; •.o.f heavy ; horses is no longer tile .l’einuperatiye . hr neh of British farm'ng up to a dozen years ago. In Britain f the traict: r has supplemented rathe,, than supplanted the horso for land work. Thertj sia longer exists "fhe steady pre-war demand for heavy draught horses for I use in town industries, and •. feel , the loss of this market. The -po‘i : t'oi h « ch-.’iiiged greatly ‘since 1920, when the, price of £IBOO was for . a Shire ■ mare at Cambridge, a figure' i which marked the peak point of pros- • parity heavy horse breeding .since the war. •_

; Of late, breeders have been ..cheered ■by the fact that the city demand for good geldings is again fairly ppreefetive, and offers paying prices, though |f . r from being sufficient to maintain ' breeding studs at their former level, i The ho"&e, at any rate, has proved his ! superior efficiency and economy, c<>m- ! pined with the motor-lorry, for short Ijouncy work, as a result of which the j improved deriTand will probao'y con- ! tim.e. ,

j Qrer the greater part of K">gl ind ti e I'Shire easily keeps its pos’tion as the j premier heavy, breed. The tendency (among breeders' is to evolve a more ‘‘refined type of Shire, approaching,, the (Clydesdale on style. This is- to the (good if it does not go too f a r—involy-J | ing any, considerable los s of weight, for weight moahs pull.ng power. Another draught b-eed which ha s been m.u h improved and has gfcoiyn- in, popularity in recent years, is . the cleant egged,.. 1 chestnut-coloured, docile t uffo k. The : Pert heron, too, has lost hone of . tjie j ground which he won in th« first years of his introduction into England at the close I '.of the war. Though smaller a.nd more' slightly built than pur native types, lie ha s a little more, “blood,’’ with e'ean il.egs, a nd' a bit of extra “pace” ; in his work. It :is this last , quality which especially commends him to the progressive farmer. Throughout Scotland,, of .coujsa, as well as , in. one’ or two northern Eiigl’sH counties, the Clydesdale supreme. [ The Clydesdale represents ; the accept!ed s'andayd of heavy .her e .in m rf st of. the D ;niin on 6 , too. \»I believe th; s ’. is the casi liri New /Zedlaujid, as it is. cer-' t nly .in Canada,,' where (fsilpeVs of ; Scpttis6 descent a r e numerous... Jn,; face; of this preference, breeders, of Shires, in the‘Old; Country ha-ve found .it diffiy, e-jit' to develop any. oversells market for their anim ale, 1 which seems spypewhat (jrrpf's'ng, as C’ydesdale men have, of. hte • yea-rs, been breed'ng a tvpe bi liofsp which is :criticised- ; s s b.qiftg tcol. light for, ‘Domin'on require-, men's. .To meet the ideal of nuinb,C|S of overseas breeders wouldnsW l ?', in fact, that, .an, ,• aninrn 1. is wantedivhich. combines the .might and greater p’Tlin," power of the Shire .\y th thequiche r movement, and more pleasing action of the .Clydesdale...

cheese value of milk

TARANAKI EXPERIMENTS

Experiments being made .by the

R'.h.tu Co-operative Dairy Compaq with ia view .to ascertaining the ‘value of tVe ; ‘mi'k.supplied. to the company fb.r / cfieeSe making on the basis of 53 pei’ cent.of fat .in the dyy .weather,.-calc.u-lited on ia maximum. ratio of, 73. per cent .of casein to butter-fat'. iss drawing to,, a / ;'ose. The figures for./SM/vch/ show that the average ra-Co. of casein to buttei’-fatiin the first period .was; ,§9, The ratio I .of the. seventy .suppliers' milk ranged from .51 to-.69'. end. the value of the milk, 'basing the (average. at, ,6,9 per , pound, butter-fati ranged ...from 5.52(1, to 6.60 d, a d : ffe.ranoe ..of over ,e p*nr.y in such a .low pay opt. The low ratio milk. had a 4.9 ite,st-, and , the high ratio milk had the second; lowest te"t. 3.9. The lowest butter-fat test, 3.7. had a ratio of .65, its value being 6.36 d: The *t.wo fit-testng I milks 5.0, had an average, iTn the second period .the average ra'io was .60, and.there was a variation of from .53 to .70. and of payout from 5.5°d to 6.60 d. The highest vVued milk had the lowest' butter-fat test, 3.7 Cd, while the lowest ..v'lucd m ! lk had a, buttevvfat test of .4.80 In the third period the average ratio was .61, the ratio varying from .52 to .73', and the pay-out from 5.46 dto ’ 6.72 d. In this case the highest , casein i ratio hid a high blitter-fat test. 4.5- ] while the lowest casein ratio, with a j ve-y h'eh butter-fat test, was 5.0. The ' lowest fat-testing milk. 3.8. had a very j hi o,v i casein ratio. 3.72. Wh.le in the : majority of cases there is only a varja- ! tioa cf a couple of points in the ratio over the three periods, l in some cnees the var'at'o n i« most marked'. Tn one 1 case, where the .butter-fat test, remains constant at 4.4, 4.4, and 4.5 the casein ratio varies from .59 to .72. >

IMPROVING THE PASTURE

PRE-WINTER TOP-DRESSING

■ On all those farms no which adenunte top-dressing lias not boon out earlier one of the most important matter,s which will common y call for attention in April'and Mav is suitable top- f? ressinrr of importance of s**oh top-dressing ilfiTi’nkfd ” ith the following facts ••• ; (') Uenecessari'y poor yieldsTif meat, wool and butterfat, andincrMsed ravages of disease both nirfy ,'||be of stock in winter and early spring/

(2) It is too. late to adopt some of the most useful measures for ; economically making sound the feed j position .in the,, critical winter and i early spring period, and thus, top-dress- : ing,, the suitable , measure which remains available, intensifies in import- • ance. In this condition phosphates are :,of outstanding importance.

Quietly acting phosphates applied in April or early May may he expected to .bring about an almost immediate increase in tlie rate, of grass growth. This Would often result in entering upon the severe part of the winter in better, condition, and futh.cr, throughout . much of .the winter and early; spring jthe autumn ; top-dress-ing .will cause increased grass-growth w.iicli. will assist to check( undu y rapid falling off in condition. When the critical spring period is passed, the influence ,of ; fertilizer applied in the autumn is partially exhausted, and so the great rush of feed late spring and early summer that often fo.lows early (spring , toprdgessing does not occur. As this rush of feed frequently leads to inefficient utilization of the surplus growth its absence is connuonij a. distinct, blessing.

To sum vp, the fundamental merit cf i pro-winter top-dr,ess:ng with phosphates is : that, it tends: to even out the ; rate of /grass-growth throughout the whole yec.r, and,... as a rule, manures ar,e used, to the best advantage on . New. Zehiand grassland when they do this, to the-greatest possible extent. . Tire period during. which the fulle-t advantage is- obtainable from pre-w iuter top'-drussing. is drawing to a close, and .especially in the .colder districts, any considerab’e further delay in carrying it .out,-.is .distinctly undesirable, if top- • dressing is. not. carried out until close to' the season when grass-growth is at its lowest point, then, the top-dressing approximates in its ultimate effect to spiring top-dressing and-..some of the value of pre-winter top-dressing as dfiscrihed/.abowe ;is lost. When it is necessary to spread topdressing'over both autumn and spring it.. is ■•. usually preferable to select for the autumn -dressing pastures which are .relatively.. ; >yell . drained, well sheltered;-and rich in, rye-grass. This is because such fields, are better fitted to respond. to stimulation under cold •conditions. Pre-winter top-dressing is ; preferable at times especially in .sheepfarming,!because the dressing of ; broken Qt;' rolling country tends to be ' more• difficult' and costly after .winter rains have made 'the land soft.

FARM ADVISORY SERVICE vl.!'. V

RAPID GROWTH -RECORDED

' , Ibe growth. of the farm advisory t'ftihhce l hjbnd.tieted by' a department .of Cknterbhby '■ Agricultural College. JJhWdir: ihilicateshc! ea i'ly that its value is becoming (generally- recognised. Interesting hgures of that growth wer©' conta'ned. ih a report of the service’s .activities submitted to the meeting of the Beard q’f -Governors of the college. Thp. work of the- farm .advisory service is"': divided into the .following branches 'a) Complete farm .control. (b) -Co-operative farm, supervision. (c) Mnirurial trials, (d) Irrigation experiments, the report, which was for the j six months ' end d .March .11, ftatel. Th e fact that a greater number ol farmers .are a.vailiig themselves of r,he service proves that; its usefulness is becoming'm.ore widely, known. During (the. last .term two more farms have been added to the list of .those under complete control, •bringing the .total up to. IP. 1 went”,' seven new farms have been inspect >d an!. full reports or. 17 .of these i,f.vc hem prepared, The co-operating service, has extended,. s.o far, /that i-c.--nnarly, 100 farmers are securing advice.'. The roanujM trial's carried out with ' cO-operating farmers, although grea,tliy ; reduced lin numbers, have been •continued. Pasture and (arm management problems connected wrh the various irrigation experiments, including those on the 'Seafield iri’igaitian farm, are being undertaken i n conjunction with Mr R. L. James, and interested bodies. During the term a treatise on “The Management ana •Establishment of. Permanent Pastures on the bight Lands of the Canterbury Plains” has been prepared.

DEHORNING CALVES

Responding to a request hv a correspondent in the 'Pastoral Review for “the best method of dehorning cattle,” a Queensland reader forwarded a phonograph of Mr H. S. Docker’s imported Aberdeen-Angus bull, Hayston Kaijgari,' which is at the head of the Pontharambo herd in the Wongaralla district..

He wrote:—“This dehorner is both efficient and painless. He takes the herns off at birth and replaces these with , qualities that must appeal to any cattleman. T would strongly recommend the A—A bull as a dehorner, He takes, the horns off, but not to the accompapiment of frantic struggles and agonised bellowing. Horns are removed in the piddoek, and prime babv beef substituted; beef that today is dominating' the world’s greatest markets; beef, let ais hope, that will some day make. Australia as famous as lt n r prduction of merino wool has done.”