FOR THE FARMER.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 1856, 1 September 1923, Page 6

FOR THE FARMER.

Even in the far-off days of 1893 some correspondence was carried on in the columns of the Hawera Star relative to the yields of dairy cows. It was interesting, while delving for other information, to read some of the correspondence and to find an Eltham writer boasting about having secured the large amount of £5 4s per cow from the Eltham Co-opera-tive Dairy Company. The company, he added, had been enabled to pay out to suppliers 3d per gallon for milk.

A Press Association cable from Sydney dated August 3, states that the official estimate of the autumn and winter lambings in New South Wales shows the total number of ewes to be 18,334,000, of which 10,922,000 were mated. The probable number of lambs marked was 4,827,000, or 44 per cent. For the spring and summer lambings 3,554,000 ewes are expected to drop 2,244,000 lambs, or 63 per cent. It is pointed out that the earlier lambing seasons have been particularly unfortunate owing chiefly to the long continued drought conditions.

As the result of a delegation from the Australian Meat Council journeying to the Phillippines and Japan last April, additional orders for frozen meat were obtained. Shipments to Japan are already on the way.

A farmer writes to an exchange that he has recently dehorned his herd of 40 cows and heifers without a casualty or apparent inconvenience to them. The usual method was used —a secure bail and nose rope, and a small hack saw. The lot were finished in four hours, and the cost was 4s 6d for a hack saw and spare blade. Experience shows that it is better to apply no dressing, as the blood quickly congeals to protect the surface. The cows are quietly feeding within five minutes after the operation, and those in milking show no falling off. Cool fine weather is essential.

It has been found that during the past eight years at Motumaoho, near Morrinsville, the cows have come in earlier each season, the farmers evidently realising that the best results are attained before Christmas. This season is no exception, and early supplies are general throughout the district. The milk is now coming in good quantity, and cheesemaking has already commenced.

Some food for thought was contained in figures showing the drift of the rural population towards the cities, quoted by Mr S. Vickers at a meeting of Taranaki delegates of the Farmers’ Union (says the Taranaki Herald). In 1901 the rural population of the Dominion formed 60.78 per cent of the whole, but in 1921 it had fallen to 51.23, whilst during the same years the population of the towns had increased from 39.13 per cent to 48.73. This was due, Mr Vickers considered, to the lack of adequate educational facilities for teaching the younger generation how to make a success of farming.

The food value of butter is said to be higher in summer during grass feeding than in winter, when cows are given roots and hay.

“The worst snowstorm I have known in my 51 years’ residence in Central Otago/’ said a prominent runholder, when referring to the recent rough weather (states an exchange). He went on to explain that three snowstorms stood out in bold relief during that period. One was in 1895 and the others in 1918 and 1923. The fall of snow on this occasion was unusually heavy, but it was the severe frosts which accompanied and succeeded it which accentuated the evil. In Arrowtown, for example, he said, the snow was still 12in in depth, and the frost recorded on the last two occasion was from one to three points below zero. Animal life suffered severely as a consequence and hundi'eds of fowls succumbed. Milk was frozen into a solid block within an hour or two after it had been drawn from the cow.

Feed dry hay before turning cows oh clover or lucerne, and do not pasture them when the paddocks are wet with rain or dew. Cattle should be very gradually accustomed to change of feed.

FARM NOTES. The best strainer for milk is cheese cloth or filter cloth, which can be burnt each day and save the trouble of washing and sterilising. The routine of work should be planned during slack times. The advantage of well planned operations will, be found when the rush of work is: on. After the last experience with floods in the Mississippi Valley, it is considered that levees are of very little use in controlling a river. The* proper means are preserving the forest growth on the watersheds and. storing the flood waters in reservoirs.

Perfect ventilation in the stable means warmth in winter and coolness in summer. A corrugated iron stable can be constructed to have both conditions.

A cow in full milk is working as hard as a horse in heavy work. Such a horse must be fed on oats to maintain his strength. Similarly with a cow. The cow works first for herself then for the farmer. If it takes her all day to get enough food for herself the farmer is going short. By enriching her food the farmer is increasing her working hours for himself.

Among domestic animals, the dairy cow is the most economical producer of human food. According to Jordon the growth of a pound of edible beef solids requires a food expenditure nearly seven times as great as is necessary for the production of a pound of milk solids. The milking cow, therefore, is to be regarded as a very efficient machine, and a complete knowledge of her body’s working is very desirable, so that we may be able to adjust any disturbance occurring in the functioning of the parts. In many areas the pasture is unsatisfactory, and the dearth of essential mineral elements becomes a limiting factor in the productive capacity of the milking cow. After dairy utensils have been cleaned, it is advisable to expose them to the sun in a place free from dust. Strong sunlight is a natural enemy to all forms of germ life. Crealfl, while ripening, must be kept from the sunlight, as it bleaches the surface of the cream, and this is a cause of unevenly coloured butter.

THE BLACKBERRY PEST. The alarming rate at which blackberry is increasing in the Dominion was referred to at the Dominion Farmers’ Union Executive held last month. A letter was received from the Cawthron Institute, stating that no i means had yet been discovered for i poisoning off blackberry, j The president (Mr W. J. Poison) said that Poverty Bay had been in communication with the United j States, and had been told that no means had been discovered there yet I of eradicating blackberry in a whole- * sale manner. If they had discovered j nothing in America, it was scarcely ; likely that they would have hit upon anything at the Cawthron Institute. Mr Lynch (Manawatu) said that he had been told that there was only one blackberry bush on the whole of the West Coast of the South Island, but that extended for the whole length of the Coast. (Laughter.) The president said he had been astounded during a recent visit to the East Coast of the North Island to find the alarming rate at which blackberry was spreading there. Speakingon the subject of gorse, a pastoralist had once remarked that if he didn’t put the gorse out, it would put him out, and this was exactly the position they were in with regard to blackberry. Thousands of acres of the best sheep country on the East Coast were being overrun by blackberry, and it would rapidly become worse. It was carried by the birds from place to place, and clean country'was continually becoming affected. If they did not take some drastic steps they would find the trouble a very serious one before very long. It was stated that the subject would be discussed at the conference.

REMARKABLE HEN. 16 YEARS OLD—23OO EGGS. Some extraordinary facts concerning a Plymouth Rock hen have just come to light, and should prove of interest to poultry keepers. The hen, which has attained the remarkable age of 16 years, is in the possession of Mrs Scragg, of Monument Green, England, who has had the bird ever since it was a chick. Whether or not this may be regarded as a record age for a hen of its character is a debatable question, but it is undoubtedly an exceptional case. Few birds in the poultry world survived two or three years as they are generally killed for table purposes. The hen—which Mrs Scragg looks upon more or less as a pet—has declined to sit on her eggs, of which she has produced an unusual number. Although' no definite figures are available, a rough estimate has been calculated, based on the time which the bird has been laying. Up to last year the hen had been a regular layer, and produced an egg almost daily throughout the usual period. In the last year she has laid each alternate day. On this basis it is estimated that the total egg production reaches the approximate figure of 2300. Taking the average weight of the eggs is about 21 stone, whilst the total value of the eggs must be in the neighbourhood of £2O. A hen that has surely paid for its keep!