FOR THE FARMER.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XX, Issue 2065, 10 January 1925, Page 2

FOR THE FARMER.

A Avell-choifien grass-seed mixture, and prime tested seed of guaranteed quality, are t<he very first essentials in establishing good pastures. Although Buda kale is not a now plant, it has lately come into prominence oAving ,to its value as a foafier for dairy coavs, pigs, and young stock. Britain now four-fifths of her wheat requirements. Important competitors for the American wheat surplus are the Chinese and Japanese. Rape has long been one of the most popular fodders for lamb fattening, and one acre of this crop is capable of tupping off anything up to 70 lambs. Feeding fodders and roots on pastures improves tho grass and cloA r er growth, which benefits considerably from the tramping and excreta of tho animals.

R.iav nick phosphate should not be used on land recently limed. The liming reduces the acidity of the soil, and makes the already slow-acting phosphate slower still. Soil fertility is without doubt! one of the most important, of all farm problems. As a rule, Ave pay too little attention tvo this fundamental of success. We are too often content to assume that our soil contains the elements of plant food that are essential to the production of our crop and that ! it is in a form that the plants may take in. Often Ave are mistaken. FARM BUSINESS. A prosperous agriculture demands j not only efficiency in production, but efficiency in marketing. Through coI operative associations the route be- ! tAveen the producer and tjie consumer j can and must be shtfl'teued. "Wasteful ' effort can and must be eliminated. It I is to the adA'antage of all our people that every possible improvement be i made in our methods of getting the I product of our farms into tho hands I of the people avlio consume them.— Warren G. Harding, latjo President U.S.A. OBSERVATION OF FERTILISER ACTION. Although the carrying out of exact experiments is not a part of the farmer's business, a good deal can be j learnt as to the effeetiA r eness of the I manures used if, when dressing a | field, a narrow srifip is left, untreated • for comparative purposes. If there is a distinct difference in the crop in favour of the treated area, either in ' yield, onrliness in han'ostt, stiffness of herbage, one may bo fairly sure that ijhe use of the manure has been justified, for only large, ami definite impiwoments can be thus obseiwed with certainty. If no visible benefit can be seen as a resujlt of the manurial treatment it does nut necessarily follow 'that tho fertiliser has been entirely Avasted, for apaM from a smaller or increase in crop, an improvement in quality, feeding value," or bushel weight may have been effected; and, ii; the case of phosphate and potash manures the usual residues will remain in the .soil for the use of subsequont crops. It will be understood tihat since the interpretation of the results even of exact experiments is a matter of some difficulty, tfcio much weight should not be placed on deductions made from observation of the kind outlined ; they should, however, giA'e a good general idea of the manurial requirements of the farm under the cropping system acdually in operation.— Journal British Ministry of Agriculture. I I HOW iC PREVENT TAINTED I MILK. I Experiments relative to the undesirable odour and flavour produced in milk from cows fed with legumes such as o'.over, vetches and peas, ate, or Avith green maize, haA'e disclosed the following : ' Feeding green legumes to dairy cows i at the ra-'te of 201 b til each coav one hour before milking produced very 1 pronounced off flavours and odours in the milk. When the quantity fed was decreased to 151 b, the off flavours and odours Avere still present to an objeci tjonable degree. Increasing the time I of feeding the green legumes to three ! hours before milking decreased the intensity of tho off flavours and odours, but did not eliminate 'them. Increas- ' ing the time of feeding tjo fiA'e hours before milking practically eliminated the off flavours and odours from the milk. Feeding at the rate of 151 b to each coav immediately after milking had practically no bad effect on the flavour and odour of the milk. When i ;K)lb was fed immediately affer milkj ing, the milk had less objectionable ! flaA'our and udour than milk from cows ! not fed on green lucerne. I It is advisable, when using green legumes as a soiling crop for dairy cows, to feed it after milking. When I using it for pastlure it is advisable to I remove the cows fro mtho pasture at leant four or five hours before milking. j Projier aeration reduced strong off flavours and odours in milk caused by ' this feeding, and slightly off flavours I and odours may be eliminated. ( I Feeding 2511) of green maize one ! liA<ur before milking may product j slightly off flavours or odours in milk. ! They are only slight, however, and j would seldom be perceived by tJhe average consumer. Feeding 251 b of green maize immediately after milking affects neither the flavour nor tho odour of the milk. At least 251 b of green maize, therefore, may be fed to dairy coavs at any uiuie * without producing any objectionable flavours or odours in tho milk. SELECTION OF ANIMALS FOR DAIRY HERD. If money is to be made iu dairying there mubt be quality in dairy cattle. i This is fundamental to success. By quality, in this connection, Ave refer to working ability or poAver to convert feed iuto milk. Tho mission of dairy ! cattle as, is also the case Avith most other classes of farm stock, is t'o convert or manufacture the rough, bulky I crops of the farm into food for the human race. Dairy cattle are more I efficient in this important) work than 1 are other classes of live stock, and for this reason they are found on a majority of tho farms of this country. As population becomes more dense, the tendency will be more and more for dairy cattie to supplant other food pro- ' duoing animals. ! While it is a fact that dairy cattlo as a claßs are more efficient) than other farm animals, yet Ave find great differences existing among them in ability

to work for their owners. Dairymen should never lose sight of this important* fact. Instances are very common Avhere one coav Avill yield twice ay much milk as Avill another kept under exactly the same conditions and eating the same kinds of feed. Entire herds equal in number, kept on adjoining farms, where the same opportunity exists, often vary 100 per cent or more in amount of milk produced. In other Avords, the milk cheque received by one farmer from condensory or factory will be twice tlnvt received by his neighbour, and tlhis difference may continue month after month and year after year. Inferior Avorking ability in dairy cattle often brings disaster to tihe dairymen, no matter how carefully he feeds or hoAV hard he works.