THE PIG INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 253, 22 September 1933, Page 5

THE PIG INDUSTRY.

BREEDERS’ AND FATTENERS’ COLUMN. FIELD PUMPKINS FOR PIGS. The feeding of peas, mangolds, oats, etc., to pigs during the winter season is commonly practised and these foods constitute satisfactory fattening properties during the season when dairy by-products are insufficient to meet requirements. Pumpkins, however, have not been utilised very extensively in the Manawatu for winter feeding, but according to the experience of Mr A. Lassen, a prominent breeder, of Hiwinui, they are well worth growing. Throughout the past winter months Mr Lassen’s pigs have been fed entirely on pumpkins and the progress they have made on this died has been most satisfactory. In order to find out whether the pigs were growing tired of pumpkins, they were given a bucket of milk, and while they were engaged in drinking the milk a couple of pumpkins were thrown over to them. They immediately left the trough and commenced operations on the pumpkins, thus proving which diet they preferred. The seeds of the pumpkins are the first to receive attention from the pigs and when these are consumed the pumpkin flesh is concentrated upon until completely devoured. Several pumpkins are fed twice daily and this ration proves adequate for fifteen to twenty pigs. Half-an-acre of ground devoted to pumpkins will provide sufficient winter food for twenty grown pigs, and it is therefore considered an economical winter fodder which most farmers could provide. Seeds for the pumpkin crop should be sown early in November and it is suggested that they be planted four to six feet apart. To ensure that there are no failures, two seeds may be planted close together, and in the event of both striking, one may be removed. The dislunce oetween plants is considered to be sufficient to give them plenty of scope. Prior to sowing, the ground should bo well worked and, if possible, dressed with farmyard manure. Due to the fragile nature of the leaves, it is advisable to select a sheltered spot for the crop; and the area should be kept free of weeds until the plants are well established. When the crop has matured the pumpkins should not bo allowed to remain on the ground, but should be stacked in a sheltered spot so that they will not be exposed to frosts. Those showing signs of deterioration should be used first. WINTER AND SPRING FARROWING Mortality in farrowing and rearing of young pigs is naturally greater in winter or spring than in the warmer months of the year, and it is therefore necessary that close attention be given to former litters in the attempt to minimise this mortality. As with other animals, the most critical stage in breeding is at the birth, and vigilance and assistance at this time will invariably achieve better results. It is also very necessary that the sow and litter be housed in comfortable, warm, draughtproof buildings. “THE BLACK PACT’.” ANGLO-ARGENTINE TRADE. The Anglo-Argentine trade agreement, which was negotiated in London on May 1, was passed by the Chamber of Deputies in Buenos Aires by sixty-one votes to forty-one. Commenting on the agreement, which it described as “The Black Pact,” the London Daily Express said : “Simultaneously a report ,on the economic conditions in the Argentine, issued in London by the Department of Overseas Trade, reveals the alarming increase in the excess of imports over exports in British trade with the Argentine. “For the year 1932 our exports of domestic produce had fallen to £10,663,101. In the same period our purchases from Argentina totalled £50,870,371; an adverse trade balance of £40,207,270. “Despite these figures, the trade agreement pledges Britain not to restrict the imports of meat from tile Argentine below the quantities permitted by the Ottawu agreements unless similar restrictions are placed on Empire meat producing countries; and to impose no new or increased duties on meat, wheat, bacon, linseed, ham, or maize. “The principal concession made to Britain in return was an arrangement for the ‘unfreezing’ of certain British credits in the Argentine.”

FARMING NEWS.

RURAL RAKINGS. Tho Auckland A. and P. Association shows a loss on the year’s working up to July 31 last. However, a donation of £250 was made to the Auckland Boys’ Employment Committee, and £SO was given to the Mayor’s Unemployment Fund. As s.n illustration of the progress made on the Ngakuru (Rotorua) development area it may be mentioned that 1500 cows will be milked there this year. There aro 19 to 20 herds in the distinct. _ A group under the New Zealand Herd Testing Association lias been formed with a total of 1300 cows. Dissatisfaction with tho freight terms offered to Australian shippers of dairy produce by the overseas shipowners was expressed at a meeting of the Australian Dairy Produce Export Board hold last week. However, it .was considered that tiic board had no option but to accept tho offer. The new rates, 4s a box on butter and Id per lb on cheese, both loss 7£ per cent., plus 18 per cent, exchange, operated as from Monday, September 11, and the contract will terminate -on June 30 next. The Leeds Mercury refers to British live stock in New Zealand and the plea that the embargo should be lifted. The agitation, the journal is informed, is having some effect, as advices from Wellington indicate there is a prospect of the embargo being lifted in the near future, and direct shipments permitted under due and very strict safeguards. The writer adds: “This is very good news to Home breeders. A New Zealander over here at the great shows inspected several flocks of sheep on the Wolds of East Yorkshire, and was prepared to make, puroliases of sheep had there been any prospect of shipping them to the Dominion.” Noticing that the white butterfly did not affect lettuce plants, a Chinese market gardener in the Bush District sowed a fairly large crop, and when they were well grown he boiled them down and sprayed other cruciferous' crops with the residue. As a result of this process, he contends, his crops were rendered immune from the ravages of tho white butterfly. When this method of combating tho pest was referred to Mr S. Freeman, Fields Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Masterton, he stated that it was a fairly generally accepted fact that the white butterfly did not attack lettuces, although there was no hard and fast rule. He had heard of the gardener’s experience, but did not attach a great deal of importance to it, as he understood that several farmers in the Pahiatua district had experimented unsuccessfully on similar lines. Interesting particulars concerning the origin of the Ayrshire breed of dairy cattle, a subject which most authorities state is veiled in obscurity, have been supplied to a Dunedin paper by Mrs M. C. Campbell, of Balclutha, whose father and brother farmed the Brockwellmuir Farm in the parish of Dunlop, in Ayrshire, which gave its name to the famous Brockwellmuir white cow. To this dam the breeders of the parish of Dunlop and the surrounding districts like to trace back the pedigrees of their stock. She was famous throughout Ayrshire and won many prizes and trophies at shows and fairs at Kilmarnock, Ayr, Glasgow, Barrhead, Beith and Dumbarton. Mrs Campbell has produced the catalogue of the dispersal sale of the Birkenshaw Ayrshires, the property of her father, Mr W. C. Ferrier, which was held in 1897, 20 years after the foundation of the herd. In many instances the cows and bulls trace their pedigrees back to the Brockwellmuir white cow, which is generally regarded as the fount of the present Ayrshire breed.