The Farmer

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 2076, 17 March 1922, Page 2

The Farmer

NOTES, ' (By “Agricola.." The Mangatoki Dairy Company sng-! gests that land valuations be. proper- j tinned to the prices of produce, and] the Eltham County Council has agioed lo seek the support of other r i atacaki local bodies in asking for reductions cn unimpioved land valuations. The Farmers’ Co-operative Auctioneering Co., Etd., report:—At Hamilton on Tuesday, beef was plentiful in supply, but met with a poor reception, values being lower than the previous week. At the conclusion of the sale, however, very little remained unsold. Best bullocks reached £3 5/; lighter weights, £4 6/ to £6. Fat cows made to £5 10/; lighter weights from £;j lo £3 15/. Store cattle generally were dull of sale, but the entire entry was disposed of. Grown steers made lo £4 15/ for a pen of Hereford cross: low-conditioned sorts from £2 7/6. Two and a-half-ycar steers sold up to £3; good 20-month steers made £2 2/; others to 30/. In the United States there are 6,443,366 farms and ranches, big and | little. Registered Hereford bulls arc j in service, according to Government 'j census returns, on 59,7 37 of these I farms. Getting down to understandI able figures, on only one farm in each | 109 are registered Herefords used. | Registered Herefords in the United ’ Slates outnumber Abcrdeen-Angus m j the ration of about four to one. Compared with a total of 405,552 for the Herefords the Angus breeders own ; 1103,512. 1 The great bulk of the beef handled l in London (says the “Live Stock Journal”) during 1921 came from ! colonial and foreign countries —alto- . getlicr 137.565 tons, or 35.0 per cent. ’ of the whole beef supply, South Ante- ’ rica leading with 143,703 tons of beef. The imported mutton aggregated 123,433 tons, or nearly 36.3 per cent. [ of the total mutton supply, Australasia ' leading with 101,359 tons of mutton i and lamb. The colostrum, or first milk of the ' cow, is necessary for the first feeds of the calf. This milk is designed by na- ! turc Cor the cleansing of the bowels ; and for the starling of the digestive [ organs. The general practice with re- . gard to the length of time the calf is left with its dam is by no means uniform, since there are some farmers . who allow the new-born animal to re- , main with the dam for some days, and others who never allow the calf fo suck the dam at all, claiming that if ■ this is done the calf will not so readily ■ take its feed from a pail. Of course, . if the calf is very weak, or if the i udder of the dam is badly caked, it ; will be necessary to allow the calf to i suck at first. As the noxious weed known as ' goals-rue has been spreading in the , Manawatu district in recent years, it will interest settlers to know that a | Woodville settler was recently pro- , ceeded against lor failing to clear this [ weed. Inspector Ross, ot the Agriculi tural Department, stressed the fact that this weed was becoming a great nuisance and that the Department was making every effort to keep it down, bettiers as far away as Fogton complained that the seed came from the Woodville district, and there was certainly a fair amount of it about. The plant is prolific on the banks of the Manawatu, growing as high as seven I feet and is in pod at. the present time. The view taken by the Magistrate was that it a man possessed laud on which noxious weeds grew, and did not clean it, or had not the means to do so, lie should not be allowed to keep that land, because of the danger to the county and to neighbouring counties. With a view to providing employment and ready cash for its suppliers, and at the same time to assist them to profitably clear their holdings of timber, the directorate of the Woodvillc Dairy Company has posted a notice on their factory stating that, until I further notice, the company is prej pared to pay 20/ per cord for good sound firewood suitable for the factory. A voucher is to be obtained from the manager, who has to approve of the wood, and upon presenting this lo the secretary it will be immediately cashed. The Idea is a good one, and might be copied in other districts where the firewood can be used in place of coal, as the ready cash will be acceptable to many bush settlers, who will thus be able to clear their sections and at the same time earn some money for this work, which in so many cases does not return them anything directly. The high railway freights on coal have made it possible for dairy factories to pay a much higher price for firewood, and at the same time save money by using it in preference to coal. From the herd of Mr Horace Hale at Worthing, England, it is reported that ! the Friesian heifer, Kingswood Gentle, that created a British record by yielding 1737 gallons of milk with her firsj. calf, has followed up this performance by yielding over 2000 gallons in less than 365 days with her second calf. She is a daughter of Kingswood Yule, champion bull in the British Friesian section at the Royal Show last year. In passing it may be noted that the British Friesian female champion at the Derby show has also recently completed a 2000-gallon record. Kingsland Gentle, the third 2000-galloncr to lie bred and developed by Mr Hale, was born on 27th September, 1916, and is the youngest cow lo complete such u record in the country. Her performance as a first calver, when she gave over 1700 gallons, attracted much attention. but within fourteen months from the birth of her first calf she calved again, in in 353 days since she has given 2002 gallons. Her condition is excellent, and she is still giving over four gallons daily. The Kingsland herd, which won the Silcock Challenge Cup last year, is rich in 2000gallon blood. It has produced three

iof these phenomenons, and more should follow (says the “North British Agriculturist”), as the three sires j used have been of noted producing strains. There are now thirty-eight j Friesian 2000-gallon cows. At the Westfield (Auckland) Fat Stock Sale on Wednesday there was a steady demand, but the entry was in excess of requirements, and all classes suffered a further decline in value. Extra choice ox sold at £t 3/, choice and prime 18/ to £1 2/, ordinary and plain 16/ to 17/6, rough beef 0/ to to/, prime young cow and heifer beef 16/ to £l, ordinary cow 12/ lo 15/. Heavy prime steers ranged in prices from £8 to £-9 15/, lighter prime £6/10 Lo £7 10/, light prime £5 to £6 5/, heavy prime young cows and heifers, £5 lo £6 16/, heavy fat cows £3/10 to £4 15/, lighter £2 10/ to £3 5/. Other cows £1 lo £2 5/. Lead poisoning has been the cause of a number ui mysterious deaths of cuttle in the Wairarapa lately. Farmers have iu some eases risen in the morning to find stone dead animals which wore quite all right the night before. Several such cases have been investigated iu the Pihautca District by the Government Veterinarian (Mr. T. A. Biake), and they have, alter much trouble, been traced to tins of red or white lead left about inadvertently alter doing some painting or plumbing work. Not very long ago a Masterton dairyman lost four cows m tire same manner. They had been straying and scavenging round a halffinished building, and had got their longues into the red lead pots. Hawke’s Bay will soon be without its experimental farm at Arataki, Havelock North, as the Government has decided for reasons of economy, to sell the land, 53 acres in all, and the .equipment. The Masterton sale on Wednesday was a buoyant one, there being an exceptionally good inquiry for lambs. Breeding ewes of medium quality also sold well. From the beginning of the season until the end ot January, the output ot the Feutuerston Co-operative Dairy Factory, was 152) tons of creamery butter and 496 tons of cheese. At present cheese only is being manufactured. The Eltham Co-operative Dairy Factory Company received the follow, ing supplies during the month of February: 6,335,940 lbs of milk, and 6,976 lbs cream, producing 253,456 lbs butter-fat. This is an increase of 47,774 lbs butter-fat on that supplied during the corresponding period of last year. The increase tor the eight months ending February 28, as compared with the corresponding period of last year, is 391,069 lbs butter-fat.