ON THE LAND.

Northern Advocate, 2 August 1919, Page 4

ON THE LAND.

NEWS AND NOTES

The prospects of the Ked Poll breed of cattle are rosy, to judge from a report of a meeting of the Red Poll Cattle Society (England). A farmer from Kansas has written asking for a whole herd of lied Polls 1o be bought for him, and from Bloemfoniein has come another encouraging letter. Whilst official herd-testing has been lint a comparatively short while in practice in Victoria, some very striking results have been obtained. During six successive years of testing, from 1012 to 1018. the yield of the best .Jersey heifers i'or the 27:: days' testing term has advanced from 2501b to .'SOOIb of butter-fat, or an increase of I-Wlb of butter-fat in the result. The best Jersey heifer in IUVi-lpi gave only 2501 b of but ter-fal; but in 1917----18 the whole 00 head of Jersey heifers tested averaged 27Clb of butterfat. U'llilc the best of 10 of these heifers averaged (10:» gallons lit milk and 3tfllb of batter-fat in the 27;. V.days' milking term. ' ' .

"The plough--is the most/dangerous implement- that can be used on a South Tnranaki farm," was the opinion of a successful grazier, who holds to the idea that the old original pastures are invariably the best. While this genera.} rule irrnav hold good in this particular locality. It Is certain l.hat much of the land in the district would be benefited by being , turned over and resown in Knglish grasses ;uid clovers. Some of the hilly country along' tihe .Main South road is largely over-run with the native grass, Danthonia Pilosa. This grass, while throwing a considerable amount of coarse feed, is not relished by stock generally, and when it js in its seeding stage they will not touch it if s4iv.eeter pasture is obtainable. Clearly this class of pasture would be better replnced by cocksfoot, ryegrass, timothy, meadow tail, or the more palatable grasses. The difficulty is to find a grass strong enough to oust the virile native, and surface showing such country without using the plougih would apparently be waste of seed and energy.

While there may be a difference of opinion as to the utility of the plough on our light sndy soils, there can be no question as 'o tjje value ot surface harrowing with tripod or spike-and-link harrows. This process, white spattering old deposits of animal manure,, loosens the congested roots of the pasture, find helps to remove the moss which is often present in old pastures. Frequent harrrJkvjing, especially in winter, is as good as a top-dressing of artificial manure.

A committee appointed to enquire into the production and distribution of milk iv Great Britain estimates that the average cost of producing , milk for the winter 1918-19, exclusive of interest rn-n capital, .managerial expenses, and profit, will be in 'England Is 9d, and in Scotland is lid per gallon. The committee considers that interest, profit and managerial expenses are so Interdependent upon each other that they may be taken as one whole, and-in the opinion of the committee an allowance of 4d per gallon is appropriate under this head, such an allowance representing*, in view of the committee, approximately 15 per cent, on the capital invested. 'fiiere is ft strong , movement i?i Fiji to establish butter factories and ■an organised dairy industry. It is felt that dairying Is one way to check our diminishing yearly productions, which, owing to lack of available labour, is causing much anxiety, boih in Government and commercial circles. The response already shows thiat success is only a matter of enterprise. The capabilities of the pastures of the colony are immense The herbage is ever£ - ;wvin:>\ A-s an example, (Messrs Edwards and Hall, on Vaxina Levu, i*ece<ntly Tiad '(0 sheep and four vealers on five acres, and so good was the feed that a number of dairy cows were turned in to eat it down. The Government have been asked by the Legislative Council to import stud bulls, with a view to improving local herds. Excellent butter has been made here for years, and one private factory, on Ta'viuni, can turn put a, ton a day. One dairyman reports nn overage of butter-fat from liis daily herd of 35. The establishment of several butter factories would give a great impetus to land development.