FARM AND DAIRY

Northern Advocate, 16 March 1929, Page 11

FARM AND DAIRY

SMALL FARMS. SMALL PADDOCKS.

One very striking’ fact which has been brought to light as a result of the economic survey of farming in New Zealand is the capacity of the small holding for earning dividends. Those who in the past called loudly for subdivision of the large estates in the interests of greater production always asserted that smaller holdings meant greater per acre production, but even they have been surprised when the figures disclosed how very much greater is the production on the small farm; this, of course, being especially true of the dairy farm. The 50-acre farm has been shown to be the most productive per acre, and as area increases the per acre production decreases, the principal reason, of course, being that the farmer on the small holding is able to give a per- i sonal supervision which is impossible on the large holdings. A farmer recently asserted that 100 acres divided into five-acre paddocks would j carry more stock and do them better j than 200 acres of poorly-farmed land, I and he was right. He had spent / money in fencing, and found that the [ additional returns from his better j divided farm for the ensuing year | more than paid the cost of his fencing. The small paddock, as well as the small farm, is an economical pro-

position, and both on the sheep farm and on the dairy farm will be found to return better dividends than the large paddock. Rotational grazing, and the eating out of the paddock while the grass is still in the young stage, is just as sound practice on the sheep farm as elsewhere. The only reason why it has not been more widely adopted is because of the size of many of our sheep-farming holdings, and the practical impossibility of dividing these areas into small paddocks. On the average-sized farm subdivisional fencing will most certainly pay.—“ Farmer.”

VALUE OF DIPPING. Loss- of condition in a flock is caused sometimes 1 through parasites as lice and keds (commony spoken of as ticks) writes the Department of Agriculture. Constant scratching and biting, rubbing against posts and fences are the most common symptoms. A lice infected animal cannot do justice*! to the: food it eats. The staining qf the fleece from parasites reduced its value considerably. Apart fr6‘m the : fact that the animal) thrives -better; with dipping, the fleece is improved in value. Dipping of the flock to eradicate parasites is an operation which is regarded by sheepowne'rs In its true light and has now become a universal practice. If the sheep are infested with lice a double dipping is essential to thoroughly eradicate the parasite. The first dipping kills off the living vermin, but those which hatch out from the eggs during the next ten days remain* so that the second dipping to be effective, requires to be carried out within 14 days. Practically all the standard dips on the market today are suitable if the mixing of the dip is carried out strictly to instructions supplied on each packet or drum of the dip used. One of the most common causes of j failure is insufficient immersion. Each j sheep should be held for at least one! minute in the bath, two minutes for long-woolled sheep. The head should be immersed.

Dipping in a dirty bath reduces, the strength of the dip. The bath should be cleaned out at proper intervals and the following rules also observed:—(l) Avoid dipping in wet weather. (2) Measure accurately the bathwater. (3) Dissolve the powder thoroughly before using. (4) Mix the dip properly. (5) Keep stirring the bath. (6) Use the dip full strength.

During itlie past five years the number of purebred and Lincoln typo of sheep has been going down in the Dominion. In 1923 the number of Lincolns entered in Flock Books was 19,304, and sheep of a distinctive Lincoln typo totalled 142,135. In 1928 the totals stood respectively at 9269 and 96,180. The 'South Island had 2024 pure-bred Lincolns and 24,703 Lincoln type sheep in 1923, and only 1047 and 17,946 respectively in 1928. Of late years the demand for the finer wools and the increasing popularity of the Romney in place of the LineolnRoniuey cross has given the Lincoln the setback it has received.

BLACKBERRY AND GOATS.

1 HAWKE’S BAY EXPERIMENT. i ! j In the course of an article on I “Blackberry control by goats” in the January “Journal of Agriculture,” the j writer, a big station holder in Hawke’s Bay, says that until the war the station was practically clean of blackberry. But from 1914 to 1919 the growth was tremendous, and j there were bushes on the homestead lawns, sft high thickets on the swamp lands, and thriving plants everywhere. “Digging, poisoning, ploughing, chipping, superphosphating and salting” were the methods adopted. But despite everything the pest was increasing until seven years ago, when Angora goats were purchased. Gradually the flock was built up to 600 mature goats. The annual cutting ceased, and the pest is now practically eliminated, and the owner considers “the stocking with goats, 60 per 1000 sheep, has been an unqualified success.” He says that though they do eat a certain amount of grass, “the area of land kept open by them and j now almost grazed by sheep more j than makes up for the pasturage de- j voured.”

GENERAL NOTES. After a strenuous day in the harvest field, teams generally line up to the feed trough or nosebag. A farmer in the Rakaia district, however, noticed one of his draughts refuse the proffered evening chaff meal, but nibbled at the green feed (says the Ashburton “Guardian”). Investigation revealed that a piece of solid straw, evidently picked , up in the harvest field, had become attached to the throat at the rear of the jaw. This removed, “Dobbin” accepted his nosebag and once more crunched his hard feed. ••, * •

The largest land ballot since the time of the discharged soldiers' land ballots in 1921 took place in Napier recently fgy six sections at Waimarama, ranging from 450 acres to 860 acres (says the “ Daily Telegraph' ’). The applicants in the ballot totalled 200, and they all had to be examined by the Hawke’s Bay Land Board prior to that body proceeding with the hoidi'fa'g ,bf the ballot. The ballot is open to married men with one or more dependents, ?apcl to _ d.iseliarg6d ; - soldiers who have eonipeted unsuccessfully in ballots during the last two years. I • -• • • ■' « i Touring in Poverty Bay, a visitor of some prominence in farming affairs noted near Patutahi a field of wheat, of good strong growth, completely rained by smut. The owner of the field should have reaped about sixty bushels to the acre, he considers, but, in consequence of the smut infestation, he will have to cut it and burn the crop. A little more knowledge of grain-growing and of the methods of treating seed wheat to prevent the development of smut would have saved this farmer his crop. • • • • I j It is reported that the famous stud Lincoln flock established by the New (Zealand and Australian Land Company in 1862 and maintained on the Moeraki Estate, Otago, has been sold to Messrs Docker Bros., of Bontherambo, Wangaratta, and Mr J. S. Eastwood, Moolpa station, Victoria, who will divide the flock between them. The flock comprises 15 stud rams, 56 flock rams, 123 ram iambs, 200 ewes from two to five years old,' and' 127 shear- 1 ling ewes and ewe lambs, a total of 521. This flock has had a great reputation for many years on account of its breeding and quality and its show ring records. It is all the more regrettable, therefore, that it should be sent out of the Dominion when the demand for cross-bred wool is again turning more attention to the Lincoln for crossing purposes.