THE FARM

Northern Advocate, 28 July 1934, Page 14

THE FARM

Til© Season.' . T - Readers'are!‘about to soy good-bye to a-dripping-winter, but they are facingf'un anxious periWt Profits may bo expeeted. wcll into-' .September. And a saturated.soil and cold temperatures are a combination antagonistic to growth. lAs warm- soil conditions may not reasonably be expected ■ till the end of September it is a wise man who will use sonic’ artificial nitrogen on his best fields to take the place of the dormant natural nitrogen. Then he wiil'j;have grass despite the wet and cold' soil. -

■ vr When the flush of the spring growth does come ‘away there will be the largij est supply of fodder that will be * available at any time of the year. In * few cases, however, will the best use ; bo. made of it. Obviously some of it ! should bo preserved, but old methods - die hard, and the making of silage is ' still being regarded as a summer time occupation. And, again, ensilage making’ is looked upon as a large scale operation. Some approach to the Continental method of having a number of small pit silos would appear to be the right solution of- the problem. Then the grass could be conserved when the surplus is at, its maximum supply and when silage, can serve the valuable purpose off enabling the grass fields to provide their greatest total seasonal supply- of food. Gut over very early subsequent growth is not interfered Mth’’ and good summer pastures are assured. The use of small hillside pits, pits in dry locations (if only a few feet deep and built up with timber or concrete for five feet) and treating the rich protein.-leaf-stage grass with molasses (the cheapest of all carbohydrate foods) silage of complete milk-producing value would be secured.*' As before mentioned the rate of molasses to use is one per cent, or a ton of molasses to 100 tons of grass. , In cutting for silage at the end of September or., early in August the growth of sweet vernal, and Yorkshire fog arc controlled, as well as weeds, and this is greatly to the advantage of the better grasses, especially rye-grass, indeed, very early cutting is one of the. ,most valuable means- of building ujf an improved pasture. Thus, quite apart from obtaining a maximum supply of silage of high food value, the early and repeated making of silage is a. valuable means of pasture- control arid development. It should be unnecessary to emphasise that the greatest need of milkproducing, animals is a constant supply of-succulent food throughout the milking season, and well-made silage is the best means of providing this.

The Penetrating Harrow.

, It jg not generally realised that the nse of-.the . really penetrating, harrow plays a most important part in the production of grass in the colder months"of the year. Growth is retarded at the present critical time because of cold soil conditions which not only reduce the -temperature of; the. soil but exclude the air. Thus' the bacterial life in the soil, including the nitrifying, bacteria, are held in a dormant condition. .Immediately the soil is warned up and air (conveying oxygen that is essential for bacterial energy) "Tarr enter,' 'growth immediately takes Ttlacei The' use of a deep penetrating -.■ba.rrowat the present time -(a harrow b- that will really penetrate without un-

duly disturbing the soil surface) has the natural effect of creating the conditions necessary for bacterial life, l.‘ ! and consequently for natural'growth—allowing excessive moisture to escape f . and admitting air. This winter, in May, the use of a penetrating harrow ;. on completely fertilised fields has had 'the effect of inducing an astonishing • growth of grass. It is only natural --that it should be so. If conditions an--1 tagon’istic to growth are removed and ; ; every encouragement is (given to a plant to fight adverse conditions (by providing complete and balanced ferk tiliscrs) the development of seasonal .: ■ grasses, such as ryegrass, will take ..place. The wise policy at the present -ytime it would seem would be to use a penetrating harrow on some of the best '..fields and then apply, say, 2 cwt of ammoniated super and 1 cwt of potash m salts. It is assumed that these good ■■ fields of the farm have had a dressing ■ of lime earlier in the year, i’r Ntttrition and Fertility. j;; 'While lime and phosphate deficienare -recognised as being' respon--’.fible for infertility as well as for _ abortion, deficiency of iodine and vitamin F are also said to be responsible. • .Vitamin E is the anti-sterility vitamin. • ! It docs not occur in eodliver oil. It is .chiefly found in green vegetables, pro,l “Babiy in grass, and in milk and eggyolk. When animals are living under natural conditions it is considered that ■"there is hot much likelihood of any deficiency of this particular vitamin. js'But probably more important than

'atny. endeavour to supply possible deficiencies of mineral matter, iodine and vitamin E is tlic maintenance of an animal in vigorous licaltli, thereby building up its natural resistance to disease. Fighting disease is largely a matter of good management, which vr. naturally aims at providing ample

food supplies and the necessary balance of nutriments and mineral matter at all times of the year, but especially in the winter months. Disease in the main may;be 'regarded as the penalty for poor -management. Ail Example. It Ini'S .been well said that the improvement effected in herd production by group herd-testing work has been due more to better feeding, which herd-testing work has induced, than by improved methods of breeding. It must be admitted that the poor supply of pedigree bulls carrying satisfactory production blood is a great weakness, and not till k the farmer can rely on getting bulls of outstanding constitution and haying ancestry proved for production over a long period of usefulness will improved yield through breeding take place. A case has just come under' our notice where a man has obtained very high production solely through particularly good farm management and careful and generous feeding of his herd. He buys in maiden heifers of a Shorthorn strain every year for replacement purposes, and if any cow goes wrong she is immediately put out of the herd and fattened. Yet working on this system he obtained (ae-, , cording to factory returns) Sl,ooolb of fat last season off his 297 acres, which works out at 2731 b of fat an acre, a rate of production considering the area which is a. particularly line result. He milks between 240 and 250 cows, the total'production of butter-fat averaging about 3301 b. Quality Haw Material. Probably the most important means of improving the raw material—the cream or the milk—provided to dairy factories is the provision of an effective cooling appliance on the farm. This is a problem which does not receive the attention it should. On some farms the temperature of the water used for cooling is naturally low, and the owner is lucky, but there are many farms where the temperature of the water is not satisfactory, and it is impossible for the owners to bring down the milk or cream to a safe temperature, a temperature which will prevent the multiplication of undesirable bacteria. In this connection it is interesting to note that the city milk regulations of Paris rocpiiro that all milk examined at the r central depot must be not higher in temperature than a 0 degrees Pahr., and if it is any higher it is promptly destroyed. All milk that is 00 degrees or below that temperature is then filtered and pasteurised. It is taken up to 150 degrees Pain, and held at that temperature for thirt y minutes, being then cooled to 35 I degrees Pahr. To ensure that the milk will reach consumers in a satisfactory condition the milk is at once placed in cartons lined with aluminium. Those are first sterilised by means of a jet of steam at a. temperature of between 400 and 500 degrees Pahr., which plays into each container for six seconds. The tops of the containers are soldered on so that once the container is opened it cannot, be used again. It is not to be expected that such extreme cave should bo taken with milk for manufacturing purposes, but the French ordinance may serve the useful purpose of emphasising the great importance to be attached to the effective cooling of milk in order to maintain it in a sound condition for whatever purpose it is to be used.