The Northland Farmer

Northern Advocate, 29 December 1934, Page 14

The Northland Farmer

i. ! m j 1 •■••• Edited by C. E. Cuming. B A page prepared for the purpose of helping the Northland farmer to make the g utmost use of the remarkable advantages which Nature has bestowed on 1 |. Northland, and thereby to develop the most fertile territory in New Zealand. |

THE FARM Value of Hard Grazing. ■The fine work done by Mr. Martin G. Jones af Jealott’s Hill, and referred to at length by Lord Bledisloe at the Grassland Conference, emphasises the fact that hard grazing at the righ: time is generally a more economical ' way to improve poor pasture than ploughing and reseeding. The pasture referred to chiefly consisted of bent grass, Yorkshire fog, and a few fineleayed fescues. For the tests, some of the plots were dressed with 2 cwt; per acre of nitrochalk, . nitrogen and lime in March, 1932 (the whole field having previously had half a ton of basic slag to the acre), and again a year later. One nitro-chalk plot and one no-nitrogen plot were closely grazed throughout •the season, particularly in the spring. Both showed a big increase in white clover and a corresponding decrease in the weedy types of grasses. Another pair of plots similarly treated, but not heavily grazed, showed an increased vigour ,in the grasses, but no improvement iri the clovers. In contrast with such methods, a more or less seeded pasture; was ploughed and two crops were taken before re-seeding. Even so, the Yorkshire fog ' completely swamped the other grasses in their 1 first year. Of this, two plots were fenced off. One was used as a “control” with no manure and bad grazing. The other was treated with 8 cwt. basic slag, and 3 cwt. kainit in -February. with 2 cwt, of nitro-chalk per acre in March. The tfedted area was grazed closely with sheep, particularly in May and June, arid big improvements were effected, the percentage of useful grasses being increased from four to nearly fifty. : Tn the control plot the mower was tried on half as a means of improveand the sheep certainly showed preference for the mown part. But the increase in the percentage of useful grasses is only half that of the properly manured and grazed plot. There is little doubt, Mr. Martin Jones concludes, that the stock, by its frequent close grazing, played a big part ,in improvement, there being a faster circulation of plant food in its Cycle through plant and animal. Quotas Necessary. The League of Industry of Britain at a recent* conference adopted the reports of its agricultural committee which declared that an adequate tariff • “such as had been applied to other f and less important industries would be the, simplest, fairest and most efficient way of assisting this industry. But the Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Waiter Illiot, told the Conference there was* a difficulty in working purely upon tariffs as a weapon. Naturally a tariff should be used in the difficulties of to-day, and it had been used to the exclusion of agriculture with great .success, but, it could not be used to the exclusion of other methods. “You must ■ have liberty,” he said, “to use the regulation of quantities as well as regulation by tariff. In these days of depreciated exchange an exchange can be knocked to smithereens in an afternoon and it knocks the bottom out of the tariff.” Stack versus Pit. ’An investigation made at the Rowett Research Institute, Glasgow, showed that there was less waste in a large stack of silage than in a smaller stack, but the escape of juices was greater in the large stack. The loss in dry matter iri the juices from a 100-ton silo reached 401 b. a day, but from a, silo ' holding 200 tons it was as high as 3801 b. :a day-.- The Institute found that with a pit silo constructed to hold about ten tons- of fresh grass and carefully packed the wastage at the sides was practically negligible and the leakage of juices not very great. > -What the Consumer Pays. It is interesting to note the prices the British consumer has to pay for meat and dairy produce. Also to note -the relatively high price the Home - farmer receives, though doubtless, as in the case of the milk supply, the middleman gets more than he should, for while the products of the farmer are being controlled in Britain there is absolutely no restriction on the promts of the middleman. The “Farmers’ Weekly” of October 12th, gives the following summary of average prices being charged the British consumer:— Beef: English, from 2/4 (rump steak) Mffitton: English, from 1/6 (loin) to l/-;-imported, 1/- to Bd. Lamb: English, 1/5 to 1/-: New Zealand, 1/1 to Bd. 'Pork: English, 1/4 to 1/2; imported 1/- to 10d.; Danish. 1/9 to 1/1; imported 1/7 to lid. ' Bacon: English, 1/10 to 1/2. to 1/1; Imported, 1/7 to lid, ' Eggs: English, 2/- to 2/6 a dozen; Danish* 1/3; Australian, South African and Argentine, 1/3: Dutch, 1/6. Cheese: English cheddar (finest farmers), 1/4; (matured factory), 1/-; Matured Canadian, lid.; New Zealand. Bd.

Butter: English dairy, 1/4; New Zealand, 1/-; Danish, 1/2; Australian, lOd. It will be noted the retail prices of Danish, New Zealand and Australian bear no relation to the wholesale prices. Seed Vitality. In view of the recent statement that mummified wheat has been grown in Dunedin it is interesting to recall the results of certain experiments that were undertaken some 36 years ago by the late William Carruthers, F.R.S., as consulting botanist of the Royal Agricultural Society, England. Carruthers never accepted the statements made from time to time as to the totality of mummy wheat or of wheat found in Romano-British granaries, always maintaining that it was impossible for seeds buried ages ago to ger.minate. His experiments were undertaken with the object of testing how long, under ordinary conditions, the vitality of certain seeds was maintained, and so help farmers and seed merchants to ascertain the real value of seeds carried over from' year to year. The seeds experimented with I included cereals, pasture grasses, clovers, and root crops, an the trials of them covered a period of-16 years, from 1896 to 1911. Of wheat and barley, all the seeds were dead after nine) years. Oats showed a greater longevity, white oats surviving until 1908 and black oats until 1910, when, however, the percentage of germination was only 2. Of the grasses, all had failed by 1908, and of the clovers only lucerne lived to 1908, but with a ger'mination then of but 1 per cent. The root crops had all failed by 1908. The report on the experiments, which appealed in the society’s Journal for 1911, stated that while no seed could possibly survive under the conditions in which mummy wheat and the Roman granary wheat were placed, it was possible for a thick-coated seed Under favourable conditions to live a very long time. Seeds of the sacred Lotus of Egypt (Nelumbo) germinated after having been for 100 years in a cabinet iri the British Museum, and for many years before that in Sir Hans Sloane’s keeping. Grain Harvesting. New Zealand visitors to Britain were wont at one time to tell on their return how very out of date was the, British farmer. A particular joke was the Home farmer’s adherence to the single-furrow plough, and, of course, his methods of harvesting were crude. Then sheep-shearing in Britain was reminiscent of the stone age. With the remarkable extension of power farming in Britain and the application of business principles to many farm operations the Home farmer is teaching the New Zealand farmer quite a few lessons. In the harvesting of grain the English farmer is making the New Zealand grower of grain very much out of date. The combined harvester and thresher is being freely used in England, while drying plants * for rapidly making the grain ready for market are quite common. On a Fifeshire farm barley is cut by a mower driven by a tractor, lifted automatically by a grass elevator into pneu-matic-tyred carts, conveyed to a mill on the field and threshed. The straw is bunched and the grain taken to an artificial drier from which it emerges ready for milling. Less than 24 hours elapses from the time the grain is cut till it is ready for market! Feeding of Cows. A very important point emphasised by a speaker ’at New Plymouth recently was the great need of adequately feeding the dairy cow during the nonproducing season of the year. Too many farmers neglect this important aspect of their dairying operations. Any kind of food is thought to be good enough for the dry cows—-she is not producing anything so why go to the trouble of feeding her well? But farmers who err in this matter are surely forgetful of how constitution can be weakened by poor feeding with the subsequent detrimental effect on the productive powers of the cow during the milking season. Cows that are brought in vigorous and healthy, strengthened to resist disease by good balanced feed during the winter are in a better position to give a high and persistent yield throughout the season than the cow that has not been well done. A set-back in health as often occurs by reason of poor-winter feeding, will make itself apparent in the next season’s production and might possibly mean the ruination of the animal as a profitable producer. It pays to look after an animal in and out of season and good food and attention during the off season is well rewarded by a healthier and better producing cow. Silage has proved especi- ! ally useful for the winter feeding of | stock and has largely displaced roots. However, good ensilage must be fed. not the innutritious material which has been cut from unpalatable grass which has been allowed to go to seed before being cut. It is good policy to feed little good hay with the silage, as this will make for a better balanced ration with the consequent lessening of danger from digestive troubles. A Great Idea. There is a breeder of Friesians in South Australia, Walter Hawker, who

is the sort of breeder of pedigree stock who has very sound ideas on the needs of the industry. . Writing recently of the evils of the show-ring he said: “Too much stress is put on show points to the detriment of qualities which are essential to production. I should like to see all dairy cows, when they enter the show-ring, wear a rosette denoting their official production; i.e., say, for 4001 b. butterfat, yellow; 5001 b., red; 6001 b., blue; 7001 b. and over, red, white and blue, and the judge be instructed to give some points according to the cow’s production.” We thoroughly agree with Mr. Hawker that cows in a show ring should have provided some evidence of productive capacity, but we would be quite content to see a rule instituted which made it compulsory for every animal competing in a show to possess evidence of productive capacity. That is that females should have yielded over a certain minimum standard and that the males should be from dams that have given up to the required standard of butterfat. In other words, it should be sufficient that productive capacity has been proved. Then the judge should deal solely with type and evidences of contitutional vigour. And Mr. Hawker is very wise when he comes to write of the management of the ordinary dairy herd. What he writes applies to the New Zealand herd as much as it does to the Australian herd. He writes: — “It costs no more to breed and keep a good cow than an indifferent one, and the good cow will pay her way where the poor producer is a loss. When the Scotch Commission was in Australia the members stated that we were losing on an average £4 a head on our dairy cattle. This loss is simply due to keeping cattle which will not pay for proper feeding. There is always a certain number ofdairy cows which will never pay, no matter how you feed them. Cull these and feed a balanced ration to the rest. Where you can grow perennial rye grass and clover, you will find the cows will balance their own ration, and don’t forget your cattle must have i a suitable lick; dicalcic phosphate, G parts to 4 parts of coarse salt is what I use. The amount of calcium (lime) used by a big producer is enormous. In breeding, use a proved bull, although getting on in years, in preference to a young untried one. In any breed the outstanding sire is hard to get. When you are lucky enough to own one stick to him as long as he will breed. Pedigree is useful if it contains good backing as well, but with- i out good backing it is useless.” Bee-Keeping. A side-line in which many farmers have interested themselves is that of bee-keeping. To any one who has an elementary knowledge of the subject, bee-keeping may be a pleasurable and profitable farm activity. There are approximately 113,000 registered hives in New Zealand and their annual production is 3,500 tons of honey. Between 1927 and 1931 the average export was 560 tons, approximately one-sixth of the total production. Bee-keeping has been found especially pleasant and interesting for the girl or boy on the farm for whom other farm work might be too arduous and disagreeable. An attractive fact about beekeeping is that it is not a tie, for the hives need not be touched for four months of the year, from the end of March, when the yield is harvested, till the beginning of August. Of course, the intervening time can be profitably spent by the overhauling of the plant. In directing the attention of farm girls to this profitable occupation, we would advise them to learn as much about bees as possible before attempting to keep them. Then when this knowledge has been gained we would advise only a small beginning, possibly one or two hives. In this way further knowledge can be gained by experience, and this is the most valuable knowledge; and if mistakes are made the smallness of the initial plant will prevent them being costly ones. Export Sheep Trade. The valuable shipments of New Zealand pedigree sheep recently made to South America emphasises the fact recognised for many years that the Dominion has an undeniable future as a stud farm for pedigree stock rivalling even Britain itself in some types of sheep. In Britain the carcase receives more attention than the fleece, but in New Zealand the fleece is, or was, and certainly should be, the paramount consideration. And the world’s best buyers of stud sheep at the present time want sheep carrying fleece bf good quality. New Zealand will never rival Australia in the breeding of Merinos, but in its own breed, the Corriedale, ranking next to the Merino, as a producer of fine wool. New Zealand has a dominant lead. In long wools New Zealand is undoubtedly able to supply the type of sheep South American sheep breeders want. New Zealand long-wool flocks were well founded. The best blood of Britain was imported and this has been developed to a high standard by Scottish and English shepherds who knew their work thoroughly well. There were no finer breeders of sheep than some of the old Scottish shepherds who developed the best of the South Island flocks, and some of the best North Island flocks, too. Unfortunately the

standard of their work has not been maintained. The natural aptitude of these enthusiasts of a past generation must be made good by scientifically directed work. Certainly a much higher standard of work must be aimed at, and more drastic culling of stud animals be adopted, if New Zealand’s reputation for stud animals is to be maintained. Goats v .Cows. If it were possible to get goats in New Zealand equal to the standard of the best individual goats of England it would pay many a New Zealand farmer, especially on weed infested country, to replace his cows with goats. One English goat has an official record of 5,3061b5. of milk, averaging over 14£lbs. a day. Her largest day’s yield was 191 b. 90z., or just on two gallons. There are farmers, fortunately only a few, who would be better qualified to keep goats than cows. Their neglected grazing land which they apparently expect to throw feed good enough for dairy cows would be eminently suited to the grazing of goats which would not object to the growth of blackberry and coarse weeds. The Head. There is still no better index to the value of an animal than its head. The good judge, especially of a sire, will always attach first importance to the head, which above all must be masculine. Nostril, mouth and eye are all indexes of the greatest value. And this applies to every breed. Sheep breeders should attach more importance to the head than they do. The late Mr. Ernest Short, than whom no better breeder of sheep ever lived in this country, attached very great importance to the head. It was the usual thing for the boys taking agriculture at the Fielding High School to spend a week or two in camp on Mr. Short’s farm. On the last occasion Mr. Short was able to take interest in their work, he had a board fence erected about twenty feet long and holes made in it. He had men to hold the sheep behind the fence with their heads through the openings. For half an hour Mr. Short talked to the boys on the heads of the sheep they could not see, and then 1 ad the sheep brought around and showed how the good qualities indicated by the heads were present in the sheep. And the late “Wattie” Archibald, the old manager of Karamu, was another great sheep breeder to whom the goodheaded sheep always had a strong appeal. The “gay” eye of a sheep always attracted him. The best judge of a dairy cow the writer ever knew, and real judges of a cow are few and far between, determined the value of a cow on head alone.

MODERN PIG-KEEPING Produce Baconers, I Tn view of the liberal bacon quota with Britain and the over supply of the pork market, the pig keepers in general should aim at taking their pigs to baconer weights. Of course it means increased feeding when the pigs get beyond porker weights. As a pig weighing about 1001 b. live weight will be receiving about three gallons of separated milk,. or from five to six gallons of whey, the allowance should be gradually increased till at 1501 b. jweight the pig will be getting four and a half gallon of separated milk o” seven and a half to nine gallons of whey. The allowance of meat meal (lib. a day at 1001 b. weight) can be gradually reduced and grain meal (barley meal for preference) can be increased till at 1501 b., la-lb. a day of this will be supplied. More grain meal seems to be required with separated milk than with whey. Men are carrying pigs very successfully tV> light baconer weights on lib. of meat meal and Hb. of barley meal in the final stages on whey as the bulk food. But with separated milk it is well to eliminate the meat meal in the final two months and give up to IJlb. of barley meal. Misleading Statistics. In the 1934 copy of the New Zealand Official Year Book a table is published showing the pure-bred pig stock of the Dominion. It is to be regretted that such a table has been published, as it is absolutely misleading. It is based on the returns of 1928, since when for reasons of economy particulars as to breeds have not been collected. The table shows that there ‘are 78,758 purebred Berkshires in the Dominion, 8,555 Yorkshire (by which is meant Large White), and other purebred 15,556, The Tamworth is not mentioned. Why the table is particularly misleading is that probably today there are more Tamworths than any other breed. It would be well for the Government Statistician to publish in future issues of the Year Book the annual registrations of pure bred stock made with the Pig Breeders’ Association. Some indication of how misleading the figures of the Year Book are is contained in the fact that last year no less than 1344 Tamworths were registered against 458 Berkshires (and the registrations of these showed an increase). Large White 423 (down), and Large Black 207 (down).

Value in Grass. In English calculations of iho food requirements of a pig it is staled that where the grain allowance is 41b. a day this can be reduced to nib. if the pigs have access to good grass. This rather bears out an investigation on the value to pigs of grazing made by the'Waikato Pig Recording Club. In nine trials 88 pigs that always had good grass required only 2871 b. of food to produce 1001 b. of live weight, or well under 31b. of food to make lib. of gain in weight. On eight farms where the grazing was fair to poor the 59 pigs tested required just on 3901b5. to produce 1001 b. of live weight, or just on 41b. of food to make Mb. of gain in weight. These figures clearly indicate the great importance of grass in reducing the cost of production, quite apart from the undoubted value of grass to the general health of the animal. Quality Flesh. While it is most important that the pig carcases exported from New Zealand should be standardised, that they should be as uniform as possible, it is even more important that the flavour should be standardised. The flesh of no other animal is so affected by the food upon which it lives. A ration should be decided upon—the class of food to supplement skim milk or whey —and this should be universally recommended. It could be three parts barley and one part pollard as tire supplementary food in the final stages of fattening, or the combination that will give the finest result. It would be reasonable to pul a bar on the export of any pigs that are not properly fed, on pigs fed in sties on hotel, swill with no grain meal or green stuff in the diet, and on pigs fed on animal carcases, too often not properly cooked. New Zealand has a great opportunity in developing a trade in bacon carcasses, but the pigs must be properly fed or the trade, will be killed. Pig Recording. The methods of pig recording in several countries have been given in these columns. A correspondent wants to know something about the methods of Denmark and Sweden, where pig recording has been' longest in operation. Statements appearing in Home papers variously give credit to Denmark and Sweden as originating the idea. According to the International Institute of Agriculture at Rome. Denmark was the first in the field. Denmark attaches principal importance to Breeding and Testing Stations, whereas Sweden relies more on recording societies, in order to test the breeding capacity of the sows of the country. It is the Swedish method that is favoured in England.

According to the International Institute the wdx’k was begun in Denmark as early as 1896. The records are taken at the “Breeding Centres.” which are recognised by the State and supply most of the selected breeding stock to the pig farmers of the country. These Breeding' Centres are obliged to sell to one of the Stations established for fattening tests. 2 male and 2 female pigs from each lifter of a selected sow. The pigs arc fattened on a uniform feeding system from the age of 8 weeks until they reach a weight of approximately 90 kg. (a kilogram equals 2.21b5.). Every 14 days they are weighed, and the gain in live weight is determined. On the basis of these figures the feed consumption in food units per kilogram of gain in live weight is calculated. The carcase is also judged for value.

Note is taken of live loss at slaughter, the quality of the meat and fat. the thickness of fat on the back and belly, the shape and thickness of the hams, the fineness of the head. etc., and all these records are classified into a system of points. In the system of points and in the method of judging the requirements of the English bacon market are taken into special consideration as England is the main market for Danish bacon. The Danish performance tests have little or no reference to the “mothering qualities’’ or “breeding capacity” of the sow. but are limited to judging the fattening capacity of the progeny. In Sweden pig recording methods only in part resemble those of Denmark. The breeding capacity of the sow is tested, and this test is supplemented by a test of the fattening capacity. In Sweden the recording of breeding pigs began in 1923, in Malmohus Dan, and the first fattening tests were undertaken the same year at the Astorp Institute. Since 1931 there has been a second station for fattening tests at Hallsberg, working on the same lines as that at Astorp. Testing of the breeding capacity or mothering qualities of the sow is carried out in Sweden by the milk recording societies, who mark pigs, determine their weight at birth and after three weeks. These data serve as a measure of the breeding capacity of the sow.

From each tested litter 2 male and 2 female pigs are sent at the age of 8 to 10 weeks to the Institute for fattening tests, which are carried out on the Danish systerp until a weight of 90 or j 55 kilograms is reached. In the Swedish Experiment Stations which undertake performance tests, the value of the boars and their importance in transmitting the characteristics of productivity are also studied. Anaemia. The loss of pigs from birth to eight weeks of age is considerable, and the highest proportion of the loss is due to anaemia, caused invariably by iron deficiency. The loss from this cause is not nearly so great where pigs are kept under the paddock system. Lack of colour in the skin, especially a white instead of pink condition behind the ears, is a good indication of an anaemic condition. It is not always the poorest litters that are affected often it is the biggest pigs in the litter that are affected, especially in the case

of a sow having a good milk yield but suckling a small litter. In this case the young pigs seen to outgrow their strength, and the small quantity of iron in the sow’s milk is insufficient to maintain the health of the little ones. Obviously the need is important to include limonite in the lick and to double the quantity of limonite in the lick used for the sows at farrowing, time. Of course, anaemia, as with other troubles, is invited by poor management. poor housing and poor feeding. Prolificacy. The pig breeder should bear in mind when breeding for prolificacy that the number of live pigs at three weeks of age is infinitely more important than the number at birth. An exceptionally large litter usually means several weak, undersized pigs that will rapidly die. The size of the litter at three weeks will be found to depend largely on the number of functioning teats of the sow, and it is the opinion of authorities that is, therefore, more important “to select breeding animals for a higher number of functioning mammae and for a good nursing ability of the mothers than for increased size of litter.” Experiments abroad have clearly shown that when the litter size at birth increases beyond 13 the mortality during the first week is more than twice as high as in litters of 11 to 13 pigs. Apart from the higher mortality it will be generally found that the greater size at birth, the smaller is the average weight of the litter. It. follows, threfore, that good average litters are preferable to large litters which usually contain several failures. Breeders in future will have to pay more attention to the number of functioning teats of the sow. for on this depends the number of surviving pigs in the litter. If the number of teats of the sow does not equal the number of pigs born then the extra piglets will receive no help from the mother in the fight for existence. It is generally known that the pigs divide the teats among themselves during the first few days after birth, and thus the weaker pigs lose in the battle for the teats and will starve to death if hot artificially fed. The good average litter will always be found to be superior to the very large litter in every way—a greater number of live pigs at three weeks, 1 healthier and heavier pigs at birth, and, what is perhaps equally important, a lesser strain on the sow itself.