THE FARM

Northern Advocate, 27 July 1935, Page 14

THE FARM

Britain’s Duty to the Empire. i While Britain is faced with the very serious - problem • offinding customers for its manufactured goods in foreign countries and desiring to deal fairly with the countries in its own Empire it is well that the paramount claims Of Empire countries to very special consideration over the foreigner should be hammered in on every occasion. Messrs Coates and Forbes undoubtedly did good work in being on the spot fo plainly state the case for the Dominion* . While the value of a united Empire, both to Britain and the world, is undoubted, it is surely derisive, says the “British, Australian ahd New Zealander,” to write and speak of a united Empire when constituent mettibers of the Empire are forbidden to offer their produce for sale in its centre, in order to make room in the market for foreign produce of a similar kind. This is what is happening at present The competition of and dpiry produce would' not alone create impossible conditions for the British grower, but in conjunction with foreign competition .iV does so. The Empire paper referred to suggests that it Would pay Britain to abolish restrictions on Empire produce and pay a sufficient subsidy to British producers, whatever the cost of this,, for. the inevitable consequences of restriction on Empire produce would be loss of freights to 'British shipping, reduced sales of British manufactures to the Dominions, an artificial stimulus to secondary industries in the Dominions, the pushing of them into foreign trade agreements, and the engendering within them of a dissatisfied spirit, arid none of these consequences can Britain or the Empire afford. Quality. In every, country at the present time the leaders in agriculture are preaching quality. For quality is the Only thing that Will sell an article in these"days of fierce competition, and, what is even more important still, encourage increased consumption by the general public. One thing- greatly in favour of the producer of dairy products is that these are vital to human Health, and when the public become properly acquainted with the value of vitamins the dairy produce of this country will enjoy a great trade advantage. But the general public, especially that of England, is being educated to demand milk from herds that are absolutely free of disease, arid they may yet look askance at dairy produce that is not guaranteed to be from disease-free herds. Speaking recently of the need of improved quality in milk, Mr Elliot, British Minister for Agriculture, said that 2300 herds in England were in theAccredited Milk Scheme, ..an indication that English- consumers are prepared to pay for clean and healthy milk. Mr Elliot has a pretty high Opinion of ; the dairy farmers of this country. In urging Home farmers to take--advantage of recent knowledge he said: “The Danes and the New Zealanders eagerly took advantage of 'the research “ discoveries of science. If the' English farmers did not they would be, sunk.” Dairy Inspection; If - it is true that the Dairy Board is •to provide the finance for 100 dairy farm inspectors it will be very interesting to know what type of men they will be able to secure for the work in this country. Hitherto the only necessary qualification for a dairy farm instructor is that he shall have had dairy factory experience. Such men are merely inspectors. What is required is, instructors, but with little or no importance attached to agricultural education in this country there are very few men available for acting as, dairy farm instructors. A suggestion has been made that veterinary surgeons should be appointed, and certainly if we had a sufficient number of sons of New Zealand farmers train for the veterinary profession the id.ea would be a very good

one, but the veterinary surgeon trained in England would be useless. Again, the teacher is born, not made. The agricultural expert who can translate the language of the text-book into, the language of the farmer is a rarity. And if the sound instructor in dairy-farming is almost impossible to obtain then if may be just as well that the men to be appointed should be merely inspectors, to see that sanitary conditions are observed on the farm. One thing to be said in favour of such officers being veterinary surgeons is that they would be able to give acceptable information to the farmer. Their advice would be taken and be appreciated. But in the matter of giving instruction on dairy farm practice how many farmers would be prepared to receive Advice, even if imparted with the necessary tact?

Cowsheds,

One of the finest oowsheds the writer has seen is that of Mr Sam Holmes, of Bruntwood. It constitutes an ideal. All the interior woodwork, except the rafters, is of dressed timber, and Mr Holmes is now regretting that the rafters were not dressed. Each winter the whole of the dressed woodwork is treated with linseed oil. The shed is now four years old, and when inspected it looked as though it had never been used. Not a speck of dirt is to be seen anywhere, for the oiled timber can be easily and effectively washed, as it Is after every milking. The ends of the handles of the beams to open the doors at the head of the bails are protected with a piece of milking machine piping, about two feet long, which can be very easily kept clean. And Mr Holmes is still not satisfied. He is going to match-line the shed with dressed timber, so that this can be ’ also oiled. He was greatly taken with a shed he saw in Taranaki, the jrafters of which were painted with an oil paint and then coated with aluminium paint, and it looked good he says. This idea of using dressed timber and giving it a coat of linseed oil once a year has also been adopted by Dr, Annett in a very fine shed he has just erected on a new farm he is licking into shape in the Gordonton district.

The shed above referred to is on a farm quite in keeping with it. Everything is good to the eye, from the drive with its fine collection of shrubs to the very up-to-date homestead and now the very well built and extensive up-to-date pig lay-out. Last year on the 293-acre farm Mr Holmes produced 81,7001 b of fat from 270 cows, mainly Shorthorn and Friesian crosses. The cows are certainly wintered away, but this only means a month off 'the farm. Mr Holmes uses 3 nwt of slag and 1 cwt of super to the acre every year, and is now applying 1 cwt of potash as well. . The rate of production is getting on towards 3001 b of fat to the acre, and during the coming season the production should be well over 3001 b if the profits from the modern piggery are taken into account.

Harrowing,

There is no more important work on the grassland farm than harro Wring, especially the use of the harrow that will, really penetrate. If we regard grass as a crop, as it assuredly is, then some measure of cultivation is ■ imperative. Naturally something should be done to sweeten the soil, while it is now shown that it is necessary if the best use is to be made of the fertiliser applied that the manure should be taken to the roots of the grass plants, and not allowed to in the top layer of the soil. Harrowing deeply is the only way in which this can be done. Such harrowing also prunes the grass plants, and thus invigorates them, but the greatest benefit is the work the penetrating does in aerating the soil, enabling the air to enter, as well as the moisture and fertiliser. It is astonishing the improvement the use of the penetrating harrow will make in a really poor pasture, and though the harrowing is only one phase of managing such land it is probably the most important. Harrowing means work, but it also mea'ns economy. Less fertiliser will be needed, for the smaller quantity will be more effective, little or none of it will be wasted. The Wood Lot. On every farm there should be a wood lot, or. enclosure for the growing of timber for firewood and for timber required for fencing posts, etc. It is an extraordinary thing that men will occupy a farm for perhaps a lifetime and have to buy coal for household use and have to purchase every fencing post they require. It is still more extraordinary when the value of shelter to stock and to grass and crops is so necessary. Of course, there is the first cost, but this cost is like putting money in a bank and leaving it there to earn compound interest. Gullies and useless corners can be made valuable places by using them for growing trees, and where the farm has none of these otherwise useless places a half-acre space can be fenced off at the intersection of paddocks and made into , a wood lot. Black wattle can be used on the out-

side for rapidly producing firewood, but pinus insignus and macrocarpa are both good for fencing and firewood. The eucalyptus McArthuri is a good central tree. This takes some years before heart timber suitable for fencing posts is obtained, but quite young timber can be used for protective fencing when hedges are being planted, as by the time the hedges have grown the posts will have rotted. The wood lot at paddock intersections will not only provide the farm with all the timber it requires but it gives shelter that will be appreciated. The fencing in of a wood lot does not involve much expense, and when established it will add value to, the farm and should be a constant source of satisfaction to the owner. Dried Grass. Many of those interested in the possibilities of dried grass for this country reason that the drying process must be done on a fairly big scale to keep pace with our system of farming or rather rate of production.. This may be so if dried grass is to replace haymaking. But many small farmers in England are apparently making a business of drying grass, but using special well and periodically fertilised fields, to give them several crops of grass in the season, and this grass cut in the leaf stage. With them it is not a large scale operation, for the drying cannot be done as fast as the grass is fed into the drier. An illust»ation is given in a recent London paper of a drying plant on a farm which runs continuously day and flight. In the .title to the illustration this* statement is made: “The grass is cut in its leafy stage, placed in the drier (a large oven through which heat provided by a coke furnace is drawn) and then baled. By judicious manuring three cuts can be obtained from the same land. The drying plant runs continuously day and night.”