: The Northland Farmer:

Northern Advocate, 19 October 1935, Page 14

: The Northland Farmer:

—— Edited by C. E. Cuming. A page prepared for the purpose of helping the Northland farmer to make the utmost use of the remarkable advantages which Nature has bestowed on Northland, and thereby to develop the most fertile territ6rym^

THE FARM

milk, much about the same as in England and Wales. The only official figures of New Zealand cattle are those i for 1928. In that year the total for the Dominion was 3,238,699. Though the increase in milking cattle for the seven years prior to 1929 was only 200,000, the annual increase from 1929 onwards was 100,000. This rate of annual increase has meant that the evils of over-stocking, and the accompanying under-feeding, has. been steadily accentuated. Had the rate of culling of definitely unprofitable cows been anything like what it should have been the average production would be very much higher at the present time, to the great advantage of the individual and national income. Drought in England. According to reports sent out in the second week in August, serious drought conditions were being experienced in many parts of England. The dry spell had just been broken in Scotland, but in England pastures everywhere were drying up, turnips were thin and root crops small. Hundreds of acres of cornfields had been devastated by fire caused by the sun or, it is believed, in some instances by sparks from railway engines, many stacks and farm buildings having been destroyed. Many streams were drying up and in all parts of the country farmers were carting water, sometimes long distances, for drinking purposes. The Soya Bean. A correspondent wants to know if soya beans can be grown in New Zealand. Experience has proved that they can, be grown quite successfully in the North Island. As before statr ed. however, the business of oil extraction would have to be established, for it is only the residue of the oil extraction process that is suitable for | feeding to animals, especially to pigs, j on account of the high percentage of | oil in the bean itself.. Even in Eng- ! land soya bean is now being grown. Last year Britain imported, mainly from Manchuria, soya beans to the extent of 177,000 tons, valued at approximately one and a quarter millions sterling. The British Government has now placed an import .duty of 10 per cent, on soya beans, in the interests, it is said, of Empire products, such as ground nuts, palm kernels arid copra for vegetable, oils. It is well that the production of soya beans should be considered in view of the possibility of meat meal production not being able to keep pace with the demand. It has to be remembered. however, that a vegetable protein can never take the place of a protein of artimal origin, though it might be used as a supplement to it. A Continental research worker, F. Svoboda, has just reported as follows: “Rations containing animal proteins showed a definite advantage in production value over vegetable proteins when fed to pigs. The principal missing factor in the vegetable proteins is lysine, and this amino acid is the limiting factor in production value.” It was Cambridge University research workers who discovered the great value of lysine, the amino acid which makes for growth, and Svoboda’s work quite supports the Cambridge claim. It is because meat meal and meat and bone meal contain lysine that makes them so valuable over vegetable proteins. Hay and Ensilage. A recently published note on the feeding of ensilage and hay referred to the high nutritive value of hay and the low nutritive value of silage. This is one of those loose statements that does so much harm. No doubt really well made hay, especially when the grass from which it is made has not reached the seed-stalk stage, is a valuable food, but it is not such a good food for milk production as silage that has been well made from grass just on the flowering stage. Men who ! know the possibilities in silage are commencing the making of silage this month, and those who make it care- | fully and use molasses (1 per cent. ! diluted with water, that is lib of molasses to every 1001 b of grass) will have a most valuable food for stock. If such silage is made from grass in the leaf stage it will do for pigs in the winter months. Some Small Paddocks. It is in the making of good silage where the employment of a few small paddocks comes in. With a number of small areas it is possible so to manage it that all the grass can be sfat at just about the right stage. Under ordinary conditions, if the first of the grass is just right, the last of the grass is too far advanced in growth. As to stage of growth, the simple fact to remember is that grass right in the leaf stage is practically of the same feeding value as a concentrate, and that the more it advances beyond this stage the lower becomes its feeding value. Therefore tin.- nearer the grass to the leaf stage when it is cut the better is its feeding value. It is, of course, known by any farmer the type of grass on which cows will milk heavily and the type on which they will not milk well, yet it is the latter type they make ensilage and hay from, and then expect the grass that will not give |

Germany and Denmark. :According to a Home correspondent Germany has arranged to barter rye for Danish cattle and butter, an arrangement which no doubt has something to do with the improvement in the British butter market. Germany, it appears, has a big harvest of rye and has arranged to-sell to Denmark 2.000. bushels of second quality for fodder purposes. In return Denmark is to supply Germany with 4000 head of cattle and between 8000 and 9000 casks - of butter. Sensational Prices.. At the recent. Palermo sales of Scottish beef shorthorns cbrisigtied,, by exporters from Scotland the 65 bulls averaged in a round figure £750. Obviously the beef men of the Argentine have every confidence in the future of their industry, and appreciate the fact that 1 quality: must win. A Collynie two-year-old red roan, bred by Duthie Webster, made 60,000 approximately £4OOO. The reserve champion at the Perth sales last year realised 40.000. dollars. Others sold at 50,000, 37,000 , and 30,000 dollars. The 37,000dollar bull was also Collynie bred. \ : ' ' ' ‘ : Produce--Your’ Own:'Food. ..At......a .recent.. Homeland .conference present-day problems of the land were very intelligently- discussed. One speaker dealt with the farmer’s food sppply and what he,said applies with special force to New Zealand. Any system of farming, he said, which failed to produce all the food of the family, with the exception of an insignificant minimum, was economically unsound and was bound to fail in the Ipng run. The present system, under which the producer of food bought all the food he required from the .shop and confined his family to the production in abundance of some articles which he did not require for the household, but hoped to be able to market, vlas not in touch with the reality. Tie contended that the farmer should produce his own food, and'he could get his meat by arrangement and good housekeeping. That implied co-oper-ation between farmers and their families. There was not enough of that kind of 'Cp-qpecatipn in the country. The sort of co-operation required was tile old heighbdurlihess of their grandfathers;* It-required a spurt of Chris-, tian charity behind it or it would not work. Local Milk Consumption. It is satisfactory to know that the Auckland city authorities have instituted ‘a scheme for the free distribution of milk to children ..'.in. its city schools. Ensuring that the .children of the country should receive a daily allowance of milk should be regarded as a national health movement of vital importance. .Against the cost must be set the fact that it is the best insurance the country could have against hospital and other disease control cost. It is a case of prevention rather than cure on a national scale. It may be said, that parents should pay for the service, arid undoubtedly some parents should, but there is a'high percentage. of parents who cannot afford it. Men earning .in the region of £3 a week and with a big family certainly cannot afford the milk, for their children 1 that these should have. It is the-poor- who havethe large families. Much could'be done to educate the public to have a better appreciation of milk as a food, to make them realise that nothing can take its place. Milk is the only food .intended by nature as a food for human beings, and this fait; should be widely advertised. British Dairy Herd Increase. According to the official returns for June, dairy cattle in England and Wales show an increase of 54,000 over the figures of last year, and this while I beef cattle have declined by 176,200. ■ The total cattle figures are 6,538,800,1 against 6,660,200 last year. The total number of’ dairy cattle • is 3,049,700, while the tows and heifers in milk is 2.231.000. In New Zealand there are about 2,000,000 cows and heifers in

to him. If he eats his next meal there is probably nothing the matter, but if he does not he is pretty certain to be suffering from disease of some sort; and, if it is feasible, it is well to isolate him from the other pigs if there is any reason to believe that, the trouble is infectious. Besides keeping an eye on the appetite of his pigs the careful pig-keeper will notice the ccl.idition of the bowels to see that they are neither constipated nor too loose. With these two things continually under observation there should no no danger of disease turning up suddenly in advanced stages, and so causing extensive loss. Some diseases cannot be stopped or avoided as simply as this, but most diseases are more easily cured at the beginning. A Sound Statement. An English authority recently declared that “practically all diseases of the pig appear to be due to bad diet or otherwise unsatisfactory housing conditions.” New Zealand- experience emphasises the truth of this statement. But another factor might well be added, and this is failure to observe the necessary standards of cleanliness. Our basic diet of separated milk and whey should certainly b|t provided with as much regard to cleanliness as possible. The difficulties are realised, but the men who fight dirt (and bacteria) are those who have the greatest measure of success. Many are failing to get good results from whey feeding, because they do not feed the whey often enough. It must be fed at least four times a day, and more often if possible. Theuse of a balanced meal is most important, as the Live Stock Division is advising, and a balanced supply of mineral matter is also most necessary. Discussing the fundamental cause of success —good management—recently, one member of the Waikato Pig Recording and Research Association declared that it represented 75 per cent, of the success achieved, but another member said that it was responsible for 95 per cent. With good management we have necessarily good draught-proof housing, balanced meals, ample supply of mineral matter, and cleanliness, with that keen interest in the pigs which is so essential to their well being. , Sow’s Milking Capacity. A bad milking sow is worse than no sow at all, because she loses money instead of, gaining it. It has recently been shown that by drawing milk from one or more teats, when the young ones are feeding from their dam the approximate yield can be ascertained, but a good deal of patience and experience is needed to succeed in this procedure. The pigs feed several times daily, and the milk is not let down till they do feed. Tire milk, too, falls off in quantity from week to week after the fourth week, or until the eighth week, or at weaning, the quantity produced is hot much more than one-half the yield in the fourth week. A sow may produce up to lUlb in a day during the fourth week and as little as 3£lb, and, therefore, It is not difficult to see how impossible it is to expect well-grown youngsters when the dam is an inferior milker. Value of Sunlight. Direct light is necessary for the well being of the pig, and this undoubtedly explains the superiority of pigs reared under open-air conditions to those kept continuously inside. Research work has shown that light contains a principle, which, in the case of the pig, acts as a food, in so far as it enables the animal to grow a normal

milk to give milk when converted into hay or ensilage. Tomato is a Fruit. A correspondent wants to know if a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. This is quite an old problem. Botanically, the tomato is a fruit, but it is usually regarded as a • vegetable. Not long since a Supreme Court judge in the United States decided that it is a fruit. There is a law in America that excuses a juryman from court duty if he is a fruitgrower and 'is engaged in harvesting his crops. A man who wanted to pick his tomatoes claimed exemption under this Act, which only applied to fruitgrowers. First a lower court and then the upper court decided that the tomato was a fruit, and the juryman was exempted. This American ruling will not satisfy many people who will still regard the tomato as a vegetable rather than as a- fruit. But the Americans have a right to decide the matter, as the tomato comes from America. And, by the way, the Arriericans pronounce the word much as we do the potato, that is they make the “a” short. Bloat. A note on bloat in cattle from the University Farm, St. Paul, U.S.A., supports the commonsense advice rising given by keen observers in this country. Bloat is caused, says the “report, by animals eating large amounts of easily fermenting foods. While clovers are most likely to cause it rich and rapidly growing grasses, as well as frosted feeds, are also likely to cause it. Giving animals a partial fill of dry feed before turning them to pasture will prevent the trouble, and for the first few days on rich pasture the animals should be allowed to graze only .short periods. These are two most important means of prevention, and their efficacy has been proved in this country. t Reid, in his work, “Diseases of Farm Animals in New Zealand,” advises using a quarter of a pound of common salt in the drench to be. used after the attack of bloat. He advises Epsom salts for the drench, but other authorities recommend glauber salts, which is less irritating to the intestines, though Epsom salts is to be preferred about calving time. v Oats Without Skin. On a farm in Norfolk, England, there was harvested in August last 150 acres of a skin-less oat, an oat which is the result of about nineteen years’ research work. It is said that on medium soil it has been found possible to get a yield of 45001 bf (112 bushels) per acre. And as the oats are skinless this yield should be equal in value to 149 bushels of ordinary oats. Only a seeding of 451 b of seed to the acre was used, or about quarter of the usual seeding in England. When inspected by a Home correspondent the crop was standing on an unusually long and firm straw. This discovery is of great practical importance, as elimination of the great bulk of fibre from oats must make the oat of greater value for stock. feeding purposes, and there is nothing to equal oats for growing animals. MODERN PIG-KEEPING A German Lesson. The Germans are a thorough-going people, and have little room for sentiment where business is concerned. This is borne out in the way they are focussing attention on the commercial qualities of their pedigree pig stock. At the present time there is being compiled by the National Pig Association of Germany a German Performance Pig Book. In this will be entered only those animals with the best average figures, i.e., those able over six litters to show an average of 10 born (in no single instance less than 7) and 9.0 (never less than 6) reared, and in these litters a 28 days weight of 60 kg. (1301 b) with a minimum of 45 kg. (1001 b). In addition, two young pigs from each of three litters must fulfil the fattening centre’s requirements of a daily increase in weight of 630 g. (l-|-lb). The sow must, in ad- 1 dition, be of good conformation and be in a satisfactory state of health. The association also arranges for the sale of pigs. Besides purchases on the farm auctions are a very important feature. In recent years there have been as many as 200 to 225 sales held annually, at which some 6000 stock boars and 2000 brood sows have changed hands. Watch Your Pigs. It is not worth while running risks where disease is concerned. Diseases which in their later stages are untreatable can often be quite easily cured i if taken in hand in the beginning; but j too often that beginning is unobserv- j ed. There is only one way of guard- 1 ing against this. Keep an eye on them j when feeding. When the food is tip-| ped into the trough, stand and watch j the pigs for a few moments. If you , make a habit of this you will soon notice anything unusual. One pig may i take a little food and then walk away; j there may be nothing wrong with him, i but his behaviour calls one’s attention I

skeleton and to properly utilise the food consumed. Curiously, light that has passed through window glass docs not possess this food factor. This is the reason why opqn-air conditions are becoming more popular in countries of the northern hemisphere. The Proper Strain. An important essential to success is having the right strain of pig of the correct type, and only pig-recording will give the necessary knowledge. Under present conditions a farmer may be able to get pigs of a good type,

but what' use is this if they are of a thriftless strain, the sows poor mothcrs and the progeny take twice as long as they should to reach market-j

able weights. All these necessary utility characters are hereditary, and thus some strains of pigs that can win in the show pen are dear at any price.