The NORTHLAND FARMER

Northern Advocate, 8 February 1936, Page 14

The NORTHLAND FARMER

A page prepared for the purpose of helping the. Northland farmer to make the utmost use of the remarkable advantages which Nature has hectowcd on Northland, and thereby to develop the ifiost fertile territory In New Zealand.

Denmark’s Best Lesson.

"S-t'he great majority of Banish herds me small, due tc- the farms being More than 90 per cent, of Daniijhj dairy herds have less than 15 <*£njvs. These farmers are compelled fa,' use bulls in co-operation with neighbours. For this reason, as soon as the co-operative idea developed in Denmark,, a co-operative arrangement tried 1 cut and developed in keepitlg good bulls for service. There are riSk mere than 1200 cattle breeding •societies with more than 30,000 members, These societies have made it possible for the farmer with even the smallest, herd of only, two or three cows to have as good a bull of superior type,-pedigree and breeding performance as ithe bulls used by the largest breeders. These societies have been a prime agency in reducing the total number ■of bulls used arid in - reducing the number <sf?; scrub , w and inferior bulls. TTjp societies have always been closely "connected with the cattle shows and testing-associations and have been without doubt one of the principal qpjans by which the average production of milk-and butterfat have been bipre than doubled in Danish dairy cattle in a very few years. It may be aped that all herds in which breeding cattle are raised for sale must be members’ of a testing associatipn or IjgTe their cows under test, as no breeding .stock .can be sold except fiSEipi tested ancestry. The breeding societies and-bull clubs will only use known as a “figure 4” btill and whose dam has produced at least 8800 lb , 'Of < 4'per cent, milk, or 3521 b of fat.

With their present attitude towards teStihg'.:and the purpose and use of records the Danish breeders can follow closely, all blood lines and quickpick out these' lines and animals th£t are bringing about improvement an)d -eliminate -all- others before they afe of -any detriment to the breed.

''lTfre Tcstcd Sire. "at-willr.be probably a long time beZealand adopts the excellent Danish bull club idea, but something could be done at once to assit farmers, especially herd-testing f|rmers, to secure the right type of bSll. The - good idea, has been suggested that the herd-testing associaEohs should run an “employment” agency” for bulls. They certainly could do much to collect information as" to the strains that were carrying aijd/; transmitting producing blood. nrp in-,aii_ excellent position, in co-operation with the federation office, td'"provide the- Information few farmers have the time. or opportunity to obtain for themselves. The time must come when the tested sire idea will’be , properly exploited in • this country; Here again the herd-testing association has a great opportunity. Immediately the first six or ten heifegs -pf a bull have finished their first IspCtations the index of the bull should bi. worked out for the owner. If the bt»l£ has - a good index he should erther- continue to be used in his old ,‘or thV association should arrange .to hay,e him transferred to another member, for his blood should certainly be kept-in the district. Qjjiality v. Quantity. reference has been made i£ these columns to the mistaken idea of' judging produce and fertiliser effect- by quantity alone, and still the v£f(}ngful idea persists. Obviously the idea where things are being produced to furnish food for animals, the nutritional value of the food should* be the first consideration. Vnfoctfmateiy when men specialise in a particular subject they naturally tend to become narrow in their viewpoint. Nutrition of.stock, now becoming the big problem, -i does not concern the student- of fertilisers, and hence the Wrong view is taken that bulk of fodder produced, whether it be grass or other farm crop, is the only objective. • Dealing’with this matter in a recent address before, the Royal Society of Arts in London, Sir Albert Howard saidt “In pursuing the one-sided chase afte* quantity the experiment station worlds were not only misleading pr&ftfce but were unconsciously doing the ’greatest possible disservice to the cause of agricultural research.” And said that the neglect of grasslands, the foundation of agriculture, was lamentable. *And writing of the serious problem of the high-producing aninjals of the present time with all the riiijieral matter they require and this rebalanced form, Dr. Fraser, of the Rowett Institute, said: “It would be safer-,- until our nutritional knowledge is far more complete, if all livestock intended for breeding were reared on an abundance of grass and milk. Agricultural science for the lf.st generation has been endeavouring to prove the beast q. machine. But the animal organism is rather 3 china shop where one false step will smash some fragile thing.” But even with feeding grass and milk the* fundamental foods will not prove to be the ideal sources' of nutrition unless the soil from which they come has all the mineral .matter necessary to plant and animal.-

Records of Production.

A statement was recently made that there is a danger of undermining health by selecting stock on the basis of records of performance. Where stock are selected on the basis of only one year’s record this may be so, but where, as in the case of dairy cows, the selection is made according to a lifetime production such selection is the best evidence that could be had of constitution. The cow that can produce and breed continously without mishap has undoubted constitution.

Breeding according to production in the case of poultry is quite another matter. Here the record of production is for only one year, and birds

Edited By C. E. Cuming,

having put up high records are immediately bred from, without being given necessary rest and preparation. They are unduly forced. Under these conditions selection according to performance must lead to an undermining of the constitution. Tire day will come when the performance record of sires of every class (bulls, rams and boars) will be demanded. This is the only thing that will enable the development of better strains and ensure greater certainty and uniformity in results from animal breeding.

When to Feed Ensilage,

The late Mr W. Dibble, who before his retirement from the service of the Department of Agriculture was Instructor in Ensilage-making, had long experience in the making and feeding of ensilage when dairy farming near the city of Auckland. He was then supplying milk to the city of Auckland. And he used his ensilage in the most sane way; that is, he used it for the necessary succulent feed in the dry months ‘of the year. He proved that it was more valuable for summer than for winter feeding. At. that time he was converting maize into silage. He would make his silage of one season for feeding out in the dry months of the next season. By liberal feeding of the silage he was able to maintain a full flow of milk in the driest of summers; He fed hay, roots, etc., in the winter. Even in those days, about forty years ago, he used molasses, but not in making the silage, but sprinkled it over the silage when being forked on to the dray, and it proved a valuable addition to the silage, as it tended to make it an even more complete food. Two gallons of the molasses were mixed with ten gallons of warm water, or thin enough to run easily through a watering can. the holes in the rose of which were made larger for the purpose. Writing of his experience at that time, Mr Dibble said: “I always found it necessary, where it was a. question of maintaining a regular ahd big flow of milk, that a balanced food had to be provided. Thus, - in the early spring, when the watery nature of the grass made it sometimes difficult to secure the desired return. ‘ I fed hay. As cows will not look at the ordinary hay when young gra>s is available, especially after a winter’s experience of it, the choicest hay, generally the centre of a stack, was kept for this purpose, and only a little was required. While good ensilage is an,ideal milk food in the dry months of summer, it is equally serviceable in the winter, and, in fact, at all times when the pastures are not at their best or fail to provide the required food.”

Mr Jack Ranstead

Mr J. M. Ranstead, of Matangi, has been appointed by the Government to take the place of Professor Riddet on the Council of Scientific and In dustrial Research during the absence abroad of the latter. Though the appointment is only a temporary one it is a deserved compliment to a New Zealand dairy farmer. Mr Ranstead is the holder of the Bledisloe medal, given periodically to an ex-student of Lincoln Agricultural College who has rendered conspicuous service to agriculture. He was one of the most brilliant students of his time at Lincoln and before taking up farming at Matangi travelled abroad to gain experience of agriculture in other parts of the world. The work he is known best by is the very fine work he has done as a breeder of high-producing Milking Shorthorns. Apart from being a good farmer Mr Ranstead is a keen student of agricultural problems, and has probably the best private 'agricultural library in the country. He should be able to render excellent service to the agriculture of the country as a member of the Research Council even if his occupancy of a seat on the council is only a temporary one.

Veterinary Bursaries, The Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. Lee Martin, and the Government are to be heartily commended for doing something at last to assist New

Zealand students to obtain a training abroad m veterinary science. Though livestock is the Dominion’s mainstay and we have four university colleges and two agricultural colleges, there is no provision made to train the veterinary student in this country, though nearly every other profession is catered to. Truly a topsy turvey state of affairs.

At one time the British training in veterinary science was almost entirely confined to a study of the horse, and the veterinarian developed was an authority on the horse alone, having nothing like the knowledge he have of the cow and the sheep, for instance. But things have improved since those days, and the practising veterinarian has now a pretty good knowledge of all livestock. Still one old weakness remains. The knowledge imparted in British veterinary schools over-emphasises the cure of disease, not the prevention of it. Things are rather different on the Continent.” There proper attention is directed to the. matter of prevention. It is to be hoped therefore that provision will be made for the New Zealand students to either have some opportunity to study for part of their time Continental methods or spend some time at the special animal research institutions of Britain, particularly those of Cambridge or Rowett, or the Animal Breeding Department, Edinburgh University. Germany Awake.

Every effort is being made in Germany, writes G. L. Hill, 8.A.5., who has been visiting the dairying countries of the world at the expense of the Victorian Government and the Australian Dairy Council, to reduce the extent to which that country is dependent on imported fats, and dairying, therefore, is being expanded as far as possible. Up till 1931 about 100,000 tons of butter were imported per annum; last year the figure was 60,000, and Germany’s own production 420,000, which greatly exceeds that of New Zealand. This year a poor season has rendered necessary large imports. About 30 per cent, of Germany’s production is farm butter, but factory manufacture has been encouraged by price fixing, the figures in April of last year being 2/4, 2/3 and 2/2 per lb for the three grades of factory butter, and 2/ per lb for farm butter. Buttermaking used to be in a somewhat chaotic condition, but new regulations fixing the price at the factory, as well as to the customer, are designed to prevent speculation, also to render it most profitable to sell in the nearest markets, and thus avoid unnecessary transport. Butter is stored in Germany during the months of maximum production to meet the winter demand.

Germany has the best equipped dairy research institute in the world. The sections operate more or less Independently, co-operating, of course, wherever a problem involves work in more than one specialised branch of dairy science. Micro-phOtographic studies of the physical destruction of the fat globules in milk by lipase derived from the udder and from bacteria, optical work demonstrating the structure of dairy products, investigating the iron content of butter wash waters and the development of simple methods for its removal, the thorough testing of all machinery, which must

meet with the approval of the Institute before it can be placed on the maikct (this is badly wanted in New Zealand), and the standardisation of such articles as milk cans and separators to increase efficiency both in manufacture and use are a few interesting aspects of the wide activities of this Institute.

Butter Deterioration.

The German research work on the h’cn contents of butter wash waters and the development of a simple method for its removal is of considerable importance to this country. Much of the well water in this country contains a high percentage of iron, in regions of the so-called pedsolised soils in which, under the influence of high rainfall the natural humus has dissolved out the iron from the upper soil layers and deposited it at lower levels. It has been found at the Dairy Institute at Reading, England, that butters with an iron content of more than 1.5 parts per million are distinctly more likely -,to deteriorate than butters not exceeding these limits.