The NORTHLAND FARMER

Northern Advocate, 8 January 1938, Page 11

The NORTHLAND FARMER

Edited By C. E. Cuming

World’s Dairy Congress. It is reported that the Eleventh World’s Dairy Congress held at Berlin recently was an event of the greatest importance to dairying, which was acknowledged by the fact that SO countries sent well over 3000 delegates and members, and ever 400 papers were submitted at the conference. These and the various exhibits at the Exposition ranged over every aspect of dairying—production, marketing, economics, engineering, transport, science, art, prepaganda, hygiene, nutrition, quality testing and so on. There were also discussions and study trips. The whole affair was a complete success, and it was unanimously agreed that the congress arrangements reached a degree of perfection calling for the highest admiration. The first World’s Dairy Congress was held in Brussels in 1903, and for 34 years they have been held in various countries. The common bond is the International Dairy Federation, which comprises / 27 committees representing 22 European and five overseas countries. The Berlin congress brought together valuable reports, papers, and discussions from all parts of the world. Already these have been published in preliminary form as three weighty volumes, a work which constitutes' a veritable encyclopaedia of dairying and should provide! ample material for digestion over the next three years, until the next World’s Congress. Balanced Feeding. Disease is so frequently caused by indigestion and indigestion is so frequently caused by ill-balanced feeding that the matter of providing stock—dairy cattle in particular—with properly balanced is one that should receive the most careful consideration. It is well-known that a certain amount

A page prepared for the purpose of I helping the Northland farmer to make the utmost use of the remarkable advantages which Nature has ■ bestowed on Northland, and thereby 1 to develop the most fertile territory in New Zealand.

of roughage, or fibrous food, is desirable to facilitate digestion, even in the human, but with cattle roughage is imperative to effective digestion and if the animal is to obtain full benefit cf the more valuable food. In some

months, especially in the winter, cattle get a preponderance of roughage, a fibrous food, and in the spring (without any preparation) they are expected to subsist on food of the other extreme, absolutely non-fibrous. Not only are

cows suddenly put on to rich nonfibrous grass, but they are kept on it all the time, and are given no opportunity cf getting some fibrous feed to provide the essential roughage. Apart ■from not being able to digest this rich food when it is the sole diet, the very fact that there is no roughage given with it in the shape of some good hay, or even come fibrous grass, the rich non-fibrous food passes through the alimentary canal quicker than it can be dealt with by the various digestive processes. Why some farmers have found it so profitable to provide a rack of good hay for cows on spring pasture is that the-hay resists the too rapid passage of the rich non-fibrous grass and thereby allows the cow to assimilate a higher percentage of nutriment from it. For the same reason those who put their cows onto rich pasture for, say, an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, affording them a chance to get some more fibrous food, have given the animals a chance to balance their food, to obtain the full benefit from the good grass and also to keep their digestive organs in good condition.

I There are times when a good supply I of roughage is said to be particularly (desirable. This is in the rearing of | young stock. Scottish breeders of milking stock consider that ample supplies of good hay will develop the body ] and thereby encourage capacity to I deal with a large amount of food for milk producing purposes. Undoubtedly giving the heifer a good supply of roughage facilitates the development of l a roomy digestive tract. Authorities declare that without some coarse food to fill the first three stomachs, proper development cannot take place. Of course, there is roughage and roughage. Only the best quality hay should be | given developing animals. Constitution 1 is largely a matter of good feeding. I i Electric Fences. In view of the suggestion recently made in the Waikato that a certain power board should be asked to investigate the possibility of providing electric one-wire fences, it is interesting to note the progress made in this direction in America. It would not be altogether wrong to assume that if the electric fence cannot be successfully adopted in America there will be little likelihood of it being successful in New Zealand. “It's the amount of precaution taken in controlling the quantity of ‘mysterious tingle’ in electrified fences that may either fool or kill livestock,” is the conclusion reached by Professor C. N. Hinkle, of the agricultural engineering department at Purdue University, America, who has completed recently a study of the situation in Indiana, which revealed that nearly 500 Hoosier farmers are using this type of fence. Nearly 30 farmers using 110 volt alternating current electrified fences had built the electrical controlling devices themselves, and reported the deaths of nine pigs, one bull, one horse and one dog. These losses clearly demonstrated the dangerous qualities of the homemade outfits, Professor Hinkle stated. One incident revealed that two boys were “frozen” to a highly charged electrified fence, which received its current through a 10-watt light bulb, and had not a third brother opened the circuit, death would have resulted soon. Advantages farmers listed in using electrified fences were summarised by Professor Hinkle as follows:—Cures the fence-walking horse, initial and installation costs are less than regular fences, and unruly livestock may be more easily controlled.

Most of the homemade outfits in America have been constructed by attaching the “hot wire” of a 110-voli line directly to the fence, or by first releasing the electrical energy through a low wattage light bulb and then to the fence. All of these methods have resulted in death of livestock and are considered extremely dangerous. Professor Hinkle said. Farmers using commercial fencing units equipped with a device for intermittent current and having the current output limited to a low value have not reported any accidents to date. However, none of the electrified fences have been approved by American state safety organisations.

Influence of Flavour. Flavour largely determines the popularity of most foods, points out the Creamery Journal of America. In selecting their food most people are influenced by the quality of flavour to a larger degree than they realise, states this paper. This propensity is nothing more than the exercise of a natural human elemental make-up. In producing and manufacturing food the full recognition of the importance of flavour did not strike the various industries all at once but came by gradual stages, and some have not yet fully realised the full portent of this food attribute. In a general way it is recognised and admitted, but when it comes to knowing exactly what particular flavour a preponderance of consumers prefer, based on practical research, there is still a woeful lack of definite knowledge on the subject. Perhaps this statement would apply to the butter • industry as fully as to any other. Flavour, coupled with aroma, is a necessary attribute of butter. That is, a flavour that is pleasant to the taste, ami an aroma that gives

evidence in advance that the flavour is desirable. The importance of flavour was recognised when making up the market score card by giving to this quality of butler a rating almost equal to all the other points combined. No matter what the degree of quality in a piece of butter may be if the flavour is badly off the product will not be accepted by the consumer. On the other hand if there arc minor defects in quality, but not sufficient to prevent the flavour from being good, the product will nevertheless be readily accepted by the consumer. It is said that noted chefs have built up their reputation mainly on the fact that their cooking has flavour that is desirable and pleasing to a large per-

I cartage of people. The lend they cock is perhaps not much different from that dished up by other culinary artists, yet the superiority lies in the knack of imparting a flavour that is mere pleasing.

! Milk Fever, j Milk fever is a disease that gener- ! ally attacks mature cows that have ; had three or four calves. U usually i occurs within three days after the | cow calves. It may, however, attack I any cow at any time during her lactation period or a day or two before calving. High producers or fat cows are more subject to milk fever than lew producers or thin cows. It is thought in some quarters that plenty cf water and salt and very little concentrated feed for several days before anc; after calving will help 1o prevent this disease. We would point out to the correspondent who has made inquiries in regard to this disease that recent investigations point to a lack of lime in the blood as the cause of this disease, and cows have been successfully treated by injecting calcium gluconate into the blood streams. The feeding of heavier calcium preparatory to calving has also been found effective. Milk fever may be recognised by the cow’s staggering gait and lack of control of her hind legs. As the disease progresses the cow goes down ■ in a stupor, lying in a norma) position, except that her head is usually turned ! ■o her flank. Later, paralysis may be- j come general, and then the cow lies j on her side. A common treatment ' consists of inflating each quarter of the udder with air filtered through a liquid or cotton. Almost any sort of i air pump will do, but there must be j absolute cleanliness.