The Farm Buildings

Northern Advocate, 15 July 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Farm Buildings

While there are undoubtedly many nice farm homos in the North, there are also many habitations that represent the very barest degree of convenience and comfort. When some farmers return homo after work they • come to a roof and a bed, and one can ' r say little more. There are, moreover, very few conveniences that would . lighten the work of the women, and .it is certainly anomalous that their

- town friends, with less by far to do, v enjoy amenities that would not only be appreciated, but arc really necessary on the farms.

, A There has been, from time to time, .a. good deal of genuine discussion concerning this matter of farm hemes, and the age old question of finance always proves the stumbling block to any definite, plan.

• ; It is very difficult indeed for a foritner to take a pride in his property runless he has also a reasonably nice ■home on it, and vve in New Zealand "wish to maintain a certain pride r.nd .dignity in the. occupation of farming,

If we would avoid the development of X'iyokel class. That class is the very -last that we want here, but it will devclop without a doubt if people let themselves slip into carelessness and ''slovenly ways, and they will quickly do this if they have poor and unattractive homes to live in.

■■ It is therefore a matter of national interest that this matter of proper housing cn farms should be thoroughly .considered, and some feasible plan of action adopted and put into effect. As'building is one of the key industries, any such system would be of importance in our national economy.

Farm Labour One of oin? difficulties With farm labour lies in l the inadequate provision made for their lodging. Many farmers •who have had to rough it in times past, and have got used to that and think that every one else should do so, too, are inclined to the view that anything in the way of accommodation will do for a farm, hand.

While roughing it never hurt any Jinan, it still is a fact that there are very lew people to-day who are prepared to do it, and if we wish to go on to the •_ market for labour, we must bo able to present conditions that will attract men.

Here again the question of finance

crops up, and again some method must be devised to assist those who are actually prepared to give their men good living conditions.

One of the greatest defects in connection with farm accommodation is lack of decent bathing facilities. It is a rather strange thing, but in a country that produces butter andi milk products, foodstuffs that are so widely used, and that so quickly absorb taints and provide a medium that is favourable to the growth of various bacteria, farmers and farm hands usually use their dirtiest clothes to go and milk in and many of the farm hands are not at all personally particular about their cleanliness.

Cow Sheds There arc many people who have watched the process in cow sheds that will never again drink milk. That, of course, is foolish, because in the case of town supply extra precautions are taken, and milk is usually^pasteurised. However, one cannot say truthfully at all that the conditions in most sheds are at all attractive. One often wonders what would happen to our butter market if pictures of some of our sheds and the clothes of the milkers were hung up in the windows of English dairies.

This is a state of affairs that we rather take too much for granted, and the time must come when yve have to bo more particular in every way when we handle these foodstuffs.

The first step in overcoming this difficulty is the provision of proper sheds. There are many farmers who have almost ideal sheds. A farmer has to spend a lot of his time in the shed, and to work under good conditions means a great deal to any man who takes an interest in his work. There arc, however, many farmers who would like better sheds but who have net the capital to invest in them. It seems to be essential in the public interest that some plan bo adopted ■that will enable these men, and there are perhaps a majority of them, to make provision in this way.

It would be an excellent, and feasible thing, if sheds were equipped with a shower room. Where there is electric hot water, and there will soon be very few sheds without it, such equipment would not only add much to the cleanliness of the operation of milking, but

would make the milker fool a hundred per cent, better as ho left the shed. Many people will smile at any such suggestion, but, k one is to judge by the standards being-set in other countries, things like this will sooner or later •have to be done, and the sooner they are done the better for everyone, including the farmer himself.

Other Buildings

Most farms have too few buildings. It is very necessary if one is not to suffer large depreciation of tools and implements, to have them under proper cover. A shed is definitely necessary for this purpose. In many cases the implements arp put in a shed, and the fowls and a few pigs and a calf or two use the same shed, and that Is not very good for the implements.

In the case of a sick animal, a loose box is a very handy thing. Many a beast would have been saved if it had only been taken to a dry warm loose box and looked after under convenient conditions. Where an animal gets down, it can in most cases be saved if it be taken immediately to such a place, but if it is treated in the open, even though it be covered, the cold and wet will undo any benefits that might have resulted from the treatment, and loss is the rule rather than the exception. Further, if one has to go out in the open to feed and look after a sick animal, it is often neglected or attended to very irregularly, whereas if it were in a dry warm shed,, the work would be much easier and would be seriously attended to.

Calf Sheds

It is very shameful indeed to see new born calves tied' up out in the open in all sorts of weathei', but it is a very common sight. Calves are not as hardy as some people think. It is quite easy for them to get a chill, to contract pleurisy, to get a scour that would have been avoided under decent conditions. Apart altogether from that, it is not a fair thing at all to rear calves and to allow them to perfectly cold and miserable through lack of proper accommodation.

Calves are dirty animals ‘to bouse. In the case of a pig, if a dunging passage is provided in the sty, the pig will use it and keep the sty clean. Sties are only dirty when no dunging passage is provided. It is, however, different with a calf. The only really

satisfactoi’y calf house therefore is one with a concrete floor and a drain, and with hay thrown in the back for bedding'. A calf will very quickly dirty the hay and it would be possible to avoid it by laying down hollow concrete blocks or hollow bricks on the back port of the floor, when the bedding would become unnecessary. A wooden floor very quickly becomes impregnated with dirt and water and is not a. very good thing in the case of a calf, A lean-to shed with front: opening to the sun, and with a little yard and rails, rather in fact, like a miniature cow shed, is the best type of house for calves. Bails for feeding can be put in along the yard, and these will be found to be very convenient.

It is remarkable how many farmers still use a trough for feeding all the calves, knocking out the heavy feeders with a stick. After watching and trying both methods, there is little doubt that calf bails are much handier, make the calves more contented, help

SAFETY SONNETS

to gently control the animals, and enable the slow leeder to get its proper requirements. It is quite a good plan to shut the younger calves up in a shed at nights until the warmer weather comes, and for this purpose a good calf house is desirable.

Calf Paddocks While on this subject of calf houses, it would not be out of place to mention the calf paddick. Generally speaking, separate calf paddocks. c»re a failure. They soon get full of buttercups and other weeds, and become so much waste land. Not only is this a difficulty, but they become a great breeding ground for all sorts of harmful bacteria and parasites, and they are almost invariably a real eyesore on the farm. Calves, once they begin to eat grass, should be allowed to go right ahead and get good grass.

Where rotational grazing is practised with the cows, it is a good plan to let the calves go one or two paddocks behind them. Where this would entail too much work, cue or two paddocks that are normally used lor the cows can be utilised, and the calves should be given a change of paddock every low days.

Taken on the whole and judging from the calves that one sees about the country, wo do not rear our calves well at all. A lot more attention could bo paid to this side of farming. This stage, the young stage, is, after all the most important in the life of the animal, II it is neglected then, it will rarely be the same afterwards. It will be stunted or weak in its resistance to trouble, or poor in its production.

To overcome our deficiencies in this direction. I think that wc must provide proper housing for the young calves, keep them clean, not be too mean with the fresh milk, and graze them properly. We must also. 1 think, bail feed them, to give each one every chance.

It will be conjectured by many that if w r e do all this, we do not get our money back when we come to sell them. That is quite correct. It costs quite a lot to feed a calf properly. If, however, we want the calves as future producers in our own herd, this money is exceedingly well spent, and will come back to us many times over.