ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15481, 12 December 1913, Page 10

ON THE LAND.

RANCID BUTTER.

No doubt the commonest cause of rancidity i's failure to wash the butter in the grain sufficiently. The caseinous matter or buttermilk, if left in the butter in excessive quantities, will quickly set up decomposition, and impart a very strong flavour to the produce. It can easily be discovered whether the washing of butter lias been properly performed or not; all that is necessary is to press gently but firmly on a piece of the butter witli any broad instrument,, such as the broad end of an ivory paper knife. If ihe butter has not been washed properly small drops of milky liquid will spurt out under the end i'l the knife. This liquid is buttermilk, and it leaves a vfry sharp, acid taste in the mouth. Surplus buttermilk is very largely the cause of rancidity, and in all cases 11 piesence interferes seriously with the keeping qualities of the produce. Excessive washing of butter does not necessarily ha\e a beneficial effect, on the flavour of the produce, especially in such cases when a rancid flavour is brought about by reason of the presence of some undesirable bacteria. On the contrary, over-washing tends to remove some of the flavour from butter; it also spoils the texture, and if the water is warm it increases the moisture content. All of these are faults that need to be carefully guarded against if a first-class sample is to be produced. As a matter of fact the temperature of the' wash water should be as nearly as possible similar to that of the cream when churned, other conditions being the same. MILKING AND PASTURE. While every farmer recognises that cropping exhausts the soil, and that it is necessary to supply constituents of which the soil has been robbed, or in which it is naturally deficient, few consider the ac tion of animals in this respect. In dairy ing, for instance, a milch cow producing 60001b of milk in a season removes, Professor Wrightson estimates, 121b of phosphoric acid, besides what is stored up in the calf. He considers that, if it requires I2 acres,of pasture (English) to keep a cow, she will remove as much phosphoric acid per acre as is removed by corn growing on the four-course system.- Grass land then, is robbed by grazing animals, as readily as is arable land by a crop; tut in the latter case the practice is to restore what has been taken away. Farmers have learned, that a liberal "application of basic slag or superphosphates to the grass land gives very tangible results. A vigorous growth of clovers and other nutritious fodder plants invariably follows when the land is thrown out. On the other hand, where land has been devoted to dairying for a number of years, the better grasses disappear and coarser kinds take their place. The same occurs with sheep. Just as in cropping, where growing the one crop in the same ground year after year results in the spread of diseases peculiar to that plant, so grazing continuously affords every help to animal diseases. A leading veterinarian some years ago pointed out that losses with cows through cripples was due to a want of phosphates in their feed. It is hardly likely that any manuring of grasses will be attempted' on large areas anywhere; but on dairy farms, if the industry is to be carried on profitably for a length ° time, this matter must 'be con sidered. The obvious remedy is to adopt a practice of mixed farming, whereby the dairy herd will benefit in two ..ways. Fodder crops should be grown in a rotation for feeding the cows, and by manur- ... ing these heavily the pastures to follow will also benefit. It is no use endeavour- • ing to improve the milking qualities of the . nerd unless their proper feeding is also attended to. Vv' 'INTENSIVE DAIRYING. As an illustration of what may be accomplished in New Zealand under intensive cultivation methods, the Taranaki. Herald cites the experience of a small farmer who lives a few miles from New Plymouth :—"A ' (I"? ago he had about eighty 'acres . of land naturally, no more fertile than .. the land surrounding him. Recognising the . va ue 01 intensive farming, he disposed of ..- -nail his land, retaining less than forty ; acres, upon which he now maintains a herd of twenty purebred Jersey cows, besides Pigs a horse or .two, and a few young .;. stock. From these cows he looks for a •- cash.return tins year of about £27 pet -/head, or £540, including, of course. Ibis ~.,: calves and pigs. ~ It i 3 not every dairy , {farmer who is capable of getting such ', returns, but if the average return per cow ; lor the Taranaki district was only half § rV™l Products would be "worth I=s about £2,000,000. If, i„ addition, all the land now devoted to dairying were carry- ■: me as much stock as this particular farm . ■•. the value of he.produce would be more ,;. than doubled again. -A better state ol .. ■ things is gradually coming about, and if i ■• is not necessary to go. to Denmark fa .;. examples.of high returns from a few cows v . on a small area, for there are now a nnmI s t rt el little, farms in the district [which afford. ample proof of the theory that dairy farmers can do better on a small area scientifically.; treated, with no more cow: . than he. can manage without hired labour than on double or. treble the area oi neglected land, which, grows less eras* •■. every succeeding year." . '.;'

THE COLOUR OF MILK. The colour of milk will vary with the breed of cow yielding the milk, and the feeding the cow • receives. Some foods have the effect of giving the milk a good • colour, and other kinds, of food just th* /: reverse. The natural colour of milk is due to the colouring matter, "lactochrome," present in the butter-fat. Milk is paler in colour during winter when the animals are stall fed. Rich coloured milk yields butter of a deep yellow colour when , it is well made. ' Several faults in the • making of butter cause much of the colour to disappear, and this should be guarded against.'

J MEASURING .HAY IN STACK. •> t For obtaining the number of tons of hay a in a stack, tho first step is to measure tho width and length with a tape line, and then what is known as the overthrow', that is, pass a, tape line from the bottom, of the stack on one side over to the "bottom on the other side, and divide this measurement which is called the overthrow by three, then multiply the length by the width, and this by one-third of the overthrow—this gives you the number of cubic feet in the stack. Of course, if the stack is different widths or different heights you will have to take the measurements in several places and obtain the average of these by adding them together and dividing by tho number of measure, ments made. The number of cubic feet of bay per ton varies considerably with the length of time- that it has been stacked. With newly stacked hay it will take, about 500 cubic feet to equal a ton. If it has been stacked for two or three months, from 350 to 400 cubic feet will equal a ton After you have obtained the number of cubic feet in the stack, divide by the number of cubic feet in a ton taking into consideration the length of time that the hay has been stacked. THE DRAIN OF PHOSPHATES. The phrase "No phosphate no life ' is rather a hackneyed one, but it expresses the vital necessity of supplies of phosphate of lime in the development of all , life, both animal and vegetable. As a well-known expert lias remarked, when the unceasing dram of phosphates from all descriptions of cultivated soils, year after year and century after century is taken into | consideration it is no matter for surprise that our fields and pastures should have become denuded of this conBtitnenk We are liable to think that arable fields are more subject to loss from t cropping than pasture grounds, and this erroneous idea has; controlled practice even down to tho present time. It should, however, be remembered that pas- ' tures are perpetually being robbed by . • grazing animals. In their case it has been constant depletion,.- for while manure* of ~.; various kinds are freely applied.to arable ;.., land, pastures are too often neglected •-"'■ and .supposed to preserve their fertility through the simple act of grazing. *