ON THE LANDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17251, 29 August 1919, Page 10

ON THE LANDS.

".I EE-STOCMNG- BELGIUM. .■ u h?9|je|. < .c^tt^.vssf■ for ' warded in iho first consignment to' Belgium iyVifeAfiricaJtaraJ.; Belief of 'Allies Coj[aini|iiea. ;: ®|y have 'ail .pern distribai«di«.among jpeiiaanta in the •war zone. Tils 20 bulla were entrusted to the more stihstantial aimers, who could, maintain them proparly i! and the other recipients may Lav©. ( their heifers served by thaw bolls at * f«e not exceeding sf, The heifers were-allotted to those who before t-bjj war had possessed a small number of cows, not earctwdiag 10. The names were drawn by lot, and 'when tb*rs were more applicants than he'fsrs a farther list was drawn by lot, to whom the first calves will be allocated. Recipients of heifers have to keep them for three years at least or forfeit five times the value. In every cast) the animal is a free gift. An association is being forcned of recipients, and ft show is to ba held in the autumn at each centre, at which prizes will be given for the- best-kept animals. RTONEEB SHEEP-FABMERS. In 1807 tho Rev. Samuel Marsdon carried some of his own wool, grown near Sydney, to Leeds, where ho had it manufactured. Ho had tha satisfaction to learn that it was considered equal, if not superior, to that of Saxony or France. His private letters abonud with intimations that before long Australia would become tho groat wool-producing country to which the English manufacturer would look. He was introduced to King George 113; and took, tho liberty, through Sir Joseph Banks, of praying far a couple of M&ino sheep, His Majesty's property, to improve the bi-eed in Australia, His last latter from England, dated from tho Got*eg Rogtds;.. mentions" their reception on board. \ He' wrote: " We are at this moment get-! ting under weigh, and soon expecij, to be: tipin the ocean. I havo received a pre- i sent of five-. Spanish sheep from the King's j nook, which are all on board. If I ami so fortunate as to get them out, they will ! be a most valuable acquisition to the; colony." Li 1804 Marsden owned .1200 ; sheep, and held 1720 acres. He wroia a few_ letters to Banks with encouraging v.civs of. sheep-breeding, and proposed experfinehting with Leicester arid lincoln tbeefci. torn rams of - which he had instructed his agent to export. ... ■ "■■ ■ \y '" ' ~ PIONEER FARMERS. In his " Life of Sir Joseph Banks," Edward Smith, F.R.H.S., makes this interesting reference to Captain Macarthur: •• Telling his own story at the Office of Trade, he convinced the committeev that i.h?re was a greet future in store for New South Wales.- -The statistics which lie offered would show them the possibility of .supplying England with any - quantity of the * finest wool that ehe required. .And he was detefcmaad, on his :; return' home, to devat© his -Jirfir©. attention to the subject-.- Ite'Eupgoirt of- persons interested ixi the matter soon' became highly enaotjr»lsirigv»v liesgffiftgft home ■ havrngapnarantiy (inverted everybody. Hie Government mad*- him. -a new grant of 10,000. acres, lie took batik with him five Spanish Merino sheep, which bo had bQUnbi at the-Klng's' sale In 1804, and a number of plants and fruit trees. He now became the leading planter and agnctuterisi in tlia colony, intending his operations constantly, and adding largely to its pros-, perity. Hence. Macarthur came to be cfited the real founder of New Booth A. friendly «ompefitor "was the 'iU&v. Saftiusl : .Msgr*den. "chaplain and magisl.ftte. King describes ESfa^So TsS_* " : i^ctkai.feJfetfS ia,|he Kpafay.' '■ •■•' -* ''-••- § BRITISH DAIRY .SUEPLIESi I] j | .Mr. ,L. A.; Buddick,, Castadian Dairy Ojmruissioner, r states that the annual importation of bntier into Great Britain up t.T the outbreak of war was very neajfiy 500,000,0001b. Of this qwaitity i?racttcally 2K).000.0001b cinpe from Denmark. The oiber chief vßpßjies of Supply were/Russia, Australia, Sweden, New Zealand, and Franca in She order named. The* present situation will be easily understood when it is realised that in addition to a large reduction in iha the supplies from DennSe3cv*; Sweden, Rusna, and France, totaliiug 34Q,0&D,00a!8' «anally, ate wholly cutoff for the present. Tim importation of cheese before the war ! amounted to about 280,000,000:b, of which Canada supplied 150,000,0001b, the other sources' of , supply being New Zealand, Holland, . and Italy in the order named. Neither the Netherlands nor Italy is in a position to famish any cheese at present, find the total imports from these two <roaatries before the war amounted to .44,110,9361b annually. Canada always has henj.. a larger exporter of cb««se and during recent years has become a large exporter of butter as well. The statistics given aboro , require no' elaboration to show that the dairymen of Canada will have less competition in their old market, eat Britain, than ever before, and good prices will fee assured tt<r some time to come. .', ' '* ' * ~ ;" ~* ■'■"- - ■ VALVE. OF PROTEISI. The value. of ; protein as, the - necessary food for. keeping rip all tbeiircag tissues of aa animal is widely known. &© ; most difficult problem of both feeding <afctlo and raiding Crops isj, to keep up wa supply of this ilitrogenpas food. It will be x seea (that of green fodders' the various legumes,, as lucei ae, clovers, peas, ami bean stand -pre-eminent. . AM the root crops are relatively poor in protein, while ensilage ana 'hay correspond to I'm greenstuif from which they are made, bat an hay the percentage is. relatively high, bscanse the dry matter has been iacreaaed by the disappearance of 60 per cent, of the -water. As the crop ripens the protein is rapidly concentrated in the seeds, and hence the richness .of grain and the poverty of straw. Here again the quantity of protein attains * maximum in peas t..j beans. IMPROVING FARM STOCK. li we could only impress it on the minds of every farmer that certain results invariably follow certain conditions, we would be a long distance on the road towards the ideal dairy animal, says Hoard's . -tryman. Everything connected with a low is the result of & pa-pose, whether )t. bo for offence or defence, speed or drait, or protection to the young or her- *«■ f. In th« wild state all the character- , ci- are „o evenly developed that no '.J lr Z ' 8 P ro «''Bent; she runs i either to fat nor milk, her whole body - ..f . equal value But as B oon as we w &m to bi ;- e . d her for our own uee we find tl-at in certain ways the must be modified. 1 la- men who breed for beef find that the wild animal is not suitable for their purpose- It is too full in some places too deficient.in others, too much bone ' here too little fleeh there. Consequently I they begin to breed toward a certain form and we find that everything is subservient to that form. They have rounded, filled out, and padded until they have produced ' iii. animal in which everything that can post olv draw from the flesh-producing t...w..T is eliminated. The men who have had the lost aaccMa with dairy animals hive been equally successful, oiilj in another direction. They have found that a laige amount of flesh on an animal is kept up at the expense of the milk flow. A pound of flesh on an animal requires a certain amount of feed to keep up its vitality, to replace the waste that in continually going on. and to su.""'v the pow.r that is necessary for its transportation when on the animal. All this must be supplied at the expense of the milk pi eduction. In proportion as the breeder has recognised this fact, he has red-: ed the superfluous flesh, has carefully fostered any tendency toward an increase in the milk-producing organs, and by continuous and progressive selection towards tho result sought has given us the dairy Ik smt ' ■ *». Proportion, as th * breeder- al-

",■'•'■-. '"„-'/'"" ""'•' "■ '■■■ 'B ; lows himself to deviate from 'this type, he ?is fintfoduttttg' factors -which " decrease, in; .proportion to the change introduced, .thc<vre*uife' ; he 'has -so.Jong worked for. It may be that the change is towards beef } if so, every: pound of meat so produced is at the expense of the milk. If he jaereiyr allows- his aPrnals to' revert • to the nature type, producing neither i j beef nor milk, -it may be that such an . animal is better prepared for undergoing exposure and poor feed, but she wiff not fill the breeder's pocket-book, although ' she may save him veterinary bills. Dairy i cows are not kept to withstand hardship i o* privation. A scrub bull may save a , dollar at the beginning, but it is at the expense of many dollars lost" in the future*. 1 _ '~ EXPORTING BAD SEEDS. ' New Zealand has every prospect of Aew Zealand has every prospect of « buUding up a valuable export trade in i various seeds. The exportation of in--1 terror seeds will ruin this trade, and the ,■ Government should take action to find out what merchants were exporting, for the iniquitious transaction as related below : — 1 x During the month of March, .says the , Melbourne Leader, large quantities of seed . were imported into New South Wales , from New Zealand. The agrostologist of the New South Wales Department of Agriculture, Mr. E. Breakwell, states that amongst the consignments were many of 'he dirtiest lots of seeds ever inspected under tho quarantine regulations. The . average number of very impure consign- , ments inspected in a year is about 12, but this number was exceeded in the 6 ; ngle month mentioned above. So dirty 1 were they that orders were given to have > the seed cleaned before it was released , from bond, but it is extremely doubtful . 1 if some of the noxious weed seeds present . can be removed by existing machinery. 11 this doubt is well grounded, it would ' bo advisable to deport the various con--1 signment3 concerned rather than distri- > bnte over the State various seeds and the . various harmful weeds contained therein. ; the reason for this remarkable influx of ( impure seed are obscure. It may be that various seedsmen troubled by the serious ' shortage in existing stocks of-various-seeds i lave not adopted 'the usual precautions in oversea purchases, and have been content to obtain their stocks from careless growt; ers; or it may be that the war has been the cause of serious deterioration in New Zealand, and weeds have gained the up- '' Per hand in what were originally clean, i well-kept fields. In any case, Mr, Break- . well expresses the opinion that Australian , farmers are laying up for themselves a ( swious amount of trouble if teed such as that imported is sown in their paddocks. ■ One of the worst of weed seeds and the : commonest present was sorrel (Butnex acfctdsella). In two consignments of rib grass this seed is said to have been present in alarming propoirtions. The- sowing of rib grass atone for a pasture i 6 not advicated by the New South Wales department. It is now far too common in South Coast pastures, and if desired it will certainly come, and that without farmers being at the trouble of sowing it. But the appearance of a paddock after sowing rib gras3 with 10,000 sorrel seeds to every pound can well be imagined. Another , remarkable feature noticed by Mr. Breakwell in the seed imported was that large consignments of seed labelled I "CloVer" were found on inspection to { tbneist of inferior varieties. In one case j there" was 79 per cent, of Suckling clover I .(Trifolhim' dubium) and IS per cent, of while clover, plus noxions weeds; while in a second case there was SO per cent. Suckling clover and 4 per cent, white clever.. Suckling clover is a slender annual that fir never advocated fcy good farmers for sowing in pasture. If this seed, therefore, is sold sis white clover seed, the sec daman is probably liable to prosecution under common law.- In both these cases asrain sorrel seed was present in astonishing proportions. A consigaement of alsike* clever contained something like IS per cent, of red clover eeeds, plus noxious weeds. Red clover cannot, of course, be classed as a noxious weed, bat when a far- , mer bays alsike clover he does not want jr®d clover, Tor his land may be suited to , one,, .and niisaited to the other. hj'l '~ ;"."' -: '■■<"•■ ——' • "IMPROVING mttjt YIELDS. ..Whatever may be -the purpose uppermost in the,mind of the individual breeder, 'it is obvious that the real purpose of testing is, or should be, the development <f : dairy cattle 3 toward more economical production by selection; based, to a reasonable extent, upon milk and fat records.. The question, then, reverts to one of economics. As population increases and land becomes poorer and higher in price, the average dairy cow must become more ard ntibTe"" economical in the use of her feed in the processes of production. If we grant this to be true, that this is the real purpose of testing, then cur problem is to decide how this purpose may best be accomplished. In the long run, it is the average farmer who is to raise the standard of production of the nation's , cows. A man here and there wHI conduct his cattle breeding in such a way that he will succeed in producing a strain of. cattle whose production will be on a higher plane than the average for hie i breed. When Ihis is done intelligently ( and the resulting animals are not thereby ' rendered deficient in some other neces- , sary quality definite advancement has _ been made and blood from these animals ' will scatter far and wide and leaven the mass of the breed. Such success has been , possible only to a few because of the cost in money, time, and skill. Now, if the : average farmer is the man who must per- ■ form the most of this work, how can he ' best do it? The answer is by testing his cows carefully year after year undes conditions of what may bo termed good dairy husbandry, and by using bulls "From stock, handled in the same way, that has • proved its ability to produce economically, i Che # bull question is receiving much at- , tention nowadays, but it seems that many : breeders make a mistake here as well as in their desire to produce big.records nneco- , nomically. They seem to be chiefly interested in the butter-fat record of the dam of the prospective sire, but entirely unmindful of the conditions under which that record was made. It is obvious that a bull from a cow with a high record, produced by heavy feed and unusual care, cannot get any higher producing stock tbsn one which is from a cow with a creditable record made under usual or ordinary care, _£___« ...... VALUE OP LEGUMES. 1 ¥ Owing to the high cost of nitrogenous fertilisers, farmers should endeavour to conserve nitrogen by every means possible. Leguminous plants should, therefore, take a prominent place in every rotation. It is well known that in many districts red clover is liable to become "clover sick" if sown on the same field at too short intervals. It is probable that none of the leguminous forage plants are absolutely safe from attacks of " clover sieknfss," but it is evident that red clover is the most susceptible. Peas or beans, both valuable crops under existing conditions, could with advantage be introduced into the rotation of land known to be sick " provided that it is at the same time suitable for the production of these crops, while in the formation of rotation leys, plants other than rod clover should be used on "sick" land; or a mixture consisting only partially of red clover should replace large seedlings of red clover by itself. Alsike clover, white clover and trefoil do not suffer from , 'clover sickness " to nearly the same extent as red clover, and may, therefore, be used as substitutes for red clover. LAND AND CAPITAL. A lead l inK Australian paper says:— According to old-world ideas. Australian ' SnteT'™ alrc r fc Blwa - V8 nave too much capital wrapped up in land, with an in ' fcufl «:iency of working capital. the nro- ■ portion of working a P ltal deemed necessary is somewhere about 30 per cent and ■ not less than 25 per cent. Thus on a ' »ttUDum grant of £2500, thfamount • advanced for live stock, machinery, seed 1 f*cd, labour, etc., should be about £750 ■ and not less than £625. Tho maximum . advance to soldier settlers in AusTraH™ ; r* ritin i ?« : ,E?P ltal has hiM r h een increased i Unity that the maximum will be reached ' and this hardly gives scope euouah for i- enterprise. The factors which make a - farm pay are sufficient working capital i wisely expended, the economical emplov--7 mont of labour, and high yields from crops - > and acock. r