ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18171, 17 August 1922, Page 10

ON THE LAND.

BLEBJS-'rESTma PROPOSALS. Our VsHey cort6«pOTdeat writeß : « being *&«* 3 f ™» estobnshing nerd-tesflmg schemes* in the Wa&sto, the low prices that at* being received for offered for italei unwownpanied by records of butter-fal, backing or production no doubt beinif an incentive to the promoters of the :' schemes that have been brought forward. Following the announcement of the scheme propounded by the Momnsville branch of 1 the New Zealand Farmers' Union comes a proposal for a simple system of herdtasting, initiated under the ausjJices of the Waikirto executive of the uaion. The system is meant to suit the retirements of the farmer, who, while bdiovxng in herd-testing, has not the additional labour to carry oat the task The plan, which was originally suggested by Mr llagtier, sesretaiy of the Te Xowhai branch of the Union, has: been devoloped by Mr. Schmitt, the Waiksrto district organiser, and he* been approved of by the Waikato execu- " tive. Briefiy stated, it provides for the appointment of testers for the season, who •mil attend at each shed for two milkings each month, and themselves carry out all the wort of weighing, sampling, and.toting. Each tester so employed would be allotted 30 herds, so that one shed could be dealt with each day, night and morning. Thus, assuming the season lasted nine months, 18 tests would have been taken of individual cows, waich, in the opinion of men well qualified to judge, should provide the farmer with i .useful guide as to the productive capabilities pi eYery animal in his herd. Payment vould b« inade on the per cow basis, and the fee Would be fixed at the lowest rate possible to provide for the payment of tne tester and the necessary appliances, lhe Government would be approached for a subeiidy, and the Breed Societies would also be asked to assist, in the hope that the scope of the usefulness of the scheme would in time develop sufficiently to supersede the more expensive seini-ofnciai testing lor C.0.8. In order that a cow culled oat as a poor producer by one farmer might not be bought again by another without knowledge of her capability as a butter-fat producer, the scheme provides: for the branding of every cow under test in such a manner that s&e could be easily identified and her record ascertained. One main purpose* of the plan was to ultimately raise the standard of production, this part of the scheme b«.ing essential, in order to prevent cull cows getting back into other dairy herds, and thus keeping down the general average and penalising farmers who had unknowingly bought culls. Details of the best and most economical method of brand. irig had yet to be considered.

EKEEDING DAmY COWS.

Information of considerable value to diwy larmers as to how to breed stock so as to increase their production was iraparted by Mr. A. E. Mussen, of Hamilton, to. this meeting of the MorrinsviUe branch of the New Zealand Fanners' Union. Mr. Misseo said although there were tunes when a fanner felt inolined to put his ■■,-. boot into the old dairy cow it must be remembered that many people wore dependent upon her, business men as well kg farmers. What he said applied particularly ito Mbrrinsville, which was 4he centre of a large dairying district. -'--■■ As-,laras he was concerned, whenever he had a chance to h«lp: the dairy cow and improve her , • type and production he would do so. Before iiouching on the importani subject of breeding, Mr. Missen said he would like to referto other and hardly lewjiaportarat Ibranehes of the business—feeding and I w«jeding. It was quite unnecessary, to dwell, overmuch on the question of feeding. Tlie dairyman might spend a fortune in breeding "and selection of .stock and yet iriatos little headway unless he attended to this very important branch of hi& business. Unfortunately few farmers fed their stock either well enough or wisely enough. Hie majority underfed their stock.' Few dairymen realised that the oJd (Baying was true, that half the breed went down the throat. It was essential that feuding should be continuous, summeir arid winter, for the winter feeding of dairy ftfrock played a very important part in summer production. Grass was the natural fo>d of the cow, and if there was an abundance of good rich succulent grass littlo cluie would bo needed to help the increase and maintenance of milk and butterfat. Mij\ Missen stated that without generous feeding the benefits of scientific breeding would never be apparent. Again, by generous feeding the *'poarder " or " cull " cow could he more easily and more quickly detected. Too many "farmers kept too nuiray "boarders." The "culls" would consume just as much as the good cow, but instead of putting it into the bucket she put fit on her back or wasted it. Mr., Miisseo said that in every shed them should he a net of scales and a testily; outfit,, for only by means of the scales and this Babccck tester could the " robber" cc/\w he detected. There was now on,,th«> ma.rk«t what' was known as cow-detectors, and some of these hs»d been proved to -be irraiite reliable. Herd-testing was shortly to become a very important branch of the dairying, industry, and steps to put the • necominendatioiis of the MorrinsviUe branch of the New Zealand Fanners' Union in * . this connection. into practical form were being taken, th a very few days be hoped to »Be the union a work bearing fsruiit and herd-testing taken up enthusias ticfiilly in the MorrinsviUe district. Eventually, he hoped to see the whole of tho Dominion benefitingby the commendable efforts of the Morrinsville branch of thei New Zealand Fanners' Union. Mr. Missen said he could tell Of numerous instances, where the " robber "■ cow had been sold and resold year after year through the farmer not having some systematic method of being able to identify his neighbours "culls.'* He was in hopes that this' state of things would not continue much longer and that th© *' cull" would :Snd her proper place—the butcher's block or the boneyard. To the speaker's way of thinking what he had already placed before the meeting, important as it was, had_ its limits and would never canry the dairyman further than being the ordinary cow-puncher. Feeding, weeding, and breeding should go hand in hand, and who could tell the limits it was possible to attain by the scientific breeding of 'das;ry utock? Who among those" present would have thought it possible SO years ago to have cows producing up to 10001b or 19001b of butterfat in one year? And yet there were some cows in New Zealand that had done that. Mr. Miwen said he believed it was quite possible by careful selection and breeding to still further in-' «£f A* Production and go far beyond what bad already been attained.

FiRES-GH' WINE INDUSTRY.

hsffi£ S &*&* m iOS which was recently held in Pans included,* a conference $ growers, rnerchants and dS^ nee T fi| primary object was to reestablish tht proßpenty or the wine trade Fort? years ago 6,000,000 acres in France unS vine cultivation yielded alx>nt 1 825 QOO OM gallons oi wwa per year. S 'th. acreage is 4,000,(500 and tha «„♦£! 1,000.000,000 gallop ißtaSli of Se Academy of Agriculture, states thai the «ale of wines Em diminished by X r*r tributes thus to the increased dutie, T Wad, which are prohibitive for ordinal £.nes and points out that the p2 English duties represent a tax of 17™! cent, .on fine Bordeaux wine, 35 per cenft on vin ordinaire and 118 per cent 1 tho cheapest wine*. M. GervTas advocaW a R en«ral revision of the tariffs frornth« prepositional point of view. The Fw£ decide upon a prSoJSSS campaign in the AlHed and neffiS Jtnes an favour of French wines.