RICH WAIKATO

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21349, 25 November 1932, Page 14

RICH WAIKATO

PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY 1 |gj MORE I NTEf.CJ VE METHODSj!

RAISING YIELD PER ACRE |

NEW STANDARDS SET '1

No. ir. His Excellency the Governor-General cently declared that with intensive grass, land management involving, first, a short period of close grazing, second, cultivation with the particular use cf the harrows, and ■ third, the use of nitrogenous fertilisers to obtain a succession of short grass crops a yield per acre four times as great could be obtained. In another speech, he said that the good farmer, by the application of scientific and more intensive methods, was able to hold his own, obtaining not a paltry 801b. of butter-fat per acre which was the Dominion average,' but 2001b. or 300 lb. or even 3501b an acre.

There are many instances of his ideal being well on the way to realisation in tho Waikato, even by those who have not been established a long time. : Transformed Farm The following case suggests how achievj. ment of high production can be gained by men who start right without excessiv# overhead. A year or two ago an English family, whose prospects in a certain lin# of manufacture had disappeared, raine to New Zealand, and. under good guidance, bought a badly-neglected farm of 30 aerej in the Waikato. It could be classed aj second-class land. In the first, season it was carrying 24 cows and some yearlings and is showing a remarkable return that-*is quite profitable at present prices. Hard work transformed it. Well fertilised with a balanced mixture, closely subdivided to enable keen rotational grazing to be car* ried out, the farm was in wonderful heart for the heifers, which were marked calvea under the herd-testing tystem before the? caino into profit." The use of sulphate o! ammonia in conjunction with, lime and phosphate produced early succulent feed, well mineralised and easily digested, a month before calving, and the herd not only was fitted to reach the maximum output almost from the start, but possessed the strength to resist disease. Small Holdings

This is a striking illustration of intensive production-on a small area. "I hav« heard it said," remarked a dairying authority "that the settling of small holdings will create a peasant class. I do not know what there is derogatory in the term. But if it is suggested that it necessarily means a low standard of living by an ignorant type whose influence will handicap the rise of the race I most strongly object. The highest degree of skill in the management of pasture and herds is being exercised on some of the small holdings, which can absorb the full time of an energetic man and employ all hig brains. Better farming is being performed on some of them than on many large areas, and the day will come when 50 acres will be regarded as a large dairv farm in many parts of the Waikato and "the probability is that there will be a higher average standard of independence through the application oi scientific methods, combined with individual attention to animals, ! which is the secret of success in herd' management." Once again, an authority points the way to a future in the Waikato which wiil mean a very much higher production per acre. Financial Problem It will take time to make intensive farming general in the Waikato," said a man who controlsjwide interests that an locked up in the land. " The process means considerable expenditure. Few men have to-dav the resources required for subdivisional fencing, which is the first essential and the existence of a good deal of inferior land and land in the making will restrict the movement, but there is no question that the small farm well handled will establish a new economic basis and pave the way to the realisation of tlie dreads of those who declare that thn production per acre can be multiplied." Dr. H. E. Annett, a scientific investigator of very wide experience, an authority on grasses and a practical farmer who is performing a great public service in spreading his knowledge among the farming community, emphasises the "absolute importance of top-dressing in general, of the use of better-balanced manure than is now the vogue, and is preaching the " economics of fertilising." This is not the place for detailed discussion of the subject, but his contention can be emphasised that the whole ba.sis of fertilising should be on butter-fat production and no man of intelligence can fail to share his confidence that the lands of the Waikato are capable of increasing their yield several times over. Correct Strains of Rye

Ihe increase, in Dr. Annett's opinion, does not depend on fertilising and management alone. Rye, lie says, is the basii of ail good pasture, but to get the result! it must be the right strain. " There are many Waikato farms with old pasture* of perennial rye and clover the production from which is double that of indifferent pasture," he said. "Replacement of inferior grasses by the. best will double the output if the land is scientifically grazed, coarse growth kept down by the mower if necessary, and the cattle under rotational grazing always fed on the short green growth. Fertilisers properly applied may account for another 40 per cent." Dr. Annett is another advocate of the small holding for the reasons already mentioned,, to which he adds another—tho absolute power to control weeds. Speaking of the fortune of farming in the Waikato. ho said that without being a pessimist lie would not care to make any commitment on tho basis of butterfat. at Is 3d a lb. If that was to be the best outlook for the future, tho necessary adjustments must bo made by increasing production per acre. Butter-fat could not safely be relied upon as the solo product.! The pig industry could be developed. Ht mentioned several farmers who to-day are making from pigs a sum equal to twopence a pound on their butter-fat. Poultry also could bo a valuable dairy farm sideline. One farmer of his acquaintance ran 700 birds which were largely fed on curdled skim milk, the return being substantial.