THE RURAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20990, 1 April 1930, Page 4

THE RURAL WORLD.

FARM AND STATION NEWS.

Next Year’s Wool Sales. In a roster of New* Zealand woo] sales for the 1930-31 selling season,.published in these columns on March 25, the second Dunedin sale, which will be held on February 3, was omitted. The list of local' sales is as follows: —December 19, 0 a.m.; February 3,2 p.m.; March 0, 9 a.m.; and April 10, 2 p.m. Pasture Management.

The season has been of such a nature that in many districts where a fair amount of autumn rain usually falls it will be found highly advisable to “top" the pastures with the mower during the early autumn, in order to remove patches of long, rank, mature growth. The removal of these patches results in tire development of a valuable, even, fresh growth when adequate moisture has been provided by rain. If in early autumn suitable dry stock are available to consume the coarse growth that calls for removal, then the mowing just mentioned can be dispensed with. It is gratifying that more and nidre farmers, judging by their practice, are becoming convinced of the value’of mowing pastures on which stock have failed suitably to control the growth. The proper pruning or cuttingback of pastures, whether it be by animal or mechanical means, will In the future be a most influential consideration on thousands of farms, because it will lessen or remove the necessity of providing highproducing stock with concentrated feeds or special forage crops. Autumn Harrowing. Autumn harrowing of the pastures is a valuable practice which is rightly growing in popularity. At this season harrowing has a twofold purpose. In the first place it effects distribution of the animal-drop-pings, which tend to_ accumulate during the dry summer period in which it is often inadvisable to harrow. These droppings, which, if undisturbed, do injury to the pasture, are a source of valuable fertilising material -when effectively scattered. In the second place, grass-harrow-ing should be considered and made a form of cultivation. The sooner it is popularly realised that grass, like other crops, responds to cultivation, the sooner wifi suitably severe harrowing be looked upon generally with favour rather than with misgiving. Up to the present the cultivation generally given our grassland by harrowing has been too light rather than too severe. Grassland is specially likely to respond to autumn cultivation because in the autumn certain valuable pasture species tend to develop a fresh crop of feeding-roots. Surface cultivation, by pulverising the soil, occasions the conditions favouring vigorous development of these valuable feeding-roots. Standardised Cheese. The yield of standardised cheese should bo calculated on the weight of the fat contained in “the whole milk, less the weight-of fat contained in the cream of the milk which was skimmed; and the fat in the cream, whether disposed of as cream or made into butter, should be credited to either cream sold or butter manufactured. This method ensures compliance with the requirements of clause 4 of the Dairy Industry Amendment Act, 1922, prescribing the statement of overruns and yields which are to be furnished annually by dairy companies to their suppliers. Under this clause it is not necessary to _ take cognisance of the fat in the skim-milk. Dairying Industry. The milk yield is now showing a fairly rapid decline, but in view of the fact that production so far this season has .been a record, it is probable that tfce back-end supply will bo sufficient to maintain the good position established earlier in the year. The cheese market is very dull, and there are no movements locally. Although a fair number of factories have sold thenoutput to the end of the season, quite a large proportion of the Southland manufacture for the latter part ,of the season is going forward on consignment. The London market is depressed, hut the return over, the whole season shoiild.be fairly satisfactory. A Good Season. -One Southland, dairy . factory that’, is having 1 a very successful season from the point of view; of production is the-Island Company, which is'supplied by the Mataura • Island district. In the 1926-27 season the factory produced about 284 tons, in the following season the output increased to 301 J tons, and last season was a record with 332 J tons. Up to the end of February this year there had already been an increase of about 261 tons on the production for the corresponding period of last year. The final’results of the season depend largely on the weather conditions for the remaining months, but it seems practically certain that this factory will exceed the output for the previous season and probably by a very considerable quantity. Dairy Produce Market. The London quotations for both butter and cheese, as cabled to the Dominion each week, show that prices have, been falling steadily ever since the week ended October 18, when the average quotation for New Zealand finest salted butter was 181 s per cwt.’ By the end of the year the price had declined to 160 s, a drop of 21s per cwt, or about 11.6’per cent. , But the fall has been rather more marked during the past 12 weeks, for the price is nowstated to be 130 s, or 30s below the closing price at the end of last year, equal to about 18.75 per cent. In the following table the average weekly prices are given, with the corresponding weekly figures for 1929 and 1928: 1930. 1929. 1928.

The highest price obtained this season was in October, when 181 s per cwt was realised, so that butter has dropped about 50s from the top price of the season, this being equal to about 28 per cent. Compared with the corresponding period of last year, the decline is 33s per cwt. or over 20 per cent., and compared with the corresponding week of -1928 the fall is 40s per cwt, or over 30 per cent. The prewar quotation for New Zealand butter on the London market was 118 s, so that the present quotation of 130 s is only 12s higher, or a little more than 10 per cent. Autumn Top-dressing. Much grassland can very profitably be in the autumn. Autumn topdressing tends to give a greater supply of winter and early spring feed, and to avoid to some extent the excessively heavy growth in late spring and early summer, a growth which on many farms it proves awkward to deal with effectively. Hence, autumn top-dressing tends to hegot a more even grass growth throughout the year: and a more even grass growth is in many instances a step towards easier farming and cheaper production. The manures that principally call for attention are the phosphatic ones. Of these, superphosphate is the most widely used, and this preference for super is probably sound practice. Super will give successful results where the rainfall is too low for success with the other phosphatic manures, and where the rainfall is high it will on the average quite hold* its own with the other phosphatic fertilisers. This is particularly the case on farms where the practice has been adopted of top-dressing each paddock every season. In certain districts splendid results have been obtained with basic slag. When this is the case farmers should not lightly depart from slag except in a trial way, especially if there is not a great deal of difference between the price of high-grade slag and of 44-46 per cent, super. Provided relatively quick action is not desired, the African and similar phosphates deserve consideration

EtJSTICTTS.

It«,in» <Mf interest to those engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuit*, with a view to their publication in these columns, will 1)8 welcomed. STJiej should be Addressed to "Bnsticus," Otago Daily Timers, Duaedi*

In the management of Cdrricdale sheep, I the same rules apply as /vith any other breed of paddock sheep, namely, daily at; tention, frequent shifts to fresh pastures, an adequate supply of dean water, attention to crutching and dogging, and at least once a- year have all the sheeps’ feet trimmed to keep down overgrown hoof, thereby preventing footrot. In my experience, the Corricdale sheep, on ordinary ridge or terrace land, is no more subject to foot troubles than any other breed. 'lt is only a small amount of labour that is required to turn up each sheep and cut back any overgrown hoof, and this is well repaid by the greatly reduced, risk, of footrot becoming established in one’s flock. No matter what the breed, all flocks must be culled regularly, and preferably by one man, over, a period of years, in order to establish type and uniformity. After annually culling out the undesirables for a number of years, a noticeable improvement will become apparent in the young stock, and as.time goes on the number of culls will grow less and a greater family resemblance will be noted over the whole flock. The object aimed at by every stud breeder is to have his whole flock as alike as peas in a pod. so that an outsider has difficulty in picking one sheep from another. . Patience, persistence, and a loving regard for the welfare .and progress of the flock must be deeply implanted in the character of the man who will lift his flock to a leading position in the stud stock world, and although he will not fully attain to the degree of perfection he. desires, yet nevertheless his efforts in the study of the breed will be of permanent benefit to those who follow after and aim at the improvement of the breed. Next to culling and almost equally important in flock management is the selection and mating of stud rams, I place mating second to culling because no matter how careful a stud master may be in selecting, both for blood lines and general conformation, with the object of eliminating faults and. passing on only the good features of the parents, yet many disappointments will be found among the progeny of these animals. These then must be ruthlessly cast out from the flock and only those possessing the desired Qualities retained. In .the selection of stud sires it is most important that line breeding should be practised, and that an outcross should be introduced into the flock only after being carefully tried out, so that should any undesirable characteristics manifest themselves, the use of that particular line can he discontinued before the faults have got too widely distributed through the flock. The use of line-bred sires will be found to have wonderful results. In ‘a stud flock where the male aud female blood lines are closely allied one gets greater fixity of that type aimed at_ by the stud master, and when line-bred sires are used with ewes unrelated to the stud, their prepotency and ability to impress their character has a most marked effect on the progeny. Nature’s laws are not and probably never will be fully understood. and therefore the stud master must -be content to progress slowly and to, have patience, all the time watching for blond lines that nick, and ever ready to recognise and cast out combinations that fail to come up to the standard at which one is aiming. As the Corriedale is a dual purpose sheep, it really requires more careful attention and consideration than do cither the straight out mutton or wool breeds. In the case of the mutton breeds, quality of meat is the first consideration, wool being only a secondary qualification, while with the merino, carcass counts for little provided it is big enough to carry a fair weight of good wool. Cornedalo wool is now the most valuable woo] on the Now Zealand market, and, in addition to this, many of the best fat lambs for export arc cither straight out Corriedales or else bred from Corriedale ewes. Here again you will see the need for drastic culling. It is difficult enough to preserve the good wool qualities in a breed of sheep, but when one has also to produce the shapely mutton carcass now demanded by the meat export trade, I think you will agree that the stud Corriedale breeder has a difficult task in front of him when he sets out to breed a sheep with a heavy high yielding fleece of superior wool as well as a shapely carcass of good quality mutton. But this hard task is being accomplished by quite a number of Corriedale flock masters, and each year now seems to brin"- forth a slight but nevertheless noticeable improvement in this very valuable Breed of sheep. This improvement is easily apparent when one surveys the splendid pens of sheep of (ho brood brought forward at such shows as the Canterbury Metropolitan ac the ccttcat

in districts of good rainfall. Under many circumstances a mixture of equal weights of these phosphates and 44-46 per cent, super can be depended upon to give good results on grassland. It is usually advisable to apply top-dressing early to newly established pastures. The _ object is to. obviate any possible deterioration that would arise from somewhat low soil fertility. In this connection the wisest attitude to adopt in respect to deterioration is “ prevention is better than cure,” THE CORRIEDALE SHEEP.. INTERESTING BROADCAST ADDRESS. SOME PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. As a result of arrangements recently made by the Radio Broadcasting Company of New Zealand weekly lectures on topics of interest to primary producers are now being put on the air. The following information in respect to the Corriedale breed of sheep was broadcast from 4YA by Mr J. A. Johnstone, of Bushey Park, Palmerston, one of the most successful fanciers of the breed in New Zealand, He said:

Of late years the Corriedale sheep has rightly come into considerable favour, largely because it is a dual purpose breed of sheep, producing both a large quantity of valuable wool and a shapely mutton carcass. If one is the fortunate owner of an established Corriedale stud flock, the most important point in the management of this flock is to provide an abundance of suitable feed for the sheep comprising the flock during the entire year. Good retailts cannot be obtained _ where, food supplies are irregularly maintained nor on farms where overstocking is allowed to occur. Good lands produce good crops if intelligently cultivated, and superior stock, whether sheep or cattle, will be produced if grazed on pastures rich in feeding value. Everyone cannot have first-class land where abundance of good pasture can bo provided for only a small outlay in the way of labour and manures; consequently the lower the natural fertility of the particular area of land you are farming the greater will be the need for careful and thorough cultivation and for the application of suitable fertilisers iu order to produce plentiful crops in the required rotation for feeding your flock at all periods of the year. Stud sheep and cattle on agricultural areas are now living an artificial and more or less unnatural existence, brought about by mfin’s ability to make the earth produce fodder for all seasons of the year, and by so doing, encouraging early maturity. The day is now long past for the bullock to be six years old before being fit for the butcher, or the wether three years old before being ready for mutton. Improved methods of agriculture, hand in hand with careful selection of foundation stock, have bruoght about heavier milk yields, earlier maturity in beef breeds of cattle, better quality mutton and pork, and fat lambs at an earlier age. as well as an improved quality and increased weight of wool per sheep. Grain and other feeding crops have also been produced in greater quantities as a result of the use of up-to-date implements and the intelligent application of artificial manures. These remarks will help to show how important agriculture is in the provision of ample feed supplies for. the successful maintenance and development of a Corriedale flock.

Royal Show, at Invercargill. .There one can see the result of intelligent breeding and farming, and one is to go one striving to produce an animal just a little better than its predecessors. 'Wise cultivation of one's land, drastic culling, and careful breeding are, as you ■will see from these remarks, the chief rules for the successful management of a stud Corriedale flock. PIGS AND POULTRY. NEW AVENUES OF WEALTH. A PLEA FOR SUPPORT. Mr E. Newman, M.L.C., speaking in the North Island recently, made a strong plea for the pig and poultry industries in New. Zealand, and sought to convince his hearers that in these comparatively neglected avenues of primary industry there were great opportunities for securing an increase in production. He said: "There are three main sources from which New Zealand's present income is drawn. They are the cow, the sheep, and fruit. All these things are fortunately increasing their returns. During the last five years dairy exports have increased by 23.2 per cent., and the export; and mutton and lamb by 1854 per cent., while our flocks have increased by over 5,000.000 sheep, equivalent to 22 per cent. This is largely, the result of the top-dressing and the increased use of fertilisers. " There is now, however, urgent need for further sources of income. Recently the Unemployment Committee issued a very valuable report dealing exhaustively with this matter and suggested as one of the means of meeting the position increased Droduction from farms and increased population on the land. It pointed out that England was our principal market, and an unlimited one, the Motherland beine our beet friend in trade and in every other respect. "It was pointed out that J<ew Zealand had two sources of wealth practi-. cally undeveloped, either of which, or bdth combined, would probably yield as much to the Dominion as the mutton, lamb and beef trades. The producers want to see that the Government, to which I refer in'general terms and not as a political party, do nothing to prevent the development of that trade; During the last two sessions in the Legislative Council I have been endeavouring to deal with this matter. .... " The two practically new industries to which I refer are those of pig. products and poultry. Both are associated with small farming and close settlement. upon which the prosperity of ■ this country depends. In 1027 England spent £50,000,000 on ham, bacon, and pork, ana £22,000,000 on poultry. Of these amounts \ T ew Zealand received only £333,000 for the pig industry and £llO4 for poultry. Of nearly £80,000.000 spent on food for consumption in England we received only the amounts indicated. It must be admitted that under the circumstances there is room for development of the industries mentioned in New Zealand. The Dominion has its advantages, but unfortunately there is an obstacle preventme tlie 'development of the pig and poultry .m-. dustries. There is the unfortunate duty on maize and grain used to fatten pigs and poultry and the country people should use all their influence upon the members representing them in Parliament to bring about the removal of those duties, placing the producers of the Dominion on the same basis as their rival . competitors. There is urgent need for the removal of these duties, considering that Denmark in 1027 supplied £24.000,000 of England's pork an<] bacon requirements, while Denmark, China and the United States supplied practically all the demand for eggs. With the removal of the duties on foods for stock consumption, the embarrassed industries might provide the greatest'export trade of New Zealand.

S. Si S. January 3 158 184 162 January 10 156 180 156 . January 17 .154 185 1521 January 24 156 183 154 January 31 152i 183 162 February 7 153 131 102 February 14 151 179 164 February 21 146 172 165 February 28 144J 170 173 March 7 .. 139 171 173 March 14 .. 1401 166 174 March 22 .. 134 i 1641 172 March 27 .. 130 163 170