NEW ZEALAND WOOL SALES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21531, 31 December 1931, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND WOOL SALES

1931-32 ROSTER The roster ot the New Zealand wool selling dates for the 1931-32 season have been arranged as under: January 6 —Wellington. January 11—Napier. January 15—Wanganui, January 19—Auckland. January 25—Christchurch. January 29—Invercargill. 1 February 2 —Dunedin February s—Timaru. February 11.—Wellington. February 16—Napier. February 19—Wanganui. February 25—Christchurch. March I —Dunedin. March 4 —lnvercargill. March 11—Wellington. March 16—Napier. March 21—Auckland. March 31—Christchurch. April 4—Dunedin, April 7 —Timaru. April 11—Wellington. April 14—Napier. April 16 —Wanganui. General Cropping Work Every endeavour should be made to cut cereals at a suitable stage of ripeness. Investigation has shown that the best stage at which to cut wheat is when the green colour has been replaced by yellow in the section of the stem between the top knot and the head of about 99 per cent, of the straws. At this stage all knots are still green, and no dough can be squeezed from the grain, which, however, is still soft enough to cut with the thumb nail. Generally, oats should be out just when they have a uniform yellowish appearance, and before the final touch of green has disappeared. Fairly frequently oats for chaff are cut when too ripe; for chaff they can advantageously be cut slightly earlier than the stage described above. Barley for malting is not cut until it is dead ripe, as if cut earlier the germination of the grain is likely to be a,, ’l this lowers its value for malting purposes. In many districts, if necessary, lucerne may be sown successfully in January, although on the basis of experience sowing in November and December is generally preferred. Lucerne seed is relatively small and, because this fact is overlooked, the seed is at times sown too deeply. It should not be sown at a greater depth than lin-. If sufficient soil-moisture to allow of superphosphate exerting its influence is likely to be present, it is ns a rule good practice to top-dress established lucerne with super after it has been mown in midsummer. Ordinarily potatoes profitably repay considerable attention at this season. In addition to being kept free from weeds by suitable hoeing, they will usually need to be moulded, up, and possibly to be sprayed for late or Irish blight! Particularly in districts in which the ravages of-blight are likely to be severe, spraying proves more effective when used to prevent instead of to remedy attacks of blight. As a rule, cheaper and more effective work results from the use of sprays prepared on the farm instead of from purchased ready-made preparations. In these notes, in the November, 1930, Journal, appeared a description of the method of making a modified improved Bordeaux mixture which this department is recommending. Mineral Licks In some cases ground rock phosphate is advised to be used as an ingredient of a lick. American authorities do not favour this. They say it has proved injurious to live stock owing to its high flourine content, which ranges from 1.5 to 3 per cent. Exceptional Service Rewarded The awarding of the first gold medal given by Lord Bledisloe to the ex-student of Lincoln College who has rendered the greatest service to agriculture to Mr J. M. llanstead, of Matahgi, has been received with very general approval. Mr Ranstead has not only made a conspicuous success in developing the milking Shorthorn, holding all but one of the breed’s production records, but is generally a most progressive farmer. He is still a keen student of agriculture, and has tested out many theories on his interesting farm. Cheap Milk i The dairymen supplying Canadian cities with milk are certainly having a bad time. Milk production costs are much higher than with us, and yet the Canadian farmer is said to be only getting 7sd a gallon for milk that retails at 2s a gallon. The trade is in the hands of huge city combines which are said to be paying high dividends, the leading officials drawing princely salaries Buttermilk Powder New Zealand poultry keepers are appreciating the value of butter milk powder, Auckland district poultrymen having bought up all the local product made this last season. American experiments go to show that butter milk powder is more valuable for pigs than meat meal, and it would be probably proved to be the same here. It is largely a matter of cost. The powder sells at about 2.}d a pound, whereas meat meal costs only Id. Certainly even at the higher price the powder is more valuable for poultry than the meal Interesting Figures The November figures of the New Zealand Co-operative Herd-testing Association show that the 94,100. cows under test (a world’s record for one association) averaged 34.551 b of fat. Five cows gave over 1001 b of fat, seven gave between 90lb and 1001 b, and 57 gave between 701 b and 901 h. There would be probably more in the lastnamed class, as only the best cow in each group is shown. The highest group was Te Puninga, ■tfhose 1388 cows averaged 40.491 b. the highest herd in the group giving 49.501 b for the 79 cows. The highest herd for the association, in the Port Albert group, averaged 53.481 b for 35 cows. The average test of the 94,100 cows was 4.19 per cent. In November of last year 85,859 cows were tested, and the test was 4.21 per cent., the average production being 35.941 b as against 34.5a1b this November. Grass and Minerals There is no food that will approach, grass as a means of providing the animal with the minerals that it requires and must have if its health is to be main-

tained, but of course the grass cannot perform its important function of supplying the essential minerals if these are not applied to the soil. Reporting ou thia important subject, Woodman and Evans, of Cambridge University, say:—Malnutrition on pasturage of sub-normal mineral content is due directly' to the failure of the diet to supply the necessary inorganic materials for constructional purposes and for maintaining the normal balance of minerals in the blood and tissues, and is not, even in part, to be ascribed to any indirect effect, such as is embodied in the suggestion that the mineral deficiency leads to under-nutrition of the Animal by causing a depression of its appetite and its capacity to digest the organic constituents of the herbage. Utilisation of. Summer Feed Sometimes the best returns possible from special feed grown to supplement the pastures are not obtained because a commencement with the use of the feed is not made early enough. In dairying such special feed should bo used not in remedying the position after an avoidable drop in production has taken place, but in preventing the occurrence of such a drop. At times this means that if the special feed is available a commencement with the consumption of it should be made shortly after Christmas, for this is when an avoidable drop in production frequently occurs, notwithstanding the fact that many seem to consider it unnecessary to do_ any special feeding of dairy stock until about February. Because of the prevalence of stemmy growth in summer young growing cattle are sometimes forced, to subsist on it. Actually young growing stock, such as calves, develop well only when they receive highly digestible material relatively rich in boue and muscle-forming materials. While stemmy growth is comparatively deficient in these materials, fresh leafy growth is relatively rich in them, and so it is the latter in particular that should be fed to young developing stock. If young lucerne sown in November or December is being seriously invaded by weeds it will probably be sound practice to mow it towards the end of January, but unless weeds are threatening to outgrow the lucerne plants it is better not to mow the lucerne so early. By leaving it unchecked one favours the development of a vigorous extensive root system, which stands the crop in good stead in subsequent competition with invaders. In carting out soft turnips it is generally advisable to scatter them well over the field in which they are being distributed, in order that no particular area becomes unnecessarily fouled with droppings; but if the fertility of the particular area requires building up it will be advisable to concentrate the feeding out of the roots ou that area.