THE RURAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22504, 23 February 1935, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

FARM AND STATION NEWS.

By Rtrsnctis

WOOL SALES, 1934-35 Wool sales for the 1934-35 season have been arranged as follows: Feb. 22—Wanganui. Mar. 25—Naylor. Mar. I —Christchurch Mar. 29 —Auckland. Mar, 4—lnvercargill. Apr. I—' Wanganui. Mar. 9—Dunedin, Apr. s—Christchurch. Mar. 13—Timaru Apr. B—Dunedin. Mar. 20—Wellington. Apr. 13—Wellington. 1934-35 SHOW SEASON ROSTER OF DATES Agricultural and pastoral shows have been arranged ag follows for the 1934-36 season:— 1935. March 16.—Upper Clutha, at Pembroke. March 28—Ternuka and Geraldine, at Winchester. April 22. —Strath-Taieri, at Midfilemarch. April, 22.—Mackenzie County, at Fairliq. '' \ ' OTAGO PROVINCIAL SHEEP DOG ASSOCIATION Affiliated clubs of the Otago Provincial Sheep Dog Association have arranged trial dates as follows: — Tahatika,—February 27. Ratanui.—March 6. Wakatipu.—March 14-16-10. Clutha.—March 20-21. * Warepa.—March 22-23. Kuriwao. —March 25-20. Patearoa. —March 27-28-29-30 (Otago Provincial Championships). Strath-Taieri.—April 1-2-3. Kyeburn.—April 4-5-0. Waitaki.—April 8-9-10-11. Omarama. —April 11-12-13. Tokarahi. —April 29-30, May 1. Palmerston. —May 7-8-9. Waihemo. —May 15-16-17. Ngapara.—May 20-21-22. Miller's'Flat.—May 23-24-25. Wanaka.-May 28-29-30.

Hopeful Note Struck “ What is the future of the agricultural aad pastoral industry of this country? ” asked his Excellency the Governor-Gene-ral when speaking at a farewell gathering at the Manawatu A. and' P. Association’s offices last week. Lord Bledisloe answered his own question by stating that he had no personal fears for it, and he added that he was going Home and in some small way would try to advance it. “ I feel confident in ray own mind,” he said, “ that whatever may be the transient issues between the farmers of England and the farmers of this country there is an underlying consciousness of an identity of interest and that anything like a lasting controversy is calculated to lead to disaster for both. In other words, we have got to find an Empire trade policy which will 'ensure the continued welfare of the primary producers of every part of the Empire without detriment to the interests of any section. I feel that that measure of agreement will be arrived at, and for my part I will try to bring it about/ I am glad we are leaving you on the threshold of a period of prosperity/’ he later told citizens gathered to bid him farewell. “ I believe prosperity will stay so long as your producers are reasonably efficient and your public authorities are reasonably economic, for your resources are not as great as in some of those industrial countries you are attempting to imitate. Be moderate in your Expenditure, and,, above all, educate' your children to he good workers and determined to pull their weight in ,the national boat and aot be mere passengers.” Rain in Hawke’s Bay According to a resident at Ormondville, the drought has definitely broken in that district. Rain fell on every day during last week. The grass has begun to grow again, mushrooms are plentiful, aad small creeks are once again commencing to flow. However, the rain was too late to save the fruit, the crops being scanty and too early, with the result that the heavy rain brought a good deal of. it to the ground. Reduced Production The dean of dairying, Professor W. Riddet, reported to the last, meeting of the Massey Agricultural 'College Council that_ if the country did not get rain within the next few weeks it could not expect- to reach for the remainder of the season the level of production of the past two years. Professor Riddet said that production was likely to be less than normal unless a good autumn or a mild winter prevailed It was gratifying to record, however, that the reduction in the butter output and the immediate prospect of reduced production had raised the price level of New Zealand butter to a considerable extent when compared with last year.

Poor Prospect for Winter Feed The plight of the huge area of parched plain from Waipara down to the centre of Mid-Canterbury has in no way been relieved by the scattered shows which fell laet week; in fact (says the Press) the situation is daily growing more serious, and the prospect for the winter is becoming alarming. Having sadly affected the grain crops the drought is now threatening to prevent in- a large measure the cultivation of green feed for the winter, and whatever happens it is anticipated that the capacity of the plains will be considerably reduced. .In some districts farmers are drawing upon supplies of hay already, whereas normally these should have been untouched until May or June. One farmer already has decided to sell a large number of bis sheep because be knows that tie will be unable to keep them through the winter, and in doing this > he is merely beginning what is anticipated will become a frequent practice throughout Canterbury. Control of Insect Pests According to a well-known fields expert, Mr ft. Wpodyear-Smith, the Government has not granted sufficient funds for the Government entomologist to carry on investigation concerning the control of the grass grub and the diamondbacked moth. A statement to this effect was made by Mr A. H. Dukeson at a recent meeting of the Putaruru Chamber of Commerce. By the expenditure of a few hundred pounds, he said, the country might be saved thousands. Without discussion, the chamber decided to make representations to the Minister of Agriculture and to the Associated Chambers of Commerce, asking for an additional grant of £IOOO for use by the entomologist in the coming financial year. White Butterflies Although white butterflies are numerous in the Sumner district, they seem to have a preference (says the Christchurch Times) for Taylor’s Mistake. Round the houses near the life-saving pavilion they are to be seen in swarms. Here they seem to favour the lupin the clusters of sow thistles. At least one Sumner resident is diligent in .looking for the eggs under the leaves of tl' e plants attacked. These he crushes with his thumb and finger. Most residents find the fly swatter good, but admit that the butterfly is an “ artful dodger ” and takes a lot of reaching.

Items of Interest to thoee engaged In agricultural and pastoral pursuits, with a view to their publication 4n these columns, will be welcomed. They should be addressed to “Rusticus,” Otago Dally Times, Dnnedifc

WHEAT THRESHING KEEPING STANDARD UP CARE IN FEEDING In view of the presence of lean-and shrivelled grain in many crops, farmers should pay special attention to the screening of the grain when threshing, says Mr W. W. Mulholland in the Wheatgrower. A number of farmers have remarked to me that millers will not be so particular in their buying this year. While it may, be true that in North Canterbury, they will not be able to maintain the high standard that was possible during the past two years, farmers will be unwise to expect that they will be forced to reduce their standard much below that of the Wheat Purchase Board’s grade. It should be remembered that the Wheat Purchase Board has in store and consequently available to millers 1,500,000 bushels of old wheat ’of the board’s grade. This is about a quarter of the year’s requirements of milling wheat. It is unlikely, therefore, that millers will have to buy poor lines of wheat.

It would be good policy on the part of growers to make as good a sample as the crop will permit. Two points to which special attention should be directed are cleaning of the grain and screening. With regard to the former, the presence of a considerable amount of short straws, chaff, and white-heads is frequently due to carelessness in the setting, of the threshing mill, although there are conditions where a certain amount is unavoidable. This carelessness is, perhaps, more frequent where farmers do their own threshing, although some'contract mills are bad offenders. Perhaps the most frequent cause of trouble is failing to alter the setting of the mill as conditions vary. Conditions may change rapidly and require the operator to bo constantly on the watch. One has had the experience of starting in the morning with the grain somewhat tough, with practically no carvings and very little chaff to deal with, but by mid-day, under the influence of a nor’-wester and strong sun, the whole of the chaff was stripping from the straw ■and the straw was breaking badly,_ so that a large quantity of chaff and cavings had to be dealt with. Obviously a considerable change in the setting of the machine was called for, but less obvious changes in threshing conditions may affect the quality of the work done. / RUBBISH IN GRAIN, With “tin mills,” driven by tractors, another source of trouble is overloading the mill beyond the power available, especially when threshing solid straw Tuscan wheat. The amount of power required for threshing varies greatly, as all steam threshemen know, and when it is found that the usual rate of feeding requires more power than the tractor can provide, it should be immediately reduced to what is within the engine’s capacity. Constant full speed is the first requirement of any threshing,plant, and the intermittent slowing down of the tractor, due tc overloading,, will play havoc with good threshing. Another cause of rubbish finding its way into the grain is allowing the threshing mil! to run empty, as frequently happens while one dray is pulling out and another bulling it when threshing from the stook. Many, good threshemen make provision to avoid .this by having nn extra man who forks pajt of the load to a convenient place while the drayman is forking the rest of the load to the feeder. Then, when the load is finished and the empty dray is pulling out and the next loaded one pulling in, he forks them into the mill, thus keeping the machine running full all the time. This practice enables more and better threshing to be done. ' _ With regard to screening, the Wheat Research Institute, in collaboration with officers of the Wheat Purchase Board, has?* devised an inexpensive little outfit by which the amount of broken and shrivelled grains in a sample may he determined in about two minutes. This should prove verv helpful in determining whether- enough seconds are being taken out. Although no quantity its stated in the specification of the F.A.Q. grade in the Wheat Regulations, in practice 4 per cent, of broken and shrivelled grains is about the limit that will be accepted. If the screen is set to leave less than this quantity, it is doing all that it can do to produce an F.A.Q. sample. No amount of screening will make thin wheat into a plump sample, but where a part only of the sample is thin, considerable improvement may be made.' However, if the percentage to be taken out to make a milling sample is considerable, it may not pay to do it, especially as the prospects are that good whole fowl wheat prices will not he so unreasonably low this coming season as they have been during the past two years. VALUE OF PASPALUM DEMONSTRATED IN WAIKATO Practically the only green patches discernible on Waikato farms during the last two months! have been paddocks of lucerne and paspalum (writes the Waikato correspondent of the Weekly News). Lucerne thrives remarkably _ well under the dry conditions, and dairymen who have had the foresight to provide stands of thia useful legume, have been envied by their neighbours. As a summer fodder paspalum has proved particularly valuable. It grows on the driest knolls and thrives equally well on low-lyiug ground. Paspalum is

a plant which transpires very slowly, and consequently can exist on a very small supply of moisture. In consequence, paspalum will suit all localities except those where snow and severe frosts rule. It is therefore, particularly suitable for cultivation in the northern parts of New Zealand. . . . Paspalum possesses several great advantages for the dairyman (1) It is not necessary to cut and feed out, as is required with many forage crons- (2) it cannot be eaten out or killed out bv the tramping of stock; (3) it is seldom crowded out by weeds or other, grasses: in fact, when once established it will eventually kill out weeds and become dominant; (4) it provides a splendid supplv .of feed during the dry summer months. Under good farming methods which prevent it from monopolising tbo whole area, its place is taken during winter by ryegrass and white clover, thus providing pastures all the year round. Paspalum, when associated with while clover, provides a well-balanced ration for all classes of stock. It responds readily to top-dressing, and, cut when moderately .short, makes excellent hay. LINCOLN COLLEGE RECENT EXPERIMENTS PULPY KIDNEY IN LAMBS Faulty dieting of dams during pregnancy is one factor predisposing lambs to pulpy kidney, contends Mr A. Leslie, Lincoln College veterinarian, in a report submitted to the board recently. The report reviews the relationships between faulty winter feeding of ewes and the susceptibility of their lambs # to this disease, and Mr Leslie's observations are based on experiments carried out at the college with 000 ewes and their offspring. These experiments, he says, illustrate the need for greater care in feeding and management subsequent to lambing. .“The results of 1034 in regard to the relation of faulty winter ante-natal nutrition and susceptibility to pulpy kidney confirm previous experiments and establish more strongly than previously _ that faulty dieting of the dam is a predisposing factor to pulpy kidney in the offspring,” states the report. “In addition, from growth rates studies and a knowledge of how the nature of the diet of lactating ewes nfay fluctuate during the pulpy kidney period, post-partiim dieting of the ewe is now considered a factor as well, “We believe poat-partum dieting of the ewe may operate in two ways. First, by a sudden chance to green spring growth stimulating ’ high milk production and growth in lambs with subnormal birth weights and therefore incapable constitutionally of remaining in a state of matabolic and alimentary balance; and secondly, by violent fluctuations in the feed supply during the lactation period causing interruptions in the food supply of lambs previously affected by impoverished ante-natal nutrition. DIFFERING RESULTS. “In some flocks preventive measures might work well, while in others they might be valueless or even disastrous. Thus, lin flocks in . which slow growth rate and low birth weights were ; precipitants fasting would tend further to increase the incidence. Further, a gradual improvement in the milk supply of ewes whose lambs were backward at birth would be preferable to sudden stimulation of the milk flow. Likewise, in rearing backward twins as singles the capacity of the ewe to milk might be considered. These measures are only palliatives to regulate, on the one hand, production and growth in the lamb, and on the other the milk supply of the ewe so that lambs impoverished at birth, through faulty intra-uterine nutrition, may gradually adjust themselves to their environment. . . . " When an adequate diet of a mixed nature, including sufficient protein and vitamins, is fed to in-lamb ewes our experiments , show that there is little need for regulating subsequent production, growth, and milk Supply, as lambs born of well-nourished ewes are stronger, more vigorous, and therefore . better equipped to adjust_ themselves to a varying post-natal environment. The wellnourished ewe would yield more milk during the period when the lamb lives on nothing else. For well-nourished newborn lambs this is desirable. For the ill-nourished lamb high niilk consumption may t lead ■ 1 ft to digestive disturbances , through overtaxation of the stomach and bowels. CHANGE OF DIET. "The ability of poorly-nourished ewes at lambing to produce a good milk yield fop a short time when suddenly allowed a milk-stimulating diet proves of practical interest in the mannagement of ewes and in disease precipitation. The common Canterbury practice of reserving green feed for newly-lambed ewes irrespective of their previous feeding and condition and the effect such may have on the development of their lambs must, therefore, be reviewed if our contentions are correct. A sudden, change in the diet of the ewe ns soon as she lambs may not only affect her own balance but suddenly piaces her offspring in a new environment of production, one of attempted high production. * “According to our data, in a season in which green growth is scarce in the winter and before lambing, ewes lamb in indifferent condition. The offspring are affected at birth, The flush of spring feed stimulates milk production and forces on under-developed lambs, leading, ae previously indicated, to alimentary disurbance, etc. This is high production in lambs incapable of it. . "On the other hand, with similar shortage of green herbage for flushing before lambing and inadequate green spring growth after lambing Tor milk production the results may be quite different: If poor growth (and all its associations) is the precipitant, as it frequently is, high incidence of pulpy kidney would be anticipated. On these grounds, also, it is possible to explain the occurrence of an incidence of pulpy kidney in one mob and not in another on the same farm, both receiving the same diet after lambing but differently fed prior to lambing.” ‘ v ______