THE RURAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23247, 20 July 1937, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD

FARM AND STATION NEWS

By RU3TICUS.

Item* of interest to those engaged in agricultural and pastoral pumdli, with a view to their publication in these columns, will be welcomed. They slundd be addressed to Rusdcus, Otago Daily Times. Dunedtft

SUMMER SHOW SEASON DATES FOR 1937-38 Agricultural and pastoral shows for the 1937-38 season have been arranged as follows: November 19 and 20.—North Otago at Oamaru. November 20.—Taieri, at Outram. November 26 and 27.~0tag0 at Tahuna Park. November 27,—Clutha. and Matau, at Qalclutha. November 27.—Winton. December I,—Central Otago at Omakau December 4.—Tokomairiro Farmers’ Club at Milton. December 7 and B.—Gore. December 11.—Wyndham. ' December 14 and 15.—Southland, at Irtvercargill. Secretaries of A. and P. Societies are invited to forward particulars of show dates for inclusion in the above list NEW ZEALAND WOOL SALES ROSTER FOR 1937-38 SEASON The following roster of New Zealand wool sales for the 1937-33 season is announced. It has been arranged by the New Zealand Wool Brokers’ Association and the New Zealand Wool Buyers Association; . Centre. Opening time. 1937. Auckland 9 a.m. November 27 Napier 9 a.m. December 3 Wellington 9 a.m. December 8 Christchurch 9 a.m. December 13 Timaru 8 a.m. December 17 Dunedin 9 a.m. December 21 1938 Wellington 9 a.m. January 10 Napier 9 a.m. January 15 Wanganui 9 a.m. January 20 Auckland 8 a.m. January 24 Christchurch 9 a.m. January 31 Invercargill 9 a.m. February 4 Dunedin 9 a.m. February 9 Wellington 9 a.m. February 16 Napier 9 a.m. February 21 Wanganui 2.30 or 4 p.m. February 23 Christchurch 9 a.m. March 3 Timaru 9 a.m. March 7 Invercargill 2 p.m. March 11 Dunedin 9 a.m. March 16 Wellington 9 a.m. March 22 Auckland 9 a.m. March 26 Wanganui 9 a.m. March 30 Napier 9 a.m. April 4 Christchurch 9 a.m. April 8 Dunedin 2 p.m. April 12 and/or 9 am. April 13 Wellington 9 am. April 22 The April dates are tentative only, and are subject to alteration and/or cancellation, according to the quantity of wool offering.

NEWS FROM CLUBS

The annual meeting .of the federation was held in Wellington on Friday *last, when there was a good attendance of members from both the North and South Islands. .A full report of this meeting will be published in due course.

The federation has been extremely fortunate in having at its head, ever since its inception, a man like Mr A. C. Cameron as president, and appreciation of his work and interest in club affairs and an acknowledgment that much of the success of the growth of club work generally was due to his enthusiasm was voiced by several speakers when Mr Cameron vacated the chair at the recent annual meeting of the federation. The new president, Mr M'Laren, of the Wairarapa, in moving a vote of appreciation to Mr Cameron, stated that he would do his best to carry on the good work done by his predecessor.

A great deal of discussion took place at the annual meeting with regard to a change in the constitution of the federation, and it was decided to set up a sub-committee to bring down recommendations. Such recommendations would be brought before individual clubs before being submitted to the executive. Clubs would be well advised to study these changes carefully when they come before them.

The Alexandra Club held its monthly meeting on July 9 at the residence of Mr M. Scott. Manuherikia road, with a fair attendance of members. The Dunedin Educational Week was discussed and the club’s representatives were selected. After general business had been dealt with, impromptu speeches were given by members, these proving very interesting.

There was a fair attendance at the meeting of the Lawrence Club on July 10, when general business was brought forward. Mr A. F. Greenall. of the Department of Agriculture. Balclutha, gave a most instructive address on “ Diseases in Swedes.” ¥V • V

The Portobello Club met on June 28, with a fair attendance of members. Mr D. S, Robinson, apiary instructor at the Department of Agriculture. Dunedin, was the speaker for the evening, and his subject. “Beekeeping,” which was excellently illustrated by lantern slides, proved most interesting.

, At the meeting of the West Taieri Club on July 6. members were chosen to attend the educational week at Dunedin. The forthcoming debate with the South Taieri Club was discussed. Members of the Farmers Union then joined the club for the interesting lecture of Mr M;azengarb. of Mosgiel. on "Money.”

The Hampden Club met on July 8, with a fair attendance of members. General business was dealt with, after which Mr R. Stringer gave a very interesting talk on his travels abroad.

The Upper Waitaki Club’s meeting at Kurow on July 7 was well attended

Correspondence was dealt with and general business discussed. »/• *V* A' The monthly meeting of the Palmerston Young Farmers’ Club was held on July 16, the chairman presiding over a good attendance of members. One new member was elected. Mr R. Riddle gave an interesting address on “Horses.” He explained the cause of strangles, splints, curbs, spavins, inflammation of the kidneys and congestion of the lungs, and gave the cures of the complaints. Mr Riddle showed the members how to bleed a horse and how, to give a horse a physic. Mr J. Crossan moved a hearty vote of thanks. }{s $ s|{ The following is a further article by Mr S. H. Saxby. of the Department of Agriculture, Dunedin, in the series on grasses:—Alsike (Trifoliurn hybridum) takes its name from a small village in Sweden, where its agricultural importance appears to have been first recognised. At one time it was wrongly thought to be a hybrid between red clover and white clover, as in many respects its characteristic features are intermediate between these. Alsike thrives on moist or even waterlogged soils and will stand up to more severe cold and frost than most other clovers. Because of this it does well in certain irrigated parts of Central Otago, where a fair amount of its seed is harvested together with that of white clover. It is. however, more suited to districts where red clover and white clover cannot be grown successfully Such districts in Otago are not plentiful. but it should be a valuable plant on country such as the lower ends of the Taieri and the Inch Clutha, which are liable to frequent flooding. It is permanent on this type of country, but will last for only a year or two on the lighter type of country. Alsike does quite well on meadow foxtail land and on the heavier Timothy soils. The amount of feed that alsike produces is intermediate between that produced by red clover and white clover. So it may be seen that if a high producing clover is required, red clover is the best under most circumstances and white clover is the best for permanence. leaving alsike an intermediate role to fill on the lower-lying and swampy country. The widespread sowing of alsike in Otago cannot be recommended, as relatively permanent strains of red clover and high-producing strains of white clover are on the market. , Alsike may be readily distinguished from red clover by the fact that the leaflets of alsike are hairless, whereas those of red clover are covered with short hairs. The stems of alsike arc upright, whereas those of white clover are usually trailing along the ground. Another point of difference is in what are called “stipules,” which are a pair of veined membraneous structures at the base of the leaf stalk where it joins the stem. The stipules of alsike are long and pointed, whereas those of white clover are much smaller and are not as pointed at the end. THE PIG INDUSTRY NOTES BY M. J. SCOTT, 8.A., B.Sc. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE XIX.—FEEDING WITH LIMITED QUANTITIES OF SKIM MILK The rate of growth, and the amounts of feed set out in the last table are just about the maxima that average pigs are capable of. There are times when the feed supply is limited and the growth rate correspondingly small. It often happens that the growth rate is so slow that interest in the pigs is lost and they become neglected. That’s the dangerous time: everything seems to go wrong. In the following table there are set out the rates of growth associated with a long store period, half a pound per day from 14 weeks to 28 weeks, about three-quarters of a pound per day for a further three months until a weight of 1701 b is attained, and then about 3 01b in 20 days of finishing off. DAILY RATIONS FOR PIGS—SLOW GROWTH Lb feed daily for

This rate of growth can be obtained by using the pounds of grain or gallons of milk stated from weaning till 14 weeks old, gradually changing then to half a pound of meat-meal, or one gallon of milk, plus all the cheap feed the pigs will eat, viz., grass, roots, potatoes. artichokes, marrows, etc. When the pigs are 701 b alive, they will have to eat fib of meat-meal and 151 b of roots per day in order to got 231 bof feed. At 1101 b alive they will want fib of meal-meal and 211 b of roots. At 1701 b, fib of meat-meal and 291 bof roots. During the last three weeks the use of roots is discontinued, and the pigs will eat from 511 b up to more than 631 b of grain or gallons of milk per day. ECONOMY OF FEED CONVERSION Where the pigs grow rapidly the total feed consumption is about 5801 b per pig. It is all high quality feed supply. Where the pigs grow slowly the total feed consumption is fibout 8651 b per pig Of this only 325 is highquality feed. The remaining 540 is obtained from, say. 1? tons of mangels. All sorts of further calculations can be done by those who have followed so far, and the results all point to the advantages of using these cheap feeds At finishing these pigs are about 43 weeks old. and if this takes place in the flush of the milk season, in say November and December, the pigs should have been farrowed in January and February. These fattening baconers should just be finished when the next litter is just out of its babyhood, and it could bo taken rapidly to bacon at about six to seven months old.

fefeftS88S8gS8IS?288SSS8K8BS8SSSSaKBKt:S<sfc-.o.o.^«N. M (Weeks). iililiiiiigiliiliiSgggigeEsSSSSgggegiggggs Live weight “(lb). _Live weight •Increase S(per day). SISBS5SigiSSBgsgiiS5SSSSSfeKSSSS5£S55SSg f Maint. SS3SSS8SSSSSS3:USS3SSSSSSS!!8gg£gS88£SS£Sg ~ Product. SS§SSSS§S=SSSSiBSSiS5SBSKSSg£Syg5555aS5 5 Total.