FARM STOCK: THE CALF.

Otago Witness, Issue 1602, 5 August 1882, Page 6

FARM STOCK: THE CALF.

The man who wishes to make all-round farming pay must give a great deal of attention to the rearing and management of farm stock. There may be- some districts where the conditions of the land and market make it a point of wisdom to confine the attention to some one branch of farming, such as sheep-farming, cattle-farming, or dairy-farming; with the last-named there may be the single object of producing cheese, butter, or milk, or an effort may be made to produce all three payable quantities. There are other districts where the nature of soil, climate, and market make it desirable thac these several branches should be intermixed, and where the settlers may find it profitable to keep sheep, store cattle, and milking cows, and to grew cereals, roots, and grasses. While the runholder finds it necessary to employ skilled shepherds, and the grazier, men thoroughly acquainted with the best methods of rearing and fattening of animals fas stockmen, it is equally necessary for a small farmer to have the general knowledge of a shepherd and stockman combined ; that is, if he is to manage his own estate and obtain a proportionate profit, Another point worth while noting is : while the shepherd or stockman ran give undivided attention to their respective charges, the small farmer has to direct his attention to the growth of cereals, roots, sheep, cattle, &c. We thus see that he has more to think of, and should be generally skilful. He should therefore be very thoughtful. In the matter of sheep-farming, you say it is the number with the small cost per acre for management that makes it pay. Just so ; and in the matter of all-round farming, it is the adaptation of parts, the judicious management of the few cattle, sheep, and cultivated fields, that make a small farm pay. In the one case it is the size of the one thing ; in the other case it is the management of several things. On the sheep farm there is, as it were, one great wheel, like the water-wheel of a mill, which has to be kept going. To do this a gieat deal of capital is required, with a moderate amount of watchful thought and concentration of skill. On the general farm, there are a number of small wheels, contained in a smaller space, which require to be arranged by a generally skilful hand. To keep these going without injury the one to the other, there should be a great deal of thought combined with capital and wisely-directed labour. On the small farm, more than on the sheep farm, there is required a general distribution of skill, which must be focused— brought to a point— from which it is comparatively easy, delightful, and profitable to keep the whole machine going. How often do we hear such expressions as the following : 'Well, I only keep one or two cows, and I don't find it necessary to attend to them in any particular fashion. ' 'I am just fattening those animals because I had the food, and as soon as they have eaten that up I shall sell them off.' 'You see, if I didn't keep those beasts, I couldn't make any use of those fields, and I just let them run there to take their chance. They don't give me any trouble, and when I want a few pounds, I sell them off.' It is evident that there is not much thought or skill exhibited in such sentences, and we arß sure, if a debtor and creditor account were kept, it would be seen that the wages for labour bestowed, and interest for money invested, is far below eight shillings per day and eight per cent, for investment of capital. In such cases the wheels are not adjusted, and whatever the farm machine, as a whole,, may be capable of producing, when in proper working order, under such mismanagement, it can only turn out a portion of profitable articles, and this profit may be turned into a loss when the sum is added up. ' Why do you roar calves ? 'Because I can't get milk without doing so.' ' Does it pay V ' I don't know, I never trouble my head about the calves, providing I can get milk enough.' This is a great mistake. It is something like throwing one of the wheels of the machine out of gear, making the machine harder to turn, and the money result much less than it need be. Having useful information connected with the rearing of calves on small farms, I am wishful to make it known to my ireadors. I find calf reaiing capablo of being connected with so many parts of profitable farm-work, that I think some of my readers, who are no,t practically acquainted with farmwork, would besimply astonished were 1 to mention them. SometiraesincejOn seeing theparts of an eight-day clock separated the one from ananpthfir, I remarked, > Afjfcar all the parts of this clock are not so numerous. It is not burdensome to the memory of a cloejf-maker to remember tba number of parts and the pjnj;.

poses for which they are required.' I noticed that a new part was needed. This part was placed before me in a rough condition. The workman had to prepare and adjust it. This required care and thought— thought concerning all the parts. When the new part was first applied the clock went somehow, and pointed out some time, but not the correct time. It was necessary to bestow further work upon it. When this was accomplished nearly the correct time was pointed out by the hands of the clock. I am thus speaking of the farm as a machine having cattle, horses, sheep, grain, roots, grasses, &c, as component parts. There is this difference, however, between the clock and the farm. The parts of the clock are inorganic. The parts of the farm machine are organised — a machine within a machine. The calf is a living organism having wonderful and delicate parts, easily affected, and which may be used to produce a variety of defined results. The calf may be so taken care of and so managed as to produce another calf more profitable than itself. Before the farmer there may appear an improved animal. At that improvement he aims, but, at the same time, there are by-products in the shape of manure, tho utilisation of food that might be unused, &c, that may also be turned to profitable account. The more definitely and correctly the object aimod at is worked for in tho calf itself, the more certain and profitable will the by-products prove to be. The chemist may inform us with almost mathematical certainty the quantity of meat, or milkproducing elements in certain vegetable foods, but he cannot ensure to us that all the material, or any given quantity of it, will be converted into meat, or milk, when it is consumed by an animal. The machine being a living organism, the laws of physiological science come into play. The net result must be reached by means of two sets of laws ; chemical and physical. These are not opposed to each other, and may be made to co-operate by care and attention. The calf cannot be left to itself, as you may wind up a clock and leave it to itself for a certain number of days. It requires daily attention. The more regularly it is looked after the greater will be its improvement. When we are about to breed stock, we should ask ourselves a few questions, in order to get some definite idea of what we are about. We should never breed and rear calves without knowing exactly what kind we are wishful to produce. Supposing, now, that we have some milking cows, and our chief object is to obtain a regular supply of mirk, we might ask whether we cannot secure this result, and, at the same time, obtain a calf that will be more valuable to us than those we have hitherto had ? If our practice is to breed simply fcr the milk which the cows will yield after they have calved, and then hand over the cal; to the tender mercy of the butcher, have we not learnt that some calves are larger and better at a given age than others, and which bring us a better price? If we are careful in the choice of the parents, and in the management of the cow during the time she is in calf, we may nearly always secure the larger and bettor calves. We say nearly always, because sometimes the progeny of the best bred animals are not like their parents in form and character. We have a striking illustration of this mentioned in the English Agricultural Gazette by Lord Cathcart. He says, 'I have at work twin horses, three years old ; they are pure Clydesdales, and out of a four year old mare— the twins her maiden effort. Castor and Pollux — for so the twins are named— are not equally shapely; Castor does not stand 'very high, but has all the chacteristics of a true Clydesdale. The other is not quite so sturdy, and appears as though originally rather pinched in the foal-bed.' From this we may see i that the expression ' like will beget like ' needs some modification, and that, however good the sire or bull may appear to be, we must carefully weed out those animals which are not like what we desire. Is it a wise thing to part with calves as calves, unless they at once impress us as being animals that will neither put on flesh profitably, nor give us milk in large and paying quantity? When we sell a calf we part with to much available capital. Do we consider, then, to sell calves and lean stock is very exhausting to a farm, and takes from the soil so much fertilising material ? When an animal is fattening it is busy converting its food into meat, storing it up within its own skin, and at the same time producing a large quantity of the beat fertilisers into available plant food, in the shape of manure. Calves and lean stock do not perform this two-fold work to the same extent. True, they make manure, but it is very poor in fertilisers. In breeding, therefore, we should ask ourselves which is best for us to do. # We cannot help selling the grain, and so parting with valuable matter, but we may refuse to part with calves, and elect to keep them for the double purpose of producing good meat and good manure for corn. Do we ever think that we may in the course of a year or two, increase the milking capacity of the cows we keep, so as to get from three animals as much milk as we now obtain from four ? Each farmer may improve his own breed. As useful thoughts to be entertained before we set about breeding calves, shall we remember that manure from milch cows, calves, and lean stock, is poor in fertilising elements ; while that from fattening stock is rich and valuable. The best thing, therefore, for us to do, if we can in any way manage it is to breed, feed, and fatten our own animals ; and thus grow corn and meat concurrently. In no art is long exercised patience, and untiring discriminating observation so much required as in the art of breeding. At the annual meeting of the Refrigerating Company, Mr Larnach said that he feared the machinery would only be required to work for a part of the year, not on account of a closed market, but because the supply would not be equal to the demand. Let the settlers turn their attention to this matter, and see if they cannot help to meet the demand and secure for themselves a better annual income. Till now the outlet for prime fed meat has been limited, and there has therefore been little inducement to carry on this part of farmwork. But now the outlet is practically unlimited we should aim at enriching our pockets and our fields by breeding good calves. William Jbnnbb.