DAIRY AND STOCKFARMING IN ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 1813, 20 August 1886, Page 6

DAIRY AND STOCKF ARMING IN ENGLAND.

The report on the Dairy and Stock Farm Competition 1885, for the prizes offered by the Royal Agricultural Society of England, appears in the April number of the Society's Journal. Mr John Chalmers Morton, editor of the Agricultural Gazette, and one of the appointed judges, has in the report supplied such minute particulars regarding the management of the farms entered in competition and the results, that a resume of the somewhat elaborate details should interest the many actually engaged in the pursuits in New Zealand. The duties of the judges were clearly defined, and they had to consider " (1) the general management, with a view to profit; (2) the productiveness of the crops; (3) the quality and suitability of the live stock; (4) the management of the grass land; (5) the state of the gates, fences, roads, and general neatness; (6) the mode of book-keeping followed; and (7) the management of the dairy and the dairy produce." Thus, then, the duties of the judges ware restricted to the consideration of material results, and no other deserve, or are likely to receive, in these matter-of-fact days, much attention from the farming community. In a few, but very few, particulars indeed Home management in regard to the farm and the dairy must be modified in the colonies, but the guiding principle operates alike. The work must be done thoroughly. The land, the crops, and the stock must be all up to the mark, or success will only be partial. Speaking of the farms entered in the competition, the judges say, " The principal lesson, probably, which has been learned from the inspection, on the whole, is the enormous extent to which the fertility of most of these farms has been created by their tenants; the extent to which in many instances even the equipment of their land has been due to their outlay, roads, drains, fences, water supply, even buildings having been executed and erected with little aid from the owners. The list of improvements of this kind effected by the tenants was naturally put forward to the favourable consideration of the judges, but no interest of the kind could be considered, although in allusion to the claims it is remarked in the report, " The general management with a view to profit is indeed the first item in our instructions, and the keynote to the whole of them. And it is a significant fact that our awards have come to those tenants who while they have! most benefited the property have at the same time done best for themselves."

In the competition for dairy farms of 100 acres and upwards, where the management is directed to the production of milk, butter, or cheese, the first prize was awarded to Mr John Lea, the extent of holding being 228 acres, of which 104 are arable, the rental including tithes and amounting to 48s an acre upon the whole. The dairy stock numbered 91 cows — large-framed useful cattle, 20 of them two-year-old heifers. The farm accounts of the previous year, when 85 cows were milked, and crediting the dairy with pigs and calves sold, showed the whole proceeds to amount to £2284 15s 9d, or close on £27 each on the 85cows. Ithas to benoted,however, that there was an expenditure in purchased food — such Jas linseed and cotton cake, bran, India meal, brewers grains, &c. — to the amount of £654 ss, or about £8 per cow, which reduced the balance to about £19 per cow. The average prices obtained for the products of the cows were, for cheese, 73s 6d per 1201b ; for butter, Is 3d per lb; and for milk, lldper gallon. Thereturnsfrom the arable land were— for wheat sold, £266 10b

oats, £400; potatoes, £560; and for hay and straw, £178 15s. Thore was also an income of not less than £100 for fruit, vegetables, and young trees out of the garden, and £52 for poultry. The whole of the labour was done by 2 cow-men, 2 carters, 3 general men, 2 boys, a dairy-woman, and 2 girls, and the total labour bill, " making a fair allowance for cost of boarding so many in the house," would be £410, or close on 32s an acre, which the judgos remark " seems to be quite as heavy a cost as — considering the proportion of the grass-land — might have been expected. There was a further expenditure incurred in the purchase of manure of £1 35 10s. The figures, it will be remembered, represent actual transaction in 1884, and, after allowing interest on capital employed, as the judges observe, a balance struck would show that during the year in question " the tenant's profit must have been almost incredibly large." The fall in the prices of cheese and grain would, however, greatly reduce the profits for 1885. The second prize in the class was awarded to Mr Thos.Parton, fora farm of 166 acres in extent, of which 84 are in permanent pasture. The rent and taxes amount to £335 6s sd, or almost exactly £2 an acre. The wage account for 1884 is put down at £240, or about 29s per acre. Other outgoings were £132 Is for manures, and £396 Is lid for purchased foods, besides a quantity of home-grown grain consumed, estimated at £130. The stock on the farm comprised 60 cows, in milk, seven others fattening, 16 two-year-old heifers, 24 heifer calves, two bulls, and three bull calves. The large number of stock fully accounts for the outlay in purchased food. In 1884 the sales of milk, cheese, butter, and pigs amounted to £1449 2s 2d or £22 12s lOd per cow, and 24 calves were sold in addition for £97 10s. The total receipts from the dairy and farm for the year named amounted to £2352 0s lid, while the outlay in rent or labour, food purchased, and manures, was little more than half that amount. TJbe prices obtained were — for cheese, 70s to 75s per cwt ; for butter, Is to Is 7d per lb, and milk, 8d to 10hA per gallon. In regard to the general management of the farm, the judges say : " Here is a case where the ability to maintain a large herd of cattle is largely due to the arable portion of the faring There is no hay-making off the permanent grass. The whole of the fields in permanent grass or meadow are grazed." The reserve number in the class was obtained by Mr Fearnall, and the report of the judges iudicates where and in what manner dairy-faroi-ing may be made a success. They say : " Before leaving the dairy it must be remembered that to Jlr FearnalPs eldest unmarried daughter is due very much of the credit, not only of the uniform excellence of the quality of all the dairy produce, but for the whole superintendence and management of a very large household; for many of the men and boys are lodged and boarded in the house, and there is a family of ten at home, left motherless but a short time ago. There are five children who daily go to school, besides the little ones at home. Two of the brothers help Mr Fearnall on the farm, and the whole industry and occupation is a most admirable example of united family work. The judges recommended that the highest mark of approval at the society's disposal should be bestowed, and subsequently the certificate and silver medal were awarded to Miss Fearnall. The farm is 342 acres in extent, and mostly in grass. Rent and taxes amount to 54s 6d an acre. The proceeds of the dairy, including cheese, butter, pigs, and calves, was in 1884 £2271 105, or more than £22 per cow, and other sales of drafted cows, horses, &c, amounted to £700. The money payment for labour, and allowing for board, is only about £300 per annum, but this low sum is explained by the assistance given by the v members of the, family. The purchases of food during 1884 amounted to £365 for line eed meal and cotton cake, but in addition the whole of the barley, oats, and beans grown on the farm were fed to the cattle. A glance at the figures given will show how profitable the management of this farm is.