CATTLE-RAISING IN TARANAKI.

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 19

CATTLE-RAISING IN TARANAKI.

DETERIORATION OF THE HERDS. ' (Fboji Oub Special Correspondent.) Ask any old rcsiclsn>fc -of Taranaki, ami he will toll you that the cattle glow exis- j tent in the province are not of nearly so ■ good a class as those that were to be seen 20 to 25 years ago. There are, of course, ■excepiiontt, but. speaking generally, the cattle in New Zealand's greatest .dairying centre are of a nondescript character, and gadly lacking in constitution. In the earMea: days shorthorns were pre-eminent, and many well-bred bulls were imported. In those times, however, dairying as "now conducted was undreamt of. Butter realised no more ' than from 2d to 4d per lb, and it was often difficult to find a cash. Imjer for tiho article even at ©ach p-riees. Nor infrequently one onJy method of disposing of his produce op?n to the farmer was that of "tajkinff out" its value in {rrocerit-s. Cattle-men thus came to disregard milking strains, • and instead of relying- entirely upon pedi- , gree bulls, grade bulls were made use of. I The latter, being sound, well-grown animals, with excellent constitutions, di** well enough for the purposes of the time, but once the dairying industry, coneeq-uent on the fast increasirfg values of butter, began to attain a position of paramount importance, it" became necessary to search for clean-pcdisroed bulls descended' <fcrom families notable for their de^p milking qualities. But tb° whole situation then b-ecain-e changed. Tlu separator w?s introduced, and the c't.ilo of its advmit marks the cvommenoemeru of the deterioration of cattle in Taranaki At first it. influence in this re&pect was unrecognised. It was now, and the situation it/ was g-iaduaMy but surslv bringing- about failed to receive due appien'ation at ihe hande of fia>rmer«. ' It meant, howe\or. that that which rightly holonfc-- to r.ho cali, that foi which no em"- ! oont p>ul>=titule has yet been, or is ever ' likely to be, found, was taken away from ' it. j From the date of the introduction of tn© ' mechanioa l pkimmor th-f calves ir this pro- ' vince have been deprived of r.liat without . which they cannot thrue. Matters aie not ; quilo fo bad as they "were a few years j back, but the conditions under which caflvrs are reared are itill sufficiently deplorable, i Some of ths more fortunate ones do now ; at least receive somse addition, in the shape ' of patent foods, to their daily quota of separat-pd milk. Others are given a cer- ! tain .illonante of new milk for perhaps a j fortniprhi after their birth. But thorn are. ' FtilJ others and not a few of them, that j have to s-ul.-snl on noihins: more than whey. Poor, mis&rable little ha.lf-sta.rved creaiture*, \ to think that if they do not die in the , mcanLiniP tlte%- will be the future mothers ' and milk-producers of thi3 province! Set I Kaol: and stunted as t.hey are, is it any I wonder that the c!a«s of cattle to ba found around t!>o low-.r slopes and p^wis hluz ' at the foot of Mount F^mont has det Drier- ! abed? But there are ether meihods adopted m connection with cattle-rai«ing that make for deterioration. Heifers are put to Ihe bull at from 12 to 15" months old. The farms a.re largely overstocked, and except during the flush V>f sprint, when crass coinoe away in abundaner>, they aia almost i imariablv short of food, ar.d a c ea!L°d | upen to cxi^t in y.-ol!-fou!od paci.k-ck«. Fari/i^i'-- are bg^inning tt reali^i the 1 cnefits thai accrue from the growth of root crops, ■ and =ome save a eerfcain quaJititv of hay ' or build a stack of ensilage. This, how- i < j^er, is done on ciuitxj an inad'Tiuat^ srale, { with the result that either the heifeis liay<» j to wait too lato into the autumn ui.it il j-(-he food is fed to them — the farmer burner • afra-VJ that if h? I:c«ins <« I>':<l too scon. ; tho supply will run out — or they must r>e stinted during- tho psssinp of winter and the commenconiPtit of =i>rin#-. Havina: in dip. course calved, they are persi« ( ,"nt!y | milked throu^hoi't tlio season. Ey some j < it is eontMHJ2d tha+ no harm will come { from brepding from immature animal?, bui* , y> far a£ tho wi-il3r Ls able to judge there i-5 a,« little sound sen^e in thi-- af in the i j belief lhat if younc heifeis aie not nilkcvl • throughout tho 6ea.<-on they will fail to turn , t out tfood milk-prodrc--r. : i the folloyvipg- year. . 1 Both practices are equally mi=chio\on^ and , i entnv*lv out of accord with the experionce ' « of rciontific men. i a To return t<- tlio (/ue^tion of ca!;-r~ar- t mff, p.-i-]iap« the mo-t I'mporfAi't of any in j ' connection with tho catfle-rai-,incc and dairy- t ir-£ indu--trv. A> has been =ome ;m; m- i provement i-> r.tw noticeable. The a\erage a farmer will still, however, argue that to $■

■ * give his young- stock a proper start — i.<e>., { to feed them on fresh milk the first ; ] three months of their exisbenee^ — would b« j to undertake more than he' can afford. To i calculate it on a low 9calie it would absorb ; ; the whole of the year's milk from five cows ! to properly rear 60 calves (put in another , .' -way eadh of 20 oows would have to be \ milked for three months entirely on behalf of the 60 calves). Each cow should pi'o- | duce £12 worth of milk during tbs season, [ and/ it would* thus meaai that at three months old the 60 calves had cost £1 apiece plus labour charges. The latter could not well be set down .at less than £50, so that the actual cost of the calves by the time they had arrived at the age stated would be £100, or £1 16s 8d» each. Offer the seme calves at auction, and they would l -DrobaWy, realise no more than £1 or- £1 2s' 6d apiece. But the point that so few of our farmers have yet learned to see. is that calves so reared would be worth far more than £1 2s 6d to their breeders. They would 1 , if subsequently, well looked after, assuredly, grow into far better and more profitahk"' cows than their ill-trea.tisd mothers had ever been. In connection with the ad-» vocated plan c? withholding the bull from heifers until they ate at leas* two years old-, the same thing a>isplies>. 'Tho benefits of such a practice may not be immediately apparent, but they are there all the same. Instead of having ' any remnant of constitution they may possess unideir the* present conditions completely shattered through bca-rin^ offspring whilst immatuire, and so becoming susceptible to any disease that may bo abroad, the young mothsirs would ~b& of sufficient a#e anid* robustness to withstand, the attack of obnoxious bacilli," and the presemt percentage of deaths would" bs materially red-uoad. It is improbable that in any part df the world root crops, maize, kale, etc., can be grown" to ad'vant- ' age with less labour than in Taranaki. Evan i with the slipshod methods at present employed the crops are a a ruk excellent. | Yes, they have the soil, and also th«. j dimaite. Neither are their cattle altoffg/fchep lacking in breeding, for *good sboitKom, Jersey, and Holstein bulk are not uncom- ' mon. But fche faranaki fawner has yet a lot to learn with regard to the management of his estate and herds.. The time has already arrived when the question of housing cattle durirtjßr the winter months should he seriously considered. That this will be done" in the not very distant future is beyond a doubt, and dairying, as in Holland, will then be carried on continu-. oufily throughout the year.