NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3854, 24 January 1928, Page 12

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Slippery Concrete Floors.

Some time ago, in reply to a correspon-

dent who wished to treat

a concrete floor so that cows would not slip, the writer indicated chin-

writer inuicatea enipping and the use of acid as remedial measures. I have just come across the following:—Obtain some ordinary ground limestone, unLurnt and such as is applied to the land, and daily, after cleaning out the cow barn, sprinkle it finely so as to give a light covering over ail the concrete floors. It will be found that the cows can be galloped (if- one wished) from one end of the barn to the other without any risk of them slipping. Besides this desired effect, the lime produces a clean white floor, is a slight disinfectant and deodorant, and is a highly desirable-fertiliser for the land. If sawdust or shavings are used for bedding the lime helps to neutralise the acidity. If the spreading of the limestone produces a dust it can be slightly damped before using, and the cost is negligible in view of the many benefits derived. The writer of the foregoing (“F. K.,” in Hoard’s Dairyman) condemns chipping the floor, etc. *. '

A Corriedale Cross.

Under the above heading the following note appeared recently in

the N.B. Agriculturist:— Interesting developments may be looked for in re-

gard to the possible economic advantage of crossing some of our sheep breeds with the Corriedale. When exhibited at the “White City” the Corriedales aroused considerable interest amongst sheep owners who examined them, their -wonderful woolproducing properties commanding special attention. Meantime Mr James Piper, of the Grange, Burntisland, had made up his mind to experiment with the :breed, and with that purpose in view he selected a group of females and rams from one of the most famous flocks in New Zealand. He had difficulty in getting them into this country, owing to our live stock import regulations, but eventually he -was successful, and'he further supplemented his holding by purchases at Wembley when the exhibits there were disposed of. Since then it has occurred to certain sheep owners in Scotland that a cross "with a Corriedale ram might prove a valuable proposition as a means of improving the wool. Cheviots have been crossed in this way, and we understand that the results have, so far, been wonderfully promising. There are obvious indications in the' produce greatly improved Wool, with a fairly good carcase of mutton. When' one considers that pure Corriedale wool, in. the countries where it is produced, brings- as much as 32d per lb (round about 22|d to-day) it can be gathered that' the possibilities of a greatly improved quality of fleece 41s the result of such; a cross as that in .process ,of • the, . tests' mentioned, suggest; considerably increased revenue in the marketing of . the wool. ,

The Export of Stud Sheep.

Quite the most arresting item of in-’

formation to pastoralists who view the likely development of the export of purebred stock from

the monetary standpoint was surely, the damaging statement which appeared .in the press the other day. For instance, we ; read of “New> Zealand Scrub Rams: Australia Regarded as the Dumping. Ground,” etc. This sort of blazppryj A is. most harmful to the export trade,, and., yet, unless the .breed associations take some action to tighten up. the export regu-. lations a great market At our doors/ iiiay. be jeopardised and suspicion created'/jn; the minds of those further afield. Giving evidence before -the / Tariff ' Boai'tl -at Sydney, when reqbesting on behalf of the'

Federal Council of Breeders for an increased duty on sheep of certain varieties, Mr David M'Nauglit spoke plainly enough. He said that when a New Zealand district has completed the season and had rams left over, rams which no other district would feed at any price, they were bought by dealers and shipped to Australia, instead of being canned. Those rams would never fill their mission as rams. To begin with, because they were scrubs they would not beget fat lambs, and this was not the only trouble, because their -progeny were good for nothing. They were inferior and had not the power to fatten themselves. They, therefore, were not sent to market, but left here. The result was that they were bred from again, and so deterioration went on. Replying to questions, the witness said that New Zealand looked upon Australia as its dumping ground. Furthermore, there was a movement on foot over there to prevent stud sheep of the better class coming to Australia. In the interests of the stud sheep export trade of the Dominion such things should not be. Why, last year one breed alone sent abroad over 250 stud rams and ewes. It behoves sheepmen therefore to be jealous of their good name and nurse the trade.

Trend of the Beef Trade.

Although the Dominion exports very little beef, our interest

must not be allowed to wane in regard to buyers’

requirements. The changes in the domestic habits of the people are so marked here and in the Home Country that producers must attend to current developments if they are to retain their present markets. As with lamb and mutton, so it is with beef. Families are smaller, the holiday habit and the advent of the motor car has affected home fife, and a greater variety of foods are at the disposal of the people. These

changes have affected the meat industry most profoundly—more so in the Old Country than here, and even here it is marked enough. According to some extracts from a paper read at a meeting of the Farmers’ Club, London, last month by Mt Samuel Fulham, entitled “ The Trend of Consumers’ Requirements for

Joints and Meat and How Farmers Can Supply Them,” it would seem that meat importations into London are viewed with considerable • dismay by Home butchers. Dealing with the London trade, he said that the population in the area to which his experience (Mr Fulham has been connected with the trade for 40 years) tended, say, 20 miles from Smithfield, must number at least 10,000,000 people. Why, he asked, is it that in this area such a large proportion of. the meat consumed is imported? The obvious answer, of course, is that it is cheaper, but that would not be a complete answer. If the imported meat were inferior it would not sell in the London market. No! the reason is that imported meat is more tender to eat. This statement will give rise to many questions. Why is imported meat more tender than home killed? For two reasons —(1) Because it has been killed for a period of from

three weeks to three months, and (2) because on the whole our imported meat is from better bred animals than the average home-produced animals that are sold to our butchers. A great many of the home-produced steers two and a-half to four years of age give a quality of flesh that would not eat as tender as the Argentine beef even if kept for three weeks. Mr Fulham said he thought it would be accepted among the majority of meat traders in London that the first demand of the public is for tender *beef, and that to meet this demand the butchers must purchase Scotch beef, Argentine beef, or young cattle under two years old which have never been allowed to stand still and lose their calf flesh. The public, having lost their taste for the flavour and nutriment which is to be found in the older animal, require small joints of beef, such as can only be cut from the small breeds of cattle, such as the Aber-deen-Angus heifer and the Devon baby beef that has been well fed from birth and arrived at maturity between the age of 18 months and two years. Discussing sheep, Mr Fulham said the position' l is much the same, for the demand for small joints has made the larger type of sheep most difficult to market, and the situation tends to grow worse. The trade in our butchers’ shops has completely altered since the war. Family home life has lost its old , character, the advent of the motor car and the love of picnicking during the summer months has done away with the family gatherings as we used to know them. Domestic help is. difficult to obtain,, and the maintaining of large establishments has become such a problem that many, people have abandoned housekeeping and . are living in service flats and hotels. The day of the 121 b week-end joint has gone, and there seems no prospect that the •demand for large legs and saddles ,of mutton will , return. We are compelled in our catering for the public to supply the article which, they demand. We have to forget what we used to do and waste no time in vain regrets.. Some of these viewpoints warrant “ salting down,” as one cannot well credit that the best of Home beef is equalled by any. of the imported goods. Rather there are greater profits reaped in handling foreign products, and probably immense quantities are foisted upon an unsuspecting public as home-produced meat. In the varying circumstances one can hardly wonder that Home producers demand that imported beef should be marked and. sold, separately in their .interests. ' '' AGRICOLA;?