NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3972, 29 April 1930, Page 12

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Frozen Chops Over the Counter. The jubilee of the frozen meat trade was celebrated the other day. It is 50 years ago since the first steamer arrived at Home with a cargo of frozen meat from Australia. The steamer was the Strathleven, and a luncheon was held on board her on February 6, 1880, to enable a chosen company of guests to sample the meat before delivery was made to Smithfield. Wonderful advances have been made in the science of food preservation since those days. An attractive idea comes from the United States (says the Field), where plans are now on foot to supply drug stores with chops and other small cuts of meat frozen hard for retail sale over the counter. It is claimed that a new process of instantaneous freezing will preserve small pieces of meat almost indefinitely in excellent condition in a cold safe, and that there are no practical difficulties to prevent the American drug stores from adding frozen meat to their almost limitless stock of goods. The Purposes of Shows. Shows are supposed to be held to encourage the art of breeding and as a means by which the public can see the best specimens of the breeder’s art; but in many cases the men through whose gennis and skill some of the best prizewinning annuals have been produced are practically unknown to the general publie who attend shows, and their reputation is known only to the circle of breeders with whom they mix. It seems only right and fair that some encouragement and ’due acknowledgment should be given to those who have been responsible for the breeding of the fine specimens of live stock that carry off the chief honours in our leading showyards. Not omy should the breeders’ names be published in full in every catalogue with the entry, but a gold or silver medal or a small money prize should also be given to the winning breeder, whether he be the exhibitor or not. If the breeder is also the exhibitor he is doubly deserving of the extra breeder’s prize. Warts on Cows’ Teats. Marts on the teats of young cows and heifers are frequently a source of much trouble, and treatment should generally be attended to some time before calving. A very’ simple method of removing small warts (say’s the London Life Stock Journal) is to smear them repeatedly’ with castor oil. Large ones having a neck may be hanked with a silk thread till they’ drop off. Heifers often escape notice until they calve, and then the warts interfere with the action of milking. Treatment at this stage is not so easy of accomplishment, and if sores result there will be trouble in store for the milker. It is therefore the best plan when heifers are being brought into the dairy herd to see that if there are warts on their teats they be dealt with before calving, especially' if destruction ot the excrescences by caustic agents is necessary. This causes a certain amount . soreness which is aggravated by milking. If the warts are removed, whether by means of a chemical or by ligature or scissors, as long before calving as to allow the teats to heal, there is usually no trouble with the milking. In the ease of an awkward wart that mav not have been got rid of before calving, a repeated application of castor oil or a slight touch once a day with glacial acetic acid, applied with the stopper or cork of the phial to the top of the wart, will- soon make it shrink and drop off. Care must be taken not to let the acid reach the skin of the teat) Warts at the tip of the teats are. of course, more in the way of the milker than further up the teat.

Lime Deficiency and Disease. As a result of considerable reiteration in the press and in consequence of stock at times doing badly on apparently good feed, farmers generally realise that one cannot go on for ever fattening stock, growing wool, and delivering dairy products unless the constituents which go to ensure healthy stock are returned to the land from time to time. Quick-acting manures, like sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, and the like are all verywell, but we should realise that rapidacting fertilisers do not leave behind the necessary residuals, and we practically create soils lacking in minerals, followed possibly by ill-nutritioned stocky Should the practice be blindly followed? In a recent address to Home farmers Mr F. E. Corrie dealt with the changes that «had been brought about by the demand for intensive yields of milk from cows, eggs from hens, and so forth. His address was devoted to showing that, whilst making attempts to supply the additional albuminoids which are necessary for flesh-

forming and the carbohydrates and fats which are necessary for heat aud energy,’ farmers had neglected to supply certain' mineral elements which the body requires? The old practice of liming had fallen much into disuse. Soils became deficient 1 in lime, and in consequence the crops mi J vere deficient in lime, with ultimate ill-enects upon stock. There is more in the use of lime and fertilisers than simply, the Production of a crop at the moment. Deficiency of mineral matter not only prevented the best use being made of the protein, carbohydrates, and fats Avhich were present in food, but led to deterioration in stock. Where it was practicable and economic to use lime and phospbatic fertilisers it was most essent’aJ that it should be done. It was not sufficient to supply fertilisers with rapid' action with a view to obtaining immediate results only: valuable residuals must be left in the soil. If they started with the soil to build up its lime and phosphatie reserves they would have done something to remedy mineral deficiency? But it did not help them when feeding concentrates to the cow, and it was here that the so-called mineral supplements came in. For some seven or eight years he had made a study of these, and he was' inclined to recommend the farmer to use a mineral supplement which would' give him a certain amount of all these AGRICOLA. DAIRY BOARD’S WORK. ACTING-CH A IRMAN’S VIE WS. J-acting-chairman of the. New Zealand Dairy Produce Board, has macle the following statement regardin'' the work of the board:— “ Judging by the various comments in the press and at Farmers’ Union meet: appear as if there was an attempt at organised propaganda for the puipose of belittling the Dairy Board's work, and inspired suggestions for its merger, if not abolition, appearing from time to time cannot remain unchallenged) It is hardly necessary to reiterate the tact that whilst always opposed to compulsory marketing and price fixin" I have consistently maintained that the board was needed as a central organisation in the industry to attend to shipping with its many problems, advertising, scientific research, marine insurance, and supei vision of dairy produce in transport and cold storage until it reaches the market. Dealing separately with the diL ierent phases of this work we will first take shipping.

The board took over the shippin" cons tract in 1923-24, and the rates secured show finally a saving of £335,596 per annum, as between the rates ruling ip 1923-24 and the present rates of frei"ht. Let it be admitted frankly that some’ of these reductions would have been secured to the industry in any case by reason of a general fall in prices. However, until the Dairy Board came into being no organisation existed that could legally bind the industry to a shipping contract, or negotiate effectively with any shipping line other than at present trading with New Zealand. Undoubtedly the legal power to negotiate is a big factor in se* curing the greatest reduction possible. ‘‘Before leaving the question of ship* ping it should be stated that for years prior to the inauguration of the board there had been an insistent demand for greater supervision of shipp ng and trans, port. It was found impossible to give this service, as there was no machinery to provide for the cost being borne equitably by all dairy producers. The setting up of the Dairy Board solved the problem, as the board was able out of its levy to provide the necessary inspectors. As a result, the handling of- dairy produce, its transport and cool storage, is on a better basis than ever before. Definite evidence in support of this has been given not only by the director of the dairy division, but also by many prominent dairymen who have visited Great Britain in recent years. “ For years prior to the establishment of the Dairy Board, the dairy associations had worked hard to effect reductions in the cost of marine insurance, but without any appreciable result, the reason being that they were unable to guarantee any given quantity of produce to the underwriters. The Dairy Board, because of its statutory powers, was able to offer the underwriters the whole of the dairy produce being exported. The effect of this was to enable the board in 1924 to make a contract of marine insurance on export dairy produce which, along with the reductions since secured, means a saving to the industry of over £32,000 per annum. It also made possible the securing of the best marine cover that has ever been in existence in New Zealand. Export dairy produce is protected under this policy from the time the milk or cream is received at the factory until 30 days after reaching its destination ‘against every risk whatsoever.’ There is a condition in the contract which proves the value of the board’s work, and it is ‘ that this contract is subject to the Dairy

Board continuing its inspection and supervision.’

' “In past years, again and again has the complaint been made that the handling of dairy produce in British ports has been anything but satisfactory, and that considerable deterioration in quality resulted by reason of these conditions. Jfhe board took this matter up and was able so to arrange that all dairy produce would be landed and sorted in cool storage. By reason of the board being able to enter into a contract with the cool storage authorities overseas the cost of this was reduced by an amount which means a saving of approximately £25,000 per annum. . * “The total ordinary expenditure of the board for the year ended July 31, 1929’ was £27.088 7s lid. From this should be deducted some £5OOO paid to the dairy associations by factories in the way ,°* annual subscriptions for doing the shipping work and which they now do not pay, leaving £22.088 7s lid. A further reduction of £2479 should be made for the shipping inspection work, which, is necessary whether the board is in existence or not. thus reducing the total to £19,609 7s lid. Against this, take only the saving on marine insurance of £32,000 per annum, which is entirely due to the board, and the position is that the board, instead of being an expense to the industry, is really responsible for a considerable profit to it, and that without taking any account of the great reductions made in freight rates and cool storage charges overseas. “ It is interesting to note that the value of the export dairy produce from New Zealand for the year in whiqh the above expenditure was incurred was over £20,000,000. “The annual expenditure of £15,000 on advertising cannot in any way be included in the ‘ cost of the board.’ The industry has asked for years that advertising be done, and it is never more necessary than when prices are low. The board, by reason of its position, has been able to establish a national brand for New Zealand dairy produce, and the whole of the advertising is built around this brand, with the object of establishing a goodwill for the whole of New Zealand’s produce. Advertising expenditure by others has been allocated to individual brands, this being only natural in view of the fact that the owners of these brands paid the cost.

“Then again there was a direct mandate from the industry that its problems of quality should be dealt with from a scientific point of view, and the payment of some £4OOO from the board’s levy for this work was a grant long overdue, and pannot by any stretch of imagination be included under ‘ cost of the board.’ “There are a number of other matters that coul'd be touched upon, such as improvements brought about in the transport steamers, more complete statistics, etc., which have all resulted from the board’s efforts; but enough has been written to prove that those who are featuring ‘the cost of the board’ are doing so in complete ignorance of the position. “It is well to remind ourselves that the board’s work and resulting savings and improvements effected are in the interests of the whole dairy industry. Every supplier to the smallest dairy factory in the Dominion receives his share of the benefits obtained by the board because of its bargaining capacity. Larger factories, or a combination of larger factories, might obtain a measure of these advantages, but the rank and file wou'id naturally be left out. The strength of the board’s work is that it ensures to every factory that its interests are protected. “ The foregoing evidence of the various activities of the board should be sufficient answer to critics, and with a full knowledge of recent happenings I have no hesitation in saying that the maintenance of the board as a separate entity, elected by the direct vote of every producer, was never more necessary to the industry than to-day.” SYDNEY SHOW. A GREAT SPECTACLE. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, April 17. The Royal Show—the State and, indeed, Australia in microcosm; a little colourful, pulsating world in itself; an antidote to the prevailing economic and financial blues; just the medicine the community needs to expell the poison of pessimism—is once again with us. Witness to the prodigal magnificence and exuberance of Nature under the stimulus of good rains; to the good old British doggedness that is seeing things through in the primary and secondary industries, and to the sturdy faith of those who are smiling through their combats with overdrafts, taxes, markets that have gone phut, and other troubles, the “ Royal ” shows clearly that the country is sound at heart—as sound at heart as the men and women outback before whose industry and faith and courage fair, smiling fields have arisen. Sydney’s big parade, erupting, as a night, into a riot of noise, a thing of blazing life and colour, is to the man who cannot claim to know anything of pigs or pumpkins, and all the other things that make up a show, very much like the Royals that have preceded it. But there is this about it which inspires the regret that it is not to last a good deal longer. That it makes for optimism and cheerfulness when everybody apappears to be fretting and brooding and grumbling about the outlook. And that ought to be very much to the good of the country and of the individual.