THE NORTH ISLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3995, 7 October 1930, Page 15

THE NORTH ISLAND.

GENERAL.

“ I think this is going to be a consigning year.” said the chairman of directors (Mr J. C. Ewington) at the annual meeting of the Masterton Dairy Company recently, after observing that he was of the opinion that forward sales would be few.

Mr J. B. Searle, of Ashhurst, is the proud owner of a Romney cross ewe with four healthy lambs sired by a Romney ram (says the Wairarapa Times). Mr Searle has occasionally had ewes with three lambs, but this is the first time one has given birth to four. “It is only right that the producers should have some say regarding the price their produce is sold at,” said Mr J. C Ewington, at _the Masterton Dairy Company’s annual' meeting the other morning, when touching on matters in tion with nrie*> s+ehdl’cntirvn.

“So long as the Canadian door is closed to us. it will undoubtedly have an effect on the market.” sa?d Mr .T C Ewington. at the Masterton Dairv Comnanv’s meeting the other morning after making the observation that he thought that some reasonable understanding would vet bo come to in regard to tar’ff. Dairy farmers have learned to use thoim’lking plants more economicallv. and there is conseouen+lv a reduced demand for power by. dairv farmers, said th" general manager of the Auckland Power Berard (Mr R W Bartlev) at a meeting last week “ Where we used to get £2O from a farm plant, we now got nnlv £ll or £l2”

The recent cold weather is believed to be responsible for an ailment very similar to rheumatics which has broken out among young lambs in the South Wairarana. Th' joints, and espec : allv the knees, of thyoung lambs swell, im---i'ng mov- -'•n' and producing general dullness. Fine

weather appears to be the only remedy, and unless a spell of this w experienced the early fat lamb market in South Wairarapa will be drastically affected. Farmers -in the Te Awamutu district report yerj’ satisfactory lambing percentages this season. In some of the smaller flocks the percentage is as high' as 150, whilst there are many cases where the lambing is about 120 per cent. It is the exception to find percentages below 100. there is an abundant growth of grass in most of the districts round Te Awamutu, but probably none is better in this respect than larawera and the Owairaka Valley, there some of the settlers will have to increase their stock to keep the grass down.

The unfavourable weather which has been experienced during the past two or three weeks has had a detrimental effect On pastures, with the result that .there is not so much feedanow as there was towards the end of August (states the laranaki Herald). Then the grass was getting away frorii the cows, but to-day the position is reversed. The fact, too, that most farmers have exhausted their supplies of hay and ensilage further aggravates the position. Hand in hand with the cutting back of feed there has also been a falling off in milk production.

During the south-easterly weather of the past fortnight the snowfall has been heavier on the .South Marlborough grazing properties than has been experienced since 1921 (says the Express). Some losses of grown sheep have been reported, but are not believed to be heavy. In cases where lambing has commenced —and lambing is now fairly general—the death rate is sure to be heavy. These remarks apply to the Flaxbourne district, and are equally true of Kaikoura, where the losses among lambs have been very heavy during the last fortnight. The weather in the back country of Marlborough has also been unfortunate, and one or two sheepfarmers report fairly severe losses among lambs, though grown sheep appear to have escaped lightly.

PAYMENTS FOR BUTTER-FAT. The average payment of dairy companies in the Auckland Province for butter-fat supplied during August has been Is per pound. _ The majority of the companies have paid on that basis in respect of butter, and some have advanced Is Id, while pay-outs in respect of butter-fat used in cheese manufacture have been made up to Is 24dIn August last year butter suppliers received advances averaging Is 4d. Although the drop is substantial, a compensating circumstance is that the quantity of produce is considerably greater this season than it was at the opening of last season. THE FLAX INDUSTRY. An Auckland message states that definite advice has been received from the directors that the works of Te Puke Flaxmilling Company will be closed this week. Notice has been given to the employees, thus throwing 40 men out of employment. This, has been the last flaxmill to continue operations throughout the Dominion. During the last month two other mills operating in flax ; n this district have been closed. The closing of these mills has been due to depressed prices for fibre. It is estimated that the cost of labour and manufacture of flatx fibre far exceeds the market value, and for commercial purposes the production of flax by-products can only be made with heavy losses to the company. Advices state that it is impose P r °d ,lce phormium tenax at less than £2O per ton, which price is in excess of the present ruling market price. -AND SETTLEMENT. Following attention be:ng drawn to a cncular from the Commissioner of Crown Lands relative to the group scheme of land settlement, by the president, Mr W. J(’ «r e ’ at a meetin R of the council of the Wairarapa Progress League. Mr T. Jordan asked if there had been an applieat nn received as a result of publicity. M- Free, in mnly. stated that although _l>- advert, ’mynts had .on’y appeared a few days ago, five applications had been

received from prospective settlers, asking for further information on the group eettlement scheme. “ This . shows,” observed Mr Free, “that the action taken by the league'will probably bear fruit” In answer to a question whether any proposition had been offered, the president stated that it was not proposed to go into the matter at the present juncture. Steps in this direction might be taken at a later stage, but the activities were at the present time being directed towards finding out the number of likely settlers. “ This group settlement scheme and the Rimutaka deviation are the major questions which the league should keep hammering away at,” said Mr Free. Should it be found necessary to go a stag£ further with the scheme before the next meeting of the council, power was given to the executive to deal wi,th the matter.

POVERTY BAY SHOW GROUND. Opportunity was given to a large number of farmers recently to inspect the work the A. and P. Association is doing on the new show grounds, the dairy cattle pavilion being used for the first time. Most of the farmers who attended the Poverty Bay Jersey Cattle Club’s sale saw the new pavilion for the first time, and all were impressed with the value it will be in the display of dairy stock at the shows. All the pens are covered in, facing inwards in two large rectangles, which will comprise^the judging rings. Out of the glaring sun, o*r well sheltered from a stormy blast, ■ owners of showstock should have no fear of their stock suffering from two days of show. Those who attended the sale were also given an opportunity of,- inspecting other improvements the association had made at its new home. The produce shed is completed, and should amply provide for the requirements of the women’s section. The roof overhangs the walls on either side to provide cover for exhibitors while they are securing the return of their exhibits through spaces provided in the walls. The ring is already fenced off, this work having been done for the last rodeo, and although there will be no grandstand, ample shade is' provided by the shelter belts, which have made remarkably good growth. The terraces around the ring also provide vantage points from which the public will be able to watch the ring events. Attention is now being paid to-the road entrance, and already some progress has been made. Fences are being erected around the parking places, and every endeavour is being made to have all the preparations completed in the shortest possible time. It is anticipated that the work will be completed in time for the next show. FEEDING OF CALVES. Depleted returns to the dairy • farmer in a period of lower price returns mean that he must now turn his attention to increasing the value of by-products in the dairy industry. With this object in view, the Department of Agriculture is encouraging calf feeding trials in the Manawatu district, and about one hundred calves are being tested with the view to determining the . value of feeding meat meal to whey fed calves. This is stated to be a new departure.

Whey, in contradistinction to skim milk, is short of flesh-forming constituents or proteins, and an abundant supply of these elements is essential to the satisfactory growth of young animals. Whey, by itself, naturally gives an unsatisfactory return in the feeding of calves. There is a tendency to use unnecessarily large quantities. Iq, fact, whey has frequently been supplemented with pollard, oil, and grain, etc., but as none of these is particularly high in protein, they do not economically replace the higher protein feed essential in increasing the nutritive efficiency of whey. The cheapest and most reliable protein food for inclusion with whey for calf feedinsr is meat meal. It is the opinion of authorities that all whey-fed calves should have meat meal, and its use is recommended as a universal practice, fed warm preferably. Proper feeding bails are essential for the calves, and where whey and meat meal are fed common salt should always be available. Scours in calves are not so likely to occur where meat meal is fed, and when they do, it is regarded as a clear indication that too much whey has been fed.

Work at Lincoln College during the last two years has shown that, provided meat meal is used, excellent calves can be reared in twelve weeks on skim milk or whey. Each calf requires for a start not more than eight gallons of whole milk, where skim milk is available, and not more than 11 gallons of whole milk where whey is available. "Where skim milk is used, the calves will consume 200 gallons of skim milk and 251 b of meat meal, added at the rate of 2oz per gallon. Where whey is used, the calves will' con-

sume 200 gallons of whey and double the quantity of meat meal. With meat meal at £l2 per top, the meat meal will cost about 3s per calf where skim milk is fed, and 6s per calf where whey is fed. At the end of 12 weeks average calves weigh about 2601 b where skim mi‘k is used, and about 2201 b where whey is used; and should yield dressed carcasses of 1301 b and 1101 b respectively. When veal is worth 4d per lb dressed weight to the farmer, each carcass would return about £2, and if all the surplus dairy calves in New Zealand were reared to three months, the returns from these as veal would be about £2,000,000.