Farmstead

Southern Cross, Volume 17, Issue 26, 9 October 1909, Page 10

Farmstead

THE EXCHANGE. McKay Bros', weekly report of actual sales for week ending Saturday Poultry—Cockerels lid to Is 10d ; roosters to 2s 6d ; pullets 2s 3d to 2s 8d ; young ducks Is 6d to Is lOd, better'to *2s lid ; fowls 2s to 3s 2d. Pjg S _Weaners lis to 17s ; slips to 20s ; sows, £3 ; boar £3 3s. General Produce — Potatoes 50s, slow of sale ; onions, Victorian lis to 12s, Japanese 13s ; oats 7s ;, wheat 13s to 16s ; mill seeds 3s ; barley meal 6s ; carrots .Is 6d to 2s 6d ; parsnips 2s to 3s 6d. Fruit—Apples 12s 6d to 14s 6d ; oranges, Sydney 9s, South Australian 12s 6d, Mildura lis 6d ; lemons, Sydney 9s, Mildura 13s ; bananas 15s to 15s 6d u pines 12s 6d ; Sevilles 5s to 5s 6d. THE RIALTO. Messrs Wm. Todd and Co. report the following sales on Saturday last : Poultry—Splendid entry ; keen demand. Hens Is 10d to 2s Id ; White Leghorn hens 2s lOd to 5s ; Minorca hens 2s 2d ; roosters 2s to 2s 10d ; Silver Wyandotte roosters 3s ; Brown leghorn roosters 2s 9d ; hens and chicks 5s to 5s 3d ; geese 2s 4d to 3s 9d ; ducks Is 5d to 3s 3s turkey hens 3s 7d to 5s ; do. gobblers Bs. Pigs—ioi entered and sold. Suckers 10s 3d to 12s 6d ; weaners 15s to 19s ; slips 20s to 24s 6d ; stores 27s to 30s ; six sows, £2 3s, £2, £4 Is, £2 12s 6d, £4, and £2 2s 6d; two boars, 30s and 365. One cow— £4 15s. General Produce — Potatoes, full supply. Prime Victorian onions, 12s case ; oats 6s to 8s ; barley 7s 6d to 10s. Fruit—Sydney oranges 9s ; mandarins 12s 6d ; Canterbury dessert apples 12s to 13s. INVERCARGILL, HORSE MARKET. Messrs'J. A. Mitchell and Co. report :—We held our weekly sale in the Prince of Wales Yards on Saturday last,-and had an entry of forty horses, the draughts being a nice, uniform lot of handy farm horses, and the light sorts better as a whole than those lately offering. The attendance was good, and buyers for sound young draughts were numerous. Nearly every animal of that class (excepting-tithose for which extravagant prices were asked) changed hands at prices quite in keeping with those lately ruling. In the light horse class, strong reliable animals suitable for milk carts, butchers, or bakers, or 'bus work, a're in Strang demand, and very full values are obtainable. We sold 29 out of our entry- of 40 horses as follows : For draughts, £36 10s, £36, £33, £3l 10s, £3l, £3O (2), £29 (2). £25, £23 10s, £23, £22, and aged sorts down to £lO (we quote superior draughts to £SO, at up to which figure we placed several during the < week); hacks and harness horses, £2l 10s to £l4 for best, medium £l2 to £B, weedy and aged to £4 ; milk carters £l9 and £l2 ; yearlings £8 5s to £5 10s. DAIRYING ITEMS. The modern cow is the marvel of the twentieth centurv. ■s■ The development of competent dairymen is just as important as the development of cows. At present there are only four breeds of special purpose dairy cattle, all others are merely novelties. ■4Many ( milkers are spoiled by being allowed* to dry off when they have been in milk about five months. <*• Farm animals are produced for specific purposes, and the dairy cow is bv no means an exception to the rule 4~ A heifer should not be leg-roped if it could be avoided ; 19 out of 20 would never need it if gently handled. 4When cows are capable of producing over their weight in butter annually it is certainly a wonderful performance. ■s■ The special dairy cow is not necessarily delicate of constitution, but is highly sensitive to uncomfortable surroundings. <s> The thing to aim at is profit, and this is best secured by having cows good 'for milk and flesla, and feeding them generously.

The high> character attained by our modern dairy cow is the result ~of intelligent selection and the most careful feeding for generations. «$• There is really no element of chance in the' special purpose cow, while on the other hand the dual purpose cow is often an unknown quantity. -*- Proper records must be kept ' of each individual cow, so that the unprofitable ones may be culled out and the general character of the herd improved year by year. 4-

Worry and anxiety have much to do with loss in milk flow among cows. Milk means money to the farmer, and loss of it means loss of money, therefore he should try and exterminate all disturbing influences, such as dogs, flies, and harsh and unsympathetic milkers. TESTING HERDS. In proposing the toast of the Nireaha (Wellington) Co-operative Dairy Co. at a smoke concert, Mr O. Hoist, who has had a wide experience in dairying from the bucket to the consumer, referred to the loss to dairymen through not having properly tested herds. He said that suppliers could not always expect to get 12Jd for their butter iat. Seasons of .adversity were bound to come and to combat these should be the aim of every dairyman. Every man who milked should know whether the cows kept him or he kept the cows, and the only way to ascertain this was by a thorough system of testing. Mr Hoist told of an experience he had at a testing station. A farmer possessed a' dairy cow which he called Daisy, and which he considered by her appearance was a tip-top butter animal. "The man." said Mr Hoist, brought a sample of the milk to me, and the result was a 2.5 test." Every farmer has a Daisy or two in his herd, and these were the animals that conduced to retain the dairyman's nose to the grind-stone. The Government was talking about establishing testiag associations, but his advice was not to wait for the Government. They should start an association among themselves at once, and endeavour this season to have the individual cows of their respective herds tested.