LIVE-STOCK AND THE FARM.

Southland Times, Issue 18927, 28 April 1923, Page 10

LIVE-STOCK AND THE FARM.

FEEDING COLTS.

Future of the Dairying Industry.

(By

“HARVESTER.”)

FEEDING COLTS.

STOCK THAT PAY FOR GOOD RATIONS Colts pay as well for a little careful feeding as any other kind ot’ farm stock, indeed, they very often pay for it a good deal better. A half-starved yearling never grows afterwards as it should, and if it has once lost flesh that it had as a foal it is always likely to be flat in the ribs and weak in the loin and rump. Such yearlings grow into poor, cheap-looking horses, and more money is lost over the final selling price than would have fed three or four colts during their first and most difficult winter. It is true that a colt is far better out in the fields than indoors; it keeps his feet right, produces plenty of hay, and the constant exercise keeps his muscles in good order. But he must have plenty to eat; and this is the whole point. Grass at this time of the year has very little nourishment in it, and even if there is plenty, any animal has a difficulty in digesting a sufficient quantity to keep up its animal heat and leave a margin for growth. The albuminoids in it are particularly deficient, and it is just these that the colt requires most, so that its growth can be maintained. In many cases a little clover or sainfoin hay is all that the colt needs, providing the feeding has been begun early enough and the animal has not started to sink in condition. If, however, attention has been drawn to the need of food by the fact that the animal has already lost flesh, then hay alone is not enough to pull it round. It will probably stop it from get ting worse, but if the colt is to be pul.e round, then some oats must be used. /. a rule it is far safer, and often mor< economical in the end, to start with a small feed of oats and chaff. Oats are always useful, but they are not really enough by themselves, for they do not balance well with winter grass, nor do they supply enough albuminoid, unless • given in very large quantity. Two parts of oats to one part of cracked beans or peas makes a good mixture, or, as a fairly bulky food, equal parts of dried grains and oats are good. Quite a number of mixtures can be made, such as oats and a little compound dairy cake or cocoanut cake; but the mixture I would recommend to all those who wish to keep their colts in good condition, and see them grow fast, is 50 per cent, crushed oats, 20 per cent, of dried grains, 15 per cent, cracked beans, 10 per cent, bran or middlings, and 5 per cent, fish meal, all by weight. This mixture supplies bone-forming materials as well as easily digested albuminoids, and it will be found that for a colt in his first winter, 11b per day, gradually increasing to 2Mb or 31b will make all the difference possible to his growth and to his appearance all the rest of his life. The colt, rising two, is stronger and more able to combat the adverse conditions, and for it some hay is probably all it requires. It would, however, be all the better for a little of the corn mentioned as suitable for the yearling, though sinking in condition a little will not affect its future in the way it does that of the colt in its first winter. In these times, with horses so low in price, many farmers may hesitate about feeding their colts; but it is certain that if the colt is worth keeping at all it is worth keeping well, or, at any rate, well enough to keep him growing and strong. The animal will certainly be worth more if well grown and well furnished than if poor and flat-ribbed, and it is also true that the drop in prices is far greater in poor horses than in good. If for this reason only it is worth while to see that every colt gets the chance to develop into a good horse if he can. FERMENTATION IN BUTTER. THE PART PLAYED BY CASEIN. Butter should be kept for a few days if one is to get the full sweet nutty flavour characteristic of the primest butter. When stored in a suitable place as to temperature, and purity of atmosphere, butter is at its best when about three days old. The reason for this is that a fermentation of the casein when it has developed to the correct extent improves the flavour. Butter containing an excess of casein, or curdy matter, is uneven in colour, and develops a rancid flavour in a short time, especially during warm weather, owing to the fermentation taking place to too great an extent. It is imperative that a certain proportion of casein be present in prime butter, but above that the more caseous matter present the more inferior will be the quality of the butter. It is necessary to have as near as possible to 0.5 per cent, of casein in butter as a means of securing the correct degree of fermentation, which results in the finished article having the desired flavour and good keeping properties. Too much casein in butter causes it to be streaky or mottled in appearance, and the flavour quickly deteriorates—in some cases to the extent that the butter is uneatable. The casein of milk being of a rather viscous nature adheres to the fat globules of milk, and it is only by ripening the cream that the viscosity of the casein can be destroyed, thereby setting free the fat globules. Nicely ripened it has a clean, sharp, acid flavour, and the quality of butter depends largely upon the state of the cream when put in the churn. In order to manufacture prime butter it is necessary properly to ripen the cream and churn it to small butter grains; the superfluous caseous matter may then be removed by carefully washing the butter whilst it is in granular form. The cream must be churned at a suitable temperature, as if it is I too warm the butter gets overheated and then it cannot be properly washed. There are times in very hot weather when it is difficult matter to get the crearn ■ufficiently cold for churning to the best ad. antage, but during the greater part of the year the churning temperature may be regulated to a nicety. In very cold •veather vzhen difficulty is experienced with the churning owing to the temperature falling after the cream has been churned a short time, additions of warm water must be very carefully made. It is when the water used for regulating the temperature cf the cream is too warm that sticky butter from which the casein cannot be washed is produced. ' VALUE OF HERD-TESTING. REMARKABLE ILLUSTRATION. The great value of herd-testing is strikngly exemplified by the story attached to a Shorthorn cow owned at Horotiu, a few miles out of Hamilton. This cow, which is now well on the road to putting up something in the nature of a world’s record, was considered by her owner, Mr G. E. Hall, as being the worst animal in his herd because she required so much stripping. He tried to sell the beast to a neighbour, but the neighbour replied that he did not want culls j from another farm, and promptly refused | the offer. When the Waikato Farmers’ j Union Herd-testing Association was fomiI ed, Mr Hall was one of the first to join j in, and then came the wonderful discov- | ery that the despised cow was not only the i best cow in his herd, but easily the best in | the district, and qualified to take a high

place among the most valuable cows in the world. Small wonder that it took a long time to strip her for the machine had not I been left long enough, and no encouragement given her to produce to her fullest capacity. This wonderful cow has given in 164 days 99451 b of milk and 529.321 b of butter-fat, which production is all the more remarkable in view of the fact that she has never received any artificial food, and has been milked by machines only twice a day, and as a member of a herd of 68 cows.— (Waikato Correspondent). FUTURE OF DAIRYING. AN AMERICAN FORECAST. The following is a liberal extract from an address delivered by David O. Brant, a prominent dairyman of Southern California, at the dedication of the Dairy and Horticulture Building at the University of California Farm, Davis, California: “Successful dairying in the future depends, first upon the man. There is no business that I know of that requires a man to have such a broad and thorough knowledge, particularly of the basic science. . the theory of things in general, and the ability to apply this broad knowledge as I the many new problems present themselves J each day. The leaders in the business are ; those who have this broad knowledge and are able to make new progress because their . broad knowledge permits them to see more often a new way to improve. “Because I believe that this scientific knowledge is essential to the successful, I think that perhaps 90 per cent, of the iutI ure successtul dairymen will come from the jlleges, for it is there that they learn the -eory of things and the basic sciences that ney will work and draw upon in their work. “A second essential to the successful dairying of the future is our cattle. We must have cows that can produce efficiently and make a big profit for the feed and 1 care they consume. The United States is very backward in miik production. We have the best, it is true, but the very large majority oi aairy cows in this country are far below the average of the dairy cows in other dairy countries and if they are not producing milk at a loss it is because their feed is almost free, a condition that is fast being eliminated. It would be a good thing, in a way, if for some reason we had a great meat shortage, for then people would not only learn the greater vakie of milk but the poorer dairy cows would be butchered, and our dairy cow average elevated to a much higher plane. Elimination of our poor producers and improvement by breeding are our means of securing better dairy cows for the future. “A third essential factor in the successful dairying of the future is our feeds. Here in California we are particularly fortunate because we grow those two wonder plants, alfalfa and corn, in abundance. These two plants, which in themselves make a very satisfactory dairy ration, combined with our barley and niilo maize, with our best pulp and cottonseed meals, all of which are produced freely in this state, give us homegrown feeds that can not be surpassed by any dairy country. These excellent feeds combined with our mild climate should permit us to get from ten to twenty per cent, more production than we could with the same animals in another section.

“Another important essential to the successful dairying of the future is our methods. I believe that the largest growth in the future dairying will be made among the smaller farmers; such, for'instance, as the orchardist. He will establish small herds of perhaps 10 to 30 cows, not only to give him a more even income and a more diversified farming, but also to increase the fertility of his soil. For this type of dairyman we should develop the very simplest methods of handling milk. I believe that in the past ten years we have become too scientific, too technical, and too complicated in our methods of handling milk. Complicated machinery may be all right for the large city plants but for the farmer-pro-ducer simplicity should be the keynote. “In producing our contest milk, which is the very best milk that wo produce, we use the very simplest methods. The cows are driven into the barn and hosed off; a man washes his hands with soap and water; the milk is drawn into an ordinary sterilized pail; it is then poured back and forth a few times to mix it. It is then passed through a strainer and into bottles which are packed on ice and shipped away. It only takes a few moments and yet it is the simplest and best milk that we produce/ The college should work out similar methods along scientific lines, eliminating every unnecessary bit of work, saving labour and worry, tor labour is one of the most costly and difficult problems upon the dairy farm, “The last essential in our successful dairying as I see it is our markets. With excellent men, perfect cows and feed, simple methods and an abundance of milk, our product is of no value unless we have markets where we can dispose of it profitably. “There are three good ways to maintain and increase the consumption of milk in our markets. Advertising is one of these. People arc forgetful, so every time you can remind them that milk is a delicious, healthful food-drink and that they wih be better off for every bit they consume, you increase the chance that they will uso

“There is one thing about advertising that I think should be changed, in nearly every paper or pamphlet gotten out by one of the dairy companies to advertise their milk, it is always pointed out that other miik is very apt to carry typhoid fever, scarlet fever, diptheria, septic sore throat’ that it is full of slimes, of bugs, etc. Unless the consumer drinks “Purity Farms Milk” he is apt to catch one of these diseases. Being unable to get this particular milk he avoids all miik. I think we should leave these unpleasant things unsaid and paint milk as an appetising picture.

“By education of the consumer in the value of the milk we can increase its consumption. There is no more valuable work being done in educational lines than by Mr Green, of the California Dairy Council in educating the school children in the value of milk, which knowledge is taken home to parents.

“The quality of the milk we sell to the consumer is an important way of increasing consumption. We have heard something of quality, but it has always seemed to have been applied to the cleanliness of milk and its freedom from bacteria, either killed by pasteurisation or produced by clean methods. Tese are important but the consumer is not so interested in these as he is in the richness, the colour, the flavour and the keeping qualities of his milk. When a visitor comes to our ranch we give him a bottle of our Guernsey milk. The flavour pleases him and he usually ends up by saying, ‘if I could get milk like that I’d drink it all the time, but I never touch the thin blue, chalky-looking stuff we do get.’ “Improved quality as pertaining to richness, colour, and flavour, are most important items in increasing consumption, especially of the liquid miik consumed in our big cities. As sufficient milk is produced to meet the demands of a city, these richer, yellower milks will displace the other and it will be a welcome change to the consumer.

“I see no great future in the dairy business from a financial standpoint. I do not think any one will ever become a million-

aire from the dairy business. I do see a healthful, happy life from it, with lots of hard work, which really makes happiness and as it is happiness that we really seek in life, the dairy business would seem to afford this, even though the hard work, at the time, may not let us see it just that way. “One should also work with an ideal in mind. There is no greater ideal to work for than to leave the world better for having been here than it would have been had we not been here. I know of no business that will leave the world better than will the dairy business, because milk is essential to health and growth, the prime requirements of progress.”—Hoard’s Dairyman. CLYDESDALE HORSE SOCIETY MEETING OF COUNCIL A meeting of the Council of the Clydesdale Horse Society was held in the rooms of the Canterbury A. and P. Association, Christchurch recently. Both Islands were well represented and Mr J. W. Harding, president, occupied the chair. It was resolved that where the Commonwealth Clydesdale Horse Society desires that a New Zealand-bred sire should be registered to complete the pedigree of an animal to be registered in Australia, this Society will do so, but it is considered that it would be too great and costly an undertaking to compile a list of eligible horses in the New Zealand Draught Horse Stud Book. A ballot for order of retirement of members of Council resulted as follows: i —Retire in 1923. ' North Island:— I Quentin Donald, Featherston. A. E. Harding, Mangawhare. I A. Hunter. Hawera. j A. McNicol, Clevedon. j South Island: — I J. W. Blair, Outram. Jas. Gow, Mosgicl. . Jas. King, Invercargill. T. Logan, Otama. • —Retire in 1924. North Island:— H, Gascoyne, Marae.kakaho. I J. W. Harding, Waipukurau. ; E. M. Hutchinson, Gisborne. I W. G. Park, Te Awamutu. South Island:— J. Ewan, Otautau. J. A. Johnstone, Dunedin. G. C, Thomson, Dunedin. J. D. Wyllie, Sefton. —Retire in 1925-* North Island:— A. L. Bremer, Okaiawa. Jas. Knight, Feilding. R. D. Knight, Longburn. H. Middleton, Waverley. South Island:— Jas. Birtles, Waikouaiti. R. Kennedy, Drummond. R. W. Lockhead, Christchurch. W. J. Taylor, Ashton. A discussion took place on the question of unregistered stock competing in purebred classes, especially at larger shows. Many Societies now insist on registration, but no acton was taken in the meantime. Owing to the books having gone astray in transit, routine and other business had to be deferred, and the meeting was ad journed until the opening day of the Masterton show, when there was a full meeting of northern members, but the South Islanders were unable to attend. It was decided to hold the annual meeting at Palmerston North on Wednesday of Winter Show week at 11.30 a.m. Sixty-three new members were elected. Prefixes were approved as follows: “Otterburn,” Messrs Meara Bros.; “Crofthead,” Leonard W. Storry; “Waimeha,” Sisam and Sons. The secretary reported that the award of the Union S.S. Cup for 1921 season went to W. G. Park’s “Douglas Royal Kate” (1814). That the following stallions have passed the veterinary examination: —Reid and Lockie’s Myroe Footprint (19207 x (1387); J. M. Smith’s Bonnie Brydone (1274); A. Moynihan’s Sandy Bold V. 6; Mitchell and O’Brien’s (now J. C. N. Gregg’s) Springfield Stamp (1079). That export certificates had been issued for two mares and sixteen stallions—all to Victoria—and import certificates have been received for four mares and fillies, and seven stallions from Britain. Payments totalling £139 7s 8d were approved. The pedigrees of the stallions “Ivanhoe” (225), and “Royal Durbar” (389) as published in Vol. 1. were declared to be erroneous and the pedigrees as corrected will appear in Vol. 6. The pedigrees of two mares owned by Mr W. B. Campbell, Hastings, and J. Donaldson, Stirling, were accepted for registration in Vol. 6. CUT V. UNCUT POTATO SETS. PROFESSOR PRIESTLEY ON SCIENTIFIC POINTS. At a conference of horticultural advisors held at the Midland Agricultural and Dairy College, Professor Priestley, of Leeds University, gave a paper on the application of his recent researches to the cutting of potato sets. He pointed out that the irregular results obtained by the use of cut sets were most probably due to the entrance of disease organisms into the potato by way of the cut surface. If this entrance could be effectively blocked there seemed no reason why cut sets should not give results, if not quite as good as uncut sets, sufficiently near to warrant the cutting of sets being more universally and safely practised. The lecturer went on to show how, with due attention to the cutting and atmospheric and other conditions prevailing at, and immediately after the cutting, the cut potato itself would prevent the incursions of the undesired organisms. Immediately consequent to cutting the external cells of the cut impregnated with, and covered by. a layer of fat-like substance. This gradually becomes more solid and, if continuous, is a complete protection against organisms. Following the formation of this barrier is an immediate reinforcement by means of further layers of cork cells, the walls of which are also covered by the fat-like substance. The number of layers deposited appears to be to some extent a matter of variety, and may explain why some varieties will stand cutting better than others. Professor Priestley stated that the successful formation of these layers depended on the atmospheric conditions prevailing at the time of cutting and for some little time afterwards. The layers were not continuous if the set was cut on a dry day, a sunny day, or put immediately into a dry soil. A certain amount of moisture was necessary in order to make sure that the layers would form satisfactorily. He therefore recommended that the cutting of sets should be done under moist atmospheric conditions, and that anything which would result in immediate drying of the cut surface should be avoided. Some few field trials which had been carried out supported this recommendation. A very interesting discussion followed the lecture. During this discussion Professor Priestley stated that liming the cut surface was better than cutting in sunlight

and not liming, and that the changes to which he had previously referred took place beneath the limed surface. In reply to further questions, the lecturer mentioned that the healing of the wound, resulting in the barrier to disease, took place better in November than in the latter months, and was weakest in April and May. He therefore suggested that early cutting was advisable, and, seeing that the first layer at best is formed in from 12-48 hours after cutting; the sets could be eet up to sprout somewhere about 24 hours after cutting with a reasonable chance of success. JUDGING CATTLE BY POINTS. THE AYRSHIRE UNDER THE NEW TEST. At the second annual show of Aryshire cattle held under the auspices of the Ayrshire Cattle Herd Book Society at Ayr recently, the judging of Ayrshires on the basis of points was again carried through. The work of the soceity was interrupted one year by foot-andi-mouth disease restrictions. There was a good entry this year, amounting to 337, comprising 203 animals. At the last show there were 403 entries representing 305 animals. The system of

judging was to award pointe—6s for form, symmetry, constitution and mammary development, and 35 for authenticated milk yield in the case of a cow. or authenticated milking pedigree in the case of bulls and younger animals. The judge takes into consideration, in awarding the points for appearance, what he considers the best animal in the class, and awards her full points. The others are given points in relation thereto. Then the milking points are added and the animals placed in their final order. In two classes one point for ♦very 20 gallons, over a minimum, is given for deep milking qualities, the butter-fat average being 3.5 or over. EFFECT OF LIME. “Recently,” writes Mr D. Gilchrist, “I was asked if the lime in a heavily limed soil would not cause reversion of the superphosphate to the insoluble form to as great an extent as would be caused by a large quantity of burnt- lime, slaked lime, or carbonate of lime mixed with super on the barn floor. I replied that it would net, because the lime in the soil was in an extremely diluted form. The top 6 inches of ♦oil weighs about 2.000,0001 b to an acre, and two tons of burnt lime incorporated, with that quantity of soil would amount to only 0.2 per cent. The mixing of equal parts of super and any guano does net cause reversion on account of the small quantity of lime in the mixture. Let us take Walpole guano as an example. This guano contains about 15 per cent, of carbonate of lime (equal to 8.4 per cent, burnt lime», ind when it is mixed with an equal quantity of super the amount of lime equal to burnt lime is only 4.2 per cent. But when equal parts of super and carbonate of lime are mixed, the lime equal to burnt lime amounts to 28 per cent. Even the 15 per eent. of slaked lime (equal to 11 per cent, of burnt lime> in basic superphosphate causes reversion to the insoluble form, or, Strictly speaking, citrate-soluble form, in which form are classed reverted super, basic super, and basic slag; when super is applied to the eoil there is a slight reversion, but in all these cases the reversion does not retard beneficial action too long. QUALITY IN BULLS. BREEDING FOR BUTTER FAT. THE SIRE AND HIS PROGENY. According to a well-known axiom, a good fire is half of the herd, and a poor sire pretty nearly all of it. It is certainly true that the amount of milk and dairy herd will produce in after years is determined to a very marked extent by the kind of sire now being used. The importance of choosing a sire that will work a continual improvement upon the herd is emphasised by an experiment of the New York Agricultural Experimental station. We are told in recent information supplied by this station that since 1900 the experiment station herd has consisted of purebred Jerseys and production and feed records of all the cows have been carefully kept. From these records the butter-fat produced by mother and daughter at the same age have been compared in order to determine what effect the sire has had upon the herd. The bull used from 1903 to 1907, inclusive. sired the best daughters of any bull used up to the present time. His daughters averaged for their highest yearly record 4961 b of butter-fat, as compared with an average of 4271 b for the mother cows. This is a net gain of 691 b a year for the daughters of this sire. The bull used from 1915 to 1917 sired the poorest daughters of year-old heifers, his daughters averaging 2721 b of butter-fat a year, while the mothers as two-year-olds averaged 3621 b, or a net loss of 891 b a year for the offspring from this inferior animal. These records emphasise the importance of careful selection of the bull and the value of using a bull that gets high-producing daughters as long as he can be of service in the herd.—Farmer and Settler. JOTTINGS. The annual Winter Show will be held in Dunedin on June 5,6, 7, and 8. Schedules and particulars can be obtained from the secretary. Entries will close on Wednesday, May 16. It ha s been evident for some time that eome dairy factory managers who make butter for local consumption, which does not pass through the hands of the grader, have been putting in as much salt as possible under the impression that it is profitable to sell salt at about 2/- per lb (says the Taranaki Herald*. But if butter is very salty it has to be spread thinly, and thus consumption is reduced, whereas it should be the object of the dairy farmer to increase the local consumption as much as possible and thus avoid all the expenses incidental to export business. The amount/ of water sold as butter is restricted by law to 16 per cent., and similar restrictions may become necessary with regard to salt. There are rumours of the imminent etarting of a proprietary’ butter factory in Rotorua (says the Chronicle'. It is stated that a gentleman from Waijfukurau is finding the money, a sum of £16,000; that he requires a guarantee of 1500 cows, and that he has secured them, mainly from Peporoa: also that a site has been decided upon. Although considerable sums have been spent in the Pukeatua district in combating the rabbit pest, one settler recently trapped or poisoned 2000 rabbits in 10 days, his best catch being 460 in one day and night. Another settler tock over 1000 in 10 days. The revenue from the skins is very acceptable as an adjunct to that earned by legitimate farming. Both the Masterton Dairy Company and the Kaituna Dairy Company have butter on board the finer Kaikcura, which was on fire at Auckland. The Masterton company has over 400 boxes and the Kaituna company about half as much. No advice has been received of the conditions cf the consignments, but as the fire was not in the insulated portion of the vessel it is unlikely that any damage has been sustained. At Otorohanga recently a farmer was fined £5O and costs for failing to destroy rabbits on their property.