Live Stock and The Farm.

Southland Times, Issue 19276, 21 June 1924, Page 10 (Supplement)

Live Stock and The Farm.

HARVEST REPORTS.

Conditions in the Country.

THE SEASON IN SOUTHLAND.

CONDITIONS AND RESULTS. DISTRICT HARVEST REPORTS. The following reports, by the Special country Correspondents of the Southland Times, contain some interesting information concerning the crops and acreages employed during the season, and the results obtained in the various branches of agriculture throughout the province of Southland. RIVERTON. The acreage in oats was much less than in former seasons. The yield per acre, however, was well up to the average, and owing to the exceptionally fine harvest weather, the samples of both chaff and oats should be better than for many years. About the usual acreage is in turnips for winter feed, and judging by appearances there should be no shortage locally. A few farmers continue to experiment with choumollier, and a fine crop of the latter is to be seen on Mr H. Hills’ property. The alluring prospects which were held out to the dairymen at the beginning of the season have vanished long since, and the “tenpence a lb. for butterfat and no oonus” book, is quite commonly met with these days. It is quite evident that the Home markets are being ‘‘beared.” The interesting and fatherly adviee which has been appearing in the papers of late is merely propaganda, which probably originates m Tooley street. Something of the same sort was used a few years ago during the famous wool and meat glut. A sudden release of dairy produce now would see a wild scramble amongst the speculators. In twenty-four hours there would be a rising market, and in another twenty-four there would be a shortage. Those factories which can hold out must benefit in the long run, as present indications point in that direction. In these parts the rabbits are getting their annual “once over.” Ferrets, dogs, guns, traps and poison are being used with more or less effect, and everyone from the übiquitous small boy to the farmer’s wife have joined in the hunt. Bunny apparently takes the “tube,” for it these das, oniy venturing out under cover of darkness. We have witnessed many gluts and slumps these last few years, but it will truly be a sad day for many when the fur coat market becomes glutted, and felt hats go by the board. It is probable that much more cropping will be done this coming season, and there are indications that many dairy farmers are reverting to sheep. MOKORETA. Midwinter is here again and with it the end of the farmers’ past season, and the beginning of the next, for now it is that a start is being made to plough the lea land for the coming season’s crops. In this district, as in many others similarly situated, the growing of grain crops has become simply a side line, only sufficient being grown for the farmer’s own requirements for the year. The tendency is to grow more young feed, rape and turtipe, and to top«dress the existing pastures, as in this way more stock can be kept and fattened with a less amount of labour. With the unsatisfactory supply of suitable agricultural labour, it is necessary for the fanner to eliminate growing any crops that require any extra labour. The farmer who is unfortunate enough to live about ten miles from town can scarcely induce a labourer to leave town, and if they do come out they are in a hurry to get back again to swell the ranks of those who are haunting the labour agencies for soft jobs about town. A few years ago the dairymen were the only men on the land to make both ends meet, to-day the pendulum has swung round, pad the sheepman is now on top. In 1920 an average cow was bought up eagerly at £2O, to-day the same class of cow is a drug on the market at £lO, and a sheep that would scarcely find a buyer at 15/- in 1920 is now eagerly bought at 30/-. Who can predict with any certainty when the next swing of the pendulum will take place? In the face <f these fluctuations fanning has became simply a gamble, and any farmer who has bought land during the last ten years, or in the period of high land values is now in an unenviable position. If they are to stay on the farms they must have a revaluation. LONG BUSH. The wheat yield was not as good as last year. The oats yield was much better and a good sample. I do not think the farmers v.’ill go in for wheat this year on account of the low prices and the risk of frost. I thmk wheat will be cut out. The turnips are a good crop and free from clubroot. The milkmen will have good winter feed for cows, the hay and straw is very good. The milk season has been fair, but the price for butter-fat at Is 3d is not as good as 9d per lb in 1913-14. They find that all expenses are the same as when butter-fat was 2s 3d. 'Hie man that had his land in turnips and sold at from £6 to £l2 per acre and has no harvest expenses to pay has come out on top. All the sheep are in good condition and should come through with plenty of feed for winter. OTAUTAU. Grain crops are being grown less and less every year by farmers. Until now farmers just grow as much as they require for their own use on the farm. In a good year they sell the surplus, but this year this class of crop was very light, and it seems almost certain tkfet many farmers will be buyers of both chaff and seed oats before the season is through. On the other hand most of the fanners are giving their attention to the growing of green crops and root crops, as this class of farming lends itself better to the climatic conditions of this locality, and a farmer can keep his farm more clear of weeds and in better heart generally than by the growing of grain crops. There is no doubt that this class of farming will have the preference as long as lamb and wool keep the price they are, as it is a long way less expensive to drive your lamb and wool of the farm than it is to harvest a grain crop in a wet season, and only to find after thrashing that you have a low quality grain. Now for the dairying round this locality. Our factory has just closed down for the season with a record output being in the vicinity of 330 tons of cheese for the season just closed. Compare this with the seasons 1920 and 1921 when the export of cheese amounted to 168 tons. This shows how dairying has increased in this locality in four years. EDENDALE. The past summer was an unusually dry one, consequently cereal crops were light in straw, but firm in head with better yields and plumper grain, A considerable quantity of oats is kept for feeding purposes but some thousands of sacks find their way to market. The price received at threshing time being about 4s 3d per bushel on trucks. The price is now about 5s and those requiring seed will find it an expensive item. The dry season was also accountable for a drop in the milk supply early in the year, which was counteracted

to ’some- extent by the more favourable autumn. Still on the whole it will be found that aggregates of butter-fat axe smaller than usual. The fly in the ointment, however, is the uncertainty of cheese returns; the bulk of the season’s output being still unsold. The testing of herds, which is so strongly advocated in some quarters is slow in finding favour in our locality. This may be accounted for in many ways. By the almost universal use of milking machines with releaser attachments, some special means of separating the individual milkings must be found if one wishes to draw samples for testing. This, of course, may be done by conveying the milk directly into a bucket, or by hand milking, but in any case additional labour is required. Perhaps a more fatal objection is that advanced by some who have tried testing, in declaring that there are such extraordinary variations in the same cow’s milk at different periods as to minimise its practical value. The supply of winter feed threatens to be short, as the dry spell administered a check to the growth of root crops and pasture; consequently a lighter turnip crop and the necessity of an earlier attack on it, owing to an absence of roughness in the grass paddocks. There is consolation, however, in the fact that we are approaching the short days without having experienced severe weather, and this has a favourable bearing on the condition of stock. Quite a number of dairymen have secured winter quarters for their cows on the surrounding hill country where fern and tussock abound. It is claimed that the greater scope, combined with natural feed and shelter, will act beneficially on the cattle; while there is the additional advantage of a welcome spell being given the home paddocks. This being essentially a dairying centre the benefits of high prices for wool are not directly felt to any great extent; although a few fat lambs are produced on most farms. Very little ploughing is done as yet, so that there is nothing to indicate the cropping activities for next season. MORTON MAINS. The dairying season is now drawing to a close and milk is now being received at our local factory only twice a week for separating purposes. On reviewing the past milking season one can scarcely regard it as an average one, as at the commencement the dairy farmer appeared to have every prospect for a successful year. There was a surplus of grass and consequently an excess of milk, but with the advent of the long continued dry weather, and the steady decline in the price of cheese, combined with the short season experienced, altered the dairy farmers’ financial outlook very considerably. On the other hand, I notice that a large number of the dairy farmers have now stocked up with flocks of sheep and this district at the present time is now carrying more sheep than it has done tor some years past. The price of wool and fat lambs this season giving an excellent return for labour expended in comparison with dairying, also proving the farmers’ faith in the old maxim, “that it does not pay to have all your eggs in the one basket.” On most farms the plough is being kept busily at work in order to get the benefit of the winter frosts. Some of our farmers who usually employ two teams have substituted one team for a tractor in order to expedite the work. The crops of 1924 threshed out fairly well, as owing to the exceptionally fine weather experienced they were harvested and threshed in excellent condition. According to the prices being received at the present time for wheat and oats one would naturally expect there would be a larger area than usual sown with grain this incoming season; but as far as I can learn, with regard to this district, there will be no increase’in the acreage under crop, on account of Government price-fixing, the high cost of labour and farming necessities. These causes being responsible for the view which the majority of our local farmers’ hold, that cropping is a thing of the past. They are therefore, only growing very littic more than their own requirements for feed and seed purposes. The turnip crop has generally been re garded in the past as the staple root crop for winter feed here. During the past year or two experiments have proved that Chou Moellier and Thousand Headed Kale are excellent substitutes and less Liable to blight, which is a pest to be reckoned with, especially in a dry season. Although this season’s root crops are not as good as usual, there will be ample to carry the stock throughout the winter. The open weather experienced during the late autumn and the winter thus far has been the means of less winter feed being required up to the present time. MOKOTUA. The season that has just finished has proved rather disappointing from a dairyman’s point of view, as not only have the payouts from the factories been lower than last season but nitwithstanding additional suppliers being received the factories’ intakes have been lower. Mokotua exported 1451 crates oi cheese against 1682 last season, Rimu exported 1922 crates against 2222 and Oteramika 2352 crates against 1893, Oteramika’s increase this season is due to having ample vat space as last, season a fair quantity had to be separated. One or two are seriously considering the advisability of changing over partly or wholly to sheep as there seem to be better prospects ahead for the sheep man. Grain crops this season are much lighter than usual there being only a few heavy crops of oats. Mr C. Clay averaged 831 bushels and Mr Bouchier 75 bushels whilst the last-named and Mr J. S. Brown both have crops that are expected to cut out at over 2itons of chaff to the acre. Two or three small areas under wheat yielded over 50 bushels the drier season suiting this cereal better. More farmers are going in for growing Chow Moliier and judging by remarks passed it looks as though a considerable area will be planted in this fodder crop next season. Turnip crops are on the poor side and while there should be enough for ; winter feed there will not be any for sale in this district as is usually the case. Several farmers have top dressed their grass paddocks with lime and intend to top dress again in the spring with artificial manure. There is not a great deal of land being ploughed this season in spite of the high price of oats and chaff, farmers holding that cropping is not a paying speculation. ‘ BROWNS. The past season was exceptionally dry and in consequence the oat crops were much smaller in bulk. The area was considerably less, most farmers just growing sufficient for their own requirements. This district- is about evenly divided between sheep and dairy cows, the sheep bringing good returns. The price of wool was good and then fair drafts of fat lambs were taken off the mothers. The season being dry, was in favour of lambs when they were put on feed. The final drafts went into the works sometime ago, and a splendid price was obtained throughout the season. The dairy farmer felt the effects of the drought and the milk yield was much smaller. The fall in prices resulted in smaller cheques than many anticipated. The dairy

factory was enlarged at the beginning of last season to fill a long-felt want, as for the two previous seasons a double shift had to be worked which was not profitable to the factory. However, it is hoped that the cheese market will soon take a turn upward, and give those engaged in the industry a reasonable return for all the toil it entails. The lime works have had a successful season and the works have'been going all the season. The majority of farmers now recognise the value of top dressing and carbonate and super cr ground phosphate give splendid results. The tractor is gaining in popularity in this district, and a number of farmers now possess one of these implements. DRUMMOND. Climatic conditions have a great deal to do with the success of the farmer, and very little fault can be found in this respect during the last 12 months. Perhaps a rather dry spell during the early summer, but d this was the general thing farmers would be prepared more for it. The crops, mostly oats, were light and threshed below the average, but wheat threshed up to the Southland average. The acreage was limited tft a small locality. Ryegrass although short was a good average crop an. some very good samples were obtained. Cropping is decreasing and until the cost of production can be lowered and larger yields obtained this branch of agriculture must go back as we are past the period oi being an exporting country in regard to cereals. Dairying has obtained a fair hold in this district and, even at present prices, is a paying business where right methods are used. At the present time the saleyards are full of dairy cows and the maj ority in very low condition but in dairycattle one cannot tell their capacity for production on appearances and the slogan of all good dairymen should be: ‘Teed, test and cull.” This should be printed in large letters and put up in all factories. The general impression is that the cheese factories will hold their own during the coming season but it is very questionable if the cream producers will keep up their present supply. A farmer in this district who has been 4 or 5 years at the dairying business and who milks over 50 cows will receive a return of over 250 pounds of butter-fat per cow this season. These are just average cows bought at sales and a few bred by himself, but he is a good’ feeder and a first class farmer. This has been an extra good year for sheep farmers but for those who have to buy at present prices won’t make a great deal but will materially help our commercial interests. A great deal of controversy has appeared lately in regard to land values. This should not trouble farmers in Southland a great deal but it is more farming education that is needed, then land values will find their own level. Agricultural conditions are much better than they were thirty years ago and will improve. COMELYN BUSH. The area is smaller than usual this year, and owing to the light rainfall the crops are short in length of straw. The grain ic well filled and the average yield is about 50 bushels. The dairying season has been one for poor returns and the outlook is not too promising. 'There appears to be a very serious time ahead of Southland tax payers and caution and economy are needed. ROTATING CROPS. NECESSITY OF ALTERNATING. VALUE OF VARIETY. Why farm crops should be grown under a system of rotation is easily answered. When a man takes up virgin country he may grow, say, cereal crops for some years in succession with profit. The new settler invariably does call upon the soil’s fertility regardless of what happens, but no land can stand up to continued depletion of soilfertility constituents. Nature calls a halt, and the change is provided by a rotation of crops. Then, too, it is a practice that ensures greater returns, and more permanent soil fertility. Owing to various climatic conditions, and, perhaps, an erratic demand at times for some special commodity, it is not always possible to keep a fixed rotation ; hence, farmers are prone to follow a rotation that, is more or less of an elastic nature. While a definite order of arrangement of crops cannot always be adhered to, one should pay attention to have, say, one nitrogen-gathering crop follow upon a non-nitrogen-gathering crop, the deep-rooted plants should be followed by shallow-rooted ones, since they will be drawing from the soil at different depths. For instance, it is the nature of clover plants to send down their roots deeply and for some of the grasses and cereals to feed near the surface. The clover is a great soil improver. It can gather more mineral matter because it goes down deeper than other “grasses.” It fills the soil with humus. Clover belongs to the class of plants which are nitrogenous gatherers from the air. Grow clover plants and one of the most difficult problems of farming is largely overcome. The main cause of clover not growing is lack of lime in the soil By rotating crops the danger of creating poisonous residues in the soil is minimised. There is economy in the use of manure. Some crops require more of one constituent- —for example, potatoes require more potash than cereals, so that by interposing potatoes between cereals a fuller use can be made of the potash in the soil. Then, too, some crops, being of a deep-rooted nature, can draw supplies from the subsoil, like wheat and rape, while others are shallow, like barley and turnips, thus in a rotation all layers of soil are brought into requisition by different crops. Nothing can compensate for the absence of humus, and by introducing into a rotation green crops, the main object of which is the growth of cereals, the yields of the latter may be largely increased. Some other beneficial results may be indicated. Water is conserved in the soil when the rotation system includes a well-cultivated bare fallow; besides there is a grand opportunity of killing weeds by intertillage methods, etc. Damage by insects and fungus diseases is less likely. Such pests have a particular host plant with they favour, but by rotating this particular plant is probably killed outright and is certainly diminished. Then market fluctuations are less serious. “By not having all one’s “eggs in the same basket” a bad year in, say, wheat prices may prove highly satisfactory for, say, wool, mutton, or dairy produce, and the gross receipts be about the average. The farmer who grows some crops in rotation rarely has a complete failure like a grain farmer has on occasions. Furthermore. crop rotation encourages farmers to be systematic in everything they do. It teaches the advantages of good management and planning, both of which will make good returns for the time invested. A crop rotation usually enables one to do the things that are best for each particular field on the farm. In a nutshell, it is more economical of manure, as different crops require ingredients in different quantities. For the same reason it is more economical of

food in the eoil, allowe of a better distribution of labour throughout the year, allows of better cleaning of the land, allows deeprooted or air-feeding crops to enrich the top soil for the benefit of the shollow-root-ed varieties to follow. Some crops are a good preparation for others, as beans or clover before wheat; checks the devastation of insects and fungi by shifting locality of crop which they affect; changes the locality ci the live stock every year. TOP-DBESSING PASTURES. A PRACTICAL EXPERIMENT. Often the question is asked, “Is it profitable to fertilise pastures?” The following results obtained from a test carried out on an old pasture, sown 25 years ago by Messrs H. North and Sons, Rosevale Friesian Stud farm, Omimi, Otago, proves without doubt that pasture land can be profitably fertilised. The test was carried out over three plots of one acre each in area, the plots being treated in the following manner:— Plot I.—No manure. Check plot. Plot 2.—Basic super 2cwt an acre, applied in the late winter. Plot 3. —Basic super 2cwt and nitrate of soda. Icwt an acre, applied as a topdressing in the early spring, just when the young grass commenced to shoot. When the plots were cut the following fields of dry meadow hay were obtained:— An acre. Increase tons. cwt. lbs. per cent. Plot 1 3 13 56 Plot 2 4 10 84 23.5 Plot 3 5 12 40 52.8 It is, therefore, seen that the plot receiving phosphates alone gave an increase of 17cwt 281 b an acre, equal to 23.5 per cent, over .he check plot; while the plot receiving in addition to the phosphates a topdressing of nitrate of soda at the rate of Icwt an acre gave an increase of 1 ton 18 cwt 961 b an acre, equal to 52.8 per cent, over the unmanured check plot. Messrs North and Sons remark that the area treated with nitrate of soda up till the end of December was fully 100 per cent, better than either of the other plots; the growth was much stronger and .he grass healthier in appearance. During the growing period one could observe distinctly by the colour and density of the crop where the different manures had been applied. The grass on Plot 3 was very even, while that on Plot 1 was patchy. Mr North states that considering the age of the pastures the results are most surprising. LIME AND SOIL. A SPUR TO FERTILITY. The increased interest taken in liming must be commended, 'ways bearing in mind the old couplet, which is as true as it ever was in the days of cur forefathers;— Lime, and lime without manure, Will make both farm and farmer poor. This means that lime acts rather as a »pur to the soil to yield up the fertility it contains as a fertiliser in itself, and it should therefore be used in conjunction with manures, or, rather, with some regard to the soil’s organic content. Cases might be mentioned of too much liming. One that comes to mind was where the land was so frequently dressed without fertilisers that, although year after year fairish cereal crops were secured, in the end the old acres could grow nothing but weeds. It was drained of its natural fertilising constituents by a farmer who farmed as a miner does for gold, who leaves "tailings” in his wake. Still, in the main, it is true enough of many acres that lime is the “limiting factor” in crop production. The soil is probably of an acid nature, which must be neutralised before ordinary farm crops will flourish, and when sown down grow grasses and clovers satisfactorily. The lime requirement of many of our acres is self-evid-ent enough. Lime is sold on the market in at least three different chemical forms. Carbonate of lime has the same composition as ground limestone. For effective use, the carbonate must be in very fine condition, finer, even, than basic slag. Lime proper is the caustic form —and is produced by burning the carbonate form—limestone. Chemically, lump lime and ground lime are the same thing. The advantage of ground lime over lump lime lies in the easier and more efficient way in which the farmer can be spread evenly over the paddock. Slaked lime should be in a very fine powder derived from caustic lime. From the chemical point of view Icwt of pure lime (lump or ground lime) provides as much acid neutralising material as 74cwt of slaked lime or lOOcwt of carbonate of lime. A PRE-POTENT RAIN. VALUE LN THE FLOCK. TTjp sire is of as much importance in a sheep flock as in a herd or stud. Too often, however, little attention is paid to choosing a ram of merit. In selecting a ram the first essential (says Thornley’s Farmer' is individuality. There are certain points which go to make up a superior animal whether it be a sheep or other farm specimen we are considering. Rugged health as shown by a deep, wide chest, thrifty appearance, and vigorous action all go to make a good sire. He should be chosen to impress his characteristics on the flock, therefore it will be readily seen that he should possess no failing, if possible. A bold eye and fine carriage betokens constitutional vigour, and heavy bone in a stud tends to decrease the number of weaklings in his offspring. He must, in addition to being purebred, show ancestry of merit. The prepotency of such a ram when used on a flock of ewes of more or less nondescript breeding will tend to produce many of the sire’s characteristics in the lambs. The two most important points on a mutton carcase are a well-filled deep leg of mutton, and a wide, strong loin capable of carrying plenty of firm flesh. Economical mutton production does not necessitate large animals, but, on the other hand, size is an advantage when it can be combined with easy feeding qualities. Early maturity is desirable where, as in the majority of cases, lambs are wanted for early marketing. The early development kind are usually compact and well put together. Big ewes inclined to coarseness require a compact ram. The sheep that can put on the most high-priced meat at the least cost is the profitable one. Difference in mutton conformation, size and fleece must be subject in some degree to local conditions, but the most profitable sheep is a dualpurpose animal —that is. a sheep that can produce the best quality of mutton and &t the same time clip a good fleece. METHODS OF BREEDING. DANGERS TO BE AVOIDED. A real danger from in breeding is not to be urged against the practice itself, but against the peculiar infatuation which breeders acquire for certain blood lines. Once let a given line of breeding demonstrate its excellence for the production of a certain valuable type, and every pro-1 gressive breeder strives to acquire some of this valuable blood. The strain soon be-; comes "fashionable.” From this stage to' breeding for the pedigree rather than for the animal is an easy step which is taken much too often. The corrective for such methods is the show ring, with competent and fearless judges in authority. Quite the converse of in-breeding is the practice cf out-breeding or out-crossing. Even in plants which are usually selffertilised, nature has provided for an occasional out-cross that materially increases the vigour, stamina and general well-being of the stock. In animals which have been intensely in-bred, out-crossing has interesting and important results. Mating to stock which has not been in-bred results in increases in size and vigour. A similar result also follows the mating cf two strains, voth cf which have been in-bred, but wx.ich axe not closely related to eacA x?oer.

FARMYARD MANURE.

tALUE FOR FERTILISING. A PERFECT PLANT FOOD. As the practice of intensive farming becomes more general in New Zealand the more extensive use of farmyard manure for the cultivation of root and forage crops will be employed. Owing to our comparatively mild climate, which enables farmers to winter their stock chiefly in the pastures, however, there is correspond’ngly little farmyard manure saved. But on small farms, and where intensive farming is practised, more use might be made of this valuable manure than is the case at present. Root crops, such as mangolds, kohlrabi, potatoes, carrots, etc., respond particularly well to an application of farmyard manure. A liberal dressing of well decayed farmyard manure often increases the yield of the above crops by several tons per acre. Any of this manure that has been saved or accumulated during the season, such as in the stable yard, cattle yards, around hay or straw racks, or old stack bottoms the straw of which has been fed by stock should be carted out and spread out over the land that is intended to be sown in roots the following spring. This work is very often left until too late in the season, with the result that instead of becoming thoroughly mixed with the soil it is more or less separated. This has a tendency to produce an over abundance of foliage with inferior bulbs or tubers as the case may be. If applied earlier in the season it will have a better chance of becoming better incorporated with the soil, resulting in a more healthy growth of the crop throughout the growing season. In many instances this valuable manure is either wasted or wronglyapplied, which should, if possible, be avoided. QUESTION OF LABOUR INVOLVED. One of the chief reasons accountable for so small an amount of farmyard manure being saved in this country is that the work of saving and applying it involves too much labour. Indeed many farmers contend that owing to the high cost of labour it does not pay to bother about it in this country, even on farms where a large number of stock are kept inside a greater part of the winter, except where it has to be carted out of the way. On the other hand, though we must all agree that to use farmyard manure extensively involves a vast amount of labour and expense, it is not difficult to state a case in favour of its use wherever practicable. First, because of its nature as a fertiliser; second, because it improves the texture of the soil. Farmyard manure is what is termed a general manure, by which is meant that it supplies practically all the elements of fertility which crops require. Farmyard manure of good quality contains organic matter, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, lime and other necessary ingredients of plant life. Besides this, these do not exist in one single form, as is often the case with some of the artificial manures, but the constituents are in various forms, and of greater or less solubility, so that one after the other becomes available for use of a growing crop. Nitrogen, for instance, occurs not only in the form of ready-formed ammonia, or as salts of ammonia, but in manyforms of nitrogenous organic bodies of varying degrees of solubility and availability. Similarly is this the case with phosphates and other manurial bodies contained. So complete is farmyard manure as a food for plants that it is sometimes called a perfect manure. SUPPLEMENT WITH PHOSPHATES. But though doubtless if sufficient of it be available crops may do without any other application, yet it contains too little phosphoric acid to quite merit this description. Hence for root crops in particular it is advisable to supplement the supply of farmyard manure with ready available phosphate, as in the form of superphosphate. The real difficulty with farmyard manure is to get enough of it to go round, even on small farms where intensive farming is practised, especially in New Zealand, where very little housing is done. When available it serves a special purpose, viz., that of supplying substance to a soil (of which many of our New Zealand soils are deficient), which cannot be done with artificials alone. The benefit derived from the use of farmyard manure is not confined to any particular class of soil; it suits all classes. In the case of light soils, organic matter, frequently deficient in them, is supplied, and the needed substance is given to them whereby they become more consolidated and are better able to-retain manurial materials subsequently supplied. Further, the soil is enabled to retain moisture and to escape thereby the dying out to which light soils are so subject. Nothing in the way of artificials could effect this purpose, and in respect of this advantage farmyard manure stands out alone. In the case of heavy soils the advantage, though in a different description, is no less marked. By the use of this valuable manure heavy soils are rendered more easily worked and are kept open, and thereby lightened in character, while drainage is improved and the soil is more exposed to the beneficial influence of warmth, aeration and oxidisation. The chief reason for this is that farmyard manure is largely composed of substances which contain a large amount of humus-forming materials. These materials far exceed any of the others in their ability to hold moisture, a very important item in the growth of any crop. HUMUS ADDED TO SOIL. By long continued cropping and tilling, without making proper returns in the way of green manuring or farmyard manures, the humus may be so reduced that the soil consists largely of mineral matter. One reason why newly-cleared lands frequently give more satisfactory returns than lands which have been long cropped is that the fresh land is rich in humus. The soil is consequently open and porous, and the rain which falls is quickly absorbed and is largely retained as capillary or hygroscopic water. Land that has been down to pasture for a number of years usually contains a much larger percentage of humus than land that has been subjected to frequent cropping, or where a short system of rotation is practised, unless, of course, where green crops, farmyard manure or some other method is employed to supplement the humus content of the soil. Humus is the general name given to the animal and vegetable matters which accumulate in the soil and mix up with the mineral gredients. Turf may be included in the term, but for the most part it is composed of the residue of the dead roots and parts of plants which accumulate in it and gradually change into carbonaceous matter as the result of oxidisation, microbic life, etc. Peat is nearly all humus, and there is always some present in every fertile soil. It is this body that mostly gives the dark colour to the soil proper as distinguished from the subsoil. Even light soils gradually become darker in colour by the frequent use of farmyard materials, and are usually much benefited by it. FEED FOR PIGS DRY OR WET? Some experiments have recently been carried out in England to test the comparative ' merits of slop and dry feeding for both | bacon and pork, and the results are very interesting. It was found that under wet feeding it took 4.91 b of food to secure lib of live weight increase, as against 5.11 b when dry feed, for bacons, the respective costs to produce 201 b being 12/9 and 13/5. For porkers the cost to produce 201 b was 9/3 wet and 9/6 dry feed. Whether it is actually cheaper to feed slops will depend on the question of the labour involved, and each individual will have to decide according to his own particular circumstances. Many people feed wet mash in a far too sloppy condition, with the consequent result that the pig is compelled to consume very large quantities in order to get the necessary amount of nourishment. In cold weather it is .nost undesirable to give food too wet, because it will cause the animals to shiver, and a shivering jrifi rawer thrives.

SEPARATED MILK.

, THE CALF AND THE PIG. An important point concerning the feed-, ing of separated milk to calves rather than pigs is that while this milk, owing to its albuminoid content serves, along with potatoes to provide an excellently balanced fattening ration for pigs, it is inadequate feeding for calves from its lack of fat, and would need to be supplemented by linseed or other meal gruel to make calves grow and thrive as whole milk would. Further, it calls for care in the quantity and condition in which it may be fed to calves. Some losses of young calves, through •'digestive troubles, occur each spring, but these are certain to increase in number unless due attention is paid in those districts where separated milk has been diverted to calf-feeding. A word of warning in this respect may be timely, even though it gives cause for regret that conditions have forced the feed-, ing of separated milk to a class of stock for which it is not nearly so well suited as for pigs. The whey fattened pigs on the cheese farms of England are a convincing proof of what another form of milk residue can do in the way of producing pork. A GREAT BREED. The story of the rise and progress of the Aberdeen-Angus breed constitutes one of the greatest romances in cattle history. Forty years ago the number of AberdeenAngus cattle registered throughout the whole world was only 1200, whereas now each year’s registrations in the various herd books for the breed in Great Britain, the United States, Canada, the Argentine, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia number in round figures 38,000. All these stock trace back in their origin to a little corner in the north-cast of Scotland. During the last 30 years the breed has won more championships on the hoof and in the carcase at Smithfield than all the other breeds combined, and that at the great Chicago exhibitions the Aberdeen-Angus has won 65 grand championships in various sections, as compared with 20 for all the other breeds put together. In Argentina, where other breeds have been established much longer, the Aberdeen-Angus have carried everything before them during the last few years. AYRSHIRES. ANOTHER GOOD RECORD. The credit of breeding and developing another 2000-gallon Ayrshire belongs to Mr James Kennedy, Auchinleck, Ayrshire. This cow is Glcnshamrock Ellen, by Glenshamrock Sir David—Glenshanirock Rigg 11. Her yields for 1922 and 1923 are interesting and are as follows: — Galls. B.F. W’ks Jan. 24-Feb. 17. 1922-23 1851 4.22 47 Feb. 17 Jan. 14, 1923-24 2016 4.13 46 Her record starting on February 17, 1923, and calving again on January 14, 1924, is a remarkable one and riicws what she is capable of if extended. Giving her another four months to calve, and milking three times daily, she would certainly get well over the 1001 b butter-fat. Mr Kennedy’s farm is a hill farm, which makes the record all the more creditable and proves the worth of the Ayrshire breed under hard conditions. There is at present a great demand for Ayrshire cattle in the English counties where stocks were destroyed through the ravages of foot and mouth disease. Where other breeds predominated Ayrshires are taking their place, due in a large measure to the success at the London Show. It is worthy of note that the bull Thornhill Mount Royal, sire of the 2nd and 3rd prize heifers in the London Show milking trials is a half-brother to Thornhill Loyalty, the bull imported by Mr A. M. Weir last season. Another half brother out of Hewalton Main's Lizzie is to be found in the herd of Mr Adam Montgomerie, recognised as the most progressive breeder in Scotland, and who was responsible for the establishment of the New Show 7, the most forward step any breed society in the world has taken. GENERAL JOTTINGS. NEWS FROM ALL PARTS. There is a popular idea that roots are injurious to ewes, but the fact is against this, as there are no heavier lambings than from these ewes which are fed with a considerable quantity of roots. The mistake is that some have relied wholly on roots, in which case it is obvious that the contents of a mangel or turnip cannot provide the material to maintain life and keep up repairs in a ewe, and at the same time build up a lamb; but roots can contribute a great deal towards this; and the further requirements must be supplied from other sources. Anything can be put into a silo stack apd when it is proved that silage can be produced at from 8/- to 10/- per ton it surely opens up a great insurance prospect for the dairyman. It would mean that his cows will milk throughout the season regardless of weather vagaries, that he will be able to carry more ccws, and that 100 acres of land will produce as much as 150, with correspondingly less interest and taxation burdens. A good horse shows three essentials—balance, symmetry, and stamina. Balance means that there is equality in just proportion of both power and weight. Symmetry means that the different parts of the horse’s anatomy are in due proportion. The best known test for stamina is chest measurement. A 13.2 hands pony, sixty-four inches round the chest, will do double the work of a 14.2 hands pony of equal girth. Edendale Sugar of Milk works has closed down for the season with an output just a little short of the previous year’s total, which was a record for the company.