LIVE STOCK AND THE FARM

Southland Times, Issue 21581, 19 December 1931, Page 12

LIVE STOCK AND THE FARM

ON THE LAND THE MONTH.. (By Working Farmer). The dry weather experienced lately is causing much anxiety all over Southland and even those districts which received the most rain are getting very dry. The drying up of pastures will mean a greatly reduced amount to be saved for hay, while in the drier districts turnips which were sown in early November have not come through the ground yet unless the fly has taken them as they came. There is one consolation, that if rain comes soon there is still time to re-sow turnips with reasonable chances of a fair crop. Paddocks which were bring saved for hay and had. to be fed off cannot even .with abundant rain produce the same quality of hay now that they would have, done under favourable climatic conditions, but if a good growth sets in there is a chance of _ making very fair ensilage and inferior and rough grasses are quite suitable for this purpose. The chief danger is in insufficient moisture, but that can be remedied to a certain extent by stacking immediately after the mower ami adding water. A good mgny farmers this year have rolled their turnip drills after sowing and it. is claimed by some that this is a good insurance against the turnip fly. This has been an ideal breeding season for rabbits and judging by the numbers seen on our roads they are likely to cost the farmer much more than his income tax w-ill do. If there was only a decent price offering for them a lot of the unemployment problem would be solved. Opening of Freezing Works. In view of the adverse criticism which has been levelled at the directorate of the freezing company for opening in December, it is pleasing to note that a good number of fat lambs are coming forward and are killing quite up to expectations both as regards weight and quality. Even if the companies are hanging the lambs up on vendors’ account in view of the uncertainty of the market, what does it matter i The lamb is or should be a prime medium weight, which is the ideal lamb, and has no further chance of becoming a liability to his owner. Quite a number argue that the heavy lamb is more profitable to the farmer and they may be, in fact, a good many two-tooth wethers have been sold as lamb and returned their owners 4/- or 5/- more that way than they were worth as wethers, but what of our reputation. Conditions in New Zealand are ideal for producing best quality fat lamb and other qualities also and it is by having the means available or, in other words, having the works open to receive our lambs when they reach the desired weight and quality while still suckling the mother that we can supply our Home consumer with true lamb of prime quality. Australian and Argentine growers envy us our reputation and are studying improved methods of feeding and breeding to capture a share of our goodwill on the Home market, and it is surely up to freezers and graziers hero to maintain, and if possible improve, the quality which has built up that goodwill. It is not pleasant reading that Canadian cheese commands a premium of several shillings per cwt over New Zealand which once held pride of place in the Home market, and indifference or carelessness might easily cause the same thing to happen with our lamb trade. Importance of Book-keeping. Mr F. B. Stephens, in a bulletin issued under the auspices of the Auckland University college, stresses the importance of systematized farm management, more especially as regards the efficient keeping ot accounts. He claims that two hours a week spent in the daytime and not in the hours of physical weakness after work wdl be productive of more gain than two hours spent in the field. . There are many reasons given by Mr Stephens to show that a definite knowledge of the financial results of his various operations on the farm would help the fanner to eliminate one branch and develop another which showed better returns. As an example of this the definite knowledge gained by herd-testing has not. only increased herd averages by culling out the boarders, but has induced the farmer to provide better pasture which m _ a short time means increased herds with increased individual returns. The- same rule could be applied to topdressing by adding the amount expended annually to rent or interest and comparing the number of stock carried and the returns received with previous seasons. These yearly comparisons would tend to provide a stimulus to make each year excel the previous one, and if present prices are to continue much longer farmers will need a good deal of stimulus to enable them, to keep afloat. Australian Cheese. Exports of cheese from the Commonwealth from August 1 to October 31 amounted to 16,065 tons, compared, with 11,115 tons for the corresponding period of last year. New Zealand Butter, A feature of the London quotations for New Zealand butter has been the margin between finest and first grade, amounting to about 5/- per cwt. instead of the customary 2/- per cwt, when supphes of finest are plentiful. Stocks of New Zealand butter in London and provincial centres on November 1 were reasonably low, being about 2000 tons less than on November 1 1930 Stocks of New Zealand afloat and in New Zealand totalled just on 20,000 ions or 3500 tons more than last year. Conditions in Hawkes Bay. Feed conditions y for cattle are still bad in central Hawkes Bay and towards the coast, and there still continues to be heavy mortality among the starved animals. Drying gales combined with hot sunshine have parched the pastures during the past fortnight and nullified the‘effect of the rain. PERIL OF IGNORANCE. “Some of the greatest difficulties in civil engineering work arise from a lack of knowledge of that important material soil, says the annual report of the Canterbury (Agricultural College. “The safety of building foundations, the pressures on retaining walls and tunnel linings, and the condition of lands for drainage or irrigation, are. but a few of the questions involved, and it was with these in view that some work was begun in vacation period by the engineering department. Owing, however, to lack of time, little has been accomplished beyond the collection of literature and an, attempt at gaining the necessary technique. IN CANADA HORSE POWER AND TRACTOR. It would be thought that if any country would see horse teams being replaced by tractors it would be Canada, with its large area grain farms, where, owing to the brief growing season, rapidity of farm work is imperative. Yet we find that the horse is well holding its own even in Canada. In 1915 the number of horses in Canada was approximately 3,000,000 head, whereas in 1930 they were approximately 3,200,000 head.' the most popular breed is the Clydesdale followed by the Percheron in much smaller numbers, and then the Shire.

FARM AND DAIRY NOTES FOR THE WEEK. WORLD’S BEST LAWN GRASSES. The splendid possibilities in an export trade in pasture grasses—for New Zealand is declared to have the best perennial rye, the best cocksfoot, and probably the best white clover in the world for pasture purposes—is being generally realized but it is not so well-known that, in Chewing's fescue and in brown top we have the two best lawn grasses i» the world, so says the Empire's leading authority on grass, Professor Stapledon of Wales. There is in Britain a Research Station for Green-Keeping, at St. Ives. He,re, every grass thought to be suitable for golf greens has been tried out under all manner of conditions. After advocating the use of only the bents and finer-leaved fescues, Professor Stapledon refers to the “profoundly suggestive experiments at St. Ives, most striking being the plots of New Zealand bent (brown top) and New Zealand Chewing’s fescue.” He then states, “It would seem not unlikely that in these two grasses, (N.Z. Chewing's fescue and N.Z. bent or brown top) we have ready to hand—for the seed of both is harvested on a commercial scale in New Zealand —two forms which to a marked degree conform to the tentative principle which I have enunciated and which may be expected to blend in an admirable manner if sown together as the sole ingredients in a seed mixture,” states a bulletin issued by New Zealand Jersey Breeders’ Association. High Testing Cattle. There is a very striking resemblance in the dairy cattle population of Victoria and of New Zealand, the Australian state concentrating very largely upon the higher testing class of cow just as farmers in this Dominion are doing. A census taken last season shows that 68.7 per cent, of the herds in the Victorian Cow Testing Association were headed by pedigree Jersey bulls, a proportion which is probably even exceeded in New Zealand. The Worst Dairy Animal. In referring to the big losses on dairy farms through the separator not running properly, an American refers to the badlyrunning separator as “the worst dairy animal.” Certainly the losses from this cause must be considerable. The member of a group herd-testing association has no excuse as he can have his skim-milk tested by the herd-testing officer and thus know whether his separator is running properly or whether it wants attending to. Molasses For Stock. Experts do not attach very high importance to molasses as a food for stock, though they agree that it is a very good thing to put them in good condition. In the past, more than the present time, the treatment of hay with molasses water made the hay a good milk-producing food, and it is highly probable that sprinkling molasses on much of the grass being used for ensilage (applying the molasses to each layer), would make a very much higher quality of silage for milk-producing purposes. It would certainly assist in the making of the sour tv’-- of silage that is declared to be so desirable. In Hawaii, extensive experiments are being conducted to try out molasses as a stock food, and with the most encouraging results. The standard Herd Records, of Victoria, are similar to the New Zealand semiofficial records, with the important difference that if the Victorian breeder of pedigree stock wants an official record of production he must have every cow in the herd tested. The 1929-30 Standard Herd Records, the receipt of a copy of which is due to the courtesy of Mr A. H. Moore, of Yarram, show that there were 44 pedigree Jersey herds which averaged 4001 b of fat or over in the 273 days to which the test is confined. Three Ayrshire herds reached the 400 lb standard, two Friesian, one Milking Shorthorn and one Red Poll. No wonder the Jersev is making rapid- headway in Victoria and is leaving ail other breeds behind. British Conditions. A Canadian farmer who has been visiting the Old Country has been telling Canadian farmers that they have little to grumble at. He found the English farmer to be hit very hard, the arable as well as the dairy farmer. He was not impressed with the country roads of England. While the main roads are fairly good, any side roads, he says, is a death trap for automobiles, and the narrowness of dangerous turns would never be tolerated in Canada. New World’s Record. A world’s record for the 305 days period has just been completed by the American Jersey cow, Golden Chief’s Lady May, who, starting test at the age of six years, has finished out the ten months with the wonderful return of 893.891 b fat. Golden Chief’s Lady May, who hails from the State of Oregon, whence have come so many of the American record breakers, is a cow with no small amount of show type. She is a well balanced cow, weighing about 12001 b and carries a beautiful udder. The sire of the new record breaker was a son of Golden Glow’s Chief, sire of the two ex-world’s record cows, Old Man's Darling 2nd., R.0.M., 983.681 b fat and Vive La France, R.O.M. 10391 b fat. Old Man’s Darling 2nd is, of course, the dam of the world’s record holder, Darling’s Jolly Lassie, R.O.M. 1141.28, while Vive La France is of special interest to New Zealanders in that she is the dam of Vive La France’s Last Son imported to the Dominion about three years ago.

The dam of Golden Chief’s Lady May was sired by a grandson of Oxford You’ll Do in La Belle’s Oxford Lad, a maternal half brother to La Belle’s Girl, who holds an R.O.M. of 9011 b fat. Thus it will be seen that Golden Chief’s Lady May is no chance outcome of indiscriminate mating but the result of sound breeding methods. She is an example of the essential fact that the good ones of to-day are from the good ones of yesterday.

Island Cow's Record. A new record for a Jersey cow bred on the Island has been established by Imp. Cancalaise, who recently completed official test in the State of New York, America, with a total of 1,072.371 b fat, thus beating the record of 1,022.37k> fat held by Xenia’s Oxford Lilac (Imp.). Imp. Cancalaise two years ago finished an earlier record of 969.111 b fat. During the first four months of her latest test she produced over 1001 b fat per month. Apart from her great producing ability, Imp. Cancalaise is a cow of excellent type and has great size with plenty of capacity. She was bred by Mrs P. Quibriac of St. Martin’s, Island of Jersey. Financial Gamboge, sire of Imp. Cancalaise, is the son of Sybil’s Gamboge, a sire which sold several years ago for £13,000, said to be the highest price ever paid for a Jersey bull. DAIRY INDUSTRY LESSONS OF THE PAST. DEVELOPMENT OVER 50 YEARS. At a meeting of factory managers held in Wellington, Mr T. C. Brash told the story of the growth and development of the dairy industry in the Dominion during a period of fifty years. “It was true,” he said, “that dairy produce was exported away back in the sixties, but the quantities were infinitesimal, and were mainly farmers’ butter shipped as general cargo to Australia; but the real beginning of the industry was in the early eighties, shortly after it had been proved that perishable products could be carried overseas as refrigerated cargo. The growth was rapid. Taking the total quantity shipped for each ten-yearly period since 1880, the figures are as follows; Total Quantity of Butter and Cheese Exported.

Comparisons with Other Countries. “To-day our total export of butter and cheese js approximately 200,000 tons per annum, representing, when prices are normal, in the neighbourhood of £20,000,000, out of a total of all exports from the Dominion of approximately £55,000,000. I can find no records of any country in the world having built up its export of dairy produce so rapidly. New Zealand is the dairy farm of the Empire. In 1915 the Dominion’s proportion of the total dairy produce imported into Great Britain was 9 per cent, of the butter and 22 per cent, of the cheese. In 1930 her proportions were 22 per cent, of the butter and 59 per cent, of the cheese. No country in the world is sending so much dairy produce to Great Britain as New Zealand. Denmark, our greatest competitor in butter, sends a larger quantity of butter, but practically no cheese. Her percentage of the total butter imports Ijas varied during the last ten years from 30 per cent, to 38 per cent., the latter figure being her percentage of Britain’s total imports of butter for 1930. The cheese position makes a very interesting study. Canada sent to Great Britain annually prior to 1910 nearly 80,000 tons of cheese, representing almost 50 per cent, of Britain’s imported requirements, whereas for 1930 Canadian cheese entering British ports was less than 40,000 tons, representing approximately 25 per cent, of British imports, as compared with New Zealand’s 59 per cent. The Difficulties Overcome. “These figures are mentioned so as to bring home the outstanding development of the dairy industry. The industry was born in a depression. It was the urgent need for a regular income which turned the attention of the pioneers, to dairying. You men, many of you young in the industry, can scarcely realize the difficulties which have been overcome. It has been fifty years full of incident. We do well to remember those early farmers, factory managers, secretaries, directors, Government dairy experts and merchants who down through all those years gave of their best to build this great heritage to which we have fallen heir. I think we can learn most from consideration, of the spirit which permeated the industry in those early years. It appears to me that those managers, directors and suppliers had an ideal which has to some extent been lost to-day. In those earlier years, the one aim was quality. Suppliers backed up the directors. The directors encouraged the managers. The managers vied with one another with but one object in view, namely, the highest possible quality. There was present more of the real spirit of cooperation. Directorates of different companies would confer with a view to helping one another, and managers likewise. I have 'known of dairy companies with capable secretaries in those earlier years lend them to other co-operative companies to assist them over temporary difficulties. It would be unfair to say that this spirit is now entirely lacking, as there are some districts where these ideals are being maintained. Ideals Should be Maintained. “Ono might dwell at length on the reasons for a lowering of ideals in the industry. I believe one of them was the period of exceptionally high prices enjoyed up to a short time ago. High prices were available for mediocre produce. Alterations in methods of manufacture have played a part. Home separation, with the pasteurizing of cream and the adoption of pasteurization of milk for cheese-making have made the manager's task easier, and at the same time lessened the interest of the supplier in the raw material. The lack of a real spirit of co-operation between factories, leading to the keenest competition for cream and milk supply, with the evils of fictitious overruns in butter factories, and cheese yields in cheese factories, have undoubtedly retarded quality. Can

we get back these ideals? Unless we can, I am afraid of the future. May I paraphrase a statement recently made in London by a prominent economist: “ ‘The road to recovery calls for faith and vision. Is it possible to kindle to-day a spirit of constructive enthusiasm .which in those earlier years carried the industry forward to great achievements? Is this present generation too steeped in the cynicism of disillusionment to be capable of the real effort needed to put this great industry where it ought to be as far as quality is concerned? Those are, after all, the ultimate questions.’ ” PARASITE FOR BIDI-BIDI The fact that a parasite was being imported into New Zealand from Chili to destroy the bidi-bidi was mentioned by the president of the North Taranaki executive of the Farmers’ Union (Mr H. E. Blyde), j gays an exchange. He had asked at the meeting of the Dominion executive in Wellington recently whether there was any danger of these or any other parasites becoming pests in New Zealand, but he was assured there was no danger, that exhaustive enquiries and observations had been made, and that as far as the Chilean parasite was concerned it lived on bidi-bidi alone. WOOL PROSPECTS A HEALTHY INDICATION. Until recently this season the bulk of the wool bought in Sydney by German operators this year, was purchased on account of mills in Poland, Checoslovakia, and surrounding countries, confidence being absent in trading circles in Germany. Latterly, however, good orders have been received in Australia from German manufacturers, due to increased business in tops and other products. That development, in a country the position of which had caused considerable apprehension, can be accepted as an indication of the generally improved i outlook in wool circles. The recent quo- • tation of 25d for average 64’s tops in Bradl ford puts the price of these semi-manufac- , tures Id to ljd per lb above the rates rul- ; ing throughout October and November, 3 1930.

1881 to 1890 1891 to 1900 19,000 tons 71,000 tons 1901 to 1910 226,000 tons 1911 to 1920 599,000 tons 1921 to 1930 1,350,000 tons