LIVE STOCK AND THE FARM

Southland Times, Issue 21832, 8 October 1932, Page 13

LIVE STOCK AND THE FARM

ON THE LAND

NOTES FOR THE WEEK.

(By Working Farmer.)

Lambing is still progressing satisfactorily, but the continued dry weather is hard on the ewes and a bit of assistance has to be given more frequently during a dry windy spell. Udder trouble, which seems to be a form of mammitis, has been giving bother. With a dairy cow one can rub with turpentine or some other preparation. With a ewe it might be practicable where only a few are kept, but when the flock runs into hundreds they have to take their chance. About all that one can do is to mark them so that they may be culled and fattened after shearing. Pulpy Kidney is due any time now and it is advisable to exercise the flock gently when going round morning and evening. Exercise is an aid to digestion and by keeping the organs functioning losses may be averted. Hunting them roughly or starving them on a bare naddock is liable to cause greater loss than the trouble itself if the lambs are designed for the freezer.

On the dairy farm, this month is a good time to dehorn any spikers. One or two in a herd can keep the whole yard in a ferment. As soon as there is

ground a second time for the sake of getting it good and firm. Sowing manure with grass seed is not practised to the extent it should be and if 15 to 20cwt. of lime and one sack of super per acre is given, it only adds about 25/- per acre to the cost and is much more than regained in the first year and a half of the pasture, besides giving. the grass a start for permanency which makes it a suitable sward for future top-dressing. Farmers would not think of sowing turnips without manure because they know that nothing worth while would grow, but because grass will do, in a way, they grudge the expense. If one has any i as to the advantage of manuring grass they should sow a strip of manure across the paddock and note the result,

Sheep Dips. There are always a few new dipping preparations being placed on the market and some of them may be quite all right. Dipping is a strenuous job and one which few sheep-farmers would be sorry to avoid, but there is so much at stake through possible damage to the sheep and the risk that insufficient damage may result to the parasites that

the wise farmer will superintend the job himself. Sheep dips may cost more than their actual value as chemicals and there may be room for reduction in the price, but even at present prices the cost runs out at approximately Id. ner sheep and it is doubtful wisdom to experiment with untried substitutes for the sake of saving a few shillings. Tractor and Horse.

On all hands the cry is “back to the horse” and no doubt with wool and lamb at present low prices farmers will revert to a certain extent to cropping as a means of helping to balance the budget. This will mean more cultivation and naturally more pulling power. Whether it will be horses or tractors that will get the job remains to be seen. A contemporary asserts that of the tractors which were in use 10 to 12 years ago 75 per cent, are now on the scrap heap or back in the garage. Probably so, what with use and abuse tractors will not last for ever. If a tally could be taken of all the horses that were looking through a collar 10 or 12 years ago it would be found that a good many of them now sleep with their fathers and those that are still to the fore are getting past their best. Tractors and horses have a lot in common: they both require suitable fuel and careful treatment. The horse has one advantage, in being more fool proof, because he will stand up to more ill-treatmpnf »r>rl

[ can comfortably feed stock in any kind of weather where with stacked hay in windy weather it is hard work for two men and the loss through blowing away is also considerable. It is also much easier to gauge the requirements of the stock when feeding pressed hay. On the Titipua property of Sir William Hunt the hay has all been pressed for the past two seasons and losses through tramping underfoot have been very light. The manager, Mr Ritchie, has arranged a novel way of feeding by standing a bale on end and driving four stakes—one on each side —into the ground, much on the principale of the colonial candlestick which consisted of four nails and a piece of board. A haj press will put through about two tons per hour at a cost for pressing of 4/- or 5/- per ton and this cost is more than offset by the uniform quality and the saving in time and hay when feeding out. In a fair crop two sweeps will keep the press going and the farmer has to find about five men additional to the two men with the press. When it is realized that a large percentage of the feeding value of hay is in the leafage it can be seen that the less handling there is, the loss will also be lessened.

Cambridge Horse Fair. A keen demand for horses suitable for farm work is being experienced in the North Island and at a horse fair held in Cambridge recently some 600 horses changed hands. The fair lasted four days and a relay of auctioneers kept the sale going continually from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. The reason of this sudden demand is that many fanners who depended solely on pastures, hay and ensilage for their dairy herds are beginning to find that it is a difficult business to bring their cows through the winter in satisfactory condition. One writer says: “There can be no two opinions about the general condition of the milking herds in the Auckland province at the commencement of the present milking season; the general condition is poor and that expresses the position very mildly. For every one that has brought his herd through in good condition, one hundred have failed to do so.” Horses have been in keen demand in Southland and unless the breeding of horses is kept un there will assuredly be a shortage. Farmers who intend breeding from some of their mares will soon be selecting a sire and on their selection will depend the kind of team they will own in a few years’ time. By breeding from the best you do not always get the fulfilment of your desire, but by breeding from inferior stock it is almost a dead certainty that the result will be noor