LIVE STOCK AND THE FARM

Southland Times, Issue 21897, 24 December 1932, Page 11

LIVE STOCK AND THE FARM

ON THE LAND THE WEEK.

(By Working Farmer.)

A week ago we were experiencing a flood and now the land is cracking. Turnips which were sown prior to the heavy rains are brairding well, much better in fact than some did which were sown early in November, but the heavy rain followed by a dry spell has caused the land to cake in places. Pastures benefited by the soaking and a second mat of clover is coming away. This is a good time to dock foals while they are light and easily handled. A simple and safe method is to clip the hair off for about an inch above where the tail is to be cut. When all the necessary materials are at hand, tie a strong cord tightly round the top of the tail to stop bleeding. Some use a dehorner for cutting off the tail but by placing a piece of wood underneath the tail and placing a butcher knife on top one tap of a hammer will take it off easily. On the middle of a piece of clean, white cloth four inches square, place a spoonful of flour. The flour covers the cut and the edges of the cloth should be tied lightly round the clipped part of the stump. The long hair will then hang over the cloth and is tied tightly below. Slacken the top cord so that the blood may come and when it appears, tighten the cord again to allow it to congeal. If the cord is again loosed in two or three minutes there should be no escape of blood. The following day the hair should be gently parted and the string which holds the flour cloth cut. This is very necessary, otherwise it may take another piece off the tail. Tire string tying the hair below the cloth may be cut in three or four days, but nothing should be disturbed. The cloth will come away without attention as soon as the cut begins to heal. It is a simple operation and may be performed on any horse, but it is inadvisable to put a bretching on a newly docked horse til the tail is quite healed. Besides aggravating the sore, it is liable to make the horse nervous for a long time. Turnips and any ridged crops require a lot of scuffling for the next month or two. If the season is dry the cultivation helps to retain moisture and if it happens to be wet, the fact of the land being well stirred up keeps weeds in check. Most green crops, being composed largely of water, depend to a great extent on moisture, but apart from providing that each successive cultivation brings fresh weed seeds to the surface to germinate and in turn be killed. Potatoes should have their final cultivation before coming into bud, otherwise damage may be done to the underground shoots. The final moulding up should be done thoroughly. It not only saves loss from sun-greened potatoes, but helps to prevent much disease and blight reaching the tubers from infected tops. When Irish blight was at its worst it was a common practice to cut and cart off the tops or shaws as soon as blight appeared. When this was done in time it was usually found that only the potatoes which were insufficiently covered were affected. Rabbits are fairly numerous in parts and that is no exaggeration. They will take phosphorized pollard at present; at least they were doing so last week. Consistent poisoning will keep them from taking possession. There may not be many dead ones lying about but so long as the poison disappears, the rabbits will do likewise.

The Chian System. A recent visitor from Hawkes Bay, speaking of the chain system of killing, which has been adopted in some of the works in that province, says it has proved very satisfactory. When a gang of unskilled workers are taken on and each man has only one or two actions to become accustomed to, they quickly achieve a degree of expertness which would be impossible where the whole operation is done by each man. As the men become used to their jobs the speed of the chain is increased and by the beginning of December the men at Tomoana were turning out over 5000 carcasses of mutton and lamb daily.

Late Opening of the Freezing Works. There is keen disappointment at the decision of the freezing companies in not opening the works till after New Year. It is most unfortunate in view of the financial plight of a great many sheep farmers that the opportunity should not have been afforded them of doing the best for themselves that might be done. The December killings last year more than exceeded expectations, and had climatic conditions been more favourable, the January supply would have more than kept the works fully occupied. We are advised that medium weight rAilk lamb is what is wanted on the London market and yet when the country is teeming with this most desirable commodity, the medium for preparing them for their last journey fails us. Even if the works start with a full board of slaughtermen and everything goes smoothly, it will be into February before some of our flocks are drafted and that invariably means that many lambs which are fat at the nresent time will have gone back and will require a month or six weeks on special feed to top them off. The provision of the feed will cost at the very least, 2/6 per lamb, to say nothing of crutching, dipping, drenching, etc., and the loss of at least a few lambs. Cheese Quality.

The advice tendered to the Farmers’ Union Executive by the directors of the Seaward Downs Dairy Factory Company requires some explanation. Matters which affect the primary producer si vitally should not be hushed up. It is the quality of our cheese and not what we say about it that affects the demand at Home. Whatever is the reason there are many others besides Mr Arnott who claim that present day cheese is lacking in that cheesy quality which characterized our make a few years ago. It may be owing to disorders in our digestive organs as one scribe “wittily” put it, but if that is the case indigestion is becoming much too rife. If the Farmers’ Union cannot speak openly on matters which so intimately concern them they may as well stay at home. It may be that the Seaward Downs directors are of the opinion that these matters should be left to the Dairy Division. That the division is not always right is proved by the fact that a parcel of cheese which graded second quality at Bluff realized top price

in London and brought an unsolicited cablegram from the agents: “We think your colony will find it hard to beat, etc,” naming the brand and shipment. Of course that is only one instance and probably an isolated one, but it is pleasanter reading than some which have come to hand since. At that time the Dairy Division was set against moisture and the reason for the cheese being graded second quality in the case mentioned was owing to so-called excessive moisture. One would think that an experience of this sort on being brought to the notice of the division (and it was) might have been a guide to it. It was at least sufficient to justify an experiment or two.

Spare Part Wanted. One of the Clydesdale men at the show was having a quiet dig at the petrol-eaters when he said the horse did not require spare parts. The spare parts of a horse are ill to fit whiles. If a puncture occurs in a car one may get the repair outfit going or fit a new tube. About a year ago the writer had a bonny Clydesdale filly which got out of her paddock and while galloping past the wood heap, put her foot on a fencing stake, with the result that the stake was upended and entered her flank. The filly was dead in ten minutes. ‘ ■ Top-dressing.

One frequently hears people who blame topdressing pastures for all the ills that afflict the farmer. They will tell you that before topdressing became so popular, the disease known as pulpy kidney was unheard of and that many of the contagious troubles, unfortunately so common nowadays in the dairy herd, were also much less prequent prior to the commencement of topdressing. There are still many farms where practically no topdressing is being done and in some cases losses of lambs on these farms are fairly heavy. On the other hand, the late Mr W. Watson—who was probably the most consistent apostle of topdressing in Southland and ft who, through topdressing, nearly trebled the carrying capacity of his farm—lost a very small percentage of lambs from pulpy kidney. He was a great believer in providing a lick for his stock, but whatever the secret was, there are mighty few sheepfarmers who could teach him anything when it came to fattening lambs on the mothers. As regards the dairy cow, one must remember that their numbers have been multiplied many times over during the past thirty years and it is quite natural that by increasing the counts, troubles would automatically increase also. In fact it has been found that increased stocking sometimes increases stock troubles out of all proportion to the increase in the stock carried. In the early days we were favoured with a virgin country on which any kind of stock would thrive and do exceptionally well, but in time certain tracts which were confined solely to sheep, became sheep sick and to a lesser extent the same thing applied to cattle country. A person may inflate a motor tyre to 751bs. with comparative safety but inflate it to 1501bs and something is liable to burst. At one time a 21 to 3 gallon cow was considered a fair beast, but now they are being trained or bred to produce 5, 6 and 7 gallons per day. Land which was calculated at acres per sheep is now assessed at so many sheep per acre and in many places, although there is apparently, ample food, there is a lack of something which is vital to health and production. By selective breeding the milk flow of the cow has been doubled, but it is now being discovered that the governing factor in production is the ability of the body to assimilate the minerals of which milk is composed. Dairy breed demonstrators stress the desirability of a big tummy in a cow as essential in converting large quantities of food into milk, but if large quantities of milk is desired, the quality of the feed is of more importance than the capacity of the cow. Topdressing increases the quantity and quality of grass, but after all, grass is only a combination of minerals, etc., produced by mother earth in an organic form so that they may be readily assimilated by the animals’ system. Judging by the findings of research students, the vital factor is the completeness of the combination as a lack of any one sonstituent has much the same effect on an animal as a missing plug has on a car. If it were as simple a mattei - to name the missing mineral as it is to locate a missing plug, farming would be greatly simplified. Country Looking Well. The country between Gore and Dunedin is looking better at present than usual. Oat crops have a fine, darkgreen appearance and give promise of a bountiful harvest. Turnip crops seem to be somewhat later than usual but a large area appears to be ridged and with the fine rainfall experienced recently, a good strike should result. If there is anything in the saying that a crooked drill will grow more turnips than a straight one, some of those seen should grow not a few. A snake would break his back crawling up some of them. It was pleasing to see some of the ridged fields about Clarksville—a tidy, workmanlike job. Hares are numerous between the Clutha and Gore and in some parts rabbits seem to have got out of control, but there are also parts of Southland where this is very evident. , Haymaking is in progress in parts of the Taieri and there should be some very heavy yields. One farmer there is at present planting out field cabbage and he finds that, given reasonable climatic conditions and proper treatment by way of manure and cultivation, he can grow more feed per acre with cabbage than any other winter forage crop. On one occasion he wintered upwards of 40 cows and young cattle on three acres of drumhead cabbage. The cattle were given two loads per day in . late autumn, three loads per day during winter and there was still sufficient left to provide two loads per day till mid-September. Judging by the number of mares with foals at foot and mares still to foal, horse-breeding is on the increase. Otago roads still leave something to be desired and it looks as if a scarifier and steam roller will be necessary to smooth out the ripples. From Pukerau to Waipahi the road is abominable and anyone having the choice, should, in the interest of personal comfort, patronize the railway. If a small portion of the money at present being expended on the Pukerau-Waipahi road were devoted to forming the unimproved part of the “old Dunedin road” between Ma-

taura and Clinton, it would make a good summer motor road and besides shortening the journey to Dunedin, would relieve the present main highway. STUD STOCK REVIVAL IN EXPORT. ABERDEEN ANGUS FOR AUSTRALIA. New Zealand Aberdeen Angus cattle which have been exported in considerable numbers to various parts of Australia in past years have gained an excellent name and despite the difficult times under which breeders are struggling at present there has been a very welcome revival in the export trade of this breed of cattle as orders for outstanding stock have recently been fulfilled by Messrs Wright, Stephenson & Co., Ltd. on behalf of breeders in New South Wales and Tasmania. The first purchase made was of the Royal champion cow Nora of Waiterenui, bred by Mr W. A. McFarlane, of Hastings, Hawkes Bay. This cow, a four-year-old, is of outstanding conformation and quality and is sired by the imported bull, Eland of Bleaton, and from a noted old New Zealand family. The purchaser was Colonel White, of Pall Blair, New South Wales, who has been very successful in both New South Wales and Queensland with previous importations from New Zealand. Before being shipped to Australia, Nora of Waiterenui was mated with the Royal champion bull, Sumach of Gwavas. Colonel White also secured from the estate late A. S. G. Carlyon the two-year-old bull, Ethiopa of Gwavas. Although this bull has not been shown he is of outstanding type and ’ represents the thick low set class of bull the leading breeders are aiming at today. He is sired by Samson of Ben Lomond, a son of the great breeding bull, Roderick Dhu, while through his sire’s dam he brings in the notable Flower strain. Ethiopa of Gwavas is from the famous old Casseopera strain which has produced many notable prize winners. This bull has just been shipped. Several other purchases of Aberdeen Angus made at the Royal Show have also safely reached their destinations. The first prize yearling bull at the Royal Show, Paris of Gwavas, which was purchased for export to the Dennistoun Pastoral Co., of Tasmania, created an excellent impression on arrival at Launceston. Mr Harrisson, of the Dennistoun Pastoral Co., is considered to be a particularly good judge and considers Paris of Gwavas is the best Aberdeen Angus yearling he has ever seen. Paris of Gwavas who won the Maisemore Medal for the best yearling bull at the Royal Show was sired by the Royal champion, Sumach of Gwavas. Messrs Wright, Stephenson & Co., Ltd. also purchased the third prize yearling bull, Priam of Gwavas, for Mr R. Cameron, of Tasmania. This is a particularly well grown bull and also of excellent type. He was sired by Hori of Tautane. Accompanying this bull was the second prize junior yearling heifer, Miss Qualatum sth of Tautane, by the imported bull, Qualatum of Ragdale, who was champion at the Royal Show two years ago. Miss Qualatum sth of Tautane was bred by Messrs Herrick Bros., of Tautane, Hawkes Bay. Upon the arrival of the yearling bull and heifer, Mr Cameron advised Messrs Wright, Stephenson & Co., Ltd. through his agents that he was particularly well satisfied and he added that while the heifer took pride of place he considered the bull would easily develop into something extraordinarily good. In his opinion the agent who selected the cattle was a good judge of the true type of Aberdeen Angus as these importations reminded him of the type of cattle that he had seen in Scotland.