LIVE STOCK AND THE FARM

Southland Times, Issue 22008, 6 May 1933, Page 12

LIVE STOCK AND THE FARM

ON THE LAND -

NOTES FOR THE MONTH. (By “Working Farmer.”) The owners’ Annual Return of Stock should be furnished before May 14. Declaration of income is also due. Land should now be in fine order for ploughing and the plough should be kept going when weather and routine work permits. In laying off a. paddock for ploughing nothing is gained by skimping the headlands and a scratch should be run along the ends so that the ins and outs are kept in a decent line. It shouldn’t take any longer to make a tidy job of a paddock than it does to make a mess. A man who doesn’t take a pride in his work will never make a good ploughman or for that matter be much good at anything else. For the sake of after cultivation it is a good plan when making a brake to plough out the first two furrows and then gather them in. It may not make a tidy brake, but has the advantage of breaking up all the land and checking weed growth. It may not be generally known that old swamp shares so long as the eye is in good order may be renewed by having a new wing welded on. This process costs less than half the price of a new share and that is a big consideration these times. Any wheels or coulters which are not taking oil should be pulled down and cleaned. Faulty oiling is the cause of many replacements, probably more than Is caused by legimate wear ’or breakage. The block pulleys also should get a drop of oil occasionally. Some ploughmen seem to enjoy the squeel of the blocks and will follow on day after day while the whole neighbourhood are aware of their neglect. The lamb fattening season is drawing towards the end and it is gratifying to know that there has been no decided lull in lambs fattening this year. Turnip crops are now fairly well matured and it will do them no harm if a limited number of the lambs have their teeth cut and are run over them. It is claimed by some farmers that lambs fatten more quickly on rape or any green crop after the teeth have been cut. Lambs are showing a decided preference for mineralized salt lick at the present time. It must be a craving more than a liking that induces them to take it because some of the ingredients have anything but a pleasant taste. This has been a fairly satisfactory season for lamb raisers. The weather at lambing time was congenial, tailing percentages were high, pulpy kidney less severe than usual and the general health of fat lambs has been much better than last year. Last but not least, the price has been much above what we were led to expect a few months ago. The fly in the ointment is the schedule, and although lamb has been quoted at from 4)d to 5d the greater majority of our lamb has not netted within Id of that price. Paralysis in Pigs. Paralysis in pigs may occur at any season of the year, but it is more common in spring. One of the first symptoms is usually a seeming reluctance to come to the feeding trough. . Later a lameness or stiffness shows in the hind legs and finally the animal cannot raise itself on to its hind legs and sometimes drags its hind end when coming to feed. The chief cause of the trouble, which is mostly found among sty pigs, is an unbalanced ration, usually whey or skim milk, which are lacking in minerals and protein. Meat meal is given as a food rich in minerals and protein and it is claimed that it will make up for much of the deficiency of these constituents in milk and whey. Most of the ills which pig flesh is heir to can be traced to a deficiency diet and at the first sign of trouble the pig should be turned out of the sty and given the chance to physic himself from mother nature’s storehouse. Pigs which are run in a good grass paddock require only half the food and seldom have any ailments. A little bit of the tough skin snipped off the snout prevents rooting and with clean drinking water and a dry bed they won’t be the worse paying proposition on the farm. They may fatten more quickly in a sty, but a given quantity of food in the paddock will supply more than double the number of pigs and the work and worry is much less. *

Plough Draining. The recent heavy rains have given the land a thorough soaking and any pools of water which lie for a day or two give a fair indication that time spent in drain-ploughing would be time well spent. Land with a clay subsoil responds readily to plough-drain-ing and if the draining is done properly the effect can be seen for several years. Much of the success depends on the outfalls, which may be covered drains, or open ditches. When crossing a covered drain it is a good idea to endeavour to connect the two drains by pushing a pointed stick down the cut and through the plug hole till the tile or box is reached. If the connecting is successful it will not be long till a fair amount of dirty water appears at the mouth of the drain. The pointed stick should also be used freely when crossing pools of water or wet patches of land, as the cut is liable to close and the water takes longer to find the vent. On many makes of drain plough the plug projects about six inches or more behind the blade and the taper on the plug seals the blade cut. This is probably the reason why some men claim that they get better results without a plough and by depending entirely on the sock for the water vent. The drawback of draining into an open ditch is that the accumulation of earth which has been thrown out of the ditch tends to raise the banks higher than the land adjoining. This makes the mouth of the plough-drain higher than the part back from the ditch and although quite a lot of water may be forced out owing to pressure behind, the drain will soon block with silt at the lowest part. To be successful and lasting a ploughdrain must have a gradual rise from the outfall. In draining slopes the drains should never be taken straight up and down when it can be avoided. Drains which are run at an angle on the hill do much more good and last longer. Except as an emergency or temporary measure it is not advisable to depend on plough drains of more than a few chains in length. To make a thorough job of drying a paddock it is necessary to have tile or box drains at intervals

of from three to five chains, according to the nature of the soil, across the paddock. The drain plough can then be run across these at an angle to suit the fall. The nature of the land should determine the distance between the plough drains. In tight puggy ground it is sometimes necessary to drain every three or four feet whereas under different conditions six to ten feet may be ample. Lack of efficient drainage is probably the greatest hindrance to obtaining maximum returns from the land. On most farms there is one paddock, probably more, which has received the same treatment from fence to fence, in cultivation, liming, seeding and manuring, yet this same paddock may in the dry part, produce bumper crops, while in a wet part the crop may not be worth harvesting. A lot of money may be sunk in draining a farm and probably a good many farms in Southland to-day would not realize the money which has been, spent on them, but it is worse than useless attempting to farm wet land.

Feeding Ewes on Chaff. With the prospect of a long winter and an extra demand on the turnip crop, farmers will no doubt be looking round for something which will help to carry the stock through. By reason of the plentiful supply and the very low price offering chaff has much to commend it. By itself chaff is not a satisfactory feed for in-lamb ewes and it will usually be found that the lambs are not usually so good when the ewe flock have had to depend solely on chaff during the winter. On the otherhand it will be found that where chaff is used as a supplementary fodder to turnips or other green food both lambs and ewes do excellently. Chaff contains more minerals than root crops and this is probably the reason why stock do better on a mixed ration. Some farmers claim to having reduced losses from pulpy kidney to a minimum through feeding chaff or grain to the pregnant ewes in conjunction with turnips. The late W. Erskine Bowmar some years ago was suffering heavy loss from ante-partum paralysis among his full-mouth ewes. He was one day inspecting some very heavy stud ewes and asked the breeder if his flock suffered from this trouble. The breeder answered in the negative, but added that he always allowed his flock chaff or oats along with the turnips. Mr Bowmar then adopted this plan of feeding and from that time his losses from ante-partum paralysis were practically nil. It will usually be found in feeding any class of stock that a mixed ration, besides making the stock thrive better, is the surest means of making the food go further.

Southland's Winter Show. It’s a mercy the Mayoral election did not clash with the show or the society would have been like the dog that clashed with a circular saw. However, now that the battle is over, the townsfolk can turn to the show as a sort of pick-me-up on the morning after the night before. The success of a show depends to a great extent on gate receipts and it is in this way that town people can assist by their attendance. It is a pity that the number of exhibitors cannot be greatly increased, as judged by remarks frequently overheard, there must be a lot of very superior stuff which might be brought forward. There is not the least doubt that Southland could exhibit a display of farm produce which in quality and in number of entries would be hard to beat anywhere. The interest of exhibitors would be stimulated, the honour of winning would be greater and patrons would get better value for their money. Not many years ago the membership of the society was largely increased by an energetic canvass, one member alone (Mr Alf Horne) enrolling several hundred. Something of the kind by way of increasing the number of entries might quite easily prove a success if members would constitute themselves district agents of the society and each did their bit towards this end. Our Future Fanners.

Under the above heading in the New Zealand Farmer Mr Primrose McConnell supplies a most interesting and practical article. The question is asked: “Are the prospects of farm boys improved by a college education?” and Mr McConnell is of the opinion that for most part they are not. He says: “In my own boyhood, books and periodicals dealing with agricultural problems were few and far between, so the keen farm student had to go to an agricultural college in search of the knowledge ‘he desired. Nowadays agricultural knowledge. is forced upon us in daily showers at the cost, of a few shillings, and in some cases it is free of all cost. Nearly every daily newspaper reserves space for the discussion of agriculture in all its phases, and it is a matter of opinion whether some of the education is or is not of real value.” After making mention of the many agricultural books and periodicals which are attempting to reveal the latest agricultural findings and the results of the latest experiments, Mr McConnell says: “Candidly, it would seem as if colleges for the education of the young farmer were becoming less necessary as time goes on, in spite of the advance of science in agriculture. The present hobby is to talk of a scientific education for the young farmer, and probably, in nine cases out of ten, those who discuss and advocate it could not explain exactly what they meant. ...The few that benefit are generally farmers sons who have already had a practical training on their fathers’ farms, and those who intend to become teachers of agriculture or agricultural scientists. I maintain that any boy with an average share of intellect, who has been reared on the farm, who has free access to the best agricultural literature of the present day, and who is anxious to make farming his life’s business, can gain all the agricultural knowledge he requires, or, rather, all the knowledge available for the time being, and at the same time stimulate the habit of independent study and the forming of independent opinions, which will be more useful to him in his own special circumstances than a whole lot of text book stuff, a great deal of which is, more or. less, chaff. The city boy who is determined to be a farmer requires a somewhat different training; hence, a term at a farm school or an up-to-date farm that is carried on on commercial lines, is essential before he undertakes farming on his own account.” In view of the many schemes

which have been mooted, many of them by men who apparently are not wellversed in the subject, it is extremely gratifying to have the opinion of a man who is so eminently fitted to express one. N.Z. CLYDESDALES EXODUS TO AUSTRALIA. THE HEAVY HORSE COMES BACK. After a long lapse of years, the oldtime trade in Clydesdale horses _ between New Zealand and Australia is being renewed. Recent events demonstrate that the trade has revived with a Vengeance for practically every State in the Commonwealth has been calling for Cyldesdale sires, and amongst the latest purchasers is one of the State Governments. That Australia was definitely swinging back to the horse was demonstrated in the spring of the year when one of the older breeders in Victoria, Mr A. T. Crcswick, sent out an inquiry for a sire for his Clydesdale stud in Queensland. He required a horse of sufficient merit to compete for the principal honours at the Brisbane Royal Show. Such a horse was found in a five-year-old son of the famous old champion and great breeding sire, Baron Bold. The horse in question, Hero Bold, on arrival in Queensland created a great impression and had no difficulty, despite competition from imported Scotch-bred horses, in carrying off the Royal Championship. This fine success was followed up at the recent Sydney Royal Show where the Moore-Hunter Estate, of Hawera, won the championship with their three-year-old colt, Canmore, who afterwards sold for the record price of 530 guineas. In the meantime, buiness has been very brisk in New Zealand, and Messrs Wright Stephenson and Co. Ltd., report having shipped stallions, colts and fillies to South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, and further sales have just been finalized.. Perhaps the most important sale made is that of the two-year-old colt Cyrus, by that great breeding horse Bonnie Dene (imp.). This colt, who shows rare quality, has been sold for export to Roseworthy Agricultural College, South Australia, at a very substantial price. His purchase was authorized by the South Australian Government during the recent visit to New Zealand of Mr T. H. McKay, Kaduna, South Australia. In addition to being one of the most attractive colts yet bred in the Dominion, Cyrus, who claims all the best merits of his breeds, is the result of a unique experiment in the science of breeding, as in addition to being sired by Bonnie Dene, his dam, Frills, a noted winner, is also a daughter of that sire. Cyrus is supported also by other great strains of blood, as his grandam, Lingerie, one of the greatest prize-winning mares in New Zealand, was by Buchlyvie’s Favourite (imp.), from the famous old Parorangi foundation mare, Hinemoa (imp).

In Canterbury, Mr McKay also purchased from Mr J. A. Fairweather, Amberley, the three-year-old black colt, Broomfield Sensation, which was first and Reserve Champion at the last Canterbury Metropolitan Show. “Sensation” was sired by that high class breeding horse Rosencraig (imp.) from a mare of Mi - Fairweather’s breeding in Broomfield Mona. Mr McKay also purchased two young mares in Burnfoot Elian and Broomfield Pearl from Mr John Wyllie, Omihi, and from Mr James Wyllie, Sefton, the mare, Gyp, all marcs of good type and excellent breeding qualities. A two-year-old bay colt in Newfields Sensation, by Fairview Sensation from the Baron Bold mare, Lady Bold, was also purchased from Mr J. D. Wyllie, of Sefton, and Mr McKay completed his purchases by securing for station use the six-year-old stallion, Abberfeldy, by Fyvre Count (imp.) from Bridesmaid who was in turn from Springbrook Bride, ■from Mr T. Hutchison, Amberley.

Three purchases in Otago and Canterbury were made by the New South Wales breeder Mr F. G. White, of Mittabah, Exeter. From Mr Arch. Wilson, of Henley, the two attractive mares, Lady May and Elsie Marlie, being both sired by that great breeding horse Marengo, whose son, Romeo, annexed the Wright, Stephenson and Co.’s Perpetual Challenge Cup at the last Otago horse parade. Elsie Marlie had an excellent colt foal at foot by Scotland’s Victor. These mares were shipped to Sydney recently. For his Queensland station, Mr Whyte secured an exceptionally well developed yearling colt from the extensive Allandaie Stud of Mr Andrew Grant, of Fairlie. This colt which Was retained for show purposes competed at the Fairlie Show and scored an outstanding victory. He is one’of the best of the year, having plenty of weight and size, is good at the ground, and handles himself at all paces in perfect style. He is by the former champion horse, Desire, who has now an outstanding record as a sire. At Fairlie, where over 100 Clydesdales were shown, a three-year-old filly by Desire won the championship beating no fewer than four imported mares including a former Cawdor Cup winder.

Another fine colt shipped to South Australia to Mr T. G. Butler, of Ben Lomond, Kapunda, was the Southland bred two-year-old Better Times. Bred at Edendale by Mr Donald Macdonald, Better Times was sired by Sir Leslie, while his dam was by that noted breeding horse, Bancor, imported from Scotland by Mr Macdonald. Better Times is a colt that does credit to the Edendale pastures, his weight of bone and stamina being quite unusual, while he has any amount of good Clydesdale character and quality. He is a fine, bold, correct mover, with a grand set of legs, good solid strong feet, and being proportinately built left little to criticize. On arrival of the colt at Adelaide his purchaser cabled the agents, Messrs Wright, Stephenson and Co. Ltd,, expressing his utmost satisfaction with the selection made on his behalf. FOOD FOR THE SOIL ECONOMIC MANURING. ENGLISH WRITER’S ADVICE. At the present time one has to consider carefully not only what. crops will repay expenditure on fertilizers, but also what are the limits of their profitable use. Mangolds and kale are crops where advantage should be taken of the ab-normally-low price of sulphate of ammonia, says a writer in an English paper. Such crops are not worth growing unless good yields are secured, but when they are good no crops will yield a greater or cheaper quantity of valuable foodstuff per acre. At least. lewt. per acre of sulphate of ammonia should be sown at seed-time along with the normal allowance of phosphate and potash, and two or more top-dressings of lewt. sulphate of ammonia should be given later.

Manures in Lieu of Labour. There is almost no . limit to the amount of nitrogen which a. leafy crop such as kale can absorb. It is better to spend one’s money on an extra cwt. of sulphate of ammonia than on the labour - required for singling. Rather forgo singling and rely for additional light' and room on mixing some rape and swede seed with the kale. Rape is useful in the mixture if only because it is less liable than kale to be attacked by “fly.” Rothamsted reckons that lewt. of sulphate of ammonia is good for an extra 30cwt. of mangolds. There are no figures for kale, but manure with faith and kale will not let you down. Potatoes—particularly early pototaes because of their season—require soluble, quick-acting manures, and if the price is right no crop better repays generous treatment. Two-four-two (even three-four-two for earlies) of sulphate of ammonia, superphosphate and muriate of potash are about the right proportions and quantities in cwts. per acre. Hay is still a very necessary faint commodity, and where a farmer cannot produce all he requires by mowing more acres than usual he will find that judicious expenditure on fertilizers for hay will be well repaid. It is still more economical to use fertilizers to produce cow-food than to buy the article ready-made. Of the three usual components of a fertilizer mixture—nitrogen, phosphate and potash—the nitrogen is the one which used alone, will' give the greatest response. But unless phosphate and potash have been used fairly regularly in the past it would not be advisable to manure with nitrogen only. One-two-one of sulphate of ammonia, superphosphate and potash salts would be an economical dressing. Patent Fertilizers. Choose a field that has been regularly well-grazed, and which in consequence will contain a good proportion of perennial ryegrass. If the pasture has not received phosphates in recent years it would be desirable to include 2cwt. of superphosphate along with the sulphate of ammonia, and, if the soil is light, lewt. potash salts in addition. For an early “bite,” sulphate of ammonia is again the most potent and economical fertilizer. If farmers really want early grass, they must sow.for it. In the succession of mild winters experienced recently, Italian ryegrass fertilized in autumn either by dung or sulphate of ammonia and rested three months has produced abundant keep—cow keep in fact—in January, and Italian ryegrass seed is cheap. After feeding off close in the wintcr it will still produce a luxuriant hay crop. For general utility purposes, including. winter keep for ewes and lambs, a mixture of Italian ryegrass and trefoil occupies to-day a place ' among seed-mixtures analogous to that of sulphate of ammonia among fertilizers. They are two things for which the farmer can be thankful.