FOR THE MAN ON THE LAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1020, 10 July 1930, Page 20

FOR THE MAN ON THE LAND

Reflecting Auckland

PROSPERITY’S LOOKING-GLASS

The Winter Show

MORE than anything else, a Winter Exhibition aims to reflect, in part at least, the industry and fertility of the district from which it takes its name. The Auckland Winter Exhibition does this and more—it acts as an annual reminder of the ever-present need for co-ordination between town and country interests if true progress is to be looked for; each successive fixture brings with it some new reminder of liow science and industry are combining with the farmer to make increased production and more congenial conditions possible on the farm. This year’s fixture is no exception.

Covering as it does such a multiplicity of subjects, the Auckrand Winter Exhibition cannot be expected to be given over in full to sections which have a direct bearing on agricultural and pastoral activity,' no worthwhile

of pig farms under test; the farmers concerned are taking records of all important aspects of the industry for purposes of comparison when the test period concludes. Weights at time of birth and right through to the bacon stage are being taken at regular Inter-

exhibition can afford to do this if it is to accomplish the dual purpose of educating and, at the same time, attracting sufficient of the public to make it self-supporting; it can only afford to give glimpses here and there of the most important phases of farming, wherein applied science and wholehearted effort are striving to make the job of the man on the land more profitable and, at the same time, more congenial for all concerned. The Auckland fixture does this.

vals; the class of food used and the weight consumed is also being recorded. By this means with several farmers using different methods and foods, it is hoped to arrive at a more or less reliable idea with respect to the most economical method of bringing the pig from the farrowing pen to the slaughter house. The comparative figures at the Winter Exhibition should be a big help to the pig farmer who is interested in his job. During the past five years pig raising has assumed rapidly increasing proportions in the Auckland Province and, today, besides having an appreciable export surplus, this province supplies buyers for bacon curing factories right down to the southern end of the Wellington Province. It has been shown very definitely that there is a certain market for pigs, provided they can be produced economically.

AN INTERESTING STAND

DISPLAY OF BACON WORTHWHILE COMPARISONS One of the most interesting exhibits at the show consists of a cured bacon stall, wherein a very successful effort has been made to show the relation between the class of food given to pigs and the quality of bacon; by a series of weights taken before slaughtering, when the carcase is cold and hung up in the slaughter house, and after curing the farmer is given a very good idea as to what influence the various classes of feed have on the percentage of loss in weight from live weight to cured weight totals. This feature was introduced to the National Dairy Show at Palmerston North this year and proved a centre of attraction for farmers; It was weight from live to cured was 43. S per cent.; the average loss from cold to cured was 26.1 per cent. Tam-worth-Berkshires, which had meal included in their ration, showed the lowest percentage of loss in weight. A GROWING INDUSTRY The pig fattening industry is becoming every year a more important industry in so far as the Auckland farmer is concerned, and more and more is being done to bring methods of fattening and raising within the lines laid down by tytplied science. Scientific investigation is being carried on to ascertain just how far it is possible to go in the direction of cutting costs and, at the same time, bring the pig economically to a marketing condition. It lias been felt for a considerable time now that many farmers have not been using the most economical methods and that money and time has been wasted by using foods which do not give the best results. At the moment an association of pig breeders in the Waikato has a number