FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 August 1921, Page 8

FARM AND DAIRY.

STRATFORD MODEL FARM. The fourth annual meeting of the j above society will be held in the Parish i Hall, Stratford, on Saturday next, at • 1.30 p.m. The. annual report and bal-jance-sheet reveal satisfactory operations ; for the period dealt with. Progress has ; been maintained towards improving the I farm by further stumping and clearing. | About half the farm has been stumped Land cleared. The wisdom of the methI ods employed is endorsed by the results I achieved. * The past season’s producI l ion of butter-fat is double that of the i first year. Extensive demonstrations 'of crops, manures and top-dressing have been .carried out, and at the anI nual meeting the chairman, Mr. J. W. i Deem, will give an address in explana- ’ tion thereof. Farmers are invited to at- • tend to express their views and experiences. The committee recognise that i the problems confronting the. average ' farmer are the same which confront the ! committee and a discussion should be of ' mutual advantage. The benefit to the I district of the model farm is generally ! admitted and farmers can not only gain ' information by attending the meeting, ' but they can help the committee by giving hints and advice.

Writes our Wai-toi-toi correspondent: The local dairy factory has commenced running every day, and the quantity of milk being received is increasing rapidly. Cheese is now being manufactured, and though nothing definite has transpired as to the disposal of the season’s output, there is every reason to suppose that the price will prove satisfactory. Some very good oilers have been report- ’ ed in different portions of the province, i but there would appeaf to be a disposition to hang off for a while before closing. The general opinion, however. 1 would seem to be that in view of the unsettled state of affairs in the Old Country, in fftet in all parts of the Empire, that it would be good business not to turn down a real payable offer,

: although consigning has its attractions, j and very often those who favor this i means of disposing of their cheese and j butter come out on top. ! There is. however, one point on which j no mistake can be made, and that is ;that every effort should 'be made, both I by milk suppliers and managers, to i manufacture the very best article pusJ sible, and thereby not only maintain thd j high reputation New Zealand produce j has . obtained in England, but possibly | improve it. In this matter the man who ' handles the raw product can do quite a I lot Io assist the manufacturer of the finished article by sending to the fac- ; 1 tory sweet and pure milk, and this can only be attained by absolute cleanlinesi’ in all milking machines and dairy utensils efficient cooling, and the judi- ■ eious feeding of any artificial fodders likely to cause an injurious flavor in tue

j milk. ! Though at the recent annual meeting of the Wai-toi-toi factory the majority of suppliers did upt favor the scheme I for Government supervision of dairy I sheds, and the formation of a herd test-* I ing association in the district, it is ! hoped that- all those supplying the fnc--1 iory will use every means in their power to improve the quality of the milk, and if this is done effectually th«rp will be little to fear as to the i ultimate result. A matter that is being strongly advo-

cated by most of the authorities on these matters throughout the Dominion is the absolute necessity for the provision of more feed for cows in the aatumn months than is obtainable from the ordinary pastures, it being pointed out that there is not sufficient grass at this period of the year under '; normal conditions to keep the supply of i milk up to the necessary standard; whilst in cases of drought similar to the one experienced last year the shortage is much more apparent. Many farmers have claimed for years that it does not pay to raise special crops to keep up the maximum production of dairy cows when the grass begins to fail. This idea lias been proved fallacious on many occasions by facts and figures, and Mr. A. 11. Cockayne, of the New Zealand Department of Agriculture in an address on the “Feeding of Cows.’’ delivered at the Ruakura Farmers’ 'School, brings forward a most convincing argument in favor of growing more feed for our cows. He points out that 20 per eent. of the season’s supply of feed is required during the dry period of the cow; 50 per cent, during the first period of the milking season, and '3O per cent, during the second. He jargues that no grass. land in New Zeahand produces feed in this ratio, and ; the proper feeding of dairy cows cannot ! be carried out unless suitable food is

i available in some such proportion as ; this. Alluding to the financial phase of | the position, Mr. Cockayne says that the food consumed by a cow for its own maintenance brings in no profit to the dairyman, but that every ton used for milk production when maintenance is satisfied, brings in a return of £2 10s with butter-fat at Is Sd‘ per lb. On the other side of the he remarks tha ( during the milking period, insufficient I food to keep the animal at its maximum j production causes a rapid diminution of the milk flow, and when once this occurs it is extremely difficult to bring it back, even when food may be abundant again. As an illustration. Mr. Cockayne mav be quoted: “Say in the month of February a herd of 30 cows Shows a drop of albs of milk per cow daily over the normal decrease during that month. This represents'a loss of 42001bs of milk, or IGSlbs of butter-fat. J have shown that when maintenance requirements I are satisfied, eight feed units are suffi- ’ eient to produce lib of butter-fat, so that had 1400 additional feed units been available, this loss need not have occurred. This required amount could have been furnished by feeding GOOlbs of soft turnips per day, which would have meant a saving of Gib of butter-fat, or JO per cent, per day, representing a production value of £1 17s per ton of turnips. Thus a 40 ton crop of soft turnips is capable of bringing in a gross return of over £7O per acre. In other | words, every additional feed unit consumed by dairy cows of a good type I when ordinary grass land is failing to (keep them to their maximum milking . capacity, brings in 21d worth of buter- [ fat.” Of course it is greatly a matter of locality as to which is the most snit(al),le kind of crop to grow for autumn feeding, and even then some farmers favor one kind, and others another, but Mr. Cockayne’s estimate of the value of several different kinds of fodder may ! prove interesting. He estimates one I ton of green lucerne to produce £3 worth of butter-fat; one ton hard turnips, £1 12s 6d; one ton ensilage, £3 r 10s; one ton mixed green fodder £2 j worth of butter-fat.