FARM & DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, 27 September 1924, Page 15

FARM & DAIRY

FEEDING FARM ANIMALS. FOOD AND ITS RESULTS. A careful study of the best means of supplying food to the animal in order to obtain the greatest return is obviously a paying proposition, and, like ali paying propositions, requires that time and energy be devoted to it. Every farmer knows that, by adding two and two, the product is four, but with long practice he forgets that in his youth it was first necessary to learn what two was, and how to add figures together. Without this knowledge of fundamental principles the simple sum would have no meaning. Similarly in order to obtain a clear understanding of the problems of feeding it as necessary to go back to fundamentals, and recognise the meaning of various terms, and the value of certain facts, which gard as dry reading, a clear knowledge just as did the learning of two phis two. Too much emphasis cannot be placed on this, and unless the reader is prepared to grip the preliminaries by close attention to what he might regard as dry reading, a clear knowledge of the subject will be impossible. You cannot build a house that will stand unless you have a iseure foundation. All food for animals comes directly or indirectly from the soil, and in due course the animal products return there to furnish a further supply of plant food. During growth the plant obtains energy from the sun. That energy is locked up in the tissues for the time being, but later is liberated in the animal body as the result of digestion and assimilation of the food. The energy exerted by the horse in pullinga load, a cow in the production of milk, or a sheep in the production of wool, is derived from its food. We must, therefore, understand something about the composition of food which, in addition to giving such manifest evidence of its use, is required for the building up of tissues and organs during growth, and for making good the wear and tear of the body continuously going on whether awake or asleep. The beating of the heart and pumping of blood through the body, automatic breathing, secretions of the body constantly being made, and the maintenance of the body temperature, all mean that work is being performed. The living ‘'machine” •is more complex that the man-made article. It builds itself, maintains repairs, and works continuoißsly —provided man does not clog the parts. Supply a factory w’jth a correct raw material and the correct product will be obtained—such as power from coal, or butter from cream—and similarly the animal product required will he obtained from the animal factory provided the correct raw material—food—is supplied. The plant and the body of the animal are for al) practical purposes composed of similar substances, viz., water and solids, or dry matter divided into nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous groups, which, in their turn, are again divided into carbohydrates, fats, crude fibres, and salta. The plant builds these complex substances from the simple elements of the soil and air, namely, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron and others, which the animal cannot do. Though they are required for its life they must be given in complex forma to be in turn converted into even more complex forms, and eventually broken down into the simple elements to be available once more to the plant.

LIME AND LUCERNE. NELSON EXPERIMENTS. A Nelson correspondent writes: —At a meeting of the Nelson Philosophical iSociety, Mr. T. Rigg, soil chemist attached to the Caw thro n Institute, submitted and explained an interesting exhibit illustrating the effect of linie and manure on the development of lucerne plants. He said the experiment had been conducted in cylinders on the Cawfhron Institute grounds. Two soils of widely different properties were employed. One of them was Nelson loam, which is naturally well supplied with both lime and plant food. The other was Moutere hills soil, which is lacking in both lime and phosphates. In addition to the usual applications of lime and manure to the topsoil (Iflrwt nine inches of soil), certain cylinders received lime and manure treatment at lower depths, corresponding to the subsoil (second nine inches), and substrata (third nine inches) of a section of soil in situ. In the case of the Nelson loam the use of lime and manure did not eflect any improvement in yield for the eighteen months during which the experiment has been in progress. The Moutere Hills soil showed a great response to both lime and manure under certain conditions. Without treatment practically no gro'wth was made by the plants on Moutere hills soil. Liming t*lie topsoil (first nine inches) resulted in a great improvement in yield of fodder and in root development. Where lime had been incorporated with the subsoil as well as with the topsoil, great additional benefit to the plants occurred. The highest yield and greatest root development were obtained in those cylinders where lime and manure (superphosphate and sulphate of potash) had been used. Little advantage resulted from the use of the manure at depths below the first nine inches of soil unless lime had also been introduced to the depth which was manured. Where, manure was placed in the substrata root development was adversely affected, even although the topsoil had received the usual amount o f lime. This harmful effect might ba attributed to the use of superphosphate, whidi, in the absence of free lime in the soil, increased soil acidity. The president of the society, Professor Easterfield, director of the Cawthron Institute, remarked that the exhibit was connected with a. type of experiments of which more were required to be carried out, as very little information was to be found in literature on Ithf subject of how far down in the soil j manures had effect.

THE VALUE OF HERD-TESTING. The average dairy cow in New Zealand produces between 1601 b and of butterfat in a season. Cows of the highest grade can produce from 4001 b to 7001 b or even merre in the same piriod. What vast possibilities of progress are here? It is' not inconceivable that our output could be doubled without increasing the numerical strength of our herds. For some yiare the i/airy Division of the Department of Agriculture ras been pointing tre way. Herd testing has been encouraged, and the system is spreading slowly. It certainly involves additional workj but the time and trouble ia the best investment any dairy farmer could make. Herd testing is one of the surest ways of decreasing the cost per unit of output. In some instances farmers have succeeded by cußimg in reducing their herds by one-half, while maintaining the output of butter-fat. These are vital questions that require BM-nt of Agriculture has been pointing tivity of our grass lands and the quality of our live stock should be placed amlong the leading requirements of the rural industries.

PLANTS REQUIRE FEEDING. The editor of the Breeders’ Gazette (Chicago) Iras a clear conception of the fundamentals of soil fertility. In a recent issue he had the following to say: — "All sods that have long been under cultivation are depleted, in varying degrees. Some of them are incapable, if fertilisers are not applied to them, or producing crops that in quantity or quality are worth growing. If inferior seed, which is commonly used, be planted or sown in impoverished soils, profitable yields conn'ot be expected under average economic conditions, even if the season be exceptionally favourable, the best of cultivation practised, harvesting flawlessly accomplished, and marketing done to the best possible advantage.

“Plants, like improved farm animals, require generous, intelligent feeding in order to produce merchantable grades and uniformly lairge yield of grain, foliage, fibre or root crops. On most farms the inferior seed used is committed to poor soils, and, whether the season be good or bad, the resultant plants commonly are slatterly cultivated and similarly harvested. Being inferior in quality, the matured crops fall automatically into low or “cull” market grades, and hen<’e realise minimum prices. No system of marketing, whether <it be farmer-controlled, commodity co-operative, or the existing system under the control of non-agricultural interests, can ensure ‘the cost of production and a fair profit’ to t'he growers of inferior crops. It ra clear, therefore, that the ‘marketing problem’ which farmers are paying thousands of hardearned dollars to orators, lawyers and politicians to solve for them, is, after all, a production problem. It is a soil fertility problem.

“Practically all soils that have long been cropped are deficient in certain plant-food elements. Plants in these soils grow weakly and slowly on unbalanced, deficient or inadequate rations, have a low resistance to insect and disease attacks and climatic hardships, and yield low-grade productsWhere they are fed liberally with fertilisers, plants from improved seed grow rapidly and robustly, are high in their resistance to insects and diseases, endure most ordinary climatic hardships, and return large yields of excellent quality. The most profitable types of fanning everywhere are based upon soils which will give to plants an abun flant balanced ration. Those who would feed their plants must apply green animal and chemical manures to their land.’’

TELLING THE AGE. Reference has been made in these columns to the metljbd of telling the age of cattle by the horns. How many people know exactly how to tell age by that means? It w safe to say that most people read the “rings” on the horns incorrectly At about two years of age a email ring appears at the base of the horn, and another at three years. Then these two preliminary rings fuse and almost disappear, but a deep ring soon forms and indicates the fourth year. Correctly, to judge age from t’he horns, one .should count the smooth or the first slightly-marked ring as representing three years, and add one year for each additional ring. In the aged animal there is u marked depression or lessening in clrcum'fereneo at the base of the horn, which, together with the loss of the broad parts of the incisors o’* great wear of these teeth may be accounted unmistakable evidence of advanced age. AGRICULTURAL ITEMS. All seeds vary with the seasons. If harvesting conditions are good, heavy shotty seeds result, which in turn, mean a greater number of live seeds per pound weight. The number of dairy cows in the Dominion is at present approximately an increase of about 150,000 since 1922, and a JOB per cent, increase over 1911. The population of the Dominion uses up t'he bu'tter-fat of 250.000 cows. In a series of trials at Penkridge, England, an increase of seven tone -per acre in the yield of mangolds was obtained at a cost of £1 per acre as a result of subsoiling. On land ploughed lOin deep and subsoiled 4in. the crop was 21 tons per acre. Milk is a vital human food. It is a food for both young and old. A quart of milk a day for a child is not too much and each should have at least a pint. Plenty of milk gives the children the chance of health they ought to have. It helps, them to grow, keep yell, and to build strong, vigorous bodies. Professor R. G. Stapleton, addressing a meeting of the Reading Farmers’ Union, on the subject of grasses, pastures and meadows, urged the extension of rotation sowing to the grass lands as a whole, a more effective control of

grazing cattle, and a. greater resort to temporary grasses.

On reaching the maximum at seven years of age, t'he average Guernsey records decrease rather slowly until ten years of age, though there is a tendency for the earlier part of thia decline to bi less rapid than the latter part. From ten to eleven years of age the decrease is quite marked, and after this point the changes are very irregular, though on the whole they have a downward tendency. It has been demonstrated that mixtures of basic slag and kainit in the proportion of four parts slag and one part kainit yield better results on gnvse lands than the separate action of the two fertilisers; the effort of the kainit is to increase the action of the slag by about 6 per cent. T-h\ is attributed to the increased solubility of the phosphate in the stag, due to the action of the potash salt. The activity of the phosphate in bone meal is similarly increased by a mixture of kainit with the meal.

The question is often put: Why can cattle be fed on straw and roots in Scotland and in the North of England but not in the South of England ? It may be due to the superiority of albuminoids of North Country straw. It is very possible that along with the albuminoids will also occur those little understood food ae<?essory substances which are sometimes called vitamines. Swede and turnips are very poor in albuminoids, and the superiority of Northern straw in thta respect may be the determining factor in feeding stock. The normal carrying capacity of tens of thousands of acres of grazing lands has been lessened by overstocking, while the havoc wrought by rabbits is only truly realised by those who have seen their country literally eaten out by the vermin. It is an admitted fact that ten rabbits will eat and destroy the feed necessary for the sustenance of one s'heep. It follows that a thousand rodents on a property prevent the owner carrying one hundred sheep. The wool from a hundred sheep will fill three bales, and a bale of wool is at present worth about £2<s. The general information conveyed by tlu Trade and Navigation Returns for 1923 in respect to mutton shows conclusively that the quantity of mutton imported is in excess or fully equal to tne annual production of sheep in the countries from whence ir comes; and it follows that if mutton is being sent to us at that rate, the necessary supply of purebred sires from the -home flocks are more-'/.nd more essential. It is evident a-> the declared value of the imported mutton from the different sources of supply discloses, that the nearer approach to purity of breeding the higher is the value of the mutton imported.