FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, 7 October 1929, Page 15

FARM AND DAIRY

THE ROUNDS OF THE DAY. ■' LIFE ON DAIRY FARM. A bachelor dairy, farmer writes:—One often hears remarks about the monotony'of life outback on a farm. I will give a brief outline of a normal day with me to show that if variety is the spice of life” my existence must be somewhat “hot stuff ’; also to anyone who may be bored by the stiff collar limitations of trades unionism a “cookie's” life should be a veritable Utopia, quence each variety of occupation will Tn giving the outline of the day in sebe shown in parenthesis: At 5 a.m. arise and start fire in stove to boil kettle (domestic); arouse general assistant (knocker-up); drive in milking herd to yard (cow herd); a cup of tea precedes milking operations, and then proceed with the milking per machine (machine operator- and stripper); feed milk to some twenty robust babies —calves (foster parent); convey feed to imprisoned porkers (hog attendant); clean, up milking plant (hygienic expert); about 7.30 a.m. breakfast and clean up dwelling (domestic); cut firewood (wood cutter) ; move some sheep to new pasture (shepherd}.; about two and a half hours’ fence repairing (fencer); boil kettle for lunch and?? prepare viands for evening dinner (domestic); feed hay, etc., to stock (stockman); about an hour’s work at scrub and weed-cutting (general farm); aii hour in kitchen garden (gardener); repair door in cowshed (carpenter); make. some.adjustments to milking plant /(mechanic); repeat milking and feeding process, meanwhile darting into house to : see dinner is cooking (cook); a-i^;dinner general wash-up (scullery; hand'); mend rent in trousers (tailor); flVivc: in car to neighbour, about five ; !fiiiles ''off. (owner-driver); entertained .during evening (gentleman of leisure); exjtpl with friend'on the monotony of farffij/life' and the excellent prospects of the*season, (liar); return home and attend^business matters and sign some cheques (plutocrat, pent etre); write thispresume (journalist, unpaid). Oh, you, Mr. Editor for apace. Goo}po-ood night, That the rearing of pigs is not all honey for the farmer is borne out by the following experience of a Whenuakura farmer the other week: He was expecting two litters of pigs to be born and as he had to be away from home for the day he left instructions to have the sows housed. This was not 1 done properly, with the result that one litter of pigs, 16 in number, perished in the paddock. In another case the same man had a litter of young pigs eaten by another sow before he was aware that they had been born.—Press.