ON THE LAND

Taranaki Daily News, 27 September 1930, Page 24 (Supplement)

ON THE LAND

HELD-OVER WOOL. STOCKS IN DOMINION. Figures relating to the stocks of wool held in the Dominion on June 30, 1930, are given by the Government Statislieian in the latent abstract. The information has been compiled from returns obtained from woolbrokers, woollen mills, freezing works, wool-scouring works, shipping companies, harbour board stores, farmer's, and the New Zealand Railways Department. As in past yeans, farmers comprised the only group from which a full response was not forthcoming. The great bulk of these, however, furnished returns, and consequently the figures are complete enough for practical purposes. The total quantity of wool returned was 75,396,6361 b, classified as follows: — Tota 1

lb Merino 2,387,037 Ualfbred 9.209,616 ' Corricdale 1,521,209 Other, including crossbred — Sheep 50,90'),.->49 Lambs 9,038,045 Unspecified 2,331,180 Totals 75,396.630 The quantities held by the various interests, but not necessarily owned by them, were as follow: — lb Woolbrokers (holding permits 32,928,184 Woollen mills 4,447,353 Freezing works , 7,825,599 Wool-scouring works # 3,239,995 Shipping companies 5,083,502Harbour Board stores 1,007.225 New Zealand Railway Dept. 335,690 Farmers 20,529,05 S Total 75,396,036

. DISEASE IN TURNIPS. FAULTY NUTRITION. The disease in turnips, known as “finger and toe,” or ‘‘club root,” has been found to owe some of its peculiarities to a minute fungus. But this fungus is not now regarded as the cause of the disease, but merely associated with it. After several years of careful trial it 1 lias been demonstrated that the primary cause of the disease is weakness of the plant, due to lack of proper plant food in the soil, to poor cultivation, to inferior drainage,’and to acid condition of tlie soil. ''As -a cure for this disease and for many other diseases of turnips, jtris recommended that the soil should be well drained, well cultivated, well limed, well manured, and that highclass seed of a good strain be used. If these precautions are taken, and particularly if good seeds are used, there will be considerably less disease of any kind in root crops than will be found where they are put in under cheap and careless methods. As a matter of fact, most diseases of plants and most diseases of animals, if not caused by .lack b£ proper nutrition, are ehcour? aged by poverty and' uncongenial ’ conditions. HEREFORDS FROM AMERICA. HIGH-CLASS CHEVIOT SHEEP? A pedigree Hereford bull, Shady Donald 23rd (Shady Donald 10th—'Pansy Waterford 2nd), has been purchased recently in the United States of America By Sir. Jaities McKeiizife, of Mastcrtou. The animal was bred by Mr. A. A. Van Voorhis, of Beecher,' Illinois, and the deal was made through the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Ltd. Two heifers have also been secured by Mr. McKenzie from Messrs. J. O'Brien and Company, Ltd., Renfrew, Ontario. Both these animals are sired by Alberta (Panama 11. The yearling heifer is Miss Panama 0-B oath from the darn RepeateUs Gitli The two-year-old heifer is Rhoda Panama and her'dam is. Miss Panama.Among recent importations by the company are six stud Cheviot ewes and two stud Cheviot rams, which were purchased from Mr. C. Mendell, of Denny, Scotland, for Messrs. Chambers Brothers, of Te Mata, Hawke’s Bay They are regarded as the finest Cheviots ever imported into New Zealand. Three Devon bulls were imported for the Mountain Estate, North Auckland, from Mr. C. Badeock, Tasmania. They arrived in excellent condition and are at present in quarantine. CHRONIC MILK FEVER. AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT. Useful experiments have been carried out by Mr, T. A. Blake, veterinary surgeon for the Agricultural Department, Hamilton, in the direction of combating a trouble which assimilates the symptoms of milk fever, but which does not respond to the usual' treatment of udder inflation. The affected cow staggers and usually falls down, and if 'not given attention will die. Several cases had come under ; Mr. Blake’s notice during the last few weeks and after udder inflation had been , tried without success oyer a period of several days by the farmer, Mr. Blake , had given the animals an intravenous , injection of a calcium salt. -Within a ( couple of hours the animals had recovered and had thrown off all traces of the infection. , Narrating an instance* Mr. Blake said . a cow Which had calveflf four days pre- ; viously had been found lying down and , in a distressed condition. The owner, thinking she was suffering from milk fever, blew up her udder several times ■ that day. The treatment had no effect, • and inflation was resorted to again five ■ times on the following day without sue- ] cess. Mr. Blake was called in" the next ; day, and the calcium salt injection was 1 given. Within two hours the cow re- | gained her feet and completely recover- | ed. • .1 Air. Blake said as far as he knew the < calcium salt treatment was new to 1 New Zealand, although it had been ear- 1 ried out with success in England ami ] Holland. The salt was inexpensive and , easily procurable. < - * 1 1 ABORTION IN COWS. , I CAUSES OF CONTAGION. ( 1 Leaflet of Ihe British Ministry of | Agriculture states that, it is possible 1 that if a. bull serves a clean cow a very (J short time after having served an ani- ( mal which has very recently aborted, it J maj’ infect the former. Under the ord- 1 inary conditions of farming, however, [ it is seldom that, an animal which has aborted goes to the bull for a mouth or ■ more after the act of abortion. j By this time the discharge has usual- ( ly" ceased, so that the bull does not run 1 a great risk of becoming contaminated. ] .Moreover, except in eases where a bull 1 is under no responsible supervision and , promiscuously serves a large number of cows whose owners have no particular 1 interest in their health, it is coinpara-

ti\ely seldom that, the bull will have opportunity of serving a clean cow immediately after it has served one which has recently aborted. The bull, then, cannot be regarded as a carrying agent of the first importance, but admittedly I plays a part in the spread of abortion, , and infection in this way must be ■ guarded against. No symptoms immediately follow in- ■ fection, but the disease runs an insidious chronic course, and given an infect- ; ed herd, one can never be sure which animal will eary its calf to the lull time. Some animals may abort a little 1 more than a. month after infection, but the mapority do not do so until three 1 or four months aftej wards. Indeed, an infected animal may sometimes carry I its' calf practically to full time, and give birth to it alive. DEATH OF FAMOUS BULL. « A SHORTHORN CHAMPION. The Shorthorn bull Faithful, which won the grand championship at the Palermo show in the Argentine in 192 a, and was later sold by auction at the world’s record juice of 152,000 Argentine paper dollars (£13,260-, died recently at the age of nearly 71- years. Faithful, the sire of Faithful 20tb, was also a record priced bull in his day. He was bought from his breeder, Don .Jose Mallran,°at IS,OOO dollars (£1570), by the late Mr. William Angus, who sold him a year later for 110.000 dollars (£9596) to’Senor F. Seeger. Faithful 20th, which was bred by Senor F. Seeger, was bought by Senor Bartolemc Ginocchio for the Santa Aurelia ranch at the price mentioned. Air. W. I'. AlcLarcn, Polmaise Estate Office, who judged the Shorthorns at Palermo 011 that occasion, stated:—“This is really a wonderful Shorthorn bull. When 1 judged him at Palermo I thought him the best bull I had ever seen in my life, and 1 don t expect ever to sec a better.” CARE OF PASTURES. VALUE OF HARROWING. The advantages of harrowing grasslands are dealt with in the latest bulletin issued by the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Canterbury University College. The harrowing of grass lands, states the bulletin, has been part of good farming practice for- half a century or more, but in recent years, with the advent of intensive grazing and top-dressing, it lias become increasingly important. All grassland cannot be harrowed indiscriminately, but from careful observation it can safely be said that the following are the most important effects of grass cultivation on land carrying a good sole of grass: — 'lt spreads animal droppings; it produces a level lawn-like sward, free from high places that dry out early and tend to become bare, and from low places that become water-logged and so fail A produce maximum growth; it tends to remove tussock-like patches of'coarse grass which continually'increase in' size and collect dust, thus decreasing the areal available for more useful grasses; it Removes many broad-leaved spacecovdring weeds; it tears away old mat-

ted growth, allowing fresh, young grass to take its place; it secures better aeration of the soil and provides a good surface tilth; and it increases the beneficial. effects of top-dressing. ■Since the value of harrowing depends largely on the disturbance of the soil, and since chdkiirg of tile harrow has always to be guarded against, it is advantageous to have the grass closely grazed or mowed before harrowin'g starts. Fairly damp soil and a moist atmosphere give the ■ best harrowing conditions. If the soil is dry the harrows will not penetrate, the soil will not be disturbed, and the workman will not be able to follow the maxim, “Leave the land black.” If the air is dry the plants disturbed by the harrows will be" killed instead of re-establishing” themselves. On the other hand, ,the land should not be too wet or the passage of tractors or horses may produce injurious effects on the physical condition of the eoil. When the land is rough or poorly covered, or weeds are prevalent, seed should be sown at the time of harrowing. This method provides a good opportunity of introducing to permanent pastures improved strains of perennial grasses, which give a payable basis for top-dressing and grass management. But this practice should only be carried out in districts where re-ploughing is not necessary, and in districts where tlie seed sown' at the time of harrowing will not lie and rot in the ground, owing to cold, wet weather. Finally, success largely depends on the selection of a harrow suited to the types of soil and conditions to be dealt with. BREEDING OF CALVES. DEVELOPMENT OF TYPES. It is as futile to hope for success from well cared-for badly bred calves as it is to expect breed to take the place of care in rearing. Conditions in the cattle trade haye. changed .very considerably in the last few years. The change, as we all know, has been In the direction of producing the finished product at an earlier age, and in this matter, the right type, according to breed, lays the foundation without which it is quite impossible to build up a financial structure successfully. More calves are needed, but it is necessary that a greater proportion should be better bred than is the case at present. According to an overseas authority, whatever type is being bred, one should always aim at the best, mainly there arc two types of stock in the cattle business to-day the one being the dairy type and the other the beef type. If the tendency for the production of baby beef continues to extend it may be'expected that the future distinction between beef and dairy cattle will be greater than ever. But in any ease the rearer must be quite sure in his own mind as to the type he wants to breed. If dairy cattle be his aim, then calves >f the best dairy type must be produced. On the other hand, dairy calves are very little use for the production of early beef, and for this purpose the best type of animal is bound to be the only cow that can bring success. Between these two distinct types of calf there is a large number that belong to neither one type nor the other. There are some that approximate to the dairy or beef /type, as the case may be, and many that arc neither one thing nor the other. It is these latter that canoe disappointment, as they are, in many cases, the production of the scrub bull. One is surprised, says the authority, at the evil results that often occur through the clashing of interests between two branches of the same industry. There is a bad example set in England, where the dairying interests, by using badly bred bulls with their well bred cows, are continually at war with the interests of the breeder and rearer. It is for this reason that the individual farmer, before setting out iu

his calf icariirg business, should hnakc up his mind definitely as to the typo he intends to rear, ami he should always discriminate very closely between the calf that lias been properly bred and the one that is the product of| the dairy farmer’s herd. The majority of calves are, of course, bred for slaughter, but it must not be forgotten that the dairy herds have to be constantly replenished by/ heifers that have been bred for the purpose. From the viewpoint of the production of the. butcherfs beast, the importance and the extent of the preponderance of the beeftype of animal over the dairy type will be realised. . Good breeding is the first eetsential to successful calf rearing. Without this the best management in the world will never make the business pay with any success. VALUE OF DRIED MILK. VALUABLE STOCK FOOD. The growing use of dry skimmed milk and dry buttermilk in animal feeding stuffs was one of the most important pointe brought to the attention of the fifth annual meeting of the American Dry Milk Institute held recently in Chicago. Mr. Washington Piatt, chairman of the institute’s research'committee and a member of the laboratory staff of the Borden Company, stated that the sales of powdered skimmed milk for animal feeding during 1929 had increased by 65 per cent. He gave the credit for this increase to research work, which had demonstrated the value of milk in feeding and said that the various experimental stations were now confirming what the institute had discovered regarding the use of dry skimmed milk in poultry and calf rations. ' t ... : The organisation is now engaged in enlisting the co-operation of. extension workers in educating the farmer’ and poultry-man in the advantages of dry skimmed milk. This is the object of a very interesting and successful piece of work carried out during recent Weeks. Over 600 county agents have been supplied with material to be used in various forms of publicity. A series of,six news articles has been under weigh to supply them with packets of dry milk for distribution to their present and potential customers. It is expected that the work will be productive of very noticeable results, and materially assist in promoting a further use of this pro-