INCREASING PRODUCTION

Taranaki Daily News, 11 February 1933, Page 10 (Supplement)

INCREASING PRODUCTION

OBJECT LESSEN AT RAHOTU TRANSFORMATION IN FIVE YEARS. WORK OF MR. M. G. MAXWELL. 1 To have increased production fivefold, and to have transformed an area of deteriorated second-class land into a condition of fertility and productivity equal to that of the best of first-class land—and all that within the short period of five .and a-half years—is an accomplishment of which Mr. M. G. Maxwell, a . progressive young Rahotu farmer, has every reason, to be proud. Indeed, it serves as an object lesson as to what can be accomplished by the application of practical knowledge of farming combined with hard work, energy, determination and ' business-like methods. To those who know the farm and districtfit is hard to realise that such a transformation could have been effected in such a short ’ time. The property, Which is situate on the Main South Road at the Ngariki Road corner, comprises over 190 acres, of which over 20 acres is in plantation. Fifty acres of the farm is situated on the Rahotu side of the Ngariki Road. This is the old homestead, occupied by his father, Mr. E. Maxwell, for very many years, and noted for its fine plantations. .The other 140 acres is on the Opunake side of the road, and when taken over by Mr. Maxwell less than six years ago was almost all covered with gorse or manuka, the bulk of the land also being water-logged, go’that in the winter time it was only possible to plough small selected areas. Now there are to be seen beautiful verdant pastures, with even at this time of the'year a super-abundance of feed. In fact there, is too much for the stock to keep down at present, though the farm is carrying about a beast to the acre. Five years ago the property was carrying '35 cows and three horses, the average butterfat production being well under 2001 b. of butterfat per year, whilst now 'there* Are’ never l&ss than. 150 head )of stock on the place, of which 108 are milking cows. Last year -they averaged 2981 b. of butterfat, heading the averages of the herd-testing group. This year Mr. Maxwell expects the average to be well over 3001 b. of fat,'and the total production to .be 34,0001b..0f butterfat, or an average of 2001 b. to the acre. He, however, is not satisfied with that, but is aiming at. 51,0001 b. of fat, or 3001 b. to the acre. , ' • ' Shelter, -deep ploughing and deep draining Mr. Maxwell considers are three essentials in obtaining successful production. It is vital, he thinks, to have deep drains, especially in country where' the land falls , away from the rivers. There are on the property over two miles of tiled drain, all averaging oVer sft in depth. Some in order to obtain the necessary fall are 17ft. (Jeep, and as a result the paddocks, of which, there are 25, never get at all soggy, except perhaps during feeding-out operations in wet weather, when .it is impossible to prevent any paddock from being cut up. Mr. Maxwell tackled the work of bringing the property into production in a comprehensive manner, because he realised that if he tackled it , piecemeal, h« would never complete it, the weeds growing at | such a rate that they would be overtaking him alf the time. His permanent staff consists of 4our, two married men who are housed in cottages on the property and two boys, though at times for periods when some special work such as metalling was required, he has .employed, large numbers. Mr. Maxwell f has carried ; out all his ploughing with horses, using ’ either a double furrow, single furrow or some swamp plough. The majority of the paddocks were ploughed four or five times, and in some cases eight times, before the permanent pasture was laid down, in order to eradicate thoroughly the gorse s>xd other weeds.

He usually ploughs in a green crop, such as cowgrass, before laying down a pasture, and has definitely made up his mind that in future he will always do so He sows a mixture comprising the best permanent ryegrass, white clover and cowgrass, with a little trefoil, lotus major, alsyke, timothy and cocksfoot, and the results > are to be “seen both- in the splendid appearance of the cows and in their butterfat records, as well as in the condition of the pasture. The cows are a nice even line, in which the Jersey strain, predominates, many of them being pedigree. ■ V . "... Mr. Maxwell fertilises his land with no. niggardly hand, using considerably over : scwt; to the acre—practically all basic manures, basic super and basic slag., In addition he finds a little sulphate of ammonia satisfactory. He does not use superphosphate, as he does not find it gives • satisfactory results. It might be considered by some that he uses fertiliser too heavily, but he pointed- out to 'a -News representative that the place had. previously, been starved, and he had to supply not a maintenance ration' but’'one to' create fertility. He thought, ? therefore, that it was better to risk overdoing it a little, rather than not supply enough. He practically relies on . his pastures for the stock, and has only 10 acres in green food— millet and roots —for with the. drainage and'shelter he finds that there is. good growth in the pastures even in June. , Provision has been made for conserving fodder for winter use. There are two fine stacks of ensilage, containing ■ about 200 tons, that have been cut off a paddock which, two years ago, was a gorse break. There are also a couple of stacks of hay. Mr. Maxwell could have saved, more hay and ensilage stacks, as he had plenty of surplus fodder, some of which he is ploughing in for green manure. He now intends to concentrate 'in going over his paddocks with a view to further improving the pastures by ploughing in green crops, levelling them more, and re-sow-ihg. Once laid down permanently and well treated, pastures will keep in good condition for very many years. On his 50acre section there is a pasture that has been sown down for over 25 years, and is not showing a sign of rat-tail. Like his father, Mr. Maxwell is a firm believer in afforestation, and has planted freely for the threefold purpose of preventing the growth of weeds, giving shelter and providing for the timber needs of the farm and homestead later on. In all he has planted over 25,000 trees, apart from those at the homestead. All waste places, including stream and river banks, roads, etc., as well as the old redoubt near the road and the site of the Old Manihi pa, a solid break of gorse with only a bullock track through it, have been planted. On the latter there are between 7000 and 8000

trees, and 1 though planted only 16 months ago, some of the trees are already seven feet high. Macrocarpa is the principal tiree. 'tvith pinus insignis as nurses. Macrocarpa is ideal for fence posts, battens, etc. Some posts of timber that have been in the ground for over 20 years are quite sound when , pulled out. Indeed, the majority of the fence posts and electric light poles 'on the property were grown by. Mr. E. Maxwell. One cannot help but be struck with the ideal lay-out. of the property, and the solid and permanent nature of the fencing and appointments, which are very complete and convenient. The farm could well be taken for a model. Apparently at the outset Mr. Maxwell designed a comprehensive plan which he has followed to completion. A feature is the metalled road which runs two-thirds of the way through the farm, past the cow-shed, giving entrance to numerous paddocks, and ending in a triangle which acts as,a distributing area into the remaining five paddocks. There is a depth of 12in. of pit metal, of which 1500 yards.was carted. It has set like concrete, and as a result, even after a wet period, there is no mud. There is another road leading to another portion of the farm, but it is not yet metalled. The cowshed, a 12 bail walk-through one, built of concrete, is on most modern lines. There is a large double-holding yard, floored in concrete, with heavy concrete posts, and there is an abundant supply, of water for flushing purposes, as. well as cold and hot water at every bail.. Hpt water is. provided by both an electric" heater and a chip heater. There is- a separate drain at each end of the shed leading into a sump, from which the liquid" manure is taken and distributed over the farm. Leading from the bail? on to the metalled roadway there are 10ft of heart timber rails. The gate between the two yards is so hung that it gives access from either to the shed, at the same time shutting off the other yard. Thus each individual cow can come into the shed in its own turn. The concrete floor, by being swept with a hard broom while it was still green, has a slightly uneven surface, so that it never becomes slippery. Immediately they are milked the cows proceed via the roadway to their paddock, the gate of which leading from the roadway is left open. That saves any waiting in the yard, which in the case of a herd of 100 cows would be considerable, and moreover prevents the formation of tracks across the paddock as is the. case when cows are regularly driven through one paddock to another. All the fences' are solidly constructed, there being six macrocarpa posts to the chain, with two battens between, while the gates are all of selected straight grain' heart rimu, all well hung and painted white. The milk stand, which is lofty and airy, is built bn a concrete base, roofed with iron, with the sides covered with wire netting. There is plenty of hot and cold water available. The milk is conveyed from the releasers at the shed by a tinned copper pipe, and is distributed over a tray into eight cans at the one time, thus ensuring cooling and aeration. The water supply has been well designed. An electric pump lifts water from a well into a tank on a 26ft stand, and as there is a further fall of 30ft. on the farm itself. . Gravitation supplies a good pressure to all parts of the farm, there being troughs in every paddock and also on the roadways. In order to prevent any churning up liberal supplies of metal have been provided alongside all the troughs. The farm is well equipped with all the necessary implements and plant for obtaining the best results, and it is all well cared for and housed in spacious implement sheds.