FARM NEWS AND NOTES

Taranaki Daily News, 11 May 1935, Page 24 (Supplement)

FARM NEWS AND NOTES

British Wheat Imports. The United Kingdom last year, imported 11 per cent, less wheat than in. 1933. Singularly enough, however, it is surprising that with so much talk of trade within the Empire, the aggregate imports from foreign countries have substantially increased, while those from the Dominions have naturally heavily decreased, states the Wheatgrower. The total imported was 93,734,900 cwt for the 11 months ended November, which was about 10,000,000 cwt less than for the corresponding period last year. Canada and Australia have decreased their export to the United Kingdom by 18,000,000 cwt and the Argentine increased it by B,ooo,ooocwt. Dairying in Canada. Milk production in Canada continued to show an upward trend during 1934, and this tendency is expected to persist during 1935. Cheese output is estimated at a lower figure for 1934 than for 1935, but production of both creamery butter and concentrated milk products exhibit gains. The increase in the output of creamery butter last year compared with 1934 was 5.6 per cent. The output of concentrated milk products for the year 1934 was 93,592,000 pounds, as compared with 84,928,000 pounds in 1933, an increase of a little over 10 per cent. Success With Pigs. The Earl of Radnor, a member of the British Pigs Marketing Board, at an important conference recently said that if his pigs were not doing well he changed the ration. If they failed to improve he changed his pigman. After that they generally improved. On the subject of rations Lord Radnor said he had adopted the custom of making his pigs fast on Fridays. He put them on half rations. The result on Saturdays was that they got through their food in half the time, and their enthusiasm was carried on until the following Friday, when they’ got only their half rations again. Agriculture in U.S A..

Apparently President Roosevelt has decided to relinquish his plan for restricting the production of wheat in the United States. Cable messages report that the Agricultural Adjustment Commission has removed the restriction on the area planted with spring wheat, and a considerably larger area than last year will be sown this season. Early in 1933 legislation was passed in the United States providing for the reduction of wheat production to domestic requirements, and for the restoration of wheat prices. The plan aimed to reduce the sown acreage by 10 per cent! of the average for the previous three seasons, and to compensate farmers for their loss of production. Judging by the reduction, in wheat production and the increase of prjces, the plan was successful; but last year the combined effect of the restriction plan and a severe drought was rather too drastic, and the United States was obliged to import substantial quantities .of wheat from Canada and the Argentine. j Value of Lucerne. ..

“Lucerne is the one crop that has kept me out of the workhouse,” declared Mr. Wilford Glover, a prominent dairy farm-’ er, speaking to the Milk Recording Society of Leicestershire and Rutland. “Some think this is a bee in my bonnet,” he said, “but I have grown lucerne for 45 years and I do not believe the doctors, any more than farmers, realise the valuable mineral elements in the plant, elements which could never be replaced by inorganic means.” Mr. Glover went on to say that lucerne would improve the quality of milk and make it more valuable for food, especially to children. Even if they doubted his word on all these matters, the fact that one could get up to four crops a year might convince the hard-up farmer what he was missing. While farmers in South Taranaki have had considerable success with lucerne and fully appreciated its value, unfortunately it does not appear to do well in North Taranaki. Complex Problem.

Can twins have two fathers? According to a recent ruling in a German Court, after blood tests had been made, they can and now a farmer has added to the complexity of the problem -with the result of experiments with a Persian sheep. After service by a Persian ram, the ewe was put to a Karakul ram after an interval of several days. In due course the ewe lambed, giving a perfect Persjan lamb, which, however, died after a few days. Eleven days later the ewe was delivered of perfect Karakul twins. All precautions were taken to see that there was no possibility of adoption by the bereaved mother and the farmer is satisfied that his experiment is complete in every detail, and that as he himself would have ridiculed such a story, he was at pains to supervise every act himself. He had with him two competent witnesses as well. It looks as though ideas in sheep-breeding are at least due for revision.

Shortage of “Vets.” In these days, when almost every profession in England is overcrowded, and there is unemployment in almost every trade, it is refreshing to hear of one job for which there is a shortage of recruits. Veterinary surgeons here can sometimes make as much as £3OOO a year—yet not enough young people are adopting the profession. The Ministry of Labour has issued a pamphlet drawing the attention of parents to this fact. The career can be followed by women as well as men. The £3OOO a year incomes are made by some private practitioners in the large cities. Incomes o| £l5OO can be made in some rural areas/ The decline in the number of those entering • the profession is thought to be due to the idea that motor traffic has lessened the work available for the veterinary profession. This idea is shown by the Ministry to be wrong. Cost of Wheat

Giving evidence before the Wheat Commission in Victoria, a witness set down the cost of producing wheat at 3s 8d a bushel. If the interest rate could be reduced to 4 per cent, the land tax abolished, and water rates reduced by 224 per cent, the cost would be lowered to 3s 4d. He favoured bulk handling, which would result in a saving of 3d a bushel, bringing the cost down to about 3s a bushel, at which wheat could profitably be produced. The limit, of the wheatgrower’s ability to carry the burden of secondary industries had been reached, and the community should assist to re-establish the wheat industry by agreeing to a home consumption price for wheat. There could be no logical objection to the wheatgrower being compensated in his hour of distrees. Directly and indirectly the industry employed more people than any other, and if it was not built up to a level with general economic conditions other industries would inevitably be dragged down to its level

Better Than the Family. An advertisement inserted in an American country newspaper recently by a farmer who wanted a farm hand read as follows: “I want a man to work on my farm. I don’t give dancing lessons. I have no piano. I can’t serve planked steak three times a day. Ido give three square meals, a real bed and fair wages. If any man knows a cow from a talking machine, can hear an alarm clock and get up at 5 o’clock, and wa’nts the job, I will agree not to treat him like one of the family, but a darn sight better.”