FARM NEWS AND NOTES

Taranaki Daily News, 13 July 1935, Page 12 (Supplement)

FARM NEWS AND NOTES

King Country Herd Testing. The returns' for the Ho Pio group of the New Zealand Co-op. Herd-Testing Association for May show that 983 cows averaged 3051 b milk, 6.15 test and 18.781 b fat, the best herd of 39 cows averaging 39.901 b fat. In the Matiere group 465 cows averaged 3381 b milk, 5.38 test and 18.181 b fat, the best herd of 52 cows averaging 24.761 b fat. In the Ohura group 378 cows averaged 2551 b milk, 6.07 test, 15.481 b fat, the best herd of five cows averaging 291 b fat. The association’s average for the 68,731 cows tested in the 84 groups was 3371 b milk, 5.58 test and 18.831 b fat.

Handling of Lambs. In conjunction with the Commonwealth Department of Commerce the Victorian Railway Commissioners recently launched an extensive publicity campaign, emphasising the national importance of the lamb-export trade and the need for careful handling of lambs. Fifteen hundred pictorial posters and 20,000 hand bills had been printed for widespread distribution to' railway stations, wool brokers, abattoirs, and so on. In addition, a special appeal was made to railway men directly concerned in the transport and handling of the lambs. It was stated that better handling of lambs while being transported on the railways would inevitably lead to increased trade and better railway business.

Dominion Milking Machines. In 1933 there were 24,350 milking plants in operation in the Dominion, the number having increased from 18,755 in five years, an increase of 30 per cent. The 24,350 milking plants had a capacity for milking 85,175 cows simultaneously, and the total number of cows milked on holdings employing milking plants was 1,247,279, giving an average of 51 cows per milking plant.

Japanese Experiment. A Japanese experiment in wool production, according to Mr. C. H. Bertie, has enabled the substitution of a very fine merino wool on the backs of the normally coarse covered native sheep of Mongolia. If the experiment is successful Japan would soon have large flocks of sheep producing a fine merino wool. It was doubtful, however, that wool of this quality could be successfully grown in the East, with a climate so different from that of Australia.

Sowing Pastures. The difference between sowing pastures down with and without a good companion crop was very noticeable recently on a farm at Waikaka, remarks the latest number of the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture. Rape was sown at the same time as the grass seed but in one fairly long run the rape seed stopped running and the grass seed only was sown. On that part the sward was dense, while the other part was open. Sheep appeared to appreciate the dense sward.