FARM NOTES

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13921, 26 March 1909, Page 8

FARM NOTES

VALUE OF SEPARATED MILK. A series of useful experiments haw been carried out on one of tEe, Canadian experimental farms for tlw> purpose oi giving some data "vvlrieh might be uwd as a guido to the actual value of skim milk as a feeding material. An important note is made to the effect that ilie value of this substance must not l»o me&sured by its chemical composition solely, but its peculiar and apparently stimulating action upon the growth tor animals. ; iv two of the experiments the usei of skim milk and crushed maize was i 'exemplified. The data obtained froai j thesi' experiments would • indicate that 1.83 11). skim milk were equivalent to 1 lb. of maize, which was regarded as emphasising the value of skim milk af a , supplementary' food, * and that as a siipjflejuient^to ho other grain^did its cfieot seem so mai^cl as w;hpn useu with maize. In two other experiments' with barley and milk the same conditions obtained as shown in the pre\ious paragraph. While 4.35 lb. barley in pig feeding were required for a pound of pork when fed alone, otiiv 3.G4 11). were required when fed in conjunction wiih thfc skim milk. Ot\ier tests showed that the use of milk W'Ui a mixture 1 of pe»s, barley and rye, ffW 1 whob, as compaire<l with the same mixture fed alone bore the relation of 1 to 6.99 lb. skim milk. It was further ascertained that with a large numhor of pigs when a small quantity of skin; milk, about 3 lb. a day, was fed, a !•*.-• •quantity of it was aqua !to 1 lb. u r grain than, when a largo quantity of it (about 15.1 b. per head per day) u<i« fed. The results arc tlms .«;hown :—: — Skim Milk Nr. . Consumed cf Pk>;s Pw Head in IV,I. Per Day. Lb. ' 4 2 1 lb. maize equal to 1.83,1 b. skijn milk. 31 3 1 lb. mixed grain equa' to 3.28 lb. skim milk 4 5.^ 1 lb. mixed gi J ameqit?il to 5.38 ib. skim milk 4 13.G 1 lb. shrivolfrd wheat equal to 7.91 lb. skim milk. 5 15.7 1 lb. mixed grain equal • to 7.34 lb. skim milk 2 17.1 1 ib. mixed p,raincqu-il to 8.82 lb. skim uiilk 2 23.7. 1 lb. mixed gram equal to 7.76 lb. slum milk lii the .summary it is concluded thai — 1. 'Snr the fattening cf piu,:-' Wv«ighing 10>/ 10. each it is economical to food not mere than 5 lb. skim mill: per heid per doy. 2. Skim milk gives the h-r-i returns, for the amount fed,, when it constitutes 'a Comparatively small part r,{ : the total feed. 3- Skim milk may generally spfakint;, Ix 1 north from onesfxth to one-fifth as -much as mixed grain. VALUE OF PHJ3. At tlie Aberdeen Agricult\tral Discusfi'mv. Society recently. Mr. (I. A. Bjmup. Tnschfield, in an address on Vvs Rearing in Abeidefmshire, said the old"p*e ixicJir^ s.nppcsed to exist in the minds p , iflctitchmen au;aiuht the pra; h?cl h< o.t f v-(?ieo?>?o. The pig was aujw'eTrtly iiuv; [coming to his own. Ref. j rrin<x to t!\vhi csiMis in Scotland. v;liifth ho .said was about three millions, and comp-^:? <;1 Ihrei' or nioro distinct breeds of piirIhe olludr»d \d tlio i't.rmpi ion cf the National Pig llreeders' Assc.ciai i.m, :t.k: i

wont on to consider the practical economy of keeping pigs. He conMck-iyd tl-.ii few other animals were more proiita»:i» if properly attended to. .than the ni ; Pi.ls he tound, had paid him h««t .• than any other kind of H. counted on a sow costing about fJ«» a keep annually, and in return tor tl-i she produced two litters ot young. which sold in the ordinary market uh-'M weaned at about ](is a head. J laavora^o income per litter was about £.-. so that the whoje expense of keeping the sow was met by one ot her litt» i> He expressed the opinion that the cluereason why pig rearing had gone bic« some time ago was the increased com of artificial 1 foods and the high raihv^ rates charged on the transmission c 1 • the animals from one place to another.

"It would appear judging by t t readiness with which farmers 111 -I;' Wairarapa are selling their oats am chaff that little confidence in the return of high values in the near futu.-c is entertained," said a wyll-kiiow r farmer to an Ag<? representative, ' "• in view of the unusually heavy crop* throughout the Dominion, ami uif stringency of the money market, t.i)s lack of confidence is probably wur1 In the Blenheim district the cropf this year seem to be very abundant A recent visitpr speaks of barley threshing out seventy bushels to th*> acr?. while wheat yielded from fifty to sixty bushels".