NEWS FOR FARMERS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14658, 27 January 1912, Page 3 (Supplement)

NEWS FOR FARMERS.

(sr kohjydi.)

BLACK WOOL.

Wo have huuid :i g,,ud sunny ccm- ! piuuits ubu-ti., i-ae p.u>'u o o I Jut* -u tuo tt„oi, ana u u cmiA is be- ' iMa ruutws by i;i;uiiua-Uuuio j£o ,i m - : , u i »Ji-mera to use a wool pc.K,'' ihut nul ' Not lujuro its content, by/ a I number of jute ii.urs in.- the Now tl) 6 iSradicid Chamber of t'oinl Moroe has taken up tt'ie question of The growing prevalence of bia. k -I'd ! grey wow. A largo mooting <f I Uit U T«i»ft ( j m tho wool trade, ,ari- ' pats, Bpii.-uors aud iiiauiiiaj,tur»rs v is i to.d nut long ago; and they all mado I complaint that tiic-ro was too mud, ila M and grey wool iu tho lleo-os nowadays. The following le-ouimen-Wationa to farmers were Anat farmers aliould not breed from Wank or grey sheep; (2) Oat the greatest .caro rliould bo taken iu liolocting rams iu froo from black cpot tia passible, and that black and »roi lambs .Bhmild be slaughtered as '.uTil-s ~". ••" very difficult to account fo; WncK sheep m sonio fla.ks, who:-., eolithdowns and Shropshiros l.aiv Sorer been used. I know of ducks j M Which nothing but Leicester* b;,vc boon used for the past quarter of a century, yet there is fully one nr *fat. of black and piebald Limbs at each lambing, while quite a numoer possess block spots on various nirts of .tho body, "whero tho black ho«o has ticked them," as tho ravine; is. Whore ' "- 10 Down crosses are used the in.itl.er I Of brack and grey hairs in tho vool is / not 0110 of surprise, because a f-:w cull lambs will from time to time got into the breeding ewes unless the verv greatest care is exercised. In so:iie instances these black faced and l-Vlc legged animals aro bred from, rmd tho nock is sometimes a very nondescript one, and it ia therefore no woi.fli-r that complaints about black wool are necessary. At the last Tiuiaru Show I noticed that some of the pure bird, white-faced varieties of sheep lad mack spots on their heads. The hair on the fare and legs of a- Border i Leicester should be white and l;:r<\; I tho face of an English Leicester ! be white with a blue tinge; the Lincoln is white faced, md the ! .Romnoy is a hardy, white fa-ed breed, related to the "Cheviot, which aho I possess pure-white hair on 'ho 'ace • ond legs. The Ryoland breed, too, | should have white faces and b.gs. | In shearing, black fleeces should bo always kept apart, and none i>f ihn pioros and trimmings should bo allowed to become mixed with the white fleeces. The board must be swept after each black sheep is shorn, bocause stray fibres will get : .ito the white fleeces if the floor is t.-ft on- ' touched. The belly and pieces must be placed with the Awe, and ev- ry oare taken to prevent tho mixture of white and black wool. It is : ust as Well to kill all black she.-u>, niter fattening them. They should" not hf. bred from at all, but some owners h'ke a. few Mack sheep in their flocks because they make it easier to ncitico any shortago in the mob. Should a black sheep leavo the paddock its absence is at once noticed. Mutton growing has taken up so much of the attention of flock <•« Tiers during the past few years that the Wool has coma in for quito secondary Consideration. Tho cutting up of the large estates, and the disposal of some of the best stud flocks on these stations, coupled with the carelessness of tho now settlors in establishing their j flocks, has done somotliing towptds ! lowering tho standard of a proportion of _ our wool. More attention must to pae'd to this matter in. the future, and piebald sheep must be eliminated as far ns possible. The presence of Hack I hairs and wool is increasing both at Home and abroad. \ THE SHORT HORN—JERSEY. These two breeds of cattle pi'on iso to become the two most favoured kinds in tho Douuon. The attempt to breed a dual purpose cow h.s leBultod in the Shorthorn and Jeisey being crossed. The result is that a good milker has been produced, as well as a largo and saleable cow. 'lbis appoars to bo especially tho oaso when the Shorthorn sirs is used with the Jersey cow. One difficulty in tho matter is that in these southern latitudes of the Dominion, tho Shorthoru-Jersey cjtss is liable to prove not suffieiiiitly hardy. I have Shorthorn -Je-s«y heifers, bred in tho manner indie.it.jj above, and tho witter seemed to punish them severely even though they wore fed and rugged throughout the cold months. The Shorthorn is, nself, a. hardy animal, but the Jersey, coming from a genial climate is not nearly bo tough. Tho Guernsey is lurde'r the Jersey, but the elim/ito of the island is not so mild as that cf Jereoy. But tho Guernsey is s'ro.iper in frame and coarser than the JeTtty, and not so many can be kept. Ti is estimated that five . Jerseys can tie kept on about tho same amount of fcod' as four Guernseys and three Shorthorns. The Alderney is allied to the Guernsey, but of smaller breed. In the North. Island the ShorthornJersey appears to be doing weil. but it is suggested that in the South tho Ayrshire and the Shorthorn might provide a hardier animal, that will not feel the cold rains and the cold snaps to the extent that the Bhorthorn-Jersey wjll. HERD-TESTING TRICKS. m It has been estimated that each cow Jn the Dominion is yielding on an average 1751bs cf butter fat aunuailv. ffhis falls a good deal short of what A cow cun bo mado to produce by good weeding, scientifb breeding and" £ck--tion. It has been stated by the dairying authorities that New Zealand !s losing a cool million pounds tteiliug per year by possessing too many coms that are practically non-paying lodgers. If our ordinary cows could be made to produce as much us some of tho wonderful animals we read about, the increase over present production Would pay at least oue-third of the interest on our f,ross nation debt. But these wonderful reports are not always quite what they seem. I'or instanco the following paragraph fioin Hoard's "Dairyman" will let a. httio liftht on the subject to the uninfoc*ned: "Thero aro a let of agricultural papers tolling what certain cows can do by the month. Some of these records (.10 Very good, but what mo.jt fanners want is a cow that will shew- a f/icat Xocord for a full year. The .j-jod, allJear round cow U\ what ia wanted as a practical cow. There are too msi:y cows that are great cows for two or three months, but not t'<n- a full }'.?;: Breeding associations will do well to hood 'the above advice. There 'ire too Inany tricks, too much cf the numbng, in these short tests of a. week er a month. A certain breeder that ih> know of makes it a practice to test his crack cows for a week or a month land then dries +hem off, so Mint they wfll make another bi-j test. On the Strength of that humbug r.olirv he Eells the progeny of these cows for big ■prices. Is there, any or r?:iscn "in mich a policy? All this testing, fnyway, has for "its bottom purpose to . iistivprish tbetow that' liajs a firong,

USEFUL HINTS OFORXITIOI

abiding purpose aud tomp.irann.it i» J'ti'. liic ...m .a l-ilc ll:»i t li.;„ild-l-tiou. now i;.i..u rciiaucu t-i-ji lili: buyer put in a v, i.;K teso ot a .viviiir" PRACTICAL KAK.uiaiS ON Hfc'KD 'j'ho'J-VVj. However, tlijre can be no doubt Chat universal herd us carr.eil o..'t in Canada, ami Uemnaik wou.d en-ibie clai!-}- larniei's to make muck uioie of tlicir catL'io than is clone tit 1110 present. Herd testing is ono of the .scientific aids to agriculture v. Inch even tho most hard-headed, practical farmer must admit to bo of t-iU able service An American Professor of Agvicnlture thus sumuiaaHses s>me of the opinions he has received iiom practical farmers dining the vnst yi or regarding the Lvaeiits they have derived from cow-testing atso.'iitioiis: "J. have the value of definite knowledge concerning cue's business; I have learned the value of method in conducting a dairy business; I 1.-.ivo i.iarned that cows v&ry in food .equire.ueuts; I have learned that the (est iu proclu'.'e a pound of milk varies widely with different cows; I have learned much regarding methods of feeding; I have learned the aruijsis of feed; I have learned that piotcin is sometimes fed in excess; 1 have learned to have a genuine pride in daily cows; I have learned tho importance of breeding.: I havo leo'ncd that breeding op. rations should bo carried on with intelligence; I j learned that fails have no ri.rhtf.il I pla.'o in the breeding of dairy aii'inais; j 1 havo learned something of tbc fact J that food imtrents play in the ecoin.'iiiy 1 of animal life and milk production." j These sentences .should do "omjt'ii lg 1 towards .showing tliat it is essontial i for tbr? dairy farmer to systematically j test his cows. Until ho doe 3 ;.o he is working in the dark, and ihe lest j tlutt he thinks tho most of may be I the worst in tho mob, and vice j IS DEAR FOOD OOMTNQ? j This heading is one that ahviys | causes farmers io read it hat ia stated j underneath it with a gL,od deal of j interest. The producers, of course, hie ] 1 1!& think that the prices of produce are 1 likqly to keop up, while the eonsumsr I desiros to see prices keep down -o if ii? as they do not go below a p.iyaulc ;■ level, lie knows, eimeciailv in a unnitry like New Zealand, that untoss the producer gets a gcid price i';ir ) is products, times will bo more or ieis hard all round. I have seen several references made of late to tho probability that food stuffs of all kinds will remain at a payable level for a long time to cue. The present prices thai ore being paid for land show that farmers .'ire all of that opinion. They do not anticipate anything in tho nature of a slump fir a long time to como. The f illowiug cutting from a Home paper, f orwarded to mo by "DM".," Cave, shows that in some quarters tbc possibility of dear food in tho future is not nt all a remote one:— "It has often been pointed out by various people who understand- these matters that tho era of cheap fcod is past and that wo are likely to reiert to the prices which were coin.riou thirty or forty years ago. It is a.lvisablo to reiterate tliic, statement'so that the population generally may get tscd to it, and not be shocked" when the rise in prices coine". For the last thirty years we hr.vo liad a suptr-.'i-buiidanee i*f beef and bread, aud other sundries arising from a combination of circumstances which will never come again, hut which '.re now rapidly adjusting themselves. These circumstances are; the extension of rapid communication by vail ard steamship, the opening up of 1110 virgin soils of the Far West, and the invention of tho string-binder, and other harvesting machinery which enabled great harvests io be handled at little cost. The developme it cf was followed by the producti ->n ! o.T'excessivo quantities of food material 1 and by a ruinous drop in prices, and the "depression" in agriculture wo havo had to put up with for r ,o ling." THE FARMERS' TURN. . The articio then goes on to say: "Wo havo _ prettv w&iL reac.nudi tho limit of this production, aud-through-out the world now ftuy further increase will bo comparatively s'ow and small, but meanwhile tho population has been increasing, and ,-iow- there aro mouths for all the food, and the future outlook is that tho months will increase faster than the food, with a return to the conditions of old times. A' generation has grown up that has been revelling in plenty, and a«,; to taking no thought for the morrow: it was not worth whilo to g'.eun in the harvest fields or to use tho wild fruits of the hedges, when -.he b;ea<3 and jam were dirt cheap; porridge and and milk were low class foods 'where white bread and tea were almost g-.ven away. The end of this prodigal" ;,nd wasteful style of living is within sight and there will be a compulsory return to tho simpler and cheaper style of living of the older times. Neither strikes nor Acts of Parliament can prevent tho progress of economio

forces, and any su'ch attempts nill only have tiro effect of making food dearer still. The husbandmin is to have a chance of entering into h : s heritage at last :-nd the town will have to give place to the country. ' JOTTINGS. Although the weather has been somewhat threatening at t-nus during tho week, it has, up to the tinio ot writing, been very lavourabto u»r t!u> finis-lung up of the hay-making ai.d turnip sowuig, and for tiie xrui.-aon-. ement of harvest Sonic grais-tc-t d threshing has been done during the week. Shearers are having a trying time, aud it is with dinfculty that some of the up-country sheds ;.ro pioceeding with their shearing. id is st.itcd thai on the Toieri farmers are experiencing severe difficulty in getting their sheep shcru, a;j the .-hearers have left it for tho bigger sheds up country. At the recent Dairy Confereuco lit Id at Lyttelton, Mr Cuddie stated that 'last year over 6000 cows were t<>sud iu the Dominion, and it was expected that this year the number would bo increased- to 10,000. One of the delegates stated that ho did not think that fanners paid enough attention to the breed of tho cows, and this was ono of the reasons why many cf their cows failed to pass the required test. He had been v.i the business for about 25 years, and his cows held the highest honours in the Tecont tests. He attributed this to an experiment of finding out for himself the best breeds to cross herds with. Ho had started v.ith the Shorthorn, gone on to the Jersey, and finally the Ayrshire, and he had obtained a fine standard of animals. It may not generally be known among the new generation of woolbuyers that beforo ISSI all wool bids were silent, either a wave of a pencil, a nod, or even a wink intimated a bid to the auctioneer. So much i.'ssatisfaction. however, occurred that Mr Fred Betz. of Sydney, took the bull by the horns >md persuaded a proportion of the buyers to cdl cut their bids, and although thero was a good deal of opposition on the part of selling agents and proportion of tho buyers, yet in a very short time evciy one came over to the improved conditions. The vitality and enterprise '.;f tho Canadian thistle are well i:nown to farmers, especially to those r.i the bush country. These charaetor'stics of the pest may be realised oven by tho townspeople, (says the local paper), it I may be seen fiouri.-hing in the gutter, while through the tiny era-ks in the asphalt prickly leaves are peeping with luxuriant audacitv. Although hundreds of feet daily trample noon the übiquitous weed it continues to Lbrivc. although it is kept below tho level of the footpath. Something of a record was established on a Porangahau station runtly. when three men., Messrs Drn-cll, S'ol.t, and Greensido, pressed &>. 00. and 90 bales of wool per day on three consecutive days. A Southland farmer stated recently that the best remedy he knew for the potato grub was to sprinkle the tubers with sulphur, which, lie says, dealt death to the grubs.