FARMING INTERESTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18651, 21 August 1930, Page 11

FARMING INTERESTS.

FARM DAIRY INSTRUCTION. .DOMINION SCHEME ADVOCATED. “My personal opinion is that a scheme of National Farm Dairy Instruction be established as soon as it can be brought into existence,” said Mr W. M. Singleton when touching upon this subject during the N.D.A. Conference the other day. “The quality of our butter has withstood the acid test of low prices. It is all made from graded cream at factories mostly served by farm dairy instructors. Doubtless a similar set of conditions in cheese districts would be in the interests of cheese quality. “At the meeting of the South Island Dairy Association on the sth instant the meeting favoured Dominion Farm Dairy Instruction, and a resolution dealing with the appointment of Farm Dairy Instructors was carried unanimously. “The South Auckland Association and the East Coast Associations have each quite recently passed resolutions of much the same tenor, while North Auckland has for years been in favour of Dominion Farm Dairy Instruction. When we recognise that there are in New Zealand nearly 20,000 milking machines milking over two-thirds of our dairy cows, and that we have about 46,000 separators, the necessity for the Government and the industry to do something to ensure that these machines are being kept in a sanitary condition is manifest. “It is estimated that some 60 farm dairy instructors would be required, of which some 38 are already employed. On the new proposed basis some 22 more would be required, and the additional cost to the industry would be around £7OOO per annum. If the Dairy Board could advertise in the United Kingdom that all New Zealand dairy farms as well as factories, were under Government inspection, that money would be well spent. Add to this the value of an improved milk supply and the protection the services would give against malicious reports on insanitary farm conditions, the institution of Dominion Farm Dairy Instruction would make the general position much more satisfactory. “Were the costs divided on the proportion of the Government paying one-third and the industry paying twothirds the cost to the industry would be a little over 3/- per ton butter and 1/6 ton cheese, based on the pre sent season’s production. The industry’s portion would, however, be allotted on a butter-fat basis including all used for manufacture of dairy produce used locally as well as that exported.”

SWILL IN PIG RATION. MAY BE TOO RICH OR TOO POOR. The swill collected by pig-keepers from hotels and other places may be, and often is, a very valuable and economical feeding material. Yet, as it comes from the places where it is collected, it may vary to such an extent that sometimes it may be far too rich to give the pigs without careful preparation and dilution, and at other times it may contain so little nutriment that, given without the addition of anything else, it may be practically useless. More danger actually arises however, from swill that is too rich than from that which is too poor, for it may contain a large percentage of greasy matter, and if no attempt be made to break it down, the pigs will probably be receiving far more fat than they can comfortably deal wfth. Nothing is so certain to upset the pig’s digestive organs as an excess of fat. He can deal only with a limited quantity, and if given more than this, he will very soon go wrong. A moderate quantity is good for him, and will enable him to lay on fat, but an excess will have precisely the opposite effect. It is always safer to boil every kind of swill before feeding it to pigs, but it may be necessary before doing this to look it over, and remove useless and possibly harmful stuff. Boiling gets all the goodness out of bones, and at the same time impregnates vegetable matter and bread with part of that goodness. So far so good, but probably there is more fat in the stuff than the other matter can take up. One must dilute this by mixing with it bran, or pollard, and if the excess is very marked, some of the fat should be skimmed off when partly cool, and set aside for future use. The mixture should never have a markedly greasy appearance when ready for feeding. If it has, it is still too rich. On the opposite side of the picture we have swill that is of so poor a quality that it is hardly worth the expense of collecting. Another point is that the liquid of wash often consists of nothing much better than the water used for washing up, which may be actually dangerous if it contains a large percentage of soda or of some patent cleansing preparation such as is commonly used nowadays in large establishments to help with the work of washing-up. No pig-keeper who is wise will collect swill from any place without a guarantee that it is free from such injurious substances.