RUAKURA FARM

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19840, 14 May 1927, Page 21 (Supplement)

RUAKURA FARM

A VISIT OF INSPECTION STOCK AND CROPS Interesting information was gleaned by a party of farmers who visited the Ruakura State Farm recently. The visitors were first shown the dairy herd, consisting of Shorthorn, Jerseys, Ayrshires and Guernseys. A healthier, better conditioned, and a better-bred lot could probably not be found in the Dominion. The Ruakura Shorthorns, Jerseys, and Ayrshires are well-known, but the Guernseys are not so well-known, but Mr Munro speaks \ ery favourably of the breed. He, says that he has found these cow’s give a good butter fat return. They are good doers and of good strong frame and constitution, capable of standing a more severe climate than the Jersey. Mr Monro Replies to Questions. In reply to questions, Mr Monro said 'that he had had no trouble with the cows aborting, not one single case having occurred amongst the whole herd this season. He had found it a groat advantage to have his cows dehorned. At first he had only dehorned the Shorthorns, but found that the horned cattle caused a lot of trouble in the yards. Since be had all the cows dehorned they had been much more peaceable and contented, and he had found no ill-effects from the operation. He did not think that the larger framed Shorthorn cows took more feed than the Jerseys. To get the best results cows must get an abundance of feed, and the small cows wanted as much i food as the big ones to produce the same amount of butter-fat. In the next paddock the visitors were shown the two-year-old heifers, a really nice lot, well-grown, in splendid condition, and all in calf. Any one wanting purebred heifers will have an opportunity of getting them at the Ruakura sale in August. It will no doubt bo a great advantage to farmers to have this annual sale in the spring instead of the autumn, as has been the case in the past, as the heifers will all be well wintered. ✓ Some Fine Stock. A very fine mob of Romney cross breeding ewes was then inspected, all in prime condition, their lambs by Southdown rams having been got away fat early in the season. The young bulls were next seen, and were a credit to any farm, being remarkably wellgrown used in hte best of condition. Of all colours and breeds, dairy farmers should find amongst them the very sires that they require, of undoubted breeding. A stud flock of Southdown owes was much admired by the visitors. They were all perfect models of what a prime mutton sheep should be, and their coniditian was perfect. In a paddock adjoining was the yearling Jersey bull lately purchased in Taranaki for 100 guineas, being by Golden Peer out of Heather Beauty. His breeding is as good as his looks, and he should make a valuable addition to the Ruakura stud. The poultry, the students’ rooms, the stables and implement sheds were most interesting, being thoroughly up-to-date and convenient. The Ruakura Crops. On the visitors’ way to the station the root crops wore inspected, and proved most interesting. A great variety of different sorts of mangolds, swedes, turnips and carrots, grown with different manures, was a most interesting object lesson. It is intended to carefully weigh the different crops when quite mature, so as to gain reliable information; meantime Mr Monro was not prepared to say which was the best sort to grow or the best manure to use. To look at the crops superphosphate and bonedusf, seemed to be giving the best results.

The yield from a small paddock of pumpkins was simply astonishing. They had yielded over 50 tons to the acre, and one of the heaviest weighed 1821 b. Only farmyard manure had been used.

The pigs were the last to bo inspected. The accommodation for pigs is being greatly extended. A fair-sized paddock is being sub-divided into about quarter-acre runs, with a comfortable moving stye in each. A tram line runs down the whole length of these small enclosures, so that the w’ork of feeding is reduced to a minimum. Only two breeds of pigs are being kept on the farm, the Berkshire and the Large White. So great was the demand for the Large White last season that not more than one in fifty of the orders received for them could be filled. In this breed the Ruakura Farm have no doubt the best specimens in New Zealand, and their boar was champion at the Royal Show, and another won a prize of £3O for most points. The farm is carrying 350 cattle, 1700 sheep, some 200 pigs, besides the necessary working horses. Fifty students are in residence, the full number for which there is accommodation.