FARM AND GARDEN

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14776, 15 October 1921, Page 13 (Supplement)

FARM AND GARDEN

AGRJCULTURAL EVENTS FOR WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 22.

MONDAY. Ohaupo Stock Sale. Cambridge Stock Sale. Clearing Sale at Tc Kuiti. TUESDAY. Tirau Stock Sale. Clearing Sale at Gordonton. Clearing Sale at Komakorau. Ohaupo Horse Fair. WEDNESDAY. Matamata Stock Sale. Waingaro Stock Sale. Ohaupo Horse Fair. Hamilton Dairy Cow Sale. Clearing Sale at Morrinsville. THURSDAY. Hamilton Stock Sale. Waihi Stock Sale. Sale of Friesian Cattle, Kiwitahi. FHHJ.vrr Putaniru Stock Sale. Ngaruawahia Stock Sale. NOTICE TO FARMERS. • Recognising the importance of givins the farmer highly scientific advice, we have made arrangements for articles to appear weekly from the pen of a recognised authority on agricultural matters. Farmers are invited to address anv queries on farming matters to "Practical," care of Waikato Times, and they will be answered In the succeeding week's issue. SPECIAL FODDER CROPS. WHY THEY SHOULD BE GROWN. (By "Practical.") The New Zealand farmer is often called a "grass farmer." Generally speaking this is true, but it is more particularly true of the North Islander. He depends on good pasture as his sheet anchor. This reliance on grass alone or grass and an inadequate supply of roots, fails too often to place any reliance on the policy as a sound one. There are periods only too well known to the ordinary farmer, when production from the best pasture is insufficient. This fact is brought home to him so regularly that one is inclined to marvel why he so regularly fails to make provision for his stock during such periods. It is nevertheless a fact that probably the majority of dairy cattle come in after the winter quite unable, through lack of sufficient feed, to bear the strain of the milking season. If we accept the contention that to farm profitably we must produce ample at a minimum cost, and providing we get reasonable prices for the produce, all is well. Then the grass farmer fails in many directions. Firstly, grass alone will not produce the quantity of feed material that grass and special forages will taking the whole season round. Dairy cows that are high producers must have their food without much foraging for it. It must be easily obtained, and of a nature that is easily assimilated. You cannot get the cows lying down too 60on chewing their cud. How are we to get the highest production at the lowest cost? Grow special forages in addition to the grass pasture. Grow them, moreover, not haphazardly, but according lo a well-thought-out plan of rotation, giving due regard to the soil, climate and situation of the farm. Each farmer would do well to plan a rotation after seeking the best advice, and follow it out as far as possible. Modifications have to be made sometimes to suit unforseen or imperfect conditions, such as a dry season and such like. With special forages he would do well to thoroughly prepare the soil. Witli up-to-date farm implements this can be done without undue loss of time and with ease. In regard to seed, he should use varieties suitable to his soil and climatic conditions. In this connection previous field results and local experience is the best guide.

Concerning fertilisers, he would be well advised to be guided by expert knowledge, as the intelligent use of artificials will not only save money, but will help to produce better results. A good method is to get a prescription based on crop and soil requirements. The ingredients can be secured, and the mixing is simple enougti as well as educational to the one who mixes.

Many farmers produce good crops, but fail to utilise them to the greatest advantage. How often do we see cows turned in on maize wasting much that would otherwise be saved if the stuff was cut and fed out. I have seen cows in wet weather on root crops growing 'in soil that was stiflish in nature, poaching the ground, and at the same time rendering unpalatable much of the crop. One could multiply instances of poor utilisation of food produced on the farm. With the good rains that have fallen, farmers who have ground ready will be sowing down mangolds, maize (where danger from frost is over), millet and soft turnips. The mangold is a crop that is sure lo grow in favour. If the cleanest land on the farm was selected and prepared, it should be ready to sow down towards the end of the month with this valuable crop, if the land was not prepared early, do not sow mangolds. They are drought resistors, and will not taint milk. I have fed them lo pigs with good results. They conlain a good deal of sugar, which is easilydigested. Moreover, in these days of so many pests, the turnips and swedes are ofter looked on with disfavour. The mangold, which is particularly free, is receiving more attention About one acre will do twenty cows. Six pound of seed will sow an acre if drilled about twenty-eight inches apart. "Jersey Queen" is a popular variety with Waikato farmers, and elsewhere. "Long lied" is another good cropper. Golden ;<nd Yellow Globe do well in the lighter soils. In regard to manuring dung from the cowshed or stables, if well rotted, is good, with artificials. , The 'following mixture should prove satisfactory. Mix together on a clean concrete or boarded floor 12 cwt. of superphosphate, Gcwt. of blooct and bone, and 2cwt. of kainit. Apply <i to Gcwt. of the mixture per acre. Salt is often applied as a top-dressing before sowing, but in the above-mentioned mixture there is salt in the kainit. There is no conclusive field evidence to show that salt is necessary. The practice of applying it is probably based on the fact that the original national home of the mangold was near the sea. f

have had good crops without, any adder) salt. The crop is harvested by cutting the tops with a sharp hoe or a reaping hook is quite useful, The rools are then dragged out with the chain harrows. They should be clamped for at least, six weeks before feeding to cows, and 8 weeks for pigs. As to soft, turnips, the farmer considers whether he is going to lose grade with his cream on account, of taint, he sows them. No one will deny that, given fur treatment anil regular showers, the soft turnip produces a feed that, when fed. say to dairy cows in milk, helps to maintain

the flow, but the tainted milk and cream results. Labour Is dear and scarce, and pulling and feeding out is considered unprofitable, but it certainly reduces the strong flavour. If the "cows are fed immediately after milking, with wilted roots, and given about as much as they can clean up in an hour, the taint is further reduced. Grass or lucerne hay fed in conjunction with turnips is good. About I'iox of Purple Top Mammoth, Devonshire Greystone or Imperial Green Globe put through every second coulter of the drill with a mixture of equal parts of basic superphosphate and bonedust, should give satisfaction. They can be fed off in the order mentioned if all are sown about the same time. Maize and millet will be dealt with in a subsequent article. A VISIT ABROAD. In the course of an interview this week, .Mr D. Buchanan, of Tiakitahunu, who recently returned from a visit lo England and Scotland, gave an interesting account of his observations while abroad. He was pleased to find, he said, that the majority of the people at Home, considered New Zealand butter quite as good as Danish. New Zealand cheese, however, was not in the same favour. Complaints were made of bad methods of manufacture and packing. Many consignments, according to Mr Buchanan's information, were packed before they were sufficiently ripe, with the result that owing to bad pressing leaving a ridge round the top, portions of the cheese moulded and dropped off. Very often as much as 101 b per cheese was lost, and the ribs of the crates left such (impressions as to cause a good deal of mould and waste. There was no coubt, Mr Buchanan thought, that this could be remedied by a little more care being taken at this end in the preparation of "the cheese for market. When he was at Home, New Zealand cheese was selling at Is Sd per lb retail, while Stiltons were fetching up to 3s Cd per lb. Mr Buchanan saw no reason why New Zealand should not enter the market for fancy cheese, which was commanding such high prices. The fall on the price of meat was causing less cheese to be eaten, and from what he could gather the prospects for butter were better than for cheese. It was only in the hotels anl restaurants that he saw margarine, which could be purchased for 8d lb. Mr Buchanan visited many shows both in England and Scotland, most of them being small country gatherings carried out, in a primitive style. The Royal Show at Derby was quite a different affair. There he found the finest collection of cattle he ever had seen, including several breeds scarcely known in the Dominion. He considered that so far as Shorthorns, Herefords, Friesians, Jerseys, and Polled Angus were concerned, New Zealand could hold its own in the matter of quality. The pigs were a wonderful exhib'it, both at Derb'v and at the Highland Society'3 Show at Sterling. At Sterling the Clydesdale horses were a great feature of the show, and the specimens of this breed seen about the streets of Glasgow were undoubtedly the finest in the world. At the Royal Show Mr Buchanan was much struck by the enterprise of South Africa, which had a huge pavilion where specimens of all the products of that country were displayed. Outside were a couple of men who looked like prosperous farmers, and who were touting for emigrants. ThO pavilion was crowded during the whole of the show, and quite a large number of young men with money were tempted to try their fortune in the newest of the Dominions. MiBuchanan believes South Africa is the only country that advertises in this fashion, and he thinks New Zealand might do worse than follow its example. The visitor was much 'interested by the method in which cow testing is carried out in Scotland. There instead of testing- an odd cow in a herd for 365 days, the whole herd is tested for 2"3 days. The work lis carried out by county testing associations, which employ women under the supervision of an official check tester. The result has been a great improvement in milking herds, and Mr Buchanan considers the system much better than the one - employed in New Zealand. RECORD-KEEPING SYSTEM. Amongst the countries which have followed the Danish example are the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Germany, England, and Ireland (says the Farmers' Gazette). Each of them has varied the procedure of testing to suit its own peculiar conditions, and in a few the methods adopted are not capable of ascertaining the exact value of cows as wealth - producers, athougli an accurate estimate of the milk yield is one thing and butter production is another, and it must, be the farmer's aim to increase not only the milk yield of his herd. but also the butler yield. It, is specially important that careful records should be kept of the butter-fat content of the milk, as well as of the actual quantity or weight, of mill;. This is done by following the procedure recommended by ttic Department of Agriculture, and, undoubtedly, our system of' milking can give points to the system followed in other countries. The following description of the system is given in "Mixed Farm-ing":—-"The standard adopted is based on the actual weight of butterfat which the cow yielded, and, moreover, this is not calculated by multiplying the total yield by the average percentage of butter-fat. Each weighing is multiplied by the actual percentage of fat obtained from a sample of that particular milk. In this way I he total weight of butter produced by each cow during the lactation period, as well as the total yield of milk, is obtained very accurately." Much has been done by both individuals and cow-testing associations in Ireland to improve the standards of milk and butter production, and in a period of Pi years' record-keeping the writer adopted the simple method of weighing the milk of each cow with ; ( spring balance hung in the byre, morning and evening every Tuesday. The cows were known by numbers, and in a small book I ho cowman entered ihe weight of each cow's milk, including the bucket, against her number. The nett weight of the milk was transfcrred lo a ledger, where each cow hail a page to herself, showing not only her milking record, but also'all other particulars, such as her age, dales of calving, exact period of pregnancy, and any peculiarities worth recording. Samples of the milk were tested to ascertain Ihe content of butter-fat once a month, and for all practical purposes this was found sufficient. There is nothing to prevent any farmer from following this simple plan of record-keeping, as any fairly intelligent milker ran hang a bucket on a spring balance and record the weiehl opposite n number in a book. The advantage gained is not only that of Uncling out which cows are paying and

which arc losing money, nut also the weighing of milk helps one to gauge the health of the cows, their capacity for turning concentrated foods to protil, ami the need for altering rations, changing pastures, etc. BIG BULLOCKS. In the matter of big bullocks New Zealand apparently can hold its own. Several bullocks have gone from the Dominion to Australia for "sideshow" purposes, but the biggest we have yet apparently produced is still in this country. Mr G. F. Moore, of Bushy Park, Wanganui, is the owner. Last November the animal weighed i 3G401b, and, as .Mr Moore mentions, ("lie has been kept going ever nice I and has improved greatly." "We hope , by next November," Mr Moore continues, "that he will weigh about •IOOOIb. He has such a tremendous frame that I think he will make about that mark when finished." The North Island bullock's recent weight slightly exceeds, and his prospective weight very much so, the figures of the Canadian champion, whose progress the papers mention from time to time. This animal, "Sir Douglas Haig" as he has been named, weighs 35701 b, and 'it is announced that he has "gone on the stage." The price paid for him for this purpose was 5000 dollars. He is to show at the Ontario Fairs, including the National Exhibition at Toronto, and, if he proves a success, later to Chicago, and eventually will "go abroad" to Europe. There is something irresistibly attractive to stockmen in these bigbovmes, and it has been stated that at the 1920 Royal Show in Sydney £I7OO was taken in sixpences for a sight of the massive bullock showing there on that occasion. JOTTINGS. Why does frozen meat deteriorate? Scientists are not yet able to give a definite answer to the question, and the National Research Council ,at its sitting at the Melbourne University, therefore agreed to a motion moved by Dr. Gilruth, to the effect that a committee should be appointed to investigate the effect upon meat of freezing, and to determine what improvement is possible in present, methods. Dr. Gilruth pointed out that the export trade in frozen meat was of great importance to Australia. It, might, be taken as a fact that frozen lamb suffered little by freezing; mutton suffered a good deal, and beef definitely deteriorated. There seemed to be as yet no definite scientific knowledge as to the reasons of this deterioration. The practical effect was that Australian meat did not get one-third of the price of fresh English meat on the British market; it was stated that Argentine meat was selbng at a greater price than Australian meat. There should be some scientific investigation into the processes which occurred during the freezing of the meat and the time when it was being held in a frozen condition. The investigation would not cost much, but the result might be of great importance. Contagious inflammation of the eye, a common trouble amongst sheep, was recently brought under notice by a correspondent in the South African Journal of Agriculture, who reports that the eyes of his sheep gradually became covered with a pink film, which changes to a white colour as the disease intensifies, and finally results in the animal becoming totally blind. The Government Veterinary Surgeon (Mr C. A. Loxton, B.V.Sc), to whom the letter was submitted, intimates that it would be advisable to separate the affected animals, so that suitable arrangements for feeding, watering and dressing can be made. The disease usually runs a benign course, though in a small percentage of cases permanent blindness results from structural changes in the eye following an acute inllammation. Boracic acid in the powder form should not be used. It can be used as a lotion by dissolving one tablespoonful in a quart of water. Use this to bathe llm eyes if there is much discharge. Apply' a few drops of Ihe following lotion willi an eye-dropper:—Sulphate of zinc, Bgr; tincture of opium, 1-idr; wa'.c, 'ioz (mix). Another useful preparation is yellow oxide of mercury ointment, half strength. Place a small piece of this oir.tment within the lower lid, hold the lids together for a moment, so that the ointment is distributed over the ey-2. This can be used daily, and is probably easier of application than the lotion.

More than 25.000 guinea-pigs were reared by Ihe United States Bureau of Animal Industry on one of its experimental farms lo test the effects of inbreeding. Brother and sister were mated in each generation, and. some of the families have reached the 17th generation. While a few strains have run out, others are nearly as vigorous as are the control families. But the important fact is tint there is no general deterioration; the various defects that have appeared are not corelated. One family becomes strong in one'respect and weak in another; in a second family conditions are exactly the reverse. Such a stale of affairs does not lend any support to the popular idea that inbreeding necessarily produces degeneracy. The various 'kinds of deterioration are to he accounted for in different ways. In genera], the belief of scientists is apparently confirmed, that even longcontinued inbreeding does not necessarily mean deterioration. It tends to make the members of a family more alike, and to perpetuate all variations that occur. If the strain is a good one, inbreeding will improve it; if it is a weak or defective one. inbreeding will bring the defects into prominence, and probably lead to the elimination ot the strain.