THE WAIKATO FARMER

Waikato Times, Volume 114, Issue 19052, 16 September 1933, Page 19 (Supplement)

THE WAIKATO FARMER

EDITED BY O. E. OUMIi

Winter Dairying. Professor Rlddet, of Massey College, is the latest convert to the desirability of winter dairying. He takes the 'commonly accepted view that roots or other fodder crops would have to be grown, and some shelter for feeding the cows provided. He does not forsee apparently for Taranaki and the Auckland Province in particular, the value of well-made silage from grass in the leaf stage for winter feed, but fed in conjunction with a little hay.

alternate use of 'cattle and sheep for

the building up of pastures. Intelligently used sheep can be a great asset in the developing of high-grade pastures, and if for no other reason sheep would prove a highly profitable /investment. Many dairy farmers are deterred from the keeping of sheep because of having had no experience with sheep, but, after all, there Is only the dooking and castrating to attend to. Thers is generally a shed they can be sent to for shearing and dipping. And seeing the great development taking plaoe in the number of small flocks In the North Island the matter of co-operation in shearing, dipping, and wool classification Is only a matter of time. It has been claimed by sheepmen that the ewe with lamb cannot be used as a scavenger—as a follower-on —as she wants as good grass as a milking cow; but these men forget that the grass left by the cow is invariably a much higher fertilised grass than the ewe of the sheep farm ever gets. At any rate, fat lambs have been turned off dairy farms, with the ewes j following the cows, that would oom- | pare well with any lambs ever turned off by specialising sheep farmers.

If Finland can get most satisfactory production during a very long and sunless winter with ensilage and hay (751 b of the former to 761 b of the latter) surely New Zealand, with its much more favourable climate, can do equally well. Certainly we have not as yet the advantage of the patent Finnish system of making silage, but wo do know that If silage be made from grass before the seed heads have formed and if It be carefully made (the trench being much preferable to the stack), consolidated thoroughly, so that as much air as possible be excluded, a satisfactory type of ensilage will be obtained. In many districts in the North dairying is started in the winter months at the present time, and generally speaking the season Is commen'ced over the greater part of the North Island in some of the wettest months of the year. There is no. denying the fact that milking right through the months of heavier rainfall leads to serious purging of the land and consequently insanitary conditions around the shed. But this can be largely obviated by the use of fenced-in concrete paths leading from the shed well into surrounding fields. These concrete walks need only be a few feet wide.

There is a decided advantage in bringing the herd in in the autumn, in that ‘cows calving then will be less affected by breeding and calving troubles. They‘will be more fit and consequently will be able to stand the great strajn put upon them of breeding and'giving their unnatural supply of milk. And 90 per cent, of dairy cattle disease Is due to the cows not being absolutely fit when the season commences.. Investigations conducted in England go to show there is mu'ch less trouble from sterility with autumn calvers than with spring calvers. Further than this, evidence goes to show that white scour and navel-ill In calves are due to a lack of vitamin A in the maternal diet during pregnancy. In England the diseases occur with the spring calvers and almost entirely disappear when the cows are on pasture. This fact is said to be so strilcnig that, according to Jordan, of the Hannah Research Institute, some farmers in his district arrange that their 'cows shall calve later in the year in order to avoid loss of calves. There is thus much to be said for autumn calving apart altogether from the fact that a cow can reasonably be expectedto be much more fit for 'calving and for heavy production from the outset when she is bred to calve In the autumn and consequently is in a vigorous condition. »

But there is the broader principle of capturing the great world markets of Britain by supplying them with the highest class produce all the year through. This winter dairying in the Auckland provide or Lh Auckland In particular—and even Taranaki, Poverty Bay and Hawke’s Bay, with colder districts concentrating on summer production, would give the continuous supply that Is so much to be desired.

* * * * Rubber Wheels for the Farm.

The much lower value of rubber has induced the Dunlop Rubber Company of England to make pnuematic rubber tires for farm carts and tractors. And these are declared to be a groat success and a definite means of economy. One farmer, who lives near the Dunlop works and has had longer experience of running ills farm carts “on air ” than any other farmer in England—testing out the first ones made —says that 'the difference between running on rubber wheels and the oldfashioned cart is almost unbelievable. He found that a horse which could r.ot move 15 cwt of potatoes in an ordinary cart upon an Incline sodden with rain could take 25 cwt of potatoes up the same incline (gradient 1 in 15, finishing 1 in 10). with ease on “land tyres.” Along the furrows at sowing time, when the field was fairly dry, the horse pulled a total weight, Including seed potatoes, of 31 cwt on land tyres against 20 ‘cwt on ordinary wheels. This farmer declares that a pair of land tyres does the work of one horse. Of course there fs not the jolting with rubber tyres there is with ordinary wheels. In the small moveable poultry houses for farm poultry being extensively adopted in England, a rubber wheel is being used with one type or house for moving from day to day. These rubber tyres for farm traction are being rapidly taken up by Homo farmers, so that they apparently have the advantages and economy claimed for them. »}€>>*>*!« Fat Lamb Production. There is good reason why practically every dairy farmer should have a small flock of sheep for fat lamb production. Even if the profits' from this good side line were not high there would lie (lie enormous advantage of having the sheep to use as followerson, and there Is nothing to equal the

A page devoted to assisting the Waikato farmer to make the fullest possible use of the great natural advantages of the Waikato and to thereby develop the most prosperous farming community in the world.

producing and breeding power, and ability to resist disease. * * & • Marked Calves. The demand for marked calves is greater than the supply. Yet there are hundreds of eligible calves being sold as bobby calves. Obviously there is a weak link in the chain. Perhaps herd-testing officers in general are not taking the interest in this important business they should. Much could be done by systematising the business. The prfee of a calf from a 3001 b to 3501 b cow could be fixed at 15s, the calf from a 3501 b to 4001 b •cow at 21, and the calf from a cow with a record of over 4001 b at £1 10s. And a register of all available calves could be kept by each asso'oiation who oould furnish kindred associations with a copy. Perhaps an appeal by the Federation would have the desired effect. • * 9 • FIJI Awake. The Herd-Testing Federation has just received an order for two dozen copies of its very complete Herd Registers from Fiji, a sure indication that progressive methods are being adopted ■ in that' Island in the development of dairy herds.