THE WAIKATO FARMER

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19462, 29 December 1934, Page 18 (Supplement)

THE WAIKATO FARMER

EDITED BY O. E. CUMING

'A- page devoted to ass use of the great natural most prosperous farmi

Pork: English, is 4d to Is 2d; imported, Is to 10d.. Bacion: English, is iOd to Is 2d; Danish, is 9d to Is id; imported, Is 7d lo i-i'd.

Eggs: English, 2s to 2s Gd a dozen; Danish, is 3d; Australian, South African and Argentine, is 3d; Dutch, Is 6d. ■Cheese: English cheddar (finest fanners), Is 4'd; (matured- factory), is; matured Canadian, lid; New Zealand, Bd. Butter: English dairy, is 4d; New Zealand, is; Danish, Is 2d; Australian, iOd. It will toe noted -the retail prices of Danish, New Zealand and Australian bear no relation to the wholesale prices. * * * • Seed Vitality. In view of the recent statement that mummified wheat has been gijown in Dunedin it is interesting to recall the results of certain experiments that were undertaken some 36 years ago by the late William Carruthers, F.R.S., as consulting botanist of the Royal Agricultural Society, 'England. 'Carruthers. never accepted the statements made from time to time as to the vitality of mummy wheat or /of wheat found in Romano-British granaries, always maintaining that it was impossible for seeds buried ages ago to germinate. His experiments were undertaken with the object of testing how long, under ordinary donditions, 'the vitality of certain seeds was maintained, and so help farmers and seed merchants to ascertain the real value of seeds carried over from year to year. The sedds experimented with included cereals, pasture grasses, clovers, and root crops, and the trials of them -ciovered a period of 16 years, from 1896 to 1911. 'Of wheat and barley all the seeds were dead after nine years- Oats showed a greater longevity, white oats surviving until 1908 and black oats until 1910, when, however, the percentage of germination was only 2. Of the grasses, all had failed by 1908, and of the clovers only lucerne lived to 1908, but with a germination then of hut 1 per cent. The root crops had all failed toy 1908. The report on the experiments, which appeared In 'the society’s journal flor 1911, stated that while no seed could possibly survive under the conditions in which mummy wheat and the .Roman granary wheat were placed, it was possible for a thick-coated seed under favourable conditions Ho live a very long time. Seeds of the sacred Lotus of Egypt (Nelumbo) germinated after (having been for 100 years in a cabinet in the British Museum and for many years before that in Sir Hans Sloanc’s keeping. * * * • Grain Harvesting. New Zealand visitors to Britain were wont at one time bo tell on their return how very out-of-date was the British farmer. A particular joke was the Home farmers adherence to the single-farrow plough, and- of -course his methods of harvesting were'crude. Then sheep-shearing in 'Britain was reminiscent iof -the stone age. With the remarkable extension of power farming in Britain and the application of business -principles to many farm ■operations the Home farmer -is teaching the Now Zealand farmer quite a few lessons. In the harvesting of grain the English farmer is making the New Zealand grower of grain very much out of date. The combined harvester and thresher is toeing freely used in England, while drying plants for rapidly making the grain ready for market arc quilc -common. IQn a Fifeslilro farm barley is cut toy a mower driven toy a tractor, lifted- automatically by a ■grass elevator into pneumatic-tyred carts, conveyed to a mill on .the field and threshed. The straw is bunched and tli o grain taken to an artificial drier from which it emerges ready for milling. Less than 24 'hours elapses from the time ’the grain is cut .till it is ready for market! * * * • Feeding of Cows. A very important point emphasised by a speaker at New Plymouth recently was the great need of adequately feeding flic dairy cow during Hie nonproducing season -of the year. Too many farmers neglect this important aspect of their dairying operations. Any kind of food is thought to be good enough' for the dry cow—she is not producing anything so why go lo the trouble of feeding her well? But farmers who err in this matter are surely forgetful of how constitution can Le weakened toy poor feeding with Ihe

subsequent detrimental affect on the

isting the Waikato farmer to make the fullest possible l advantages of the Waikato and to thereby develop the ing community in the ivorld.

productive powers of the cow during the milking season. Cows that are 'brought in vigorous and healthy, strengthened to resist disease by good balanced feed during the winter -are in a better position to give a high and persistent yield throughout the season than tile cjow that has not been well done. A setback in health as often occurs toy reason of poor winter feeding will make itself apparent in the next season’s production and might possibly mean the -ruination of the animal as a profitable producer. It pays to look after an animal in and .out of season and good food and attention during Hie offseason is well rewarded toy a healthier and better producing cow. Silage has proved especially useful ifor the winter feeding of stock and has largely displaced roots. However, good ensilage must be fed, not the innulritious material which has been -cut from unpalatable grass Which has been allowed flo go to seed before toeing cut. It is good policy to feed a little good bay with the silage as this will make for a .better balanced ration with the consequent lessening of danger from digestive troubles.

A Great Idea. There is a breeder of Friesian? in South Australia, Walter Hawker, who is the sort of breeder olf pedigree stock who has very sound ideas on the needs of the industry. Writing recently of the evils of the show-ring he said: “Too much stress is put on show points to the detriment of qualities which are essential to production. I should like to see all dairy cows, when they enter the show-ring, wear a rosette denoting their 'Official production; i.e,, say, for 400 lb. butterfat, yellow; 500 lb., red; 600 lb., blue; 700 lb. andhover, -red, white, -and blue, and the judge toe instructed to give some •points according to the cow’s production.”

We thoroughly agree wt-lh Mr Hawker that cows in a show-ring should have provided dome evidence of productive capacity, but we would be'quite content to see a rule instituted which made it compulsory for every animal -competing in a show to possess evidence of productive capacity. That is, that females should have yielded over a -certain -mini-mum -standard and that the males -should be from dams that have given up to the required standard -of butterfat. In other words, it should be sufficient that productive capacity has been -proved. Then the judge should deal -solely with type and evidences cf constitutilonal vigour.

And Mr. Hawker is very wise when he comes to write of the management -of the ordinary dairy herd. What he writes applies to -the New Zealand herd as much as it -does 'to the Australian herd. He writes: “It costs no more to breed and kee-p a good cow than an indifferent one, and the good -cow will pay her way where 'the poor producer is a loss. When the Scotch Commission was in Australia the members stated 'that we were losing on an average £4 a head ion our dairy cattle. This loss is simply due to keeping cattle -which will not pay for proper feeding. There is always a certain number of dairy cows which will never -pay, no matter how you feed them. Cull these -and 'feed a balanced ration to the rest. Where you can grow perennial rye grass and clover, you will find the cows will balance their own ration, and don’t forget your cattle must have a suitable lick; dicalcic phosphate, G parts to 4- parts -of coarse salt is what I use. The amount of -calcium (lime) used- by -a big producer is enormous. In breeding, use a proved bull, although getting on in 'years, in preference -to a young untried one. In any breed the ouislanding -sire is hard to get. When you arc lucky enough to town one stick lo him -as long as he will breed. Pedigree is useful if it contains good hacking as well, tout without good backing it is useless.” * * * «

Boe-Keoplng. A side-line in which many farmers have interested themselves is that of bee-beeping. To any one who has an elementary knowledge of the subject, bee-keeping may be a pleasurable and profitable farm activity. There are approximately 113,000 registered hives in New Zealand, and their annual production is 3500 tons of honey. Between 1027 and 1931 the average export was SGO tons, approximately one- , sixth of the total production. Beekeeping has been found especially pleasant and interesting for the girl or hoy on the farm for whom oilier farm work might he 100 arduous and disagreeable. An attractive fact about bee-keeping is that it is not a lie, for ilie hives need not he touched for four ■months oil' the year, from the end of March, when the yield is harvested, till the beginning iof August. Of course the intervening time can bo profitably spent bv the overhauling of llie plant. In directing the attention of farm girls to this profitable occupation we would advise them to learn as much about bees as possible before attempting ho keep them. Then when this knowledge has been gained we would advise only a small beginning, possibly one or two hives. In this way further knowledge can be gained by experience, and tills is the most valuable knowledge; and if mistakes are made (lie smallness -of the initial plant will prevent them being costly 'ones. .(Continued in next

Export Sheep Trade. The valuable shipments of New Zealand pedigree sheep recently made to South America -emphasises 'the fact recognised for many years that the Dominion has an undeniable future as a stud farm for pedigree stock rivalling even (Britain itself in some types of sheep. In Britain the- carcase receives more attention than the fleece, but in New Zealand the fleece is, or was, and certainly should be, the paramount consideration. And the world’s Lest buyers of stud sheep at the present -time want sheep -carrying fleece of good quality. New Zealand will neve-r rival Australia in (the breeding of Merinos tout in its own breed, the Corriedale, -ranking next to the -Merino as -a producer of fine wool, New Zealand has a dominant lead. In long wools New Zealand'is undoubtedly able to’suppy the 'type of sheep South American sheep breeders want. New Zealand long-wool flocks were Well founded. The best blood of Britain was imported -and this has been developed to a -high standard toy Scottish and English shepherds who knew ■their work thoroughly well. There we-re no finer breeders 'of sheep than some of the old Scottish shepherds who developed- the best of the South Island flocks, and -some of the best North Island flocks tloo. Unfortunately the standard of their work has not been maintained. The natural aptitude cf these enthusiasts of a past generation must toe qiade good toy scientifically directed work. Certainly a much higher standard off work must toe aimed at, and more drastic culling /of stud animals bo adopted if New Zealand’s reputation for stud animals -is to be maintained. * * • • Goats v. Cows. If it were possible to get goats in New Zealand -equal to the standard of the best individual goats of England it would, -pay many a New Zealand farmer, especially on weed infested country, to replace his cows wilh goats. One English goat has an official record of 5306 -lb- of milk, averaging -over 144 1-b. a day. Iler largest day’s yield was 19 1-b. 90z., or just cn twfo gallons.

There arc farmers, fortunately only a few, who would, be .better qualified to keep goats than cows. Their neglected grazing land which they apparently expect to throw feed good enough for dairy nows would be eminently suited lo the grazing of goats which would not object lo the growth •of blackberry and coarse weeds. * * • • The Head. There is still no better index to the value iof an animal than its head. The good judge, especially of a sire, will always attach first importance to the head, which above all must bo ■raas■culinc. Nostril, mouth and eye are all indexes of the greatest value. And this applies to every breed. Sheep breeders should attach more importance to the head than they do. The late Mr Ernest Short, than whom no better breeder of sheep ever lived in this country, attached very great importance to the head. It was the usual thing for the boys taking agriculture at the Feilding High School to spend a week or two in camp on Mr Short’s 'farm. 'On the last occasion Mr Short was able to take interest in their work he had a board fence erected about twenty feet long and holes made in it. He had men to hold the sheep behind j Die fence with their heads through the openings. Ijor half an hour Mr Short talked to the boys on Die heads of the sheep they could not .sec and then had 1 lie sheep brought around and showed how the good qualities indicated by the heads were present In the sheep. And the late “Wattic” Archibald, the chi manager (of tCaramu, was another great sheep breeder to whom the, good-headed sheep always had a'strong appeal. Tile “gay” eye of a sheep always attracted him. The best judge of a dairy cow the -writer ever knew, and real Judges of a cow arc few and far between, dclermincd the value of a row on head al(onc.

Value of Hard Grazing.

The fine work done by Mr Martin G. Jones at Jealott’s Hill and referred tc at length toy qord Bledisloe at the Grassland Conference emphasises the fact that hard grazing at the right time is generally a more economical way to improve poor pasture than ploughing, ancl reseeding. The pasture referred to chiefly consisted of bent 'grass, Yorkshire Hog, and a few fine-leaved fescues.

For the tests, some of the plots were dressed with 2owt. per acre of nitro-chalk, nitrogen and lime in March, 1932 (the whole field having previously toad half a ‘ton of basic slag to the acre), and again a year later. One nitro-chalk plot and one no-nitro-gen plot were closely grazed throughout the season, particularly in the spring. Both showed a big increase in white clover and a corresponding decrease in the weedy .types of grasses. Another pair of plots similarly treated., but not heavily grazed, showed an increased vigour in the grasses, but no Improvement in the clovers. In contrast with such methods, -a more or less seeded pasture was ploughed and two chops were taken before reseeding. Even so, the Yorkshire fog completely swamped the other grasses in their first year.

Of this two plots were fenced off. One was used as a “control” with no manure and toad grazing. The other was-treated with..Bcwt. basic slag, and 3cwt. kain'it in February, with 2owt. of nitro-chalk per acre in March. The treated area was grazed, -cljosely with sheep, particularly in May and June, and big improvements were effected, ti:e percentage of useful grasses being increased from four to nearly fifty.

In 'the control plot the mower was ’tried on half as a means bf improvement, and the sheep certainly showed preference for the mown part- But the Increase in the percentage of useful grasses is only 'half that of the properly manured- and grazed plot. There is little doutot, Mr Martin Jones concludes, 'that the 'Stock, toy its frequent and close grazing, played a big part tfn Improvement, there toeing a faster circulation of plant flood in Its cycle through'plant and animal.

Quotas Neoessary. —■ —- pThe League's of Industry of Britain' at a recent conference adopted the report of its agricultural committee which declared that* an adequate tariff '‘such as had been applied to other and less important industries would to the simplest, fairest and most efficient way of assisting this great industry.” But the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walter ’Elliot, told the conference there was a difficulty in working purely upon tariffs as a weapon. Naturally a tariff should toe used in the difficulties pf to-day aod it had been used in a great many fields of agriculture with great success, but it, dould not toe used to the exclusion of oilier methods. “ You must have liberty,” lie said, “to use the regulation of quantities as well as regulation of tariff. In these days of depreciated exchange an exchange can be knocked to smithereens 'in an afternoon and it, knocks the bottom out of the tariff.”

Stack Versus Pit.

An ihvestigalion made at the Row-ct-t Research Institute, Glasgow, showed that there’ was less waste in a large.stack of -silage than in a smaller stack, but the escape cf juices was greater in the large stack. The loss in dry matter In the juices from 100 ton silo -reached 40 1-b. a 'day, tout from a silo holding 200 Hons it was as high as 380 lto. -a day. The Institute found that in a pit silo constructed- to hold about 4cn tons of fresh grass and carefully packed the wastage at the sides was practically negligible and the leakage of juices not very great.

What the consumer Pays. It is interesting lo mote the prices the British consumer has to pay for meal and dairy produce. Also 'to note the relatively high price (the Home farmer receives, though doublless, as in Hie -case cf the milk -supply, the middleman gets more than he should, for while 'the products of the farmer arc being controlled in Britain there is absolutely no -restriction on the profits of the middleman, 'flic “Farmers’ Weekly.” of October 12lh, gives the '-allowing summary "of average prices being charged the British consumer;

Beef: English, fitom 2s id (rump sleak) to 7«d: chilled, Is Gd to Gd. Mutton: English, from Is Gd (loin) lo Is; Imported, Is to Sd. Lamb: English, Is 5d to Is; New Zealand, is id to Bd.