THE WAIKATO FARMER

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19663, 24 August 1935, Page 23 (Supplement)

THE WAIKATO FARMER

EDITED BY C. E. CUMING

Dairy Produce MarketThe interesting statement made by the Hon. Mr Coates on his return In regard to the 'British policy on regulation of imports of agriculture produce is a little difficult to understand when it comes to dairy produce. .Mr Coates said: “The intentions of the British Government, which on the present showing will involve a levy on all produce, Empire included, rather than regulation of supply, have been indicated to us generally, and a. letter from the Dominions Secretary makes a formal record of this matter.” It is generally known that levies, or duties, are being regarded by the Home 'authorities as preferable l to quotas, but judging by many Ministerial statements in Britain, the levy Is not to displace the quota but is Intended only to supplement it. This especially is the case in regard to dairy produce. Practically every butter producing country, with the solitary exception of New Zealand, can afford to laugh at tariffs because they have deliberately provided for the dumping of their dairy produce on British markets. And some of our politicians would have New Zealand adopt the .same policy. The Home Government is well aware of the futility of tariffs to restrict Imports and apparently realises that the quota will still be necessary, especially against continental countries.

protect this industry there is a heavy duty on any other sugar imported, but cane sugar molasses required for silage making is admitted duty free. Obviously this means that beet sugar molasses cannot be used for the purpose- • * * • Pumice Country. A very interesting contribution to the discussion on pumice country has been made by Mr E. Earle Vaile, who has pioneered the settlement -of pumice country with a remarkable degree of success. Mr Vaile has found that all that pumice lands require is what any other land requires, namely, proper cultivation, proper manuring and proper grazing. Referring to the consistent and improper effort to associate bush sickness with pumice soils he says that there is more of this mysterious disease (largely bad farming) outside the pumice area than vvLhln it. Mr Earle Vaile’s experience supports strongly the views of many intelligent observors that all the pumice country wants is the application of good farming methods. One of the largest operators in fat stock for export has 'informed the writer that some of his best lines come from the pumice country, but from pumice country that is intelligently farmed. * # * * Minerals. The mineral requirement of farm animals is the most Important of all subjects to the farmer. Yet it is a subject to which too little importance is attached. The basic fact to remember is that the various organs of the body'cannot properly function without the- presence of particular minerals. The hones of course require lime and phosphate, but the bones arc not everything. Iron Is present in all animals, and copper, zinc, manganese and aluminium are also present. Iron, manganese, zinc, and copper are found in the livers of animals, while aluminium is present in tho heart, brain, spleen and kidneys. Zino is also one of the ‘constituents of the brain. In considering these minor minerals, which are essential to the well being of an animal, iron and copper are especially necessary to young animals as their natural food, milk (the most perfect of all foods) is deficient in these two minerals. This Is one reason why young pigs suffer so often from anaemia. Provision of iron and copper is the only treatment. This suggests the value of limonlte for the sow prior to farrowing, limonite containing a traoe of copper as well as Iron. Ceurst, a 'German scientist, has shown that potash makes for leanness In pigs and lime and phosphate encourage fat formation. In a big experiment be conducted where he fed one lot of pigs liberal quantities of lime, another lot the same quantity of phosphate and a third lot the same quantity of potash it was found that when the flesh of the lime and phosphate pigs was cut the serum or liquid flowed freely away but when the flesh of the potash pigs was cut none at all flowed away. Therefore, the potash meat did not shrink on frying as that of tho other two groups did. In Denmark and Holland more potash is used in the ordinary fertiliser practice of those countries than phosphate, and this probably explains why 'Danish bacon, or the fat of it, remains Arm on cooking. An interesting experiment is reported from America. Some pigeons were fed on polished rice and soon developed nerve trouble, while similar pigeons fed on rice from the same, lot, which had not been polished, remained healthy. The difference in chemical composition between the two lots of rice was that the polished had lost Its manganese, copper and zinc. A very interesting statement comes from England. This is that in countries near the sea the atmosphere contains salt and this causes an increased rate of corrosion of metals. It Is well known how unprotected iron rusts, zinc vanishes off galvanised sheets and copper and bryk slowly disappear under a green Ann. The corrosion products from these metals are loosened under weathering action and are blown over the countryside. Thus the loss due lo corrosion is not entirely lost for tho corrosion products are returned to the soil lo feed the vegetation with essential elements. * * * • Buying Foundation Stock. At the present time many readers will be considering the purchase of a herd sire. Now-a-days the wise man will only buy a bull that has come from a producing line of ancesters, the dam especially must be a good producer. And when it comes to studying figures of production it is very much belter that the dam should have a long unbroken series of records Ilian one or even iwo good records. The most valuable character of a cow is dial she should he able to maintain good production and an unbroken scries of records is one of the best indications one can have that she lias a sound constitill ion and lias the capacity lo

When tariffs against agricultural products were first suggested in Britain it was being advocated that the tariff against Empire produce should be half that levied against 'foreign produce, but owing to protest by the Dominions a more favourable arrangement for the Dominions was suggested. This was, in the case of ment, Ad a pound against Dominion meat but lid against foreign. It is to be hoped the same ratio will be decided on when it comes to put ail import duty mi dairy produceReferring to the proposed tariff on meat the Farmers’ Weekly, of London, of June 21, said: “ Tho Government has begun its discussions with the Argentine about meat duties. The position, I understand, is that we wish to impose a duty of id a lb on the Dominions and one of lid on Argentine and other foreign supplies. The Dominions, In any case, will receive a continuing preference of not less than 50 per cent, which will encourage the expansion of their share of the Imports."

Compulsory MarketingWhen control of marketing dairy produce was first suggested in this country there was a general protest. It was declared to be an unwarranted Interference with the liberty of the subject, an Interference no Britisher should be subjected to. But the British farmer has voted to have the marketing of his produce controlled. And It is being controlled In the most rigid manner. The other day a widow was fined £IOO, with the alternative of three months in prison, for selling potatoes without being registered under the Potato Marketing Scheme. She was said to be liable to fines totalling £331. The widow pleaded guilty and said she did not understand that it was compulsory for her to comply with the board’s requirements, but this defence did not avail.

An Interesting Visitor. There has just passed through New Zealand a very Interesting visitor, on his way to a Sugar Conference in Queensland. He was Dr. C- A. Browne, Chief Chemist of the Department of Agriculture of the United States / Government, one of th 9 world’s best known sugar chemists. During his flying visit he had the opportunity of meeting Dr. Annett, of Matangl, who also in his time did extensive research work in regard io sugar, and whoso work was well known to Dr. Browne. They had much in common to discuss. In an interesting conversation in regard lo grassland fertilisation Dr. Browne agreed that in a country such as New Zealand with its extensive season of growth Ihe need for 'complete and balanced manuring must become much more urgent than in countries of lower rainfall and shorter seasonsUnder phosphalic manuring alone and with continuous production, or production at least for greater part of the year, the exhaustion of other minerals must he rapidly brought about.

Boot Sugar. It will interest those who think that the growing of beet for sugar production should lie taken lip in New Zealand to learn that molasses from licet sugar is unfit for animal consumption, it not only contains ail amino acid which lias a poisoning effect but is bitter and therefore ’ unpalatable lo animals. Germany 'lias developed sugar heel production to a higher degree than any oilier country, and lo

resist, disease. Hut the rule still holds good that it is a wise thing to inspect tlio dam of the hull. This is to make sure that, she is an animal of really sound constitution, especially when, as is generally the case at the present, time, she has only one record to boast' of. The best indication of constitution is sound development in the fore-end. 'Plic wide nostril and the great mouth arc still valuable attributes. Strength of constitution depends primarily upon the amount of pure fresh air that enters the body and the manner in which it is utilised by the lungs In

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purifying the blood. If the nostrils the windpipe, and other chambers through which the air travels on its way to the lungs are large, open and well distended the volume of air entering the body will be large. Oxygen alone purifies the blood, and fresh air is the only way in which it is conveyed to the blood. Every particle of air that reaches the lungs and .comes in contact with the blood passes first through the nostrils and later through the windpipe. If these channels are small, one or two things happen; either a small volume of air enters or tlie cow must breathe more rapidly than the cow with the large nostril. Observation teaches, 'however, that the respiration of one cow is not perceptibly more rapid than that of another. Therefore, the conclusion may properly be drawn that the cow with the small nostril does not take into her lungs the great amount of air that the cow with the large, open, dilated nostrils •and windpipe does. As Important as an indication of vigorous constitution are the size and capaciousness of the chamber in which the heart and lungs are located. Smallness or lack of development In this part of the body prohibits greatness of heart and lung development, resulting in limited stamina, vigour and ruggedness. To ensure ample room for the fullest growth of the heart and lungs tho cow should be extremely deep from the top of the shoulder to •the floor of the chest, fairly broad in the chest, deep in the region of the heart girth, and well sprung in the fore rib. Cows that are at once narrow and shallow in the chest cavity, tucked and pinched in the space occupied by the heart, are always troublesome and never persistent producers. A very interesting theory advanced by an eminent student of bacteriology is that the reason why capacious nostrils are imperative to good health is that the desirable bacteria in the body demand an abundant supply of oxygen, and that as long as they have this abundant supply and are thereby vigorous they will prevent undesirable forms of bacteria, disease carrying bacteria, from getting a foothold. o • * * Soft Curd Milk. Reference has been made In these columes before to lihe discovery to Amerioa, at the Utah Experiment Station, that some milks give a hard curd and some a soft curd, and that milk having the latter character is very easily digested by even chronic dlspeptlcs. Advantage has been taken of this discovery by American milk vending interests and by manufacturers of milk foods for babies by amending the mineral ratio. But the Pennsylvania Experiment Station, U.S.A., has found that soft curd milk contains approximately thirty per cent less casein than hard curd milk, and, therefore, It is difficult to see. how merely changing the mineral composition can convert hard curd milk into soft curd milk. It is contended that soft curd milk, by reason of its lower casein content, has greater similarity to human milk and that this is why it is so successful as a food for infants. The Ayrshire people of Scotland arc taking full advantage of the fact that Ayrshire cows arc said to givo more soft curd milk than other breeds. One breeder in Scotland has had all his herd tested and from Ills cows giving soft curd milk he is marketing guaranteed soft curd milk apd has created a good demand for it. The capacity to produce a soft curd milk is apparently an inherited character. If this be so it would be possible to develop a strain of cattle giving soft curd milk. Such milk must yet command a good premium in the cities as a food of special value for babies and dispeptics. One drawback to soft curd milk is that it is not so suitable for 'cheesemaking as bard curd milk. To test milk for character of curd a sample is coagulated, as in digestion, and the hardness of the curd is measured by drawing a knife through it. This knife is attached to a spring balance which registers the hardness of the curd. Soft curd milk has a curd tension of loss than 30 grams, while hard curd milk may test from 60 lo *>oo grams. Human milk forms a cuid UiaUs so soft that it will hardly register on the curd scales.

RICHARD JOHNSON & NEPHEW LTD. MANCHESTER, 9TII JULY, 1935. Richard Johnson & Nephew, Lid., desire to thank all New Zealand clients for their loyal support during the period of the recent strike at the Manchester Works, especially those wilO have inconvenienced themselves by postponing their fencing until they could again gel supplies of the Wire, which has proved its great lasling qualities during the past two generations. , , As the Works have resumed normal full-time production, Richard Johnson A Nephew now have adequate stocks or hotli plain and barbed hot dipped galvanised Wire arriving in the Dominion by each and every Liverpool steamer,’ so that all Stock and Station Agents, Hardware Mcrrlianls and Store "keepers can rely on regular supplies by applying to Richard Johnson & Nephew’s Agents, P.u. Dux 1 NOD. Wellington or I’.O. Box D i 9, Auckland.