THE WAIKATO FARMER

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19759, 14 December 1935, Page 27 (Supplement)

THE WAIKATO FARMER

EDITED BY 0. E. CUMINQ

The Margarine Menaoe. Dairyfarmers in many countries are awakening to the faot that they will have to take collective action if the margarine menace is to be fought. Organisation is imperative. The consumers of the world are realising the power of organisation, and in these days it is mostly votes that count. The consumers' co-operative societies in Britain for the purchase of foods anu clothing are expanding at a terriflo rate and the power of these is being supplemented by Housewives’ Associations and similar organisations. The objeot of all these is to cheapen the cost of foods and to remove restrictions from the manufacture and sale of margerine. The question pt health does not enter into their considerationThey quite Ignore the warning or medical men. Lord Horder, the eminent English physioian, recently mada this statement: “It Is a curious commentary on the ecohomlc situation today that while measures are being devised to control, and In some cases to restrict, the production- of food, we are at the same time propounding minimum diets and seeking to improve the present inadequate feeding of a large proportion of our production.” Yet we have a Housewives' Association in Australia the other day asking the Government to delete the amendment in a health bill which stipulated a distinctive colour for margerine. The manufacture of margerine in this country is steadily developing and eaoh year is becoming a serious competitor of the butter industry. It 3 development should reoelve the serious consideration of at least two Ministers of the Grown, the ■Ministers for Agriculture and for Health.

do soientiflo work Is a waste of public money which should not be tolerated. » * =» » Developing Pastures. The value of the principle of rotational grazing cannot be emphasised too much. The system of resting a Geld after being rapidly eaten down enoourages maximum production of grass and hence maximum food production. With continuous olose grazing leaf production is discouraged, and when this Is done the development of a vigorous rooting system Is checked. This Is of special significance In the development of new pasture. A reoent English experiment emphasises the importance of this fact. Five different pastures were equally divided. One part was closely and severely cropped, either by grazing or mowing, while the other parts were leniently treated. After the first season the root systems were critically examined. The grass leniently treated had an average of 63 per cent more roots by weight than the severely cropped ones. Just as restriction of leaf production prevents root development so poor root development checks the production of leaf. Both leaf and root must be encouraged If the best result is to be obtained. • • • * Fertiliser Controls Sorub. A North Canterbury fanner has successfully brought In fairly steep tussocky and manuka-covered faces of the hill country of his farm by consistent top-dressing with super. In quite a number of paddocks the manuka ten years ago was so heavy that it was impossible to ride a horse through it. Cut and burnt the annual application of super has transformed the waste land into valuable grazing country. The fertiliser has established ryegrass pasture very little Inferior to the pasture on the flats. Tussook country also has been brought Into rye-grass pasture simply by the application of the yearly dressing of super. The polioy of consistent top-dressing of the waste hills of the farm was embarked upon eight years ago, and the owner, Mr E. C. Gardiner, is emphatic that It takes from three to four years to establish thoroughly a good pasture by topdressing. Consistency, he says, in the applications is of the greatest importance. A periodio dressing of lime would alsp be an advantage as well as a light dressing of a potasslo manure every few years. This interesting experience Is only what one would expect. The degree of fertility of a soil determines the plants that naturally grow upon it.

In both Britain and America the margerine business is a very serious rival to the butter industry. Fortunately, in one way, the low prices that have been ruling for so long on British butter markets have oheoked the sales of margerine, and the margerine competition will only be oheoked while butter prices are low. America is discovering that with more payable prices for blitter margerine consumption has forged ahead at an alarming rate. During tlio first six months of this year margerine sales in the States Increased by 1 00 per cent, the Increase being 101,000,000 lb. As one leader of the Co-operaiive movement recently said 1.000.000 cows had lost their Jobs. He said: “flows lost their Jobs when the ma I*l' c' f'-r l heir product was lost. Ncillmr ilie cows nor the farmers are yol aware of ilieir loss, but the farmers will know it when they begin to receive milk cheques that are small because of low butter and milk prices. The cows won’t know It even after cheap butter makes oheap cows and they are sent to the butcher." » * • * The Solentlflo Worker.

Tourist Criticism.

A Dunedin business man who has been visiting Britain has offered some criticism of New Zealand produce on British markets. Speaking of New Zealand iamb he said It had a good name but in his opinion was not to be compared with the best English lamb. This sort of criticism has been heard before, and it rather suggests that the Dunedin man did not taste New Zealand lamb at Home but some other type of frozen lamb masquerading as New Zealand. One very keen breeder of Southdowns of Canterbury went to England and made a very thorough study of the meat trade. He became quite friendly with one of the leading Smithfleld salesmen. And this expert told him a very good joke he had enjoyed tho previous Christmas. His daughter had asked him to send home some lamb for Christmas, but good English lamb; none of that frozen stuff. The time arrived for getting the lamb but he had left It too late and all, tho English lamb was gone. However, he selected a nice New Zealand carcase. After the dinner he asked his daughter if the lamb was alright. “It was delicious, Dad, and so different to

Dr G. H. Cunningham, who has reulgned from the Government service as a protest against the treatment of scientlflo workers by the Department of Agriculture, raises the very important point, in the course of a newspaper Interview, that scientific work should be directed by the Department of Soientiflo and Industrial Research. Obviously, he said, the proper authority to direot research work was the Research Department. It was a scientifically qualified body with the necessary knowledge to understand work of the nature conducted by the Station, knowledge not possessed by the administration of the Department of Agriculture. Everyone who knows something of the Department of Agriculture will thoroughly agree with Dr Cunningham. Until scientific work is directed by men who appreciate its importance and will provide the proper facilities wo will never get an adequate return from the money spent on it. Further, using 111-educated men to

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.

that frozen stuff. You could tell at l onoe that it was English.” Of course | the demand for the best New Zealand j lamb quite settles the matter of quality. | • * * * The Important Role of Potash. The mistaken policy of only applying one chemical fertiliser to the soil, to replace all the chemicals removed by plants and animals, has been repeatedly referred to in these columns. It is interesting, therefore, to have the arguments vised to emphasise the absurdity of this policy practically repeated in ‘‘The Fertiliser, Feeding, Stuffs and Farm Supplies Journal," of London, of October last. This journal says: ‘‘The custom of applying only one plant food for a crop still persists in many quarters, hut more and more attention has been concentrated in the past year on the blending of fertilisers so as to suit the needs of different crops grown in different conditions'. The small per centage of potash which was used to characterise standard compound manures made for different crops is not good enough at the present day. The farmer is noxv insisting upon materially larger per centages of potash in his compound manures. He is now realising that potash is really the counterpart to nitrogen and phosphates, and is required in substantial amounts to supplement their effects if the best results are to be obtained. The better balancing of complete manures has been a feature of last season’s trade, and will be an importand factor in popularising the use of fertilisers generally. * * * * Disease Resistance. “One of the funotions of potash, upon which research work in the past year has thrown considerable light, is its effect In making the plant more resistant to disease. The nutrition of the plant has much to do with its resistance or susceptibility to disease. For example, conditions in which the supply in relation to that of potash tend to make the plant soft and more liable to be injured by certain adverse factors, such as disease, frost, eto. In such cases 'the lowering of the nitrogen supply and the incerase to the supply of potash to the plant help to make the plant In some way more resistant to these adverse 'Conditions. It Is not fully understood how potash acts to increasing the vigour of the plant, but it appears to contribute something material towards the proper chemical and physiological make-up of organism of the plant.” Practical experience in New Zealand supports this view. And in considering fertiliser practice in general it is obvious that the longer we use land, the greater the accumulated drain on it of mineral matter, the more necessary Is it to seriously consider the application of the balanced fertiliser. * * # * Records That Matter. The only record that really matters as indicative of a cow’s producing capacity is that of the lifetime production. Not only is it the real guide as to productive value, but it is the surest test of an animal’s constitutional vigour and her power to resist disease. This is where continuous testing comes in. The ten to fifteen years’ test is the proof that matters, and determines conclusively a cow’s value as a breeder, the type that should leave stock that will advance the standard of the herd.

Throughout the world this fact is being recognised- The Ayrshire Society of Scotland has what it calls “The 100,0001 b Club.” This Is a record of cows which have produced in a lifetime 100,0001 b of milk. In the Society’s journal, a very line publication, cows that qualify as members of tho Club are given together with a full report of their production from

year to year. And the list is steadily mounting up, constituting, as it does, the best advertisement a breed could have. An American Herd Improvement Association has adopted a plan of awarding lifetime certificates to owners of cows who have produced over 20001 b of fat to a lifetime to association work. Thirty-two of these -certificates have already been awarded. The highest cow so far is a grade Guernsey, which produced 3216.71 b of fat and 65.7371 b of milk with an average test of 4.59 per cent In seven years on strictly twice a day milking. This Is a sort of ‘Certificate which some of the older established herd-testing associations of this country should be awarding, or such certificates could perhaps better come from the Federation. It Is the extended or life-time test that the wise purchaser of daily cattle of the future will look for. # * # * A Beauty Contest. There have been beauty contests galore but the first.beauty contest for for dairy farms is held in California, and the contest is more important than any other form of beauty contest. It is held in connection with dairy farms supplying milk to the city of Los Angeles. A committee of the California Dairy Industries Association was appointed to study quality of milk in the field. It came to be known as the Field Quality Group. The first contest for dairy farm improvement recently took place. The judging was done' from the roadside. Whitewash, the removal of unsightly things, the absence of unpleasant odours and the condition of the livestock were stressed. Dairies scoring 90 points or over were given a plaque. These were very handsome and quite Inexpensive. They were made of pressed wood, printed to five colours, carrying an ideal dairy cow and announcing that it is an award of merit. A small plate hung below states that the dairy has scored 90 of over In 1935. The plaque remains the property of the Association and the design has been copyrighted. The contest continued from June i to August 31 last. One big result is that a rather unsightly section of the dairying district has been converted to one with a great many beauty spots. The general effect is indicated by statements made by several of the dairy farmers taking part. One man said he had hated his place before he started to beautify it; now he loves it. Another said the contest was the greatest thing that ever happened to the dairy farmers of the district. Another said that whether he won a prize or not he had won anyhow. Pride had been awakened in appearance. The contest has been so successful that It is to be continued and repeated In other districts, while other contests are to be arranged, one of which will be for the best kept cow-shed.

Rivalry Makes For High Standard.

The first time a competition was promoted to bring about improved conditions at the farm end of the business, where improvement is most necessary, was when the city of Paris municipal authorities offered a cash prize of £SO every year for the best kept dairy supplying milk to the city. The improvement w’as remarkable. It was definitely proved that it is much easier to get men to do things better by offering some xyorth-whlle inducement than by any system of punishment for falling to do what they are required, even by strict regulation. Some time, when w’isdoin directs the city milk supply business, the principal concern will be to see that the milk comes only from healthy cows, that are well fed all the time, and that the right degree of cleanliness is maintained during the milking process and in the general handling of the milk. It will not be a matter of employing Entering and pasteurising, In the endeavour to make a poor quality article in to a safe food, but of ensuring that tho milk has high quality food value in the first place and then by effective cooling and careful handling is saved from subsequent contamination.