SHELTER.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume X, Issue 4, 20 April 1915, Page 312

SHELTER.

AORANGI.

We are so accustomed to see cattle grazing in shelterless paddocks, and to read of them being presumably so grazed for generations past, that it is only the old pioneers and a few-' of our present wayback farmers, who have had to fight the natural tendency of cattle to revert to their original habitat (the bush and other cover), who realize to-day what shelter means for the dairy cow. The ordinary post-and-wire fence is about as useful a protection from the hot sun of summer as it is from the cold winds of winter, and to continue to be content with this commonly used class of shelter (?) hardly seems to be consulting one’s best interests. The writer is of opinion that 5 per cent, or more of the area of a farm covered with judicious shelter-belts would ensure more feed and better condition of the stock. Very few farmers object to the cost of the shelter-trees or the labour of planting them. The necessary protective fencing is the stumbling-block. A shelter-belt to be a real protection to stock and pasture must be substantially fenced and maintained, so that at no time of its life can the stock get into it and break down the undergrowth, which nullifies most of its good effects ,by creating a strong draught of air along the ground, both immediately beneath the trees themselves and well out into the paddock, even on a comparatively still night. However, much shelter can be given the stock themselves by using short lengths of plantations in L-shaped pieces in the corners against prevailing cold winds, or T-shaped where paddocks and existing fences suit, which take but little land or fencing. Weeping-willows prove a most useful summer shade, and will grow almost anywhere, about the only difficulty in growing them being the tendency of the cattle to strip the bark oft for the first few years. At Tomoana two cement-casks (with ends out) are stood on top of each other round the planted stump, serving the double purpose of preventing the bark being stripped off or being used as a rubbing-post. Ordinary wire netting, 6 ft. by 18 in., wrapped round the cutting and secured with a few small netting-staples makes the bark quite safe. The writer has tried coal-tar for the same object, but it is not so effective and much more troublesome, as one coat is not sufficient.'