On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 15 June 1911, Page 1126

On the Land

~ ~v f .. , ~ r-4 i —— - V- v Everyone should know/that the hand—a; term commpnly used in describing the height of a horse-is «*& of a foot, or four inches. * As to whether the cow is a persistent producer or not mi la . r f el y indica-ted by the size and shape of the udder The ideal udder should extend well forward on the abdomen' and should be attached high behind. It should not be penl dulous, but should, be square, even, and the teats should be of medium size and well placed. The udder should not be coat y of b hair h ° b ° Se and pliable ’ covered with a fine During the past winter some extensive experiments were conducted in Sweden on the feeding : of roofs to dairy cows the results of which have been published. In one case 120 cows were under observation. They were divided into .20 groups, ,of which 11 got beet root, 4 swells 3 Of ?T.? S ’3,— 2 ,carrots.; , . The quantity, and, composition of the dry matter contained on an average, in the roots were ascertained and each group of cattle received the same quantity of dry matter in the roots. The following are the conclusions: —(1) Apart from the varying percent? age of sugar in the roots, the dry matter, in the different !? pds 7ot°ni S haS shown upon the whole the same composition. (2) The quantity of digestible albumen in turnips beet, and swedes seems, according to the analysis, to be between 0 4 and 0 5 per,cent. (3) No difference was found n the influence of the various roots upon the percentage vlntu in jhe milk, nor upon the life weight of the animals. (4) Ihe difference in the yield of cows fed on different kinds of roots was so slight that the dry matter in ordinary roots must be regarded as q* practically the same feeding value. The value of, the roots for practical purposes must, therefore, be calculated according to" their dry matter, and the. class of root to be selected for cultivation must be crop b which is found to give in this respect the biggest crop. 1 At the Burnside sale last week 353 head of fat cattle of medium quality were yarded. Competition was fairly brisk and prices ruled rather better than those obtaining or late, except toward the finish, when values eased slightly? Quotations: Prime bullocks sold at £lO to £ll l() s , extra to £l3 10s, medium £8 10s to £9 10s, light £7 to £8 os best cows and heifers £7 to 1 £8 2s Gd, : medium £5 16s to £ e *P i 1: 121 £ l to £5- There was a big yarding (4750) 01 tat sheep. breezing buyers were operating for medium and light weight wethers, and also for ewes up to a bruit taken all round; prices were about the same as last Vale; there being very little appreciable difference; Quotati ms: Best, wethers, 17s 6d to 19s 6d; extra, to 21s; medium, 15s 6d to tbs Gd; best ewes, 14s to 16s; medium, : 11s to 13s 6d • extra heavy to 18s; others,: 7s to 9s. Of the 2620 fat lambs penned, a fair percentage was of. good quality. Freezing buyers were operating on a basis of the previous week limits, and late values were maintained. Quotations: Best lambs, 13s Gd to 14s Gd; medium, 11s to 12s Gd; extra heavy to los. here was a large yarding of all classes of pigs, except baconers. which sold fully up to late rates. The demand for porkers was not so keen, and prices were hardly maintained. Stores also met with poor competition, and sold at ices considerably below those ruling at previous There were good entries, of stock 'at Addington last week, though the offerings of sheep were not so large as at the previous sale. Beef sold irregularly, but without quotable change. The store sheep market had a better tone. rime fat lambs were firmer, and fat sheep sold at improved rates. Good store cattle and dairy cows sold Til’ £ , * pl £? - were ,. in fair demand, but stores were ui £if e • ", V l6 yarding of fat sheep showed a considerable _ falling-off from the exceptionally heavy entry of the previous week. It included a larger proportion of wetheis than for some time past, and among them were some very prune lines. For all classes of wethers there was a veiy keen demand on the part of both exporters and butchers, and prices were decidedly firmer. Good ewes also sold well, but inferior sorts were neglected. The range of prices was: —Prime wethers, 17s Gd to 23s 3dmedium, los to 17s; prime ewes, 14s Gd to 18s 9d; extra, to 21s. 1 here were 277 head of cattle penned, including some prime-quality lots. The sale was irregular, but on the whole there was no quotable change. Steers made £7 to £ll - and extra to £l4 12s Gd; heifers, £5 to £ll 12s Gd. 1 here was an entry of 5151 fat lambs, which was a considerable falling-off from the numbers offered of late. Some of the lines were exceptionally good, but there was a considerable proportion of inferior quality. The market was ., .PP ed b .y a Ime: which made 20s under spirited competition. i The market for prime lambs was firmer, but light weights were somewhat easier, and sold as low as Bs. ■ there were 4865 taken by exporters at 8s to 17s Gd, , an , ( , extra to 20s, A medium yarding of pigs was of ■■much better quality than seen for some time past, and there was a' lair demand, though-, competition was not keen. Choppors sold up to 80s, heavy baconers 47s Gd to 60s, lighter 36s to 4os (equal to 4d per lb). ■