On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 9 October 1913, Page 59

On the Land

GENERAL. The Jersey bulls under one year of age.sold by the •Ruakura Farm of Instruction this year have averaged - slightly over ,£4O. ' ' . . v Experience has shown that the best temperatures for pasteurising cream for butter-making in New Zealand are 176 degrees to 185 degrees F., varying according to the quality of the article dealt with. | The very satisfactory price of £ls 15s per head was paid a few days ago by an Auckland buyer to a Taneatua grazier for a small line of fat bullocks. The figures are probably a record for fat cattle in the Bay •of Plenty. A land deal on a fairly substantial scale was recently effected by a Napier firm in the purchase at Motoroa, on the Main Trunk, of some 10,000 acres of land for Mr. A. H. Russell, of Hawke’s Bay. It is stated that the purchase price runs into about £70,000. During the past season over 25,000 cows, purebred'and crossbred members of ordinary dairy herds, were Jested in New Zealand, while over 300 pedigree cows were officially tested in connection with the ’ Register of Merit scheme by officers of the Department., ‘ In order to give effect to the resolution of the City Council that milk shall not be supplied within the city except from cows that have passed the tuberculin test, the Public Health Committee (says the Press ) reported to the Christchurch City Council that it was having a by-law prepared. Buyers of lambs are already operating in South Canterbury, and a number of farmers have already sold, though lambing is not yet finished. Sales are being made at up to 13s for lambs off their mothers. A South Canterbury farmer who sold in advance in this way last year, lost £SOO by so doing. A day or two since Mr, Lonsdale sent into Wanganui the first consignment of this season’s lambs from the . Moumamaki State; Farm. It was a splendid little lot of eight Ryland-Romney lambs, the heaviest of which scaled 691 b live weight. To the majority of lambraisers this was rather l an eye-opener (says the Waverley Tribune). A catch-crop of barley and tares at the Ruakura ■ Experimental Farm is being fed off with .dairy cows, • and the results are confirming last year’s experience .; at. Ruakura with this crop. Previous to their removal -to the barley and tares field all the cows in milk were ■ each receiving 11b decorticated cotton-cake and about • ®lb of oaten-sheaf chaff, and although these two feeds- .■ have now been dropped the milk-yield per cow has : increased. i; < A good constitution is an absolute necessity in .a ■ dairy cow. Owing to the very great strain on a cow [giving a large quantity of milk, she ; is ‘more prone to wolds and ailments of various kinds than one which is ®nly rearing her calf. Also, it should always be remembered that young stock from very heavy milking cows require extra care and feed, as they would otherwise seem to thrive less well than do the offspring of moderate milking cows. At the Addington live stock market there were moderate entries of stock in almost all departments and a fair attendance of buyers. Fat cattle sold at about ■ late rates. Store sheep were firm and without change. Fat lambs were easier in consequence of a large entry, and fat sheep opened firm, but the market was somewhat irregular. Fat ewes showed a considerable advance in prices. There was a good sale for store cattle. Fat .- Lambs.-—Best lots made 19s to 20s 6d ; extra, to 26s 6d; lighter, 16s to 18s 6d. Fat Sheep.—Extra : prime wethers made to 345; prime, 25s to 30s ; others, 19s 5d to 24s 6d; shorn wethers, 18s Id to 22s 7d; prime ewes, 22s to 28s 6d; others, 16s to 21s Id; hoggets, 16s lOd to 22s 6d. Fat Cattle. — Steers made I£B 5s to £l2; extra, to £l9 10s; heifers, £7 5s to £9;

extra, to £l2, 15s; cows, £6 10s to £8 10s; extra, to £l3. Fat. Pigs.—Choppers made £4 to £5 15s; heavy baconers, £3 15s to £4 10s; lighter, £3 to £3 10s—these prices. being equal to 6|d to 7d per lb. Porkers— Large sorts,-£2 7s to £2 14s; lighter, £2 to £2 ss.^ • Burnside as k week there were average entries ® ® departments. The : yarding of sheep totalled 2482, of which only a small portion could be classed as really prime, the balance consisting of medium to good quality. The demand was good throughout the sale, at values about equal to previous week’s rates. Extra heavy-weight wethers, 30s to 345; prime, 26s 6d to 28s 6d; medium, 24s to 25s 6d ;• light and inferior. 19s 6d to 23s 6d; prime ewes, 24s to 26s 9d; light to medium 18s 6d to 235. Cattle-150 penned, * for which there was a keen demand at prices quite up to previous week’s range of values. . As a whole, the yarding was rather above the average quality, the bulk consisting of prime steers of medium weight and a number of pens of nicely finished heifers. Extra heavy bullocks made to £l6 12s 6d; prime, £l4 10s to £ls 10s; medium, £l2 to £l3 light, £9 ; ,to £11; best heifers, £l2 to £l4 10s; medium, £9 -10 sto £ll Messrs. Donald Reid and Co., Ltd., sold 13 lambs at from 26s to 28s. There was a small yarding of fat and store pigs. Baconers of all sorts were in good demand, and met a highly satisfactory sale. Porkers, although not so keenly competed for, realised fair prices. Suckers, slips, and stores were not sufficient to supply the demand, and all sold at prices in advance of late values. ' - ■ DAIRYING IN TARANAKI. •;? Some very illuminating figures are now 'available concerning the operations of several of the herd-testing associations in . Taranaki. The Mangorei Association returns show that for the testing period- the poorest cow paid her. owner about 9s per month (estimating 7.0 j afc T ls P er . *k) and the best earners about i-2 15s bd. It is estimated that it costs about 13s per month to keep a cow, so the inference is obvious. The operations of the Stratford and Midhirst Herd Testing Association also show interesting, returns. The Stratford period ended on September 20. The best herd averaged 37.891b.;butter fat and ■ the worst 19.851 b while the average cow produced 27.251 b. The best cow gave 53.821 b and the worst 9.121 b. The 10 highest cows averaged 42,811 b and the lowest 10 14.331 b. The quantity of milk given by any one cow was 12751 b, which at a test of 3.3 produced 42.071 b of butter fat, while the lowest quantity of one cow was 2851 b testing 3.2, which produced 8.121 bof butter fat. The Midhirst period ended on September 15. The best herd averaged 45.31 b and the worst 16.631 b of butter-fat. The best . cow gave 59.671 b and the worst gave only 3.41 b, while the average was 28.671 b, : The ten highest cows gave 45.61 b and the lowest 12.41 b. The highest quantity of milk given by one cow was 16201 b, which at a test of 3.6 produced 58.321b v of butter-fat. The lowest quantity given by one cow was 1351 b- testing 4.0, and producing 5.41 b of butter-fat.