On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 23 October 1913, Page 59

On the Land

% : • - GENERAL. . : " """" •-; id -.'"lt; costs £IOOO per annum, to keep the 21 horses "used in the Fahiatua County teams. . ' ■-?-.*- jo The entries foriithe Hawke's Bay jubilee show a total of 2210, the largest in the history of the society. ---The Ashburton County Council has paid out the Bum of £Boo.during the past six months for heads of small birds, including the cost of ; poisoned grain. • district at very satisfactory prices of late, and several improved farms have been disposed of at prices ranging from £25 to £32 per acre; Two lambs ; to one owe are numerous, and three are not unfrequent, but five is surely phenomenal (says the Christchurch Press). Mr. August Myers, of West Oxford, has a ewe which gave birth to five lambs, four of which are alive and doing well. 'The Holstein breed of cows,' remarked a speaker at the meeting of the Eketahuna Cow-testing Association,. ' are receding from popular favor with a great rush/ The speaker qualified this assertion by.stating that the breed only thrived on rich pasture land, and that three Jerseys or Ayrshires could do well on land that would not keep two Holsteins. .-This season a largely-increased area has been put under cultivation for potato-growing, the output of which is recorded at Pukekohe railway station (says the Wanganui Chronicle). It is estimated that altogether there-are some 2000 acres under the crop which has made Pukekohe famous. Averaging the yield of six tons to the acre, it looks as if some 12,000 tons of potatoes will be grown in the Pukekohe district this season. -~ -■ 0 : h The future of many a promising cow has been ruined by improper milking soon after calving. The dairy cow has been abnormally developed to produce large quantities of milk; consequently certain of her organs, such as the mammary glands, have become greatly enlarged and weakened just before and after calving, due probably to the secreting of large quantities of milk. The art or science, whichever we may call it of milking can only be attained by those who are willing to make a study of each individual cow, of her disposition, dairy temperament, and physical condition. At the Addington live stock market last week there •were rather larger yardings of stock, especially of sheep, than the previous" week, and a good attendance. The demand for beef was not - quite so keen, but prices showed little change. Store sheep were in brisk demand, and fat lambs sold better than last sale, as there was a much smaller yarding. Fat sheep were weaker towards the end of the sale. Heavy fat pigs were easier, but porkers sold up to last week's high rates." Hoggets made from 14s 6d to 18s 6d; ewe hoggets, to 20s ■ ewes and lambs (all counted), lis Id to 13s: shorn SfV 1 ? ld> Fat lambs: Best lambs made 18s to 22s 3d; lighter, 14s to 17s 6d. Fat sheep: Extra prime woolly wethers made to 31s 3d; prime, 25s 6d to 29s • others, 22s to 255; shorn wethers, 18s 9d to 22s 6d • prime i woolly ewes, 17s to 28s 6d; shorn ewes, 16s to 19s ; lid;, woolly hoggets, 21s to 225; woolly merino wethers, 18s 2d to 22s 9d. Fat cattle • Steers made £8 5s to £ll 10s; extra, to £l7 15sW?s 1 S L tO l l 12s a 6d;cows, £6 5s to £10; extra,' i°r io I/ ? d ' , at pis: Ch °PP«rs made £3 10s to fa 1 3s6 . d^ lleav baconers, £3 10s to £4; lighter, £2 lbs to £3 Bs. These prices are equal to 6d to 6id per lb. Heavy- porkers made 47s to 525; lighter, 40s to 45s—equivalent to 6|d to 7d per lb. ' : There were medium yardings of cattle and pigs at BurnsideJast .week and a full entry of fat sheep. lne fat cattle penned totalled 170, consisting mostly of good quality bullocks and heifers. A feature of the yarding was a consignment of 15 head of magnificent bullocks penned on account of Mr. John Muir? Kaitangata, which averaged £lB 10s per head, constituting a

record for Burnside. Bidding at no time during the sale was brisk; and prices may be quoted 10s to 15s per head lower; than previous week. , Extra bullocks £lB to £2l, prime-do £l2 10s to £l3 10s, medium £9 5s to £ll. Cows and heifers, prime £l2 10s to £l3 10s. A full yarding of 3147 fat sheep was penned;- Taking the quality on whole the entry contained a large proportion of nice -quality. The demand throughout was good, but at times the sale was inclined to be somewhat erratic. Prices compared with previous "week's rates were on a par to perhaps 9 d per head lower. 'Extra wethers, to 35s 9d; prime do, 27s to 30s; medium do, 23s 6d to 255; light d0,.21s to-22s 3d; extra ewes,, to 31s 6d; good do, 22s to 24s 6d; medium;do, 18s to 20s. Fat Lambs: 47 penned. £ln consequence of the.' large yarding prices were lower by 2s per head compared with previous week's rates. Taking the quality on the. ■whole"it was good.. Pigs: The entry comprised 87 •fats and 127 stores. There was a good demand for 'both bacon pigs and porkers at very satisfactory prices.. Suckers, slips and stores , had good inquiry, and soldi freely at current rates. ....,"' ~, ... ; r , .---..-- COW MANURE. 1 . / Experiments that have extended over a long period show that the manure and urine from an average cow weighs about 701 b a day, so that the production for the year would be 12f tons. If you have a herd of forty why, that's 510 tons of the best possible manure, isn't it ? You would have to pay a lot of money for 500 tons of manure, and yet, perhaps, you are not making proper efforts to save and utilise that for which v you do not have to, pay. Manure should be collected daily, and either spread on the land or stored in concrete covered-in pits or sheds. The old plan of leaving it in heaps in the yard is a wasteful way and an uncleanly way. - . '..<:. - J ■r- ■-:'.;.:: BUTTER IMPORTS. ' The imports of butter from Denmark to the British Isles are becoming less and less for the past five years, 'and last year's supply from that source is 218,000 cwt! below that of 1908. France has not since regained its position of 1909, when its exports to England -totalled 400,000 cwt. Last year it sent only 246,000 cwt. across the English channel France is also retaining its milk at home. Whilst in 1911 it sent 20,000 gallons to England, in 1912 it sent only 7000 gallons. Indeed, the imports into England of milk other ' than condensed milk from all countries was last year only half that. of 1911. There has been an increase, however, in the imports of condensed milk to Great Britain and Ireland of about 70,000 cwt. Half of the supplies of condensed milk come from Holland, and nearly ■ one-third from 'Switzerland. Norway contributes 10 per cent., and Denmark 5 per cent. '/''";