On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 16 March 1916, Page 59

On the Land

■ general; One of New Zealand’s best markets for the sale of apples is ’ South America, and, though it is nnly during recent years that our apples have found a ready market there, large quantities are shipped from Motueka every year (says the Wellington Fast). - ■■ Lord Onslow’s scheme to assist his cottage tenants in Surrey to start pig or poultry keeping (whichever they prefer), and so do their part to increase the output of food, has been well received. By the scheme Lord Onslow grants a loan for the purchase of pigs Or fowls, and for the erection of a pig-stye or poultry house, the loan to be repayable by easy instalments, with interest at 4-| per cent. As evidence of the increasing value of land in South Canterbury, and more particularly in the Temuka district, those seeking sections at the sale of the Green Hayes Estate had to pay very high prices. The South Canterbury Farmers’ Agency Company offered ‘fourteen allotments of rich agricultural and dairying land, and competition was throughout exceptionally keen. Prices ranged from £42 to £72 per acre, the latter being the record for the district. , Mr. John Crosbie, dairy farmer, of ‘ Glenrose,’ Menzies Ferry, who milks a herd of 95 cows through the medium of a machine, informs, .the Wyndham Farmer that he has discarded hand-stripping his cows, and declares that since adopting that plan he is getting better results. With -stripping, his experience was that the cows were not inclined to let down their milk; and any which failed to respond in that respect to mechanical milking were better got rid of. At Addington last week there were again large entries of sheep, and an increase in the number of fat cattle. The attendance was large. Fat cattle were easier, store sheep sold at late rates, fat lambs were very firm, fat sheep realised late rates, and there was a good demand for store cattle, while pigs sold well. Fat Lambs.—Prim e lambs,' 20s 6d to 23s Id; medium, 18s 6d to 20s; lighter, 15s to 18s. Pat Sheep.’—Extra prime wethers, to 33s 3d; prime, 25s to 29s 9d; others, 20s to 24s 6d; merino wethers, 13s lOd to 18s Id; extra prime ewes, to 31s; prime, 24s to 29s 6d; medium, 19s to 23s 6d; lighter, 13s 7d to 18s 6d ; merino ewes, 10s 6d. Pat Cattle;.—Extra prime steers, to £l9 15s; ordinary, £9 to £l3; extra prime heifers, to £l3 10s; ordinary, £7 17s 6d to £10; extra prime cows, to £l6 ss; ordinary, £6 12s 6d to £lo—price of beef per 1001 b, 32s to 50s, and extra to 555. Pigs.— Choppers, to 1355; extra heavy baconers, 100 s to 108 s; heavy, 77s 6d light, 60s to 75s—price per lb, 6Jd to 6|d; heavy porkers, 48s to 555; light, 42s to 46s price per lb, 7£d to 7fd; large stores, 48s to 525; medium, 34s to 455; small, 16s to 30s; weaners, 7s to 12s. . ' There were only small yardings of fat cattle and lambs at Burnside last week, whilst fat sheep were in fair, supply. Fat Cattle. —A yarding of 117 head came forward, consisting chiefly of medium quality bullocks and heifers, with an odd 1 pen of good cattle. Prices on account of the small number forward • showed an improvement on previous week’s rates. Quotations: Prime bullocks, £l7 10s to £lB 10s; extra, £l9 12s 6d; medium to good, £ls 10s to £l7; light and unfinished, £lO 10s to £l2; prim© cows and heifers, £9 10s to. £l2; extra prime, £l6 17s 6d; medium to good, £7 10s to £9. Fat Sheep.—264o were penned, consisting of medium ewes and “wethers, with a few pens of good sheep. Prices on account of freezing buyers’ competition, kept steady throughout the sale. Values for heavy sheep were much the same as previous week, but medium, and light were hardly as good. Prime wethers, 27s to 30s;. extra to 32s 6d ; medium to good, 22s to 255;. light and unfinished, 27s to 30s; prime ewes, 22s to 265; extra, to 30s 6d; medium to good, 17s to 21s. Fat Lambs.—A small yarding of lambs came forward., the bulk of which were-poor quality. The usual ; number of freezing buyers were operating, and

prices, were, practically unchanged. u Prime lambs, 21s t»d to ; 245; medium to good, 17s to 20s; unfinished, 10s to 15s. 'Pigs.—-A small yarding of fate came forward, and were sold at prices well up to late values. ■ v BUTTER TAINT. - .> Bitter flavor in butter is , a trouble which not infrequently occurs at certain seasons. Discussing the question in The Farmer and Stockbreeder ,' an English dairyman says one source of' bitterness exists in the milk as soon as it is drawn from, the cow. ; When this is found to be the case, it is due to one of two causes: either the milk is drawn from a cow having an inflamed udder, or it is due tP* the food given to the cow con* tabling' some bitter substance which thus directly enters the milk. At many farms in England roots form a fairly large portion of the cow’s food in winter, and the part which has most effect upon the flavor of the milk is the crown. When the trouble has been "traced to this source, the only remedy is to cut off the crown from the root and discard it. . Bitterness in milk sometimes arises through the use of cotton cake, or other cakes of inferior quality, and of brewers’ grains when used in too large a quantity. In this case the bitter flavor may be scarcely.noticeable in the freshlydrawn milk, but it is more pronounced in the cream, appearing there in a more concentrated and intensified form. The remedy is to use good quality of cakes, and brewers’ grains in moderate- quantities. A common cause of bitter cream, and consequently bitter butter, is using milk from a cow with a diseased udder. In that case the milk, when in the cow, contains large numbers of a specific type of bacteria which have the power to produce a bitter substance from the milk constituents^during the absence of the active growth of the lactic acid producing bacteria. When the bitter flavor is due to the action of these organisms the bitterness may not be evident in the freshly-drawn milk, but will, increase soon .afterwards, when the germs have increased' sufficiently to make • the bitter flavor evident.

WASTE OF FEED. The balance sheet on the average farm would show a much larger profit if . less feed was wasted. So little is lost at a time that we do not realise our wastefulness, but if we would take the time to count up what is knocked out of the troughs by the animals and trampled underfoot in one month’s time we would be so surprised at the large Quantity that we would all take steps to be more careful in the future (says an exchange). .. One of the most common ways of .wasting feed is to feed it upon the ground when the surface is wet or soft. Feed scattered about in this fashion will soon be trampled upon and buried under the mud. Pigs, especially, are wasteful of feed given to them in this way, but many feeders have realised the loss, and have prevented it by building concrete feeding floors, which will not only pay their cost in feed they save in a few years, but enable the quarters to be kept in a more sanitary condition. . Feed may be wasted .when it is fed in the mangers in excess of the animal’s heeds. This is a loss that is easily preventable, ' for the feeder, if he is observing, will* know just how much the animal will eat up clean. On some farms the great loss comes in overfeeding. In such cases much of the food that is taken into the system is not properly assimilated,, hence wasted Some animals, will stop eating when the stomach is full, while others will eat so long as there is anything before them. Animals such as the latter should be given only the amount of food that they require. This will depend on the kind and size of animal, as well as the purpose for which it is used. In cases of overfeeding, not only is food wasted, but some of the energies of the body will be taxed to dispose of the excessive amount, and the horse will be injured, .instead of being benefited, by the good intentions of the feeder. ... ..... ■- .... ~ -;-