ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, 7 June 1917, Page 51

ON THE LAND

GENERAL. At the Addington stock market last week there was a far smaller entry of fat lambs and fat sheep than at the previous week's sale, but the entry of fat cattle and store sheep was a good one and the demand brisk, the bulk of the store sheep being in good forward condition. Fat Lambs.—Extra prime, to 33s 3d; prime, 27s to 30s lid; medium, 24s 4d to 26s lOd; lighter, 19s to 235. Fat Sheep. Extra prime wethers, to 48s 3d; prime, 32s to 40s; lighter, 28s Id to 30s 7d; merinos, 21s 6d; ewes, extra to 40s 3d; prime, 34s Id to 37s 8d; medium, 30s to 33s Id; lighter, 23s to 28s 7d; merinos, 15s. Fat Cattle.—Extra prime steers, to £24 10s; prime steers, £l4 5s to £2O 10s; ordinary steers, £l2 15s to £l4; prime heifers, £lO 5s to £l4 2s 6d; ordinary heifers, £8 to £10; prime cows, £lO ,10s to £l4 17s 6d; ordinary heifers, £8 to £lO. Fat Pigs. Choppers, £4 to £7; extra. heavy baconers, to £5 ss; heavy baconers, £4 7s to £4 15s; lighter baconers, £3 12s to £4—equal to 7-. l ,d per lb. Heavy porkers, £2 10s to £3 ; lighter porkers, £2 4s to £2 10s ;—equal to 81d to 9d per lb. Burnside market reports last week : —Fat Cattle.— A full yarding (244) came forward, a large proportion being unfinished cattle from the flooded area. Exporters secured a fair proportion of the cattle before the sale started at per lb, and this helped to steady prices. The quality of the cattle offered under the hammer was from good to indifferent, and the competition of the butchers was at no time keen. Prices generally showed a drop compared with previous week, although at some parts of the sale there was little difference in value from last sale. Best bullocks sold from £l7 to £lB 10s; medium, £ls 10s to £l6 10s: light cattle, £l2 10s to £ls; best cows, to £ls ss; medium, £l2 to £l3 10s; others, £9 upwards. Sheep.—l7oo penned. As was to be expected, there was hardly any stock forward by rail, only one or two pens of sheep being forward from Central Otago. The local graziers and dealers managed to fill most of the pens, but the quality of the sheep was poor, and was a great contract to the extra prime wethers sent forward on the previous week. However, butchers had to fill their requirements. The sale opened with prices about 2s 6d to 3s ahead of previous week, but, as it progressed prices receded, and some sheep were sold at prices no higher than the week before. Extra prime wethers sold from 49s to 545; best wethers, from 40s to 445; medium wethers, 35s to 395; light and unfinished, 30s upwards; best ewes sold up to 40s 6d; medium, 33s to 365; light and unfinished, 28s 6d upwards. Lambs.—6so penned—a small yarding. All the exporters were operating at late limits, and there was good competition for the best lambs. One extra prime lamb sold at £3 3s, and another at £3. Best lambs sold up to 34s 9d; medium, 26s to 28s 6d; unfinished, 21s upwards.

MAIZE AS A CALF FOOD. Crushed oats have been found one of the best, if not the best calf food, in experiments carried out in England. A writer in the Live Stock Journal advocates the use of maize for this purpose. Although, he points out, often decried as a food with the capacity for making bone or muscle, maize in practice has survived much adverse comment, and is recognised as a useful food for every kind of stock, and for many purposes. Even for young animals it proves useful, and as much for calves as little pigs. Though it is not quite as digestible, perhaps, as other cereals in the raw state, it is readily assimilated when cooked or scalded, and the most valuable part of it is, in fact, better digested by pigs than are many other foods, and altogether it proves a better diet than its analysis would indicate. The best results are got when it is not fed alone, but even here it is found that young calves will thrive to the extent of |lb to lib per week increase, and keep healthy. Useful results in rearing heifer

calves have been got in practice, by maize used along with quite a small quantity of new milk ; in fact, better than with calf meals and skim milk, owing possibly to occasional sourness in the latter, also with fresh skim milk. In a case recently investigated by the correspondent mentioned, the former diet was found more suitable than many other foods, including some linseed, and no more than a quarter of a pound of scalded maize per day used with one quart of milk per meal was necessary, with good hay and grazing, to bring on the heifer calves to maturity. The grass was good, and trouble was feared if any more forcing food was given, so easily can heifer calves be overfed. Maize is a great safeguard against scouring, and this no doubt accounts for much of its value with calves. In Ireland it has been more thoroughly tested than in England, and proved so useful with separated milk that over two years it gave results only 4d less per bullock than an admixture with linseed and oats, and yearlings fed with maize as calves did far better than similar animals brought up in a different year on the mixture. It would seem, though, that, especially in the first few months, an oily complex mixture is often best, and possibly produces more sightly calves; but there is no doubt at all that, as a substantial part of a calf s food, maize is both wholesome and economical.

IRRIGATION IN NEW ZEALAND— FOR INCREASED PRODUCTION. xxr nA meeting of the Technological Section of the Wellington Philosophical Society was held recently in the Dominion Museum, when the chairman (Mr F W Furkert, A.M.Inst.C.E.) read a paper on " Irrigation in New Zealand." The lecturer pointed out that in Otago there is an area of 2700 square miles, where the ™ n f was Under 12iu yearly. He estimated that 500 000 acres of this land was suitable for irrigation, and would then support 5000 families directly, and another 4000 indirectly, thus adding one million and ahalf sterling annually to the wealth of the Dominion. To^ nterbury and Marlb °rough there is an area of 13,000 square miles, including most of the cropping land where the rainfall was under 30 inches, and only one-fifth of this is under crop at present. He believed that irrigation would increase the yield per acre, on the cropped portions by much more than five bushels per acre, but even at this figure it would add £500,000 to our wealth, while the increase in settlement and in area of cultivated land would be enormous The lands between the Selwyn and Waimakariri were in 1881 supplied with a little water (20 gallons per day per acre) at a cost of 2s per acre, and their value immediately increased by £8 per acre but if supplied with, say 100 times this amount, as is now proposed at Ida Valley, the effect would have been more advantageous still The mere irrigation of land was, of course, not. all the story. The soil and the climate must be suitable, the tenure and the transport facilities such as will encourage settlement, and the engineering work must be simple, cheap, and adequate. The lecturer believed the best procedure was for the State to acquire all the land affected by the scheme, and afterwards to throw it open for selection under improved settlement conditions. He advocated the establishment of experimental farms in each area under consideration, when information as to water required, probable evaporation and necessary manures could be ascertained in advance' An important point to remember was that all temporary work should be shunned in irrigation projects, and illustrated this point by citing the fact that many Roman irrigation works were still in use. The great difficulty in New Zealand was that of securing experienced settlers. The talk of settling returned soldiers on such lands was often pushed to dangerous extremes Only those born and bred in the dry areas could be regarded as suitable men for the purpose. But given such farmers as would take proper advantage of the irrigation provided, he predicted a golden future for many parts of the South Island now sparsely settled or not tilled to advantage. '