FARMING NEWSLETTER by W. J. PETERSON Modern farming needs much business sense and long-term planning. It is necessary to be scientific. Mr W. J. Petersen, Assistant Controller of Maori Land Settlement, will write regular articles for this magazine to give some hints about scientific farming. The Young Leaders Conference believed that Maori farmers need to have more education in agriculture. These articles will do something to supply this need. Now that all the summer work has been completed and the autumn is here the time has come to prepare for the approaching winter, and the prospect of a new and brighter season ahead. On the dairy farm the mild yield will be reducing and many of the cows will be showing signs of drying off. A careful examination of the shed sheets should be made so that extra care can be taken to ensure that the late calvers for the next season are kept on full milk for as long a period as possible. The July or early calvers should be carefully dried off by the end of May so as to give them a clear month's spell between seasons. Empty and poor producers should be disposed of as soon as they are dry. Early calvers are nearly always short of feed during July and August and often in September and as the cows are dried off they do not require so much nutritious food so the opportunity should be taken to close up as much of the farm as possible to provide grass for the early spring calvers. Before closing, each paddock should be harrowed to spread the droppings and then top-dressed with superphosphate. It is always advisable to do the harrowing immediately after rain when the droppings are soft and will spread more rapidly. A check on the fences and gateways should be made, and if there are any drains that need cleaning this should be done to enable all surface water to get away freely. Autumn is a critical period for dairy calves. Deaths during the winter months can be eliminated if the calves are rotated through the paddocks ahead of the cows at intervals of three to four days. If calves appear unthrifty and scouring they should be drenched with phenothiazine two or three times at three-weekly intervals. Calves treated in this way should have an increased weight of up to 100 lbs. as yearlings, over those confined to a sour calf paddock. As the milk is decreasing, all saleable pigs, that is baconers and porkers, should be sold as soon as possible and a general stocktaking made One recent effort to stimulate butter-fat production by land development settlers was the awarding of certificates for ‘meritorious production’ in fifteen areas in Tokerau. In giving the certificates, size and quality of the farms was taken into consideration, so that even a small farm on poor land could get a certificate if the settler showed the greater ability. The district officer, Mr J. A. McKain handed them over in person at public meetings. Above: the winner in the Whangaruru area, Mr James Stirling Martin with his mother, Mrs Zipporah Stirling. James went farming after his high school education was interrupted by a leg injury. In spite of difficult country, poor access and uneconomic size, he averaged 244 lbs. of butter-fat over a herd of 24 cows. (Photo: Peter Blanc.)