FARMING NOTES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 134, 11 March 1940, Page 3

FARMING NOTES

LABOUR SAVING CROPS FOR PIGS

Contributed bj* C. R. Taylor, Local Organiser, Primary Production Coun cil, Dept of Agriculture, Whakatane One of the reasons given by farmers for failing to grow crops is that there is too much labour involved 5n the process of growing them and feeding them, out. As with any other farm practice there is, of necessity, labour required to plough and cultivate the land and intcrthe crops. If success is to be achieved, such work must be carried out, but for pigs^manj r crops require verj r little labour in the feeding out. In order to prepare for the growing of these crops next season, farmers should now consider which cr ips are suitable for their conditions. The local officer of the. Department of Agriculture will be glad to advise farmers on this matter. Autumn Feeding. Barley and peas are two grain crops which are ready for feeding early in the autumn. They aie valuable foodstuti's for pigs r giving a firm fat with a good flavour. They call for no special equipment. They may be cut with a mower, stacked as hay, and threshed by the pigs themselves. In addition the pigs may be used for cleaning up shed grain in the stubble. In the warmer districts, maize may be readily grown. It is usually not harvested till May :tnd Jure. Maize is normally fed in the cob to pigs. The cobs can cither be soaked before feeding for about 3 4 days in the winter and for hours in the summer or they can fee fed unsoaked. Maize, if being fed in large quantities, should be supplemented with a protein-rich food such as meat m.cal„ but this is not necessary when large quantities of milk are available.

Atichokes .may b'j sown in September and fed oIT in April. The. pigs are turned in on the crop and harvest it themselves. It is advisable to take out sutficient large tub ers for replanting before the pigs are turned in. These arc replanled after the pigs come <?-F. The crop will last several years, provided a certain fungus disease is not bad. Carrots and Chou Moellier. Guerande carrots require less labour than other varieties. If l%lbs xif seed are sown in rows 21 to 26 inches apart, no thinning is required, though inter-cultivalion and weeding must not be neglected. The pigs may be turned in on the crop when it is ready, or it may be fed out. Chou moeTlier. the least susceptible of cruciferous crops to disease, may be fed off by the pigs in breaks or if desired it may be carted to the pens. Mangels, sugar beet, pump lcins and swedes aie other crops to be considered. The heavy yields ot these crops A/hich ean normally be grown in fertile soi ? s mav counterbalance the extra labour required In feeding out and iptereulthation. Oats and potatoes are other »?('"<ps which may be fed to !>igs in some circumstances. Consider ilion should

also be given to green feed crops. The feeding of meals is useful with practically all the crops mentioned in this paragraph. Liberal manuring with all crops is also •advisable. In planning a cropping programme of the nature herein discussed due consideration should bs> given to climatic conditions. For instance, an attempt to grow maize and pumpkins in the colder districts would not be made: likewise peas could not. be recommended foi use in the warmer districts of heavy rainfall and in these districts barley as a rule would not be as suit able as maize. The Use of Certified Seeds. One factor which may completely nullify the effect of preparing an ideal seed bed, sowing the seed at the correct time and sowing suitable fertilisers, is ihe use of poor quality seeds. To-dav there should be little excuse for Ihe failure of a pasture from this cause. The main grass and clover seeds —perennial ryegrass, Italian ryegrass, cocksfoot, brown top, white clover and red clover —are coramerci'ally available as seed certified by the Department of Agriculture. Nevertheless, there is still a considerable quantity of uncertified seed sold. Although some of this seed is quite suitable for many purposes, there are many so-called ''cheap" lines and "cheap" mixtures which contain not only low grade pasture seeds but also liaimful weed seeds. Buyers of Government certified seed are given a guarantee in respect of quality and strain of saed which must also reach as pecified standard of analytical purity. There is no guarantee in respect of germination, but the purity and germination certificates., which accompany certified lines and which should be made available on lequest, give the reauired information to buyers. Buyers of farmers' dressed seed generally receive no guarantee in

respect of purity or germination. Considerable quantities of inert matter and weed seeds are also bought and paid for in such lines. Provided the purchaser knows personally the history of areas from which such seed is obtained., there is not; so much guess work in buying. Such lines are especially suitable for bush or secondary growth burns. Generally, however, there is no such knowledge and the risk in purchase is much greater. "Cheap" seed mixtures are particularly dangerous for, in addition to suffering, from ihe other disadvantages oi uncertified seed, iheir constituents are unknown anil they may be unbalanced and quite unsuitable for the purposes for which they are required advice to intending purchasers of s?ed therefore is "know what you are buying.'' The knowledge of any line of seed is incomplete if it does not include exact information of the purity, germination capacity, and often also the strain. The cost of and subsequent loss attached to laying down permanent pastures nowadays is too great to (Continued foot next column).

make it worth while running a risk in the purchase of seed. Buying "cheap seed" mixtures on uncertified lines is a definite gamble and usually the odds are heavily against the purchaser. Why then run this quite unnecessary risk when for the sake of a very small premium (slight additional pri»») you can be insured against the many grave risks associated with (lie use of unknown seed?