FORTCOMING FIELD DAY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 61, 1 August 1947, Page 8

FORTCOMING FIELD DAY

STIMULATING FIG PROGRESS NOTABLE VISITORS TO WHAKATANE Under the combined auspices of the Bay of Plenty District Pig Council and the Bay of Plenty Branch of the N.Z. Pig Breeders’ Association a Field Day of a new order has been arranged. Following the success of the Bay of Plenty entrants in the Tomoana Porker and Baconer Competition, it was decided to enter into negotiations with AFFCO Representatives to see if a demonstration by leaders of the pig industry could be arranged right here in the Bay. This has now been successfully arranged for Wednesday, August 6, at 1.30 p.m., at the Edgecumbe Saleyards, and the demonstrators will be Mr Harry Kneebone, Supervising Grader for AFFCO, and Mr Dudley Smith of the Animal Research Station, Ruakura. Mr Kneebone is accepted by experts as one of the most able men in the Dominion when it comes to the fine points of carcase judging and when, after “eye appraisal” has come the “block test,” the uncanny accuracy with which he has allotted the points has earned him the sobriquet of ‘The Man with the X-Ray Eye.” Mr Kneebone will demonstrate on frozen pig carcases and also on some live pigs to describe how they will “hang up.” This feature should be of special Interest to farmers and enable them to size up the standard of their own pigs.

Mr Dudley Smith will be remembered by those farmers who attended the Field Day at Westfield on July 7 for his stimulating address on the breeding, feeding and marketing of pigs. This brilliant young research worker was a pupil of Dr. C. P. McMeekan at Massey College in 1939 and today after the years of war have interrupted research and studies he is Dr. McMeekan’s first lieutenant in the field of pig research at Ruakura Animal Research Station. Mr Smith’s easy and fluent manner of speaking, his earnestness, combined with a ready wif and an apt way of calling a spade a spade, will make a ready appeal to listeners of all classes, while his knowledge of his subject leaves nothing to be desired. .

A special feature of the afternoon’s talk will be the cutting up of a pig carcase into the desired “Wiltshire” side. What is the percentage of bone to meat? What happens to the backbone, the head, and the trimmings? Who carries this loss, the producer, the consumer or the trade? From the trade’s viewpoint, why is a white pig more desirable than a black pig? Why are baconers singed and not porkers? Why do both ends of a pig grow faster than the middle? Why is it necessary to have 48 per cent, of the weight of the carcase in the middle? What is meant by balance of side? Why do some pigs have a bigger “eye of meat” than others? They look forward to having these questions answered authoritatively and feel sure that all farmers will benefit from the instruction given at this Field Day.