THE GRAIN GROWERS' STAMPEDE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 41, 12 November 1907, Page 2

THE GRAIN GROWERS' STAMPEDE.

A HOPELESS CASE. SMALL PROFITS AND DIG RISKS. Sir. Kirk, tho Principal of Lincoln Agricultural College, was appealed to by a Dominion reporter for some way of stopping the stampede of our farmers from tho business of grain-growing. " I can see no way," ho said, "of encouraging tho growing of grain—at least, not wliilo tho growing of sheep is so profitablo. If anything like the prices at which wo have been selling wheat this year could bo guaranteed to continuo there would be abundanco of wheat' grown hore for local consumption and also for export—notwithstanding tho present high prices of wool and frozen meat. But for n number of years in the past. the price of wheat has'been very low. And in connection with cereal growing there is considerable risk in New Zealand of having tho crop lodged by wot weather or storm, and of having tho sample spoilt or sprouted; and also more or less difficulty in securing tho necessary labour just at the moment when it is wanted —because the harvesting of a coreal crop in this country permits no delay whatever. It becomes a very serious matter for a man to have an area of cereals ripe for the reaper, and have difficulty probably in finding tho hands to gather it. So if forage crops and sheep, fur example, give anywhere near the returns from tho land that could be obtained for cereals, and wore prices likely to remain good, there will still, under ordinary economic laws, bo a tendency for a man to prefer the sheep, becauso otherwise ho has got to effect a big insurance or take risks, against which ho cannot insure. " In a season like the past, with wheat at 4s. 6d. a bushel, a man with a good 50-bushol crop might make nearly £12 an aero. Sheep would never return anything like that amount. But there is the constant element of uncertainty—tho fear that tho farmer will not recover anything like tho full value of his crop through weathor conditions, falling prices, scarcity of labour. And with heavy yields of grain a farmer has a big outlay, so that it would be unfair to represent tho li'onoy value of the .graiu per aero against tho monoy value of tho produco from land carrying threo sheep per acre. The labour bill in tho one case is immensely greater than ill tho other. ■ " However, I havo not tho slightest doubt that matters will become balanced; and farmers will always find it to their advantage to keep part of their farm growing grain, as by growing sheep only and always, and forage crops for these sheep, they would have to como back oil sonio of tho land so frequently that their turnips would not bo so good, and their rape would always yield less. A coreal crop such as wheat thrown in helps to maintain tho.balance of-a farm. As things were a.year ago, many farmers were not prepared to put in much cereal, becauso the total return from rape was equal to tho return from cereals, while tho cost was very much less." A BRiEED CONTEST. JERSEYS ON TOP. SUGGESTION FOR NEW ZEALAND. Mr. A. Buchanan, tho Jersey breeder of I'almerston, is anxious to see devclopfelT.'.'iiiNow Zealand —preferably at--the, Manawatu sliow—a breed contest for milking qualities. ! It will, perhaps, stir up the devotees of the 'other breeds in tho Dominion if we cause it to be publicly known that Mr. Buchanan is confident tho Jersey will beat,all comers. •' "At tho St. Louis Exhibition .' (ho told a Dominion reporter) "they .had .a breed contest and invited tho representative breeders of shorthorns, Holsteius, brown Swiss, and .Jerseys to' organise representative liqrds" to compete. They felt that such a contest would prove an attraction to farmers aud dairymon. and it was claimed that this contest would settle for all time tho dispute as to which was the best dairy breed. There wero tlir'cc questions to bo determined in the contest :—(1) Which breed gave " Mi e mbst butter fat? (2) Which breed gave tin.- most butter fat and other solids combined!" (3) Which breed gained the greatest weight of carcase for tho food supplied during the contest? Howover ,although they declared the Jersey put on more weight per cow than the others, 1 don't pay much attention to that point. Tho really important points wore the other two . • " All tho breed associations were asked to compete. Tho shorthorn people responded with 25 animals; tho Holstein men found there were only 15 truly representative members of tho breed in the country, and they sent thoso along; the brown Swiss peoplo scraped together six; and the_ Jersey owners entered 25. Thero was a proviso that if any cows becamo ill they could be withdrawn from the contest, and credited with an average yield] of tho previous days till thoy were recovered. The results were as follows Weight of Milk. " The Holsteins led, with 561b. of milk per day—mostly water. The shorthorns and brown Swiss averaged 421b. Tho Jerseys gave 411b. Butter Fat "Tho Jersoys gave, per head, a net profit] of £2 more than that given by tho Holsteius during the 120 days of the contest. Thoy gavo nearly £5 a head net profit inoro than that given by tho shorthorns. The brown Swiss wero slightly better than the shorthorns. \ Total Solids. "In total solids tho Jerseys wero again tho victors. Tho order was the same —the shorthorns still last. * Mode of Reckoning. "Tho food supplied to the animals was charged against the yield of milk at current market rates. None of the Jerseys were withdrawn from the contest through illhealth, but from the other breeds somo were." Shall We Arrange a Contest? "If" (continued Mr. Buchanan), "we can get something of the same sort at our New Zealand shows it will bo exceedingly interesting. It was with that object in viow that 1 gavo a friendly challenge to Mr. M'Nab at the last winter show to send /soma cuttle bred on the State farms, sired by tho im!-' ported shorthorn hull, to compote with cattle of the same ago from breeders of stock other than those sired by tho State-imported'bull. Mr. M'Nab said ho would not put them in for competition, and 1 asked if he would put thorn iu at least for exhibition, to indicate what thoy could do. Ho said ho would giyo it consideration.. That is. tile, last I hoard of it. How long ago? Oh', six months. Since then, tho butter-fat contest has boon held at I'almerston North, and tho puro bred Jersey proved to be tho winner with I,Boßlb. of butter-fat per day, although sho was iu calf, in poor condition, had como through a very severe winter, and was fretting to get buck to her comrades. She was fed on grass only, which was loo_ succulent to ho nutritious. Now, tho Amoricans crow lustily if they get an average of 21b. of 'butter-fat per day when their animals are fed with half a hundredweight of grain per day. So tho result at the Manawatu contest was rory satisfactory. • These Jerseys aro of tho samo blood as those which havo won Now Zealand championships for soven yoars past at Manawatu, Ghristchurch. and Carterton— all tracing back to the bulls Dry Monopolo and Monopoly, imported by Mr. Georgo Brill, of Cliristchiirch, and Mr. James Stiiclce.v, of AYairarapa. "1 had hoped the Government would havo sent up something as a demonstration at the butter-fat contest, becauso it would have been for tho good of tho country at largo."