THE STATE AND DAIRYING.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1415, 16 April 1912, Page 10

THE STATE AND DAIRYING.

GOVERNMENT DAIRY FARM SUGGESTED. . During tlieir northern tour last week, tho Prime Minister (the Hon. T. Mackenzie), and tho Hon. G. \\ r . Russell visited the farm of Mr. T. M'Phillips, at Manai.v and inspected the .dairy herd there. According to tho Haw'cra "Star," Mr. M'Phillips took advantage of tho occasion to urge upon the Ministers the desirableness uf tho Government establishing a Stato dairy farm in somo central position on the Waimate Plains, and the great advnntago such an institution, if properly conducted, would bo to tho district and the Dominion as a whole. On such a farm only tho very best stock would bo wared, and the young bulls distributed throughout the district. Proper tests and records would bo kept on tho farm to prove the butter-fat producing valuo of each cow, and in this.' way the' whole of the herds of the district wouldvery soon be vastly improved. To illustrate what this Would mean, he mentioned that an average increase of only 401b. of butter-fat per cow per year would mean an increase of 1J millions sterling to the Dominion, and this increase of butter-fat. was a very moderate estimate to expect from increased quality in the herds. Such a farm, too, would bo invaluable to farmers in the way ()f fertilisin" experiments. The experiments carried on at Mounnhaki were (said Mr. M'Pliiliips) really nseless to Waimate Plains farmers—conditions and soils were not similar, and in the very near future ;the Southern Tarauaki farmers must fcrtilisci their grounds much more than they havo been doing in the past. But the farmers were not in a position to experiment, and some such experimental farm work to bo conducted by the Government was now really needed. The Ministers, in reply, warmly ap; proved of the suggestion, admitted the desirableness of such an establishment, And agreed that it should do a great deal of good to the dairy industry,. The great difficulty was one of finance, and they could not bo sure if the Opposition in Parliament would back them up in such an undertaking. Hero the matter rests for the present. Plea for a Demonstration Farm, During the course of his remarks in proposing the toast of "Tho Dairying Industry" at tho bant[iiet to the Prime Minister at Manaia, Mr. P. W. B. Greville remarked that although the returns from farms in that locality had in some cases gone as high as .£ll ss. per acre, even, that was 'hardly dairying, worth the name. It was quite possible to keep two cows to the acre, but under the grazing systemallowing the cows to wander all over tho land—one-third of every acre was wasted, and that system was the worst in the world. The dairy production of New Zealand, Mr. Greville continued, could he doubled by the adoption of the soiling system, and he would like the Government to acquire a demonstration farm of (say) 100 acres in Taranaki and run it for the benefit of everyone in New Zealand. The Government could, ho said, safely guarantee to pay the owner of tho farm his best annual return previously under the grazing system, on condition that he ran tho farm on the' soiling system for the future, the Tesnlt of which would be, Mr. Greville claimed, that in addition to paying the former owner whatever he might have taken annually off the farm, say, ifilOOO, an additional profit of .C2OOO or ,£3OOO would be made, which could be distributed in charity or in whatever other way was considered advisable.

Chick-rearing is not only profitable, but a pleasure, when you feed "A and P" Chick-Raiser. It is completo and pro-perly-blended food for Young Chicks. Obtainable from all storekeeDers.—Advt.

SOUTH ISLAND GOSSIP. THE SEASON AND THE CHOPS. A correspondent who lias been engaged in harvesting in the S-outli Island gives a gloomy account of affairs. Referring to a fivo weeks' stay in South Canterbury, 'he says ■ the!■ weather was unusually bailrain, hail, wind, ami.sharp frosts being the order of the day—in fact, the conditions were arctic. •■ "Beaching- Mataura on March 25," the correspondent continues, "I. had' not left the platform before 1 was ollered work. 1 accented it, and' it rained throughout a ten-mile drive, and lias-rained until to-day (March 28). The crops iu all this district (cats) are unusually Into, much of the crop being still green and far from ready to cut. Where it is cut and stooked they cannot get sufficient dry weather to stack. In districts near the river and low country the ground is-so wet and soft that a binder ca.nn.ot be driven over it. Such a bad season can hardly bo called to mind. . . The grass seed, harvest is akin to a failure—much of the seed is beyond saving, and will remain in stook to rot or bum. In other places cutting was hopeless. The loss is severe, especially to men who have not long started in the. district. Turnips are not doing at all well. They appear stunted and undeveloped, the soil being so sodden and cold. "AH the way from Dunedin to GoTe grain may be seen still unstacked, and it apparently has been in that condition for an undue length of time. Men aro scarce, and are snapped up eagerly, and as the rabbiting season has commenced they will not be any more plentiful." Some Stray Notes. The following notes from various sources benr further on the position in the South:— At present the supply of grain tacks in the South Island appears to be short, and it is lucky that so much stacking has been done. A shipment of sacks from Calcutta is expected in a few weeks' time. Some second-hand sacks have been imported from Sydney and from the North Island to help matters out. The harvest is no doubt a heavy one over a good deal of the South Island. Potatoes in the Taieri are not up to the standard of previous years, and blight was to bo seon in various fields, but not to an alarming extent. The turnip crops, for which the Taieri Plains arc so noted, are poor in comparison with previous years, and those that have done well were sown late. On the whole, however, tho Taieri farmers are well pleased with the season, which is looked upon as equal, if not superior, to the average. Opinions aro somewhat divided as to the ultimate fate of the market for potatoes, but the probabilities aro that a fairly high level of values will be maintained, owing to the fact that some of tho crops on the heavier, lands are turning out to be failures. Probably the champion crop of Dun oats in this district, says tho "Southland Times," has been threshed by Messrs. Ealtom Bros., at Hcddon Bush. The crop of about 40 acres has put up a record of 110 bushels to the acre, and is in grand order. Splendid crops, although not so far threshed, ■ are to be seen on all sides. Messrs. John,Cowie and Sons also threshed a fine crop of about 15 acres of Dim oats, which returned over 100 bushels to the acre. . • The shortage of sacks for-bagging the season's harvest is tho one drawback to the complacency of fanners in the Oamaru district. Many of them are in the happy position of finding their grain thresh out from 10 to 20 per cent, better than their estimate, and their difficulty is to secure sacks on a market considerably in uader-supply. The fat lamb supply in Southland, says the "Times," continues to be sluggish, although the Mataura works aro now being kept pretty well going. Buying firms report that stuff is difficult to pick up, but that thcro are more lambs coming forward than was at one tiuio expected. ■There is a big deficiency to make good, however. From Canterbury similar imports are forthcoming, and it looks α-s if, all round, there will be a big shortogo this year. Now that harvest operations are being carried out with expedition, there should soon Ire plenty of stubble available. This should tend to remove the temporary slump that has been experienced in store sheep and cattle. Some dealers, however, havo signified their intention of hohling off meanwhile. Tho consensus of opinion seems to be that fat stuff, both cattle and sheep, will be dear during the winter and tho spring.