DAIRY FARM COMPETITION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1743, 7 May 1913, Page 10

DAIRY FARM COMPETITION.

THE JUDGE'S REPORT. 1 Reporting to ,tlie Stratford A. and P. Association on its dairy farm competition, the judges, Messrs. D. Ctuldie, C. J. Rcakes, and R. Lambie, senr., make some interesting comments, perusal of which may enable others to correct defects. Referring to the provision of winter feed the judges say 'tlie respective farmers evidently had a good realisation of ;thi> advantages accruing from keepiiig their cows in good health and condition through the winter, thus enabling them -to come to their calving under the best conditions for giving a profitable milkyield right from the start of the season. No bad crops of turnips wero seen. Mangolds were grown on o.nly two farms, those placed first and second, both crops being good. The fact' that one-eighth of 'the total points were allocated to the mangold crop proved a serious handicap to those farms 011 which this ctop was not growii. . One matter noted with regret was that only 'two competitors wero testing the yields of their individual cows, and both of these belonged to one or other of the Cow-testing Associations operating in tho district. The record of one of these farmers was one of which any dairyman •might be proud, and it is worth noting. The average production of his cows up to April 11 was 2901b. fat, and 70551b. milk in 215 days. Tho best animal in the herd gavo 3771'b. fat in 195 days. To sum up this sedtion. of the competition, tho chief points noted were:— 1. The good health and. condition of the cows".

2. The presence of purebred bulls. '■3. The absence of anything approaching uniformity of 'type or breed in the cows save in two herds.

4. The absoncc of any exact knowledge on the part of the farmer (save in two cases) of the real value, as n milker, of each of his cows. This knowledge can only bo accurately obtained by testing each cow's hiilk yield over a season, and in view of tho fact that two Testing Associations are in existence in 'the district, we ,are surprised that more of the competitors hacl not joined one or other of these associations. 5. Tho general practice of saving the heifer calves of the cows known or believed to be the most profitable milkers in the herd.

The buildings varied considerably m merit. Certain of the mil king-sheds were badly constructed and quito unworthy of an up-to-dato dairy farm. There seemed to' be no degree of uniformity in' the style and planning of the milking-sheds in use, but this is only to be expected, seeing that a number of them linvo been in use for many years. On five of the farms concreto was laid down in the milking-sheds, tut thero were only two where a first-class job had resulted. Jn some cases only a 'part of' the floor was covered with concrete, and the fall for the drainage ran in the wrong direction, the end of the drain in some cases being much too near the building.

In only one instance was thero a firstclass .water supply laid on to the shed, milk-stand, and 1 , piggery, this being provided from a near-by creek, and elevated to tanks by means of a ram. Several of the competitors have provided 1 wells (others* drawing their supplies from rainwater collected in tanks), and if wind r mills were attached to these to elevate the water for cleaning the premises and cooling purposes, it would be a great advantage. At all the farms visited the dairy utensils wero found to be clean, although in somo cases it was noticcd that the;® ap-pliances-were-kept in or too near the milkiug-shed during the interval between ihilkings, a system*which cannot be commended. • : .'

! "With one cr two. exceptions,...therimilkstands were found to be in good positions, several being provided with' concrete bass and suitable drainage. Unfortunately a number of the competitors did licit appear to attach enough importance to the necessity for keeping (he lnilkStsinds iii the best' ''order; •. [ Avfor, tha pigsties, they.were.generally badr most being very bad. In only one case was any attempt made at proper construction, and the good points of this were somewhat minimised by the ab.senco of sufficient ventilation, the smell within being particularly pungent in spito of good drainage facilities. Another 'sty,'.'which possessed a wooden floor, was provided with good facilities for cleansing and for drainage, a-permanent water supply being provided. But its construct tion was faulty, and apart from tho faci-' lilies for the maintenance of such cleanliness as was possible under tho structural conditions, it only showed up well 'by comparison, because tho majority of tho other sties seen ware infinitely worse.

If dairy farmers want to get tho best return from their pigs, they must provide proper accommodation for them. Evidently th(S great majority dp not do so at present, aud the sooner they awake to the necessities of the situation, and take proper action, the better for them and for the dairy industry. In the judging, points were nllowcdjfor turnips, mangolds, paddocks, pigsties, haystack, fencing, milking shed, and the herd/ The grand totals of those scoring over 50 points were as under:—A. D. Walker, G2J points; T. AVebb, 81; W. Barlow, 57;. J. Jago, 54}; A. and ,T. R. West, 541; E. Jones, 53. The fencing prize was won by J. Jago, with S. Pitt second.