THE MANAWATU

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 131, 26 February 1921, Page 9

THE MANAWATU

WELCOME RAIN FALLS OUTLOOK FOR FAT STOCK I From Our Own Correspondents. Palmerston North, February 25. "During the week a couple of nights’ Tain fell, and not before it was wanted, for feed was drying up in all directions, nnd the position was the reverse of satisfactory. Indeed, so serious was it considered, that on Inst Sunday night prayers for Tain were offered up in the churches. One result of the dry spell has been the falling off in the supply of milk at the factories, and the wholesalers have notified the town distributors that for the future milk will he Is. Gd. per gallon, in place of the Is. 2d. which has been the ruling price. Already many of the dairy-farmers are feeding their stock on loots nnd hay where they have not grown lucerne, but those who have been provident enough to put down this useful crop are making good use of it for their cows, and are feeling the benefit of it. The outlook for fat stock is anything but encouraging. Yesterday Hl announcement was made that buyers for export had dropped the prices for lamb from 9bl. to Bd., light-weight wethers from fijd. to 4}d.. with light-weight ewes Id. less, while heavy sheep are almost unsaleable. Prime'ox beef 1 as dropped by 10s. per 1001 b., white secondary quality is not wanted at all. On top of this to-day comes the news that three . of the biggest works have stopped buying for the present, and this does not tend to Improve the outlook. It is evident that feed is very scarce in the Hawkes Bay district, as large numbers of store cattle and sheep n.rw-comfng over from there, and some of the ewes and lambs arrive in a very emaciated condition. Stock of all kinds are ycry hard to quit, and ewes for which farmers .paid up. to 30s. and 355. last year are only bringing about half that amount when put up for sale. The ram fairs for the heavier classes of sheep have proved more or less a "frost,” and large -cumbers are being sent to the works for boiling down. As there has been a further drop of jCIO per ton in the price of tallow in the London market, it can be readily conceived that the rams so treated bring very little. At the same time it is a very good thing for the’ country to get a lot of them out. of the way, foi in many instances sheep have been kept ns rams which by no stretch of imagination could be regarded ns worthy to !*rpefuato the breed, and it is to he honed that some of tho small flonk-owpers w> lake the lesson to heart, and keen nothing but the best in the future Position Regarding Seed. Statements have been made in sonic o' *!>• newspapers that seed merchants a « declining to make offers for local seeto »»i4 they are accused of dealing witl growers in a huckstering spirit. S serious were tho allegations that I ma * inanities amongst the merchants, w point out that thby still hold fair stock* of last year’s seed, and that at P rese farmers are showing no inclination t purchase. As an instance of what smt of prices farmers are asking foi their ■oed, it mav be mentioned that some ito bright 321 b. rregrnss seed grown at bandon was offered to a merchant, the grower asking Ils. per bushel for, it, while tho buyer showed me offers of the grade of new season’s Canterbury seed, which is even better weight, which Imd beer offered to him at 7s 9d. at mlington. Another instance was givan mo where a grower declined to take less than Ts bushel for undressed Algerian cats, whle «hey are obtainable terbury, dressed at 3 s. ton growers are ’in ’ Hawke’s for oatensheai chan, , ~u XG 10?. Bay there is plenty available expected that’the buyers null ffSSFAi M Baincsse, and loxton tW particularly struck y t numhe r of pennyroyal has I ... . prompt pastures, and unless thmj c^ rJ .\ n the ly dealt with it «dl . lryness of tho country- In spit of r o„gl. Bea?on there is a s whole, feed in these districts and on stock are looking well A VISW a sandy area ncai th afforestation very good idea has done to stop t the binding o grass has onof lupms and mai n n g turned ablcd many sandy bl of gro w£Xbto to realise that a few years ago —s. There are still, many thousands oi' acT “ X the coast Which capable of the same treat ment, and it is hopea now that a Forestry Department has •been initiated ibat it will not bo long Wore a start is made in planting some of these areas. The advisability of growing su„a. boet has been discussed at length J the Farmers' Union, and already experiments are being made in the nay of growing it at the .Central Development Farm at Weraroa However Mr. Cockayne, biologist to the. A Srmnltuia» Department, in an article in the.A - cultural Journal,” contends that, the North Island is not suitable for He growtU of sugar-beet, and recommends Canterbury and a small portion oi ten-, tral Otago as the only likely places where it can be grown with success. Many farmers who 'have gone in rot lucorn patches in this district complain that it practically dies down m the winter. Although they have been advised to put the harrows through it after the last cut, they appear afraid to do so for fear of injuring the. roots. The most suceessful growers of this succulent hero do not mind how muc'h they tear the roots about with fhe hartows, for it is a deop-rooting plant, and tthe mpre it is torn about the better is She following crop. Improvement in Herds. A visit to quite a number of dairy farms shows that the herds are gradually being improved, the farmers appearing to have at last discovered that it pays better to keep a dozen cows whic'h give big yields of butter-fat, rather than twenty which do not give the same amount, and with very few exceptions good selections have been made. Of course, the breeds vary, some pinning their faith to tho Jersey, which is a wonderfully prolific milker, but which does not run to beef, while others, more especially those from Scotland, give pride of place to the Ayrshire, . and others swear by the black and whites, but on the whole, pride of place appears to be taken by the milking Shorthorn as the best duatpurposq cow. A breed that until lately was. not thought much of in the Dominion is now becoming more popular. That is the Aberdeen Angus, and the records of the herd at the IVercroa Central Development Farm are evidence that these cows are most prolific milkers, while they are also very useful for beef purposes. For some time past the Farmers’ Union has been endeavouring to get the Agricultural Department to institute a 300-day tost for cows (cows to freshen again within twelve months), in addition to the present 365-day C.O.H. test. It is argued in favour of the 365-day lest that it is only in the interest of actual stud breeders, and is of no practical use to the,dairy farmer who has Io run his herd on commercial lines. That section avows that it does not pay them to keep A oow in milk for 365 days, as by so doing they would lose a calf every four years. In that test, too, the cows has#

to bo milked at least three, and in some cases four, times a day. They contend that this is working under abnormal conditions in order to get a high test. What they wish to have established is what might be termed a test under purely commercial conditions which could be taken part in by any dairyman who had a registered cow milking under normal conditions. They have no wish to interfere with the 365-day test, which they admit is quite necessary for stud breeders who have to compete with the American stock, which are treated under similar conditions. As all endeavour.* have been made to get' the Dairy Division of the Department to agree to the innovation without success, the union has appointed a deputation to wait upon the Minister of Agriculture and ask hrs assistance in the matter. Quite a number of dairymen in the Manawatu have signified their intention of testing if th 300-day test is instituted; and it appears as if it would be self-supporting.