FARM NOTES.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 653, 26 July 1921, Page 6

FARM NOTES.

JOTTINGS. That the land boom i'n Taranaki has ended is beginning to become more and more apparent.' Farms have been sold recently for £2O per acre less than was paid for them 12 months ago. Criticism of farmers by outsiders is apt to be unjust, because it does not take account —owing to lack of knowledge on the part of the critic—of the circumstances in which the farmer carries out his business. In selecting heifers or steers it is sound policy to buy only those which look like growing, as indicated by plenty of bone and skin,, with a loose glassy skin, and * possessed of some character in keeping with the breed they represent.

“A Cambridge farmer made £7OO in one season, off 15 acres, by raising pigs,” was a statement made by a representative of the New Zealand Bacon Company when speaking at Paeroa.—Waikato Independent.

According to Dr. Reakes, DirectorGenera! of thej Department of Agriculture in New Zealand, there has been no case of anthrax in the Dominion for over 15 years. All classes of animals are singularly free from parasitic diseases. He attributes this happy state of affairs largely to the work of Dr. Gilruth, who, when chief veterinary officer, - introduced the necessary preventative, measures.

A report has been current that cheese companies in the Wairarapa have secured offers equivalent to a return of 2s per lb of butter-fat for next, season’s output (says the Age). The writer recently approached the chairman of two large concerns regarding >the rumour, and they gave it an emphatic denial. No offers had yet been made for next season’s output, though the representatives of English firms were moving about and asking companies what they were prepared to take. The companies were told that the .cheese market *3 likely to be bare next season.' It seems probable that most companies will consign their outputs and chance the markets.

The best price that can be obtained by Canterbury potato growers just now is from £2 10s to £2 15s per ton at country stations

There is evidently good money in winter milking (says the Levin Chronicle). For the month’s supply from six cows, a local, dairyman collected £32, and the herd was only one of ordinary quality.

PARALYSIS IN NEWLY-CALVED COWS.

A chemist of Rangiora, claims to have discovered a remedy for paralysis in newly-calved cows which has been very successful. He says he has had wonderful success with his remedy all over the district-, and that he has been using- it for many years. Last year alone he saved over 20 cases, all bf which were considered hopeless, as in every instance the animal had been down for several days. As a good cow is now worth at least £3O, dairy farmers would be wise to keep a bottle of this remedy always at hand, and not .Stake the risk of having to hold a post-mortem*

SHORTAGE OF FAT STOCK ANTICIPATED.

There is a growing opinion that fat stock will * be scarce by the time spring arrives. There is not a great deal about at the present time, and the fodder crops that are not being reserved for winter were chiefly fed to lambs. What remains of these stand-bys v/ill be wanted for ewes and the dry sheep that have to be held over, and there will be little to spare for actual fattening purposes. Sheep are being given more attention than cattle in so far as winter feeding is concerned, and it is not likely that South Canterbury will have any number of turnip cattle for the market later on. Usually South Canterbury supplies large numbers for the Addington market during the winter and spring, as well as keeping up the supplies for local consumption. Well grown steers that are usually in demand at this season for turnip feeding are, however, selling, no better than young stuff, _ and dry 'cows can hardly be given away. Unless Otago and Southland can supply the Canterbury markets during the. end of winter and beginning of spring, as they have done before, there seems every reason for believing that supplies will be short. The south will of course require a good deal of winter food for their ordinary hold-over stock. CORNS ON HORSES. A corn in a horse is a bruise of the ’sensitive foot, at the inner heel of the forefoot, resulting from uneven pressure by the heel of the shoe. The injury causes lameness, and the horn is stained by effusion of blood underneath, An open flat foot is most liable to such bruising, and the shoe that is too short and, too dose is

most likely to cause it. A shoe, though well fitted, that is allowed to remain too long may cause a corn, since the shoe is moved from its safe bearing on the wall to an injurious position by the growth of the horn. In some cases removal of the shoe and readjustment to prevent pressure on the bruised part will cure a corn. Rest and warm fomentations may be necessary, or, in severe cases, the discoloured horn may require paring away to allow matter to escape. Where the discolouration is. slight, and lameness not very great, it is not advisable to pare away much horn, as it takes time to grow again, aria its absence impairs the bearingsurface of the foot., In slight cases of injury relief is afforded and a cure effected by cutting off the inner heel of the shoe, forming a threequarter shoe.

THE PASTORAL OUTLOOK. The industry is “up against it” in Australia as in other producing countries (states the “Pastoral Review.”) / It is not a permanent condition, but a phase consequent on the existence and operation of certain economic factors andi laws again exerting their force jin the channels from hwich they were temporarily deviated by human sacrifice during the war. All the factors that influence value are in course of readjustment, and value sun eres in the process. One of the heaviest losers in the shuffle, as we have repeatedly pointed' out, is the sheep and cattle owner. He made satist-ictory profits during' the war, a consistently good price for his wool and meat The greater part of those profits was either rein,vested in the business or else went to make good losses incurred in subsequent drought, and to pay war-time tax and increasingly heavy income tax. Moreover, it must not be forgotten -that as the prosperity of the industry waxed higher and still higher wages were' granted to all grades and sections of. labour employed on stations, until to-day they stand at a level than was only payable as long as prices for primary produce remained also< at an exalted level. The cost of production also increased enormously in many other directions. Still, till the inevitable slump came, sheep anci cattle Loosing was a very satisfactory paying proposition Now, however, we have'a very different state of affairs. Values have sagged and' sagged, and even yet no .man can say definitely that bottom has been touched, though we hope and believe so, but the cost of ,production, let alone showing no corresponding fall, has lemained where it was and in many respects has even increased. Drought, in New South Wales last year particularly, hit hundreds and thousands of small men so badly that they have'nt a hope of meeting their liabilities to-day, and in fact the whole industry, big and small men alike, is, as we have said, “up against it” in a greater or lesser degree. His only chance to . place through, and thus save the solvency of the country, is to receive the very limit of accommodation his financ:err can afford him, a sympathetic and helpful .attitude on the part of bis Government, a reduction in the cost of production and marketing wherever possible, and a revival in the markets for his produce. The man in the street is apt to regard the man on the land as belonging to. an absolutely independent community, bue if the latter goes under it won’t take his brother of the street long to realise who it is that really butters his bread.

DAIRYING IN NEW ZEALAND.

Whilst it is not claimed that the dairy industry has saved the financial position in New Zealand, there is no gainsaying the fact that the returns from this source have, gone a long way towards maintaining* stability (remarks the “Pastoral Review”.) The sale of the late season’s output of butter to the Imperial Government at high prices not only relieved the producers from the risks of the market, but has secured a regular income to a large body of producers. A good market was also found for cheese. The re-' turns now show that the combined value of butter and cheese exported was .£16,033,434, and added to this there were the export of dried milk, casein, condensed milk, sugar of milk, and other milk products. The amount of butter and cheese consumed locally was worth about £4,000,000, so that New Zealand’s dairy industry has returned to supi l pliers during the late season' over £20,000,000. The quantity of dairy produce that went into the grading' stores for export during the dairy year (Ist August, 1920, to 30th April, 1921,) was as follows :—Butte)-, 668,613 cwts. (last season, 364,778 cwt.) ; cheese, 1,059,183 cwts. (last year’, 1,135,958, cwts.) Ifc is not anticipated that such good prices as have been realised during the late season can rule during the coming season, but cheese will prooabiy pay .better than butter to produce, and as most of the large factories have dual plants, there is no ' difficulty about making that which .will be most profitable. The slump 'in the Wool and sheep markets is likely to Have the effect of increasing the number of suppliers to the dairy factories during the coming season, and it is already reported that a good, many farmers on suitable land ip the North Island will replace their sheep with cows.