BY THE WAYSIDE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 31, 20 February 1937, Page 19

BY THE WAYSIDE

News of Interest to H.B* Farmers RETURNS FROM SHEEP ' While vendors. rqigllt ,be dlsappointed with the Blackening of valuefe at yes- - terd-ay's ewe fair at Stortford Lodge_ I there ,wei*e many farmers who hegved a proionge4 high of relief when they saw that pj'ices were .more in the buyers ' f'avonr. x This year's values for breeding shtep eertaihly ihdicate thgt de p.ression daya are. ovfcr, but just. what effect this will have on the returns to thq puichasing fftrmerfe is pioblematipal. The mueh enhanced prices ' wiU need c.onu«tenfly good returns. from ineat u.rjd wcol if proflts ar:' to * be' inaintained by the wool-grower and lamb fatteier. Paspalum In H.B. - That - ■ paspaluni " CaH' grow - Satisfac* tomy in liawke 's Bay was clearly Je . moubtiated t(. the writei wfien he vi^ifced a Hastings small' farm recently. .On this farm dairying is the prinpipal braiich of production,1 and paspalum'haa been introdiiced ' into one'of the paddoeks: Here it ie dping iyell, and the r.ontrast between the green and luxuriant growth of the' gaspalum with the bare picking of rye-grass and clover m the same paddock was most mqrked. Paspalum is certainly a plant which could be used with cqnsidefablo advanrage ou many of the flat-land farhis around Hastings and Napier. Farming In Kenya Golony. Oaptain F. Roberts, pf Kenya Cqiony, who is visiting New Zealand, states -that surprismgly good resnlts have been obtained in the ColOny witfi native sheep, which he described as being more like goats than sheep, when crossed with Merinos. A highly satisfactory line wool has been obtained 'Which coinmanded a ready sale pn jjfie Lpndoh markets. Ayrshiro World Record. Not content with Creating two frosii world 't reeords for the Ayrshire breed made by the 3000-gailon cow, Janet, and the four-year-old Nana, as already reported, Mr. Alex. Gochrane, Nether ('raig, Kilmarnock, has added yet another feather to his *cap, saye thti "North British Agriculturist," by creating a tbird. This is a record yieid for 24 hours ' milking of 1141b. from Killoch Betsy (56,109), a four-year-old member or his herd, which was bred by Mr. H. Woodburn, Killoch, GlastOn. The'previous best was lllflb., given by Sockhill • Lady Nicotine, belohging • to - Sir Achid. Langman, Bt-.j Manor Farm, near Cadbury. Somerset'. * Artificial Insimination. At a recent meetiiig or thq Britisii Friesian Oattie society a stop was taken which will be a much discussed lopic in tne isnt'em waiiti oa uat-tiv breeding for eome time to- come. The council of the society has resoived to sqpport experiments in tfip artificiial msemination of stock, and has approved qf the principie invplvpd. A. suh-cpm-mittee hus bee.n apppinted to plan ro. gulations and verifieations such as would qualify progeny. for the Herd Book. This methpd of the prppagation of live stock has been employed in Rnssia a good deal. There the.ob,iective has been tp get the fullest possible use of the supply of males, and particulariy pf. quality males.t How artificial insemination will fit in with British pure stock breeding ideals remains to be seen, b,ut little harm .can be done if the experimentation is wisely condueted Big . Jersey Pificea. ■ The upward trend in Jersey prices in other parts of the world is indicated by the suecess pf a recent sale in America. For a sale of surplus pattle thq average for the 36 sold of a little pver £93 was the highest for eight years. .In ad'Jition, the same yepdor§, .Pebble flill Stud, sold three cqws privately thq same day for £2000, so that the average. for the 39 sold altogether was £137. The Soil. • ' It is* necessary in a 'community like oure,. where we are apt, among towna and factories, to lose sight of the soil, that we should be leminded from time to time that man is dependent on the soil, and that all fiesh'is grass; that land is not merely a playground for the city dweller, it is the fundamental producer, and the tiller of the soil is more necessary to the community than the cinema operator or even than the coal miner. ' * Profe&sor J. Hendrick made this statement in hi« presidential address to the agricultural section of 0ie British Association, when he dealt with the subject of soil science. Food valuc of Grass. A remarkably interesting and instructive expei'iment has been condueted in America. It was tp determinp by a practical feedipg test, the fopd valu© of hay or ensilage made from early cut hay, or hay made from grass cut in the laaf stage. The American experinienters report tliat "pasture grasses cut at early stages of maturity and made into ensilage have a highcr protein centent and greater value for j ttiilk production than grass cilt at the usual mature stage." This expei'iment 1 definitely bears out the contontion of British investigators that grass in the leaf stage is a highly cancentrated food, equal in fact to linseed cake. ^rotoifis ano Profeitw. Reference has before been made to i the iiiteresting fact, emphasised by research work at Cambridge University, that there are proteins and proteins. A protein is made up of what are termed amino acids, and Cambridge work

showed that om of these amino acids oalled lysine was absolutely essential to growth and deyeiopnaent. The interesting thing about this to New Zealanders is that the protein foods being used by them for feeding pigs— Beparatpd ipilk, whey and meat meal— are rich in lysine, Generally s^eaking, proteins pf ' animal origin are rieh in lysine Ensilage and Hay. The yalue ot ensilage and hay fram grass in the leaf stage, or belore the seed stalks hpve appeared, has been reterred. to more than pnce in these coiumns, It is a case of • sacrificing bulk ior qualAy, and bulk getB the most votes every time. In regard to hay a man oltpn has no choice, " by reason of uniavourable weather, hut the few who have secured their hay at an early stage have proved the great value of it, Where the weather is against haymakirig the prpservihg of the grass when at its best food yalue stage should be done by means of silage. • The plain fact. is that if the grass is cut when it is a good milk- i producing food it w iil give hay or ensilage that' are milkrproducing foods, if cut at tiie usual stage it will he only a maintenanee diet.