BY THE WAYSIDE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 68, 7 April 1937, Page 15

BY THE WAYSIDE

News of Interest To H.B* Farmers SUCCESS IN DAIRYING A few minutes ' consideration must reveal that the essential factors for success in dairying lie in the three fundamental operations — breeding, feeding and handling. These three factors are closely inter-related, and if any one be neglected maximum Tesults cannot be obtained. No matter how well fed an animal may be, high yields cannot be expected if it is but poorly bred and has not the inherent capaeity for such production. On the other hand, well-bred cows with the capacity to return satisfactory yields cannot attain tlieir maximum production unless properly fed and carcfully handled, A Importance of Sire. In a discussion such as the above too j liiueh emphasis cannot be put on the importance of the selection of a sire. No other single investment in animals j ean play so important a part in deterj mining the future producing ability [ of the herd. The proper sire will make I possible the development in a few years of a high-class herd, while on the other hand a poor sire may rapidly decrease the yield of an already wellestablished and high-producing herd Better feeding and management are the only means available for increasing the yields of cows already in the herd, but heredity is the most potent factor we can employ in the production of future generations of dairy cows that will be produetive enough to be profit* able to their ownefs. Fun of the Show; There is a complaint sometimes that shows do not provide much variety or entertainment. When the jumping is finished the entertainment generally is finished. Some associations run dog trials, but a decision in these takes too much time to chain the interest of those who are not stock or "doggie" men. However, there was an innovation at the Oxford Show on Thursday which provided plenty of merriment (says the Christchurch Press). This was a sheep dog race. Dogs were held at one end of the ring, and at a signal the owners near the other end set up a vigorous whistle, the dogs being then released and covering the distance to the owners at their best racing gait, Owner and dog, united, then set ouii on a short xunning course, including the "jumping" of a hurdle, to the finishing post. The only wealt part of the event is that the concluding sprint is a young man's game. The older hands stepped very short in the run home. More Dairying. The British Ministry of Agriculture'? voluntary census of live stock showB that the number of cattle in England and Wales on December 4, 1936, was 6,648,000, compared with 6,510,000 in December, 1935. Cows and heifers in milk or calf were 3,102,000 as against 3,080,000. Earmers for the first time returned separately the numbers of beef and dairy cattle. The estimates were 4,160,000 dairy cattle and 2,488,000 beef cattle. In Wales the numbers of beef and dairy cattle were 401,000 and 426,000, respectively. Sheep Inerease. Sheep in England and Wales totalled 12,912,000, compared with 12,662,000 in the previous December. Ewes for breeding increased by 146,000, or nearly 2 per cent. from 7,607,000 to 7,753,000. Pigs declined from 4,112,750 to 4,056,003. The number of pigs ih England (excluding Monmouth) fejl from 836, 592 to 3,788,610, and in Wales (including Monmouth) from 276,158 to 267,393. Breeding soWs showed a reduction of 27,000, or over 5 per cent. The number of young pigs under two months old also declined, but there was a slight inerease in the numbers of other pigs of two months and over. Fifty Tons of Milk from One Cow. Breeding here is for milk and milk only, states Mr. F. W. Gilbert in The Farmer and Stock-Breeder when describing the management of his herd which recently won the "Silcock" cup. After a long life in the herd, the fact that the cows do not make a high price for beef does not worry me. Grittleton Crystal Second is a cow that has given over 50 tons of milk, and caxrie down with her seventh calf (a heifer) recently. She gave 1000 gallons with her first calf and over 2000 with the next five, and at 8i years old her career is by no means finished. I am very keen on the bull's butterfat pedigree and insist on four per cent. butter in his female ancestors for as far back' as can be' traced. My present stock bull, Chellaston Aafrol (which, incidentally, was never beateu in his class in 1936), has these qualifications, for 13 of the named cows in his pedigree have not le&s than four per cent. Fettility of Eams. As a result of investigatlons, Dr. E. M. C. Gunn, of the University of Sydney, has found that the fertility of rams . varies considerably tliroughout the year. It decreases considerably in periods of hot weather. Dr. Gunn has been carrying* out work concerning the reproduetive organs of rams, which has a considerable bearing on tlieir fertility, and for the last year he has continued his study to determine the fertility of rams maintained under varying climatic conditions. He now proposes to extend his work to mating trials. The ultimale aim of the inves- , tigation is to enable correcfc advice to

be given to the breeder about th« correct timd of mating sheep to obtaiu maximum fertility. It will be left to the grazier himself to determine whether it is more economic to aim at maximum fertility (or birth of lambs), or to aecept reduced fertility in order to avoid later mortality or losses because of local conditions. Nitrogen and Olover. How much nitrogen, expressed in terms of sulphate of ammonia, do you suppose i3 eontained in the annual growth of wild white clover on one acre? The question was put by Professor Johnstone Wallace to a visitor, and the latter's guess was 4001b. That was far short of the mark of 15111b., which the professor had obtained by actual weights and analyses of the chop. Think of itl (comments a correspondent). Over 3001b. of pare nitrogen per acre! As much as is eontained in 15001b. of sulphate of ammonia or 18751b. of nitrate of soda. This explains why grasses growing with wild white clover thrive better than when growing alone. The nitrogen is a gift to the 'grasses and costs the wild white clover nothing to collect. All the clover asks for is an adequate supply of phosphate and potash in the fertiliser, and it will produce nitrogen enough and to spare. Kovel Ensilage Pit. A novel method of making ensilage is being tried by Mr. S. B. La Trobe, of Broekton, Charing Heath, Kent. His "silo" is the centre of an old stack of pea and bean straw. Mr. Lr Trobe told The Farmers' "Weekly that the idea occurred to him when he had to face the problem of using up a piece of growing maize, which could not be fed to the cattle immediately owing to the abundance of grass. "I had no silo or pit," he said, "and I decided to use the walls of the old stack, the straw of which could only be used for litter. The centre of the stack was cut away in two sections, leaving a pit of about 16 feet by eight feet and 18 feet deep. The walls were three feet wide on the longest sides and five feet Wide at the ends. On one side of the pit I left a quantity of straw to be used, if necessary, in filling up the pit, and to soak np the juices from the ensilage. Dnring the filling"1 of the pit, the maize was cut into short leigth, and pressed down tightly. "When the pit was nearly full, a load of grass was placed on top of the maize. Then the stack was covered with wheat chaff, and the remaining walls were pushed over to form the roof. I must now await the results of my experiment. "