BY THE WAYSIDE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 196, 4 September 1937, Page 17

BY THE WAYSIDE

News of Interiest tb H.B. Farmers WINTERING STOCK Poor winter feediiig of stock is one of the .commonest and most grievous weaknessee in New Zealand farming. The feeding of developing dairy heifers and ot hoggets, unfortunately, often is far below the needs of the animals. Such developing istock are readily susceptible to serious and possibly pennanent eetbacks as" a result of malnutrition in the winter, and the harm which resuits is likely to infested .with internal parasites. The be greatly intensified if the stock are jpermanent setback may take the form *f stunting in size, which experience shows is assoeiated -usually with a correspondiiig stunting _ in production". Hence it may he expected to ^jroVe profitable to give both heifers and hoggets the best feed : available.- Feeding of 'st/avr, poor hay, or stemmy grass grr> t-h is not" consistent with this:' Feeci/ s'uch "as leafy grassj good hay, roqts, aud green crops, whicb is relatively rich in* digestible supfequired. . , . plies of body-huilding material, is Tallless Sheep. Tailless sheep have been developed hy James W. Wilson, director of the South Dakota Agricultural Collegie Experimental Station '(reports tho A'merican Cattle Producer), For many years Mr Wilson has been crossing the native Siberian sheep with various other breeds, and the experiment hag resulted in a. fixed. type without tails. The -new type, which js -not yet made, available ,to . sheepmen, is shid to rhave- more vitality than. any other breeds from which • jt .-has - tprung.- - • , -Importance of Dairying. • • The importance of dairying as ' an industry in America is desoribed in iinpressive terms by the Literary Digest. This industry is larger than the ^steel business or autonfobile manufacturing. - -TJnited States farihers .produce 45,000,000,000 quarts of milk annually, .of which 25 per cent, is ii&ld °h the farms, 30 per cent. is dis* tvibuted - in . bottles, 33 per. cenk is mgdp into butter, 5 per cent, into " cB0se,/ 4 per cent, ihto evaporated cotxdensed and dry milk. 2 per cent, . into iqo gream, and the rejnaining 1 per cent. is used for miscellaneous purposes. MUk constitutes approxi-mately..one-fourth of all the 15001b. of food consumed by the average Ara--erican yearly. Yalued at 3d. a quart, .the milk production of the TJnited States* is worth more than £500,000.000 a year. inutelligent Stallion.

A etallion belonging to Z, J. de Beer, of the farm Nooitgedacht, in ihe Warden district, South Africa, ig reported to have learned not- ouly the somewhat commoii trielc of 'opening'gates (says the Fafmers' Weekly) but also how to manipulate the handle of a pump. When thirsty the stallion -kicks a bucket into position under the spout and then works the pump. Haviug satisfied his own thirst the stallion often playg the part of the good Samaritan to two other horses that occupy the same paddock. Animal Manure. A cow produees on the average about 701b. of manure daily, a steer 601b., a horse 441b., a pig 91b., and a sheep 41b. Cow manure contains the- largest pro* portion of water (-77 per cent.), and sheep manure the least (64 per cent.), Manures from horses, cows,- and pigS each contain about 101b. of nitrogenbeariug ammonia to the ton; from steers 121b. to 181b.; and from sheep 301b. The amount of valuable phosphoric acid present ranges from 51b. to 81b. per ton, with steer and. pig manure the riehest. Sheep manure is the riehest in potash., whilo s)eer manure is the poorest. t Rayoa from Beans. According to a report from Japan, the South Manchuria Railway Company has decided to establish the rayon industry in Manchuria. 'The proposal is to form a subsjdiary company with- a eapital of 10,000,000 yen. Rayon will he manufactured from soya bean husks. The aim is to produce 250,000 tons of rayon pulp annnally, and for this output about 1,500,000 tons of husks will be used. It is also stated that artificial wool similar to the Italian fibre known as lanital made from milk can be produced from the soya bean, the protein eontent of which is said to be similar to the casdin in mijk. Valuable Sheep-Dog. Mr. A. S. Herbert, of Otago, who Is on a" world, tour and is at present an England, has bought a three years' old sh'eep-dog, Jaff, with an international reputation and a winner of numerous gheep-dog trials in Wales. His previous owner was Couneillor J. T. Jones, Deputy-Mayor of Conway, North Wales. It is reported that the price paid for Jaff is one of the highest ever given for a sheep*dog exported out of Eogland or Wales. Ensilage,. While one of the features of the farming of the last deeade has been the expansion in the area of ensilage, there are still many farms on j which it could be introduced or inercased with proiit. Thit- is particularly truo of sheep ftxnns, but it continues to bc widely truo also of dairy fanus. Tossibly tlie desirable- expansion in eusilajge would take place more rapidly

were it more generally realised how readily and cheaply suitable trenehes or pits may be provided and how greatly' they may be made to effect eeonomy of labour apd reduce wastage of thS material being used. While many farms do not possess suitable locations for pits which are placed most advantageously on small hillsides, trenehes which sro really shallow pits can be used effies"ntly much more commonly than is sonietimes believed: trenehes excavaled on level land are being used widbly with full succcsa,