BY THE WAYSIDE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 67, 11 December 1937, Page 16

BY THE WAYSIDE

News of Interest To H.B. Farmers FAITH IN THE LAND An appeal to his aons to retain the land in their possession was contained in the will of Mr Thomas Tully, Kelly, a grazier, of Deepwater, in the Glen Innes district, New South Wale3. One of the clauses in the will reads: "lt is my fervent and earnest prayer ihat none of my sons shall ever dispose by sale cf any of the land left to them by me or afterwards purchased hy them at any time, for notwithstanding every tribuiafion, the earth is a safeguard, and while owned remains a r.ecurity against ills of any kind. The carth remains when everything else han dt?parted. " » Poor Grass, Poor Farming. "Many farmers realise that poor grass is poor business, and that if they have grass at all, it is bad poliey .even in adverse circumstances to neglect it," said the British Minister of Agriculture, Mr W. S. Morrison, in a recent address. "Negleeted grass land deteriorates year by year. It has a very short season of production; its output is of low quality Low quality grass lead to malnutrition and disease of livestock. Proper attention to such grass will increase its nutritive' value and lengthen the grazing season. This will save expenditure on feeding stuffs in the production of meat or milk, and will shorten the time required for pra. ducing lamb or beef. In other- words, the farmer who treats his grass properly undoubtedly reaps his reward.

Difficult to Find. "It is just as hard to find a normal person as it is a normal cow," stated Dr. G. A. Hucker, Professor of Bacteriology at Cornell University, in addressing farmers at Palmerston North. He added that it usually required an exhaustive search to secure anyous complying with the requirements of mere normality. Chilled Beef Championship. In* the eehedule of' prizes for the Morrinsville A. and P. S'how to be held in March, pride of place has been given to the national chilled beef championship, which was instituted last year, and resulted in over 30 prime steers suitable for the chilled beef trade being penned. The steers will be judged on the day prior to the show, so that this display of beef on the hoof will be arranged early on show day, and those interested will be able to compara the prize-winning beasts with the others. The carcases of tliese steers will -be judged in New Zealand, and later at Smithfield, and further prizes awarded. , Queensland Lamb Trade. About 100 rams of English long-wool breeds have arrived in Queensland and are being distributed by the Department of Agriculture and Stock to approved farmers engaged in raising fat lambs in tliat State, says the Australasian. The breeds include Border Leicester, Romney Marsh, Dorset Horn, Southdown, Ryeland and Corriedales.

& Many of them will go to farmers out side the recognised fat lamb raisinj areas on the Darling Downs. In addi tion, farmers on the Atherton tablo land have also shared in a distributioi of 300 ewes and 10 rams. Breeding of Stock. The importance of breed in tne pro*1 duction of fat stock is coming to b® more and more appreciated by producers, who, however, have by no means availed themselves to the fullest extent of the valu© of the well-bred sire in the production of fat cattle and sheep. Quite a revolution is taking place in this respect throughout the Waikato, where producers are showing that they realise that the best beef and muttou cannot be produced unless a well-bred sire is used. This fact was demonstruted at the recent Waikato Sunnne* Show, when judges of the show lambs on the hooks were unanimous in expressing the view that the substantial improvement apparent over the. carcases of previous years was due entirely to better breeding.

Culiing the Flock. Faulty fieeces, malformation, lack ot conformation, constitution, and size, and a general unthrifty appearance are 'all indications of the necessity of cull» ing the flock. The covering of wool should be governed to a great extent, by the conditions of the locality m which sheep are to be depastured. Jn districts where elimatie conditions hav® a fining influence on the fleece, a fibra' on the strong side of medium is advocated. Colour, length of staple, char* acter — all combine to make a quality, fleece. With the culiing of the ewe flock should go the selection of better rams* With rams, the type selected should ba at least somewhat stronger in the det sirable characeristics than that of tha ewes. Prepotent power — that is of likn begetting like — is of great importance, and is generally indicated in the xam's head. & Having achieved a type, th® quickest way to fix and retain it is to" continue with the same strain of rams* It takes the breeder of long experN ence to chop and change successfully, from stud to stud when introducing new blood. '