BY THE WAYSIDE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 70, 15 December 1937, Page 13

BY THE WAYSIDE

News of Interest To H.B. Farmers FEWER P0RKERS A marked declihe in the nttmber of porker pigs produced in the Gisborne district has been noticed recently , farmers switiging more than over to baconers. This trend, advocated in Order to comply with export qudtas, also has heen noted in other parts of the Dominion. Jerseys in N.Z. Volume 84 o f the New Zealand Jersey Herd Boon , which was recently published, contains 15,968 registrations, as against 15,236 last year. The total is made up as follows, with last year's figures in parentheses : Bulls, 5953 (5534), heifers., 10,015 (9702). Mysterious Deaths. Sorne concern has been experienced by several farmers in the Temuka (South Canterbury) district at the unusual heavy mortality among their ejves after lambing. No cause can be assigned at present to account for this somewhat mysterious disease. Otherwise the season up to the present has been a j very successful one. One farmer of wide experience stated that never before had he noticed in that part of South Canterbury such a heavy mortality. VariouS opinions have ^been given, but nothing of a definite character has been stated as to the probable cause. The Dairy Farm. Large paddocks on a dairy farm are not economical, If practfcable, the farm should be suodivided into a* number of small paddocks, wMch allows for each ' to be grazed in turn, and then. spelled for a period to enable the paddock to recover. Large paddocks often mean fodder wastage, as cattle roam all i over the area, eating out the choice j grasses and fouling the remainder, j making them unfit for food. A lot j of waste results frdm faulty manage- j ment of good pastures by stocking too j heavily, which means, of course, that j 2ood grasses are eaten up quickly. If the paddock js spelled for a reasonable period, the pasture gets a chauce t»o recover and the grasses have time to seed. Unwise feeding methods constitute a prolifio source of waste. It is necessary to balance the ration.so that there will be no waste or loss in production through feeding an excess of one food cOnstituent at the axpense of another. Erosion In U.S.A. It is estimated that more than 10 per tent, of the total land area of the United States has lost more than tlireequarters of its tdp soil, and that a further 30 per cent. can be regarded as moderately eroded. In the Mississippi valley alone, 400,000,000 tons of good rich top soil are swept annually into the Giilf of Mexico, and in that area 25 per oent. of the cultivated land has heen stripped down to the subsoil and rendered useless for cultivation. ,A reduced yield of crops is the first sign of soil erosion, and this is generally countered by the use of fertilisers, which are, however, only a temporary remedy. A change in agricultural practice is required, and this is being carried out in some areas. Terracing, strip cropping, embankments along contours and other devices are being used, but most important of all is the reversal from one-crop cultivation to crop rotation and mixed farming. This, of course, will reduce the output of cash crops and me.an a greater production of live stock products. The tendency will he to put American agriculture on a basis of home food production rather than intensive export production. Queensland Lambs. For some years past successful lamh raisers in Queensland have been making good money, prices for pruun suckers in the Bnsbane market varying from Od. to 8d. per lb. dressed weigkt, plus skin value. Many breeders have been able to turn oif 301b. lambs at between three and fours months, and keep up a fairly regular suppiy. The industry has been in the hanus of only a few, however, and has been practically confined to the Darling Downa. It is hoped that its develojjment in other areas, hitherto eonsidered unsuitable, will soon becoine an established fact, so that the output of fat lambs from. Queensland may become sliglitly more comparable with that of other States. Type and Production. An excellent -example of the co-ord; nation between type and production is shotvn by the records of the classificc tiOn system of the American Jersey Cattle Club. Under this method the highest class is termed "6x06116^," and to date 204 cows with test records have been rated to be worthy of distinction. The mature cow average of these 204 cows is 6581b. butter fat. Bull's Characteristics. An essential characteristic in the buli is an expression of vigour, resolution and nia«culinity. He should be tlioroughiy robust in appearance and cre- | ate the impression that in a herd of i wild cattle he would lil^ely becoine | master of the herd by the law of nati ural selection and survival of the litJ test. While the merits and demerits i of bull indices are being diseussed it 1 ia inadvisable to neglect the masculine i quality of the side. And whatever value • records of production inay possess, they | will never displace the iinportauce of ) masculinity.