DAIRY FARMERS1 BIS LOSSES.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 October 1918, Page 2

DAIRY FARMERS 1 BIS LOSSES.

DAISY FAIUIF.Ii.S- MG LOSSES HUNDREDS of cows die.

(Wellington Dominion.) In some of the chief dairying centres of N e w Zealand things went badly during the winter, and they have not recovered sufficiently for matters to light Uiemsedves in time to bring the season up to tho equal of recent years. Last winter was the worst that most living New Zealanders have ever known and tho fact is that it caught manv -farmers napping. In the far south and in the far north they probably escaped, for reasons that can bo mentioned later, but in a mid-New Zealand district like Taranaki they took the chances and lost heavily. The winter was so severe that it placed a tremendous strain on dairy cows that were due to conic into milk for the new season. In addition to this, there was a great shortage of feed for cattle, and the result is that after enduring considerable suffering hundreds and hundreds of milch cows have succumbed this spring .

Apart from those who have succumbed there are many hundreds of others which are so low in condition,that they are not- producing anything"

like the, quantity of milk that they would if well-conditioned. The loss to' Tarnaki farmers is a serious one, and tile effect on the Dominion may be a drop in the -total output for the season. There is no certainty, of course, that because some of the farmers in Taranaki have been hard hit that- there will be a drop in the Dominion output, because the farmers in the ndrth probably experienced a less severe winter and are in consequence not suffering anything like the losses that have been experienced on the west coast- of tins island. Also, there may not be a falling off in the south, for the farmers of Southland would be certain to provide against a severe winter, and their stock would be got through without much mishap. Nevertheless, Taranaki’s proportions of the butter and the cheese 1 outputs are usually so»large that a serious reduction in thSt quarter may very easily be noticeable in the Dominion tally when the year's figures are announced.

The real reason of the trouble is not the severity of tire winter, but the failure of the farmers to provide winter feed for the stock. For years, as all are quite aware the experts who advice the farmers might be expected to take, have besought- the men on the land to put aside for the winter so that the stock would not suffer privations, and so that they would come into milk in the best possible condition. For just the same number of years most of the farmers have allowed the advice to go unheeded. Time after time a good winter rolled along and there was no particular trouble. This year we encounttered something like a winter, and now everyone in Taranaki and everywhere else in the country believes that there is something in what the experts said. It- has been a bitter and costly bill to many Taranaki farmers, and it lias been am oven worse experience for the unfortunate cattle, whose sufferings have been considerable. The wretched condition of many of the cows which have survived is ample evidence.