FARM AND DAIRY

Hokitika Guardian, 2 October 1931, Page 6

FARM AND DAIRY

NOTES OF THE WEEK.

AIDS TO INCREASED PRODUCTION.

The most serious wastage at the present time is the common falure to utilise whey for pig-feeding. Enormous quantities of this good food are being thrown away. Yet there are men who are feeding it to pigs with great success. It lias surprised them to find tl 1 att pigs will thrive and fatten oil whey when only half a pound of meal a day (costing id; is added to the whey. The best results are obtained where itlie vessels in which the whey is stored are kept thoroughly clean as well as the troughs in which the pigs •are fed, and these troughs should be provided with some means whereby the pigs cannot get their feet and their bodies into them.

CERTIFIED PERENNIAL RYE.

It is .surprising the number of men whose pastures are proving disappoint ing anti yet do not realise that is because they have sown poor non-persis-tent strains of ryegrass. The better the grass is managed the worse it is for these poor strains of ryegrass. Certified seed is available but it is not being used to the extent it should be. Australia is waking up ito this fact, and a big demand is setting in for certified New Zealand rygrass seed from the dairying states of the Commonwealth.

BULLS FOR FIJI. A shipment of pedigree Jersey bulls has been despatched from the Waikato to the order of the Fiji Pastoral Company Suva. The Company owns seveual herds, totalling well over 1000 milking cows and are fully alive to the ( necessitys of good sires in their endeavours to raise the standard of their cattle. They have seen for themselves what such hulls have done in New Zealand and are evidently proposing to adopt our principles. SWEET ENSILAGE UNDESIRABLE.

According to a. Swiss scientist sweet silage has an effect on millo which m k es it unsuitable for- the making of high-quality cheese. The trouble is not noticeable until the cheese reaches the curing stage. The reason advanced is that at high temperatures the desirable bacteria in the silage is destroyed by other organisms which then obtain control, and it is these organisms which impart an undesirable flavour to the cheese. Apparently the temperature of the silage should not go beyond 110 degrees. lODISED SALT.

During the past winter the animats in the Auckland Zoo were given iodised salt, with the result that they have come through the cold weather in very much better condition than formerly. The feeding of iodised salt to dairy cattle is now a common procedure.

PEDIGREE STOCK PRICES. Despite the hard times there is still a fair amount of money available lor the better class of pedigree dairy sires as evidenced by the fact that at the National Jersey Show and Sale at Hamilton this month the highest priced thirty-five averaged just on 40gns. A 1 noticeable feature, due no doubt to tlie j economic conditions prevailing, was ! that buyers showed a keener discrim--1 iuation as to quality with the result that while the .superior animals sold at very satisfactory prices the poorer ones were slow of sale. One young bull, barely a year old, realised 73gns. while a number of others made prices in excess of 50 gns. Lessons to be taken from the sale are the necessity of testing and the paramount importance of bringing out bulls in first class condition. Although breeders had to resign themselves to prices considerably less than those they have been accustomed to receiving they had some solace in the fact that Jersey values have held up much better, propor- • tionately speaking, than those obtaining lor other classes of dain- stock. j

MAMYfATIS. The Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture is encouraging farmers to have the milk of their individual co\vs tested for mammitis. The farmer sends in a sample of each cow's milk to one of the Government laboratories where it is microscopically tested, df the disease germ is found in the milk of any particular cow or cows then the farmer knows these cows .should be m Iked last, so as not to pass on the trouble. Some authorities declare that such cows should not be bred from, as susceptibility to mammitis is hereditary. IX THE FAR SOUTH. Bv averaging 372.891 b fat in 259 , days a herd of 44 grade Jerseys near Invercargill established for the season just ended what was probably a record i for that end of the Dominion. More- , over, their feat has been rarely bettered by herds in even the most favoured , dairying localities. The performance | directs pointed •attention to what can j be accomplished in all parts of the 'Dominion by systematic herd improve- | meat through culling and the use of j pedigree bulls. Like most herds, this j great Southland bunch of producers or- | iginally descended from very ordinary ' cows, who would probably not average | more than 2001 b. fat, but steady improvement ■,has been effected by the use ! of pedigree Jersey bul7s of proved butterfat backing until the herd has reached its present high product’ve standard. BUTTER MI LK POWDER. Dried buttermilk powder, being made at the Te Awamutu dried-milk factory of the N.Z. Co-operative Company, is regarded in America and England as a most valuable food for poul- ■ try, while it has given excellent results in the feeding of calves and pigs, j

Undoubtedly it is a valuable food. The , buttermilk powder may ,gO' twice as far jas the meat meal, but only carefully j conducted experiments will prove this. 1 It is certainly more palatable than „ meat-meal. 3 j TARANAKI’S TOP HERD. 3 | o*ii a narrow strip of valley border- . | ing the main highway as it winds [ through the Uruti hills is to he found 1 the herd that topped the big Taranaki , Herd-testing Association last season . with its remarkable average for ol head of 4021 b. butterfat in only 270 days. - This great herd, which is the property . of Mr J. K. Oxenham, takes second . place for the entire Dominion to the I Waikato herd of which mention was j made last- week. Mr Oxenham’s herd , which includes a number of heifers consists entirely of grade Jerseys. He has developed the herd by the use of a succession of good pedigree hulls and this fact, together with sound farming methods lias been the medium of his success. In the selection of his hulls, Mr Oxenham has adopted a far sighted policy and where lie had considered that an animal was likely to raise the standard he has not hesitated to pay good money for it. The Jersey bulls j that he has introduced are descended from heavy producing families and | have clearly passed their inherent ability on to their grade descendants, i The herd of fifty-one milking cows J is practically confined to seventy acres lon the flat, the. hills, which comprise the remainder of the property being utilised only for dry stock. Yet from this farm which sixteen years ago was only producing 60001 b. butterfat, Mr Oxenham is now taking approximately 20,0001 b. butterfat. A better class of cow and top-dressing are the two rea-. sons for this great increase. “Yes, top-dressing has clone a lot for us,” said Mr Oxenham, “for it lias given the cows full opportunity of producing right up to their hereditary capacity.” Mr Oxenham’s practise is to apply basic slag in the autumn at the rate of about 2to' v t. to the acre, adding to it sulphate of ammonia at the rate of approximately 701 b. to me acre. The sulphate of ammonia, he has found, has effected a great- improvement especially in regard to early

growth. The high production of the herd, Mr Oxenham states, is in no small measure due t° the early spring growth of grass brought about by the sulphate of ammonia. ' »

As some assistance to the pasture, on which otherwise lie entirely relies, Mr Oxenham cuts a few acres of green oats for feeding in the spring months.