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Hokitika Guardian, 14 November 1931, Page 8

DAIRY AND FARM.

NOTES OF THE WEEK

EVERY FARM A PROBLEM

In the work of building up really profitable pastures, every tanner must study tlie subject from the view point of ins own farm. No two farms are exactly alike, and while some principles of grassland management are capable of general Application there are others which must be amended to suit a particular locality and a particular farm. The level heavy-soil larni is quite a different tiling to the upland light-soil farm. Rotational grazing in the wet winter and early spring months is much more difficult in the former than in the latter case. We have a case in mind where a level heavy-soil farm is too weif-sehltered and tile wind does not have the drying effect it has on a less well-sheltered farm. In such cases is the high Lawsoniaua hedge as suitable a break-wind as tlie deciduous hedge which breaks the wind but allows it to come through, and have the same effect in drying up tlie surplus moisture. Undoubtedly the best shelter is that which tempers the wind but ollow.s it to come through"! just as the lattice work fence is better for a garden than is a solid wall. Rotational grazing on level heavy hind is g.' serious problem in winter hut it is a problem which must be solved. Where there are fields of light: er and drier land, these' will he used for the winter months, but few farms have the happy -combination of light and heavy, soils. .The eighteen inch wide concrete path, down the race, used in the swamp country in the Auckland Province would help, but gateways present a serious problem, especially in districts where gravel is not easily available or where there is no gravel at all. One farmer, faced with the serious pugging of the heavy soil of his level farm, is proposing to erect a building in which to feed his cows in the winter, but this means a big expense, which few could face at the present time.

Co-operative Pig Marketing, The Co-perative Pig Marketing Association with headquarters, at Hamilton and which serves the whole of the Auckland Province, is to have a new and more virile lease of life. A new board of directors has been elected, n o_ in mated by keen progressives, a younger generation than the old board. A policy is under consideration wliicn should prove of immense service to the pig-keepers of the province and ultimately to the pig-keepers of the Dominion in general.

5 Juvenile Clubs, Calf Clubs are in existence in one or two districts, and have had am excellent effect in stimulating an interest in good stock, and in the proper feeding and management of them, I among farm boys and even girls, hut I unfortunately the movement has not ] been associated with the herd-testing I movement and therefore marked stock * have not been used. Pig e’ubs have j been proposed, and a poultry club was once established and would have been a great success, seeing the, enthusiasm of the members, had there been a qualified directing ofiicial available. Wer© there a proper scheme of a,grieußui*al training, lessons in the elementary principles of the rural .sciences at our country schools, it would be possible to have animal clubs. It> is understood that giving boys and girls an animal of their own to care for and benefit from is the best means of including them to take an interest in farming and- thereby keeping' them on the land. Silage. Fanners who are depending more on silage than on hay, are finding that si)_ age made in a pit or trench, where the. grass can he better consolidated a» the stacking proceeds, is more safcisfac. tory. This fruity or sour silage puts; tlie cows' in better condition for calv"ing than the sweet silage, usually made j in the stack where the air cannot lie ; excluded so effectively. They are also! finding that grass cut before the seed heads form makes a better silage than where the grass is allowed to reach an advanced stage of maturity. The bulk of material is not secured from the graSjS harvested in the leaf stage, hut it lias a much higher feeding value. Calf Troubles. V I A •man who has tried everything on the market as a. cure for scours in calves recently tried starving a - call that had the trouble and then reduc-| ing its ration of skim-milk. He was j entirely successful. He made the. calf 1 comfortable on a bed 1 of hay in the cor-j ner of a shed and gave it nothing but an occasional drink' of, sterilised water —water taken from the electric heater. which had been allowed to cool. After,; two days he gradually re-introduced it to skim-milk, but stopped the increase when the calf was getting a smaller ration than it was getting before it commenced to scour. Russian Butter. A 687 per cent, increase in Soviet butter imports into England during, last August coihparet.l with the same ■ month’ last year, is revealed by the British Board of Trade returns for j August! ' Taking the first eight months | of this year, total imports of Soviet butter show a 167 per cent, over the corresponding period of last

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year. The figures are:—August 1930, 9,419 cwts ■ August, 1931, 74,186 cwts. Jan. —Aug, 1930, 82,258 cwts ; Jan.— Aug., 1931’ 220,424 cwts. '■ Although these totals seem, relatively small when compared from New Zealand (1,361,116 cwts), Australia (1,030,403 cwts), and Denmark (1,648,117 cwts), they afford striking proof of Russia’s determination to become a formidable competitor in the English butter market.

Abortion Incurable. Cattle abortion cannot be cured, but it may be eradicated, according to Dr. H. J. Metzger, of the New York State College of Agriculture. Dr. Metzger recommends as a means of stamping out the disease the blood test and the isolation of infected animals. “The complete eradication of abortion disease from the cattle herds is impossible, and it would mean stopping a serious source of loss to the stockmen of the State,” he says. No cure for abortion is known, according to Dr. Metzger, and the purchase of any drug or stock tonic as a cure is a waste of money. The blood test will detect the presence of the Bang abortion disease, and then the own dr can take the measures which, through sanitation and prevention will clear his herd of the di-

sease. Dr. Metzger recommends complete isolation of the diseased animal, complete cleanliness, and the rearing of all animals on the farm to keep from a clean herd.

How English Farmers are Taxed, The new Snowden Budget, which will no doubt be accepted by the . new National Government of England, is hitting the Home fanner pretty hard. To read of the new imposts should make the New Zealand farmer well satisfied. Tn the first place there is the increase in the standard rate of income tax of sixpence—to 5/- in the £. This increase is not set off in any way by a counterbalancing increase in depreciation allowances, a s in, the case of industry. Then again there is a; lowering of the initial sum upon which the reduced rate of tax is payable; the figure of £250 at 2/- in the £ has been reduced to £175 at 2/6 in the L\

It- is of interest to show how the figure of exemption from liability to tax has been lowered by the new provisions. Previously a married fanner with two children, assessed at an animal value figure of £420. paid no tax for his deductions were: —£67 (l/6th earned allowance), £225 married mail s allowance, and £llO for two children—a total of £402. He will now pay £lO 5/- in tax, for his reliefs are now. respectively£Bo (1 /sth of £402). £l5O, and £90 —a total of £320. Tin’s leaves £B2 tafved at 2/6 in the £. Similarly, a single man was tax free at £162; he will now he exempted only at a figure of £125. Again, a married farmer with no children was exempt at £270; he will only be tax free in future at £186; at £270 his tax will be £B/5/-. in all these examples other sources of income or other reliefs —as housekeeper, life assurance, etc. —are not taken into account.

Good Prices For Bulls. Idle extent to which the Jersey value has been maintained despite the eeoroin'c depression, is reflected in the fact one leading breeding establishment in the Waikato has disposed of this season its entire offering of 14 pedigree Jersey bulls at an average price of approximately fifty guineas. Many of these bulls were purchased by ordinary dairy farmers to go into grade herds, which can be taken as,an in dication of the growing tendency to combat lower prices by increased production through the use of good quality bulls.

| THE SUITABLE BREED. J Shorthorn for Butter, Friesian for Milk. J It is essential that every caltleowrier ■ should keep the breed or type of cattle J to.suit his purpose and particular eonj ditions, says the exchange. If he is a. ’ seller or close to a town, disposing of i his claves as soon as possible, he will need a specialised milking type. If he produces butter or cheese only he needs a type bred for these particular purpose,s. .‘lf he is ranching for beef he requires a beef type. The breed to my mind which would suit the milk producer is the Friesland ; the butter and cheese porducer the Dairy Shorthorn; and the rancher for beef Hereford. The average Hmilk seller only requires a cow that will give him the maximum quantity of milk and the Friesland is generally capwh.'e of doing this under favourable conditions. The supplier of cream, butter and cheese is desirious of keeping the cow than gives a. maximum amount of milk with a high butter-fat test, say, of 4 or 4.5 per cent. This can usually be depended upon when the Dairy 'Shorthorn cow' is brought into the herd for this purpose providing she, too, is given a fair chance and favourable conditions. No dairyman must expect a Shorthorn, or ally other ! cow for that matter, to keep filling the pail, in times when natural pastures are low . The rancher for beef will find tint the Hereford will suit him exceedingly well in that it is an early maturer and type that can forage for himself, and | at the same time maintain condition where many other beef breeds would go under. These cattle generally test very well, too. when slaughtered under block test conditions, besides their meat is of a fine graine and, attractive nature,