Farming Column

Hokitika Guardian, 9 April 1932, Page 8

Farming Column

SOVIET DUMPING

;The fa eft that 'Soviet Russia -vas able to dump 57,502 cwt. of butter in Great Britain during November, as compared with only 12,638 cwt >n November, 1930, and 18,288 cwt. in November, 1929, put another serviceable weapon in the hand's., flf :: those wiho are pressing the Government to take stronger measures to protect Home and Empire agricultural interests against undue foreign competition. Thus, the Empire Dairy Council, which has taken a strong stand against foreign butter imports, took the opportunity of passing the .following resolution : “While welcoming the Minister of Agriculture’s declaration of the Government’s intention to protect agricultural produce, this council regrets that dairy produce is not included and urges the Government to apply the principle of protection against imported dairy products, but with complete exemption of those produced within the British -Empire.” DANISH FARMER'S ARE HEAVILY MORTGAGED. A writer in the Scottish Farmer say.-. Danish farms are heavily mortgaged and 90 per cent, of them are being worked under a heavy handicap. The standard of living is lower than in Britain and the farmers work longer hours, which enables them to compete in British markets. The Dane is naturally frugal and thrifty, and his motto is that “whatever is worth doing is worth doing well,” which is amply borne out in the quality of the produce he sends to Britain. For 40 years the Danish farmer has led the world in the quality of butter and bacon he produces and in economy of production. BRITAIN’S POLICY. EXPANSION OF HOME MARKET.. Great Britain now spends over £200,000,000 a year on the importation of live istock iproclucts, .a figure which does not include the value of wool. Tt •is not surprising that in the reorientation of British public opinion this figure is being attacked as indicating one direction in which much saving could be effected toward balancing the national Budget. The following table shows approximately how this figure is made up-Home-grown. Imported. £ £ Meat 109,460,000 105,666,666 Dairy 69,419,000 70,800,000 Poultry ■ ... 20,665,000 20*300,000 Wool 4,158,500 62,724,000 (raw and waste) Cereals 28,926,000 101,500,000 Of the cereals, the value of homegrown, wheat is about £7,000,000, and of imported £50,000,000. The figures ■show the relative unimportance of cereal production in English agriculture, and the relatively small percentage of the cost of cereal imports as compared to imports of livestock production.

As a tesult Of the intensive campaign now being conducted for greater consumption of home products i.n England, it is estimated that the wheat production may be double, but no more.

The next biggest figure is meat. The best opinion in England has decided that it would not be advisable to cut out foreign meat altogether. For instance, reciprocal trade with the Argentine must for fostered, as so much British capital is invested in that country. But following on the quota scheme for wheat, a quota scheme for meat appears almost inevitable, and then there should be a still further opening for the colonial frozen lamb trade.

Of the £71,000,000 paid for dairy products, most of which goes now to Holland and Denmark, it seems only feasible that a large proportion could be supplied iby English farmers and a large proportion by the Dominiums. In the ease of wool, Australia a?td New Zealand should bo able to h their own without any difficulty. Fn spite of all that has been written to the contrary, serious competition with good wools from Russia is not to he anticipated, comments ,an Australian publication. The climatic conditions over the greater part; of Russia are .such that the wool there is bound to be of a coarser texture than ours, and even then could only be maintained at a suitable level by the/ constant importation of good stud stock. Finally, the purchasing power of the British people is by no means saturated. The consumption., figures there are so big that they , arc almost staggering. For instance, it is easily demonstrable that the consumption of one extra tablespoonful a day of milk Iby every living person in England would necessitate the keeping of another 1,000,000 cows in the country. The consumption of that extra tablespoonful may easily come about within a very short period with the coming of better times. Then there is a suggestion of prohibition for foreign condensed milk and milk powders with an Imperial preference on condensed milk, which would open up a muchneeded avenue for the utilisation ol the seasonal excess of milk. To sum up, it is easily fhnt there are practically unlimited possibilities in the expansion of the British market should a trade revival take place, especially if coupled with a P fcrtmtiol Empire quota scheme.

NEWS AND VIEWS.

Putting N.Z. on the Map. An Invercargill lady had 4lb of butter Sent to a relative in a north of England town, which a. local provision retailer sampled, promptly ordered a supply and has cut Danish entirely. In this particular town New- Zealand butter had never previously been heard of, and now this one trader is selling half a ton a per week. There are many such towns the inhabitants of which are waiting for our produce if it were offered to them.

Russian Butter. Russian butter arrives in England either in lewt casks or in oblong 561 b boxes, of the same shape as those used by New Zealand firms. ** * * Friesians in Britain. Over 400 Friesian cows in Great Britain have produced more than 2000 gallons of milk. Eight of these have exceeded the 3000-gallon standard. The first Cov- in England to yield upwards of 2000 gallons of milk in one year was the British Friesian Jtsko Hetty, which accomplished the performance in 1917-18. Since that time the standard has been readied repeatedly by representatives of the British Friesian breed, whose 2000gallon cows considerably outnumber those of. all other British breeds combined. In addition 36 British Friesian cow's are classified as 10001 b. butter producers. «* # • Selecting a Sire. In selecting a sire to head a dairy herd there are five important points to bear in mind, states an Oklahoma (United States) dairy specialist. Those are: health, past performance, pedigree, type and price. The latter point is the feast important in the long run. If a bull, that is right in all the other points can he found, lie will be worth a big price. A cheap in original cost is likely to be an expens. ,e bull over a period of years. Many good bulls have gone to the slaughter house before their worth was proven by producing daughters. *•»*-* The Pay-Out The monthly pay-out is a very vital matter to every dairying district. In South Taranaki it has varied much this season, according to the policy of the various boards of directors. Those-' which were conservative—and they were in the majority—paid out so as to allow some margin, but a few it, is stated made this payment too high’ at the beginning of the season and bad to curtail later, -says the Hawera ‘‘Star.”

'Most of the companies in South Taranaki are paying out lOd. T l '" idea in the minds of the directors generally is to act always on a conservative basis and to endeavour to ensure a bonus to tide over the time when money and supply are scarce. +* * * An Overseas Tribute. A remarkable tribute to Now Zealand’s national dairy breed is paid bv an overseas contemporary. Jerseys, states .this publication, are the earliest maturing breed of dairy cattle, a point in their favour, since they come irt” production more quickly ' than any other breeds, return dividends upon the money invested in them sooner than other dairy breeds and require less feed, care and labour to raise them to a producing age, Jersey cattle may safely be bred so as to begin their useful lives at the age of two years. ' Many Jerseys come into milk under the two-year limit, and have .made profitable production records .throughout a long series ol years, but it is best to give them plenty of time for full development. As compared with other breeds, we may say that Jerseys mature, in 'two to four tnonths less time. There are many higih production records held bv Jerseys which started upon official test work under two years of age. Besides being the earliest maturing breed, the Jersey is long-lived and persistent in her production during all her years. The Jersey produces and reproduces well up to and beyond 9 years. Sophie 19th of 'Hood Farm, world-record cow, all breeds, for continued production over a period of years, continued her heavy productio" until she was 18 years of age. Financial King’s Interest lived to give 1 to 21 calves in >23 years. Nimrod made a record of 7751 b of butter-fat. starting upon her tost at the age of 17 years. Red Lady, holding the world’s record for cows over 12 years of age, produced 951.511 bof butter-fat at 12 years of ago, and there' are many other notable instances of high production at advanced age and consistent reproduction carried into wh.ii ' c considered old age for dairy rat In British Columbia, there is a Sh-verr-old Jersey cow that has raised ? calves, and in June, 1900, dropped her twenty-eighth. It is '» trait of the Jersey breed he able to withstand heavy production and consistent reproduction even unto old age. A Jersey does not pro' 1 heavily in her younger years and . ’>* n quickly drop off in production. She lives long and continues in profitable production for a long period ol years.