Farming Column

Hokitika Guardian, 30 July 1932, Page 8

Farming Column

HINTS WORTH REMEMBERING.

CATTLE BREEDING AXIOMS

A speaker at a recent .show func

.ion remarked that “an irresponsible newspaper writer had stated that “like oegets like.” The speaker b.iat mere was lit tie kutn m tais say-

.ng. The speaker later on laid gieat emphasis on the statement that “hair me breeding goes down the mouth,” aiid declared that . this was absolutely .rue. Now,' as a matter of fact, tiiere

.s more truth in the old paying that . like” than in the equally old saying that “half the breeding: ;oes down the mouth.” uf course, both of these trite sayings are rough and ready expressions. The term “like begets like” was first used no doubt, to emphasise that if it s desired to. oreed a Stiormorn, men i pure Shorthorn must be mated to,

x pure Shorthorn, and that 'if ia really good animal was the ob,ective, then nly the best parents must be used. .Ole better the. parents the better, obmay the progeny be expected .o be. But in breeding even more dmn other hum in undertakings, “the jest-laid plans of mice and men aft gang agley.” The blood may no't nick, the sire iiay not be as prepotent as he should ie, and'there are other factory unseen

.y man which operate to upset his /.„ns.: This ue may assuredly expect —a high class animal will seldom or never be bred from poor parents. We

e reminded in this connection of another old saying, that “it- is better to breed f.om a poor parent ot a great ■train tlwn a good parent ..of an inferior one.” Generally speaking, the iiatempnt that “like, oegeto lixe' ’ is a in st valuable, truism.

L’he saying that “half the breeding goes down the mouth” has much Jess truth in it, though properly applied it constitutes a most valuable rule to ...e breeder. It would be more true -o say that “half the appearance goes down the mouth.” However well fed the progeny of poor parents, may be, the mere feeding will not make a tetter animal of it, although of course b would ensure the animal having a .otter constitution. It is only where _ood animals are being dealt with that good feeding plays such an important part.

The calf of good parents will not do them justice and will never lie as profitable as it should be if it is not done well from thp very first. The mo.-t successful breeders are invariably the most skilled feeders, and with them, it is veritably a case of half the breeding going down the mouth. Probably .the weakness at the present day is the failure to feed young stock well and to thereby ensure them having that! constitution which the heavy production of modern milking cow demands. In aiming to secure first-class animalsj strain must come first. The best ’ results from that strain will only be obtained where the breeding is intelligently combined with good feeding.

PEDIGREE STOCK FOR EXPORT. A £ CORD SHIPMENT TO VICTORIA A record shipment of stud sheep was made from Wellington last week to. Victoria and West Austratlia. Particulars of some of the consignments previously sold were recently given by Messrs Wright Stevenson and Company, Ltd., who now advise that they have also sold for export to Victoria Messrs A. Souter and Sons’ excellent stud of Ryeland sheep comprising 125 head. This is the second Ryeland flock that has been sold for export to Victoiia. Mest.s Souter and Sons established their flock (No. 6 in the Ryeland' Sheepbrcedere’ Flock Book) at Hauruni, Waerenga, Waikato, in 1925, with sheep bred at the Moumaliaki State Farm by the New Zealand Government. In addition to the Rye-, land sheep, a record shipment of stud Southdown sheep is also being made. The total comprises 382 rams and ewes, these being bred by Messrs Ellis Bros., Bulla; P. D. McLachland, Opako; H. J. Burrell, Bunnythorpe ; R. F. R. Beetham ( Brancepeth, Master'ton ; A. Wheeler, Leedstown ; Marcon; ;W. R. Hopcroft, Aokautere; R. Rolston, Palmerston North; and Mrs Shannon, Palmerston North. In addition to consignments of stud vdisey cattle winch were recently shipped to clients in Victoria and Tasmania, a stud -Jeisey bull has also ,een shipped on behalf of Mr R. L. ilorn, Ohau, to New South Wales, and a' -stud bull and heifer on account of ;Y ! do'hn Robb, Wanganui, to Vic- , ia. Tliese consignments will b 3 Viginented shortly by 21 head puriased by the former president of ~io New Zealand Jersey Breeders’ Association, Mr A. E. Missen, of Hamilton, who purchased for a Vic- .. rian breeder 10 head from Mr W. H. Miers, Ro'cotuna, Waikato, and the lialnme f.om Mrs A. Banks and Son, “Woodstock,” Fielding, Mr C. G. C. : unier, Cheltenham, Mr A. L. Der- ■ v, Feikling, and 'tier b ced s in that vicinity. A shipment of such • ,;.e at tlie pesent time inaif Ves t e nutation that Nefiv Zefctland-bred pedigree stock has won for itself in Australia. BRITAIN AND THE QUOTA. “The- do in Wined impoits of butter into Great Britain from Australia and New Zealand in 1931 were 3,J93,(>< 1 r.wt. In 1929 imports were 2,071, oivt. Tll’i Continent, especially Belgium and France, too, imported Lut-

ter from Britain to an enormously increased extent. Without an outlet, i’t is hard to see how Britain can go on''.Taking butter in such rapidly in- > creasing volumes, even if her own e home supply, did not increase. Those 5 preaching quotas will do well to study L figures of butter production—it will - hardly do to be asking Britain for ; : an t increasing quota every five minutes r dr so, and it will spell disaster if production is hung up awaiting ineivaises f in quotas. Also, Britain has her home 3 people to look after,” states Farming t First. - i “Other countrus beside Britain ii have the quota system and if Britain Wants her nose in, she will not do - much.good for herself by pushing in . the. faces of the other chappies, and t Britain knows that even if the Doi minions have not learned the elemenc lesson. The kind of universal >, .elnteTtjainment recently afforded by ■ New Zealand and Canada is not too ■ popular with Britain. , j Si • BRITISH FARMERS. [ -V j ’ ; . • : • SCOTTISH VISITOR’S VIEWS “The British farmer is just as badly off as the man on the * land in New Zealand. Up to two years, ago the' sheep farmer in Great Britain was able to make the industry pay, but now he,has dropped back to the same position as the agricultural farmer. “The only crop that paid last year was potatoes. Wheat is not profitable at present, and recently the tendency has been for more and more wheat land to be put down in pasture. Now that sheep farming has slumped, however, it is probable that there will be a return to arable farming again.” In those words Mr J. G. Watherston, of Edinburgh, who is making a three months’ stay in New Zealand in the course of a trip round the world, partly on pleasure and partly to study farming methods, summed up the plight of the British farmer. He seems to 'be just as happy with his lot as the New Zealand man on the land. Mr Watherston himself is a farmer in Scotland, ■ and is an agricultural graduate of Cambridge University. He started out from the Old Country last February,' and'since then has been to South Africa, tlib Argentine. and 'Australia, staying in the last-named country a week only. So far he has not had a great deal of opportunity for the study of New Zealand farming, but he was inter- | ested in operations in Hawke’s Bay, ( where lie has been staying for a time. ( A significant r feature .of ,the departure from wheat-farming iri* Scotland, t he said, was the giving up ' of pairjho"se, teams. Scottish farmers always ploughed with pairs, in single ploughs, and they were dropping pairs ( eve v y season 1 now. , Incidentally. Mr Watherston has a great admiration ( of the New Zealand system of using teams for ploughing, and ..thinks that it might be adopted in Scotland. The system saves two men, which means a lot on a Scottish farm. He considers that our sheep look ■ very weak, as compared with the Scottish stock, and are much bigger. The Scottish farmer, he said, did not pay so much attention to wool as the New j Zealander for the sheep were raised primarily‘for meat. A big impression was caused in a Edinburgh just before he left the city p liy the' landing of the first cargo oi New Zealand butter and cheese there. | Tho-e was a big parade in Prince’s j Street, all the tradesmen of the city lending their lorries for the occasion. L The public were keenly interesed i n tl the whole publicity stunt. I “T don’t know whether there has tj been any increase ip- the consumption !i of New Zealand butter and cheese as a •esult of it,” he said with a smile. , “T like New Zealand very much, he said. “I heard so much about what a splendid country it was while com- i ing out on the boat that my expectations’ were very high. Tt is sufficient to that,they have been fully justified. The winter climate is beautiful.

“One notices the depression more here, I think, than in the Old Count: y that is, in the cities and towns. Things are so very quiet. What I do like about your means of giving assistance to the unemployed is the subsidy system for farmers in the use of labour. Tf possible, T should like to see that idea adopted at Home. SIBERIAN BUTTER. The allegation that Siberian butter is re-exported through Denmark, under Danish brands, is contained in a letter to the Observer,* London, from an Trish correspondent, who signs liimself as James Tally. The correspondent says he is reading a hook, “Vagabonding at Fifty,” by Helen (Vista Wilson and Elsie Reed Mitchell. in which the authors state:—

“Butter is one of (he few things exported in considerable quantities from Siberia. These remote Siberian villages . are to an extraordinary degree entirely self-sustaining and in many of them the butter exported represents almost the only source of money income, since they do not, like the villages of the Steppe, sell much of their grain. We learned that much of this butter, collected over such a vast area, is shipped to Denmark, w' ere, it receives Danish brands arid trade-marks and is shipped all over the world. This fact may help to cxnlain hbw so minute, a. country as Denmark is able to export such immense quantities of butter.”