Farming Column

Hokitika Guardian, 7 November 1932, Page 8

Farming Column

i .vX, U-N x.tOL.

GRAZING AM) MANURING.

As stems dev»\,p, in grass the quality and digestipiJity., ‘of the pasture begin to decline.. The best pastures are those which retain a leafy type of'.herbage for the longest time.

(Grassland management is neither iiimple nor- easy>,. . Much prominence has been given in redent years to the question of.yi. Intensive complete manuring/-: toad's-(rotational grazing. ear|yf'-tesults have been higaiy successful,,.;but Mwhere, . the system . has been tin operation, for a number of year 3 and cirefu'l observation has been made, changes are noted and difficulties experienced that conuot be disregarded. The nature of the gra,as changes with the manuring and with close grazing. At first all the grasses would appear to respond to higher manuring; perennial ryegrass is usually predominant in early summer and bsnt grass (Agrostis) in late summer and autunm, says /Mr i William Lawson, diiector of agriculture for West Suasex, in the British Jour nal of Agriculture. PALATABILITY, OF RYEGRASS.

In practice the greater palatability of , ryegrass results in the ready consumption oi this grass in oar’.y summer, whereas the autumn gfowth of jefit m less readily eaten and it cpn sequently-; increases in vigour .and in amount.jr : -Under such, conditions' the perenni d ■ ryegra-s appears to get .veaker and to give place to the less desirable Agrostis. This i$ a tendency that, should be courd-e -acted. Different types of pastures will be af fected differently and; will require a type of mu nagefnebt suited to thi particular condition*. •' Mr •Lawson’ B observations have been mainly made on good old pastures in the South of England, and frpi i thqm it would • appear that plications <of 'nitrogenous' manures to pastures- should be confined to early spring, and -that the first growth slibuld not be too : closely .grazed. In .the ,intpreit of the pasture close grizing shou.J bo specially aimed *>. in' the autumn, and- if the autumn grasses are well : eaten off the . r y'V grass wiH- incrcase during winter any will be ready, to produce bulky .'amd nutritious grass .early, in 'the . following summer.

CARELESS MILKING.

DETRIMENTAL ON HERD- ' -.ipwo common . faults in -milking are irregularity and not emptying/ the .udder-'by strapping, fright. out. Stripping is important, for two reasons:-/ the strippings are the, richest part of the'-milh, and when left this fatty residue is likely to thicken iu thie teat. The- thickening can be seen in;-the teat of a cow» : that ie being, dried many goods cows arr' sppilt by being dried off too quickly. In some dairi«3 the cows dry off unusually early,"/whilst in ’-..neighbourijag .places, with equal conditions, thby milk almost from the birth oi o : rie ca lf to that of. the next. Gardes* milking m mainly the, cause. . irregularity may occur even when the milking of the herd begins at this same time every day.

' With a big 'herd that Occupies, say, hours to' get through, the milkman generally bails up | the nearest cow that comes to hand. 1 In that way thte first' cow that is milked one morning may be the last milked the next morping, makinl a difference of jtfjfee hours in her, milking; time in, the two days. That is actually the first step, you -take when you start to dry off a cow '; the next is to'miss the morning and milk her in the afternoon. Tse harm done in this haphazard, fashion should be obvious. A' good dairyman, (bent on keeping up: a first class herd 3 and getting the best from every, cow, milks each one ini her regular order. The interval from morning to morning in each OMe in thus always exactly the same. Besides the benefit of this punctuality in - constant production, provided the cow’s axe always stripped, each onp gets to know her place and responds readily when wanted. v The udder ,of a .well-milked cow hapgs in loose, limp folds at the bahk, whilst that of a frequently carelessly milked one often hangs in an ugly tag ’fl/t the bottom, Jn the afternoon, on mixed farms, the milking is sometimes finished early and sometimes late— according to the pressure of work in the field or ' elsewhere. , It is not unusual to hear the rattle ;of . buckets !after dark. In such times, too- the morning operation often be-, pins'earlier- than the customary time, thus shortening the interval . between night and morning, and lengthening it between jnormng and afternoon. In either civse it 'if false economy.

butter for gbasgow,

BANISH OR NEiW ZEALAND?

The intricacies of the dairy industry in Great Britain are well instanced by the following paragraph which recently appeared in the Scottisu Grocer; A cablegram has been sent by the Scottish Provision Trades’ Association to Mr J. H. Thomas and Mr W. Runciman at Ottawa, as follows: “In wi«w ,of the.- possible misunderstanding the Scottish Provision Trades’ Association "sends this cable. In the interests of consumers here the »*- fiOtiaUM AifaUmJ MtMUwty •

placing of further hauuicaps on Danish produce, and • in. their opinion, •while they recognise the necessity of existing tariffs, the adoption of any iqujota system -particularly with regard to Danish butter, would widen the disparity in price between Danish and Empire butter, and pl-ace the former outside the reach of the large masses of poorer people, Danish pro\vidi)jg glmost the .entire supply of ilftWly made butter/’ .sat} 0.. Zealand producers will 1 %e amazed at this solicitude for the poorer classes.; IV New Zealand butter i s good enough for the masses in Loudon and other English centres it might b e expected to prove equally satisfactory in Glasgow.

DIPPING INTO OUR CAPITAL.

REVIEW BY COMMERCIAL FIRM

Under the heading of frozen meat some illuminating statistics are quoted in the annual review df Pynfe, Gould, Guinness, Ltd.', of Christchurch. For instance a table shows the percentage of killed for expert of the numbers tailed. In the North Island the percentage is 53.6 and iu the South' 63.9 (last year 62.1). The report says that taken in conjunction with the ”■' increased killin g of ewes it is quite evident we are dipping into pur : ; capital, i.e., our breeding flocks. ' The estimated increase in lambs tailed was 560,000; but the increase in killings was over a million. Comparing Smithfield prices, for five years we find the average ,in 1928. was 9.92 d, while in 1932. this is given as- 6.72, but this was only up to June 30 -and prices have continued to tumble ever since. Under the heading of farm mortgages there are some very sound remarks. The report says:- “Since our last report varous Acts have been passed for the relief of farmers in respect or’ their mortgages. Although some of this legislation is benefiting th». borrower at the present time, -it io .vital .to the interests of the farmers that the supply of mortgage moneys ap reasonable rates from private lenders! who at present loan the greater- part,, of- those, funds,, should be ample ,and . this supply cannot be expected so long as legislative inter- ' ferehce with the contracts between borrower and lender- continues. Coi • sp’cqous amongst the i signs of . tne tines has been the fact that arrangements. between 1 private lenders and farmers: have " been very much more easily made than in' the case of lo qs by public departments. ;

BLACKBERRY DISEASE. Much' interest has been displaced in the Gisborne; district m the disease that has' r Attacked - . blackberry plants around Auckland, and the possibility of ■ exterminating blackberry plots /ere has prompt id-a number ol inquii jes '(says‘’ail: exchange). Mr J* D, Anderson, stock inspector and inspector or nOxioSis weeds at borne,; recently'wrote to headquarters for further information- on the subject. He has been advised that the department is making investigation into the possibility of’ the dis being; turned to economic account, but until this was proved no opinion would be expressed. It was feared by some farmers, it was explained, that the. disease may prove disastrous to commercial crops as well as to the blackberry if allowed to spread Unchecked) and 'this was one aspect

that must receive due consideration.-j It must also be ascertained ‘if the, disease could be. encouraged in- all 'seasons, and .not only for short periods when conditions were favourably for its action.

j RETAIL MARGINS.

Farmers are often chagrined (says an English rural exchange) when they note the margins between the wholesale and retail prices of agricultural produce. The extent of these disparages is noticeable in the case of milk and other products, but frequently pronounced where meat is concerned. The butcher blamed for not bringing the retail prides into closer relation with the wholesale rates. But aurely this is looking at the matter from the wrong end. '

It , is gratifying to meat producers at Home that consumers are willing to pay an enhanced price for their produce, over that ruling for the imported article. What the . consumer is willing to pay is tlie true economio value, and the. higher this value the better l it should be for , producers. Farmers are wont to complain that their interests are on the altar of cheap food for the towns and why urge that it should not be cheaper still? The clamour should be not to trim retail prices to. the standard of the wholesale rates, but to bring the •Wholesale prices into keeping with the retail prices, which are the true value. The primary producers have reason to be thankful for these retail prices such as (they are, and it is their collective fault that they do not take f"l| advantage of them. The Jindividual, working as an individual, is aanost helpless, and will continue to be so until he organises for more efficient selling.