Farming Column

Hokitika Guardian, 20 May 1933, Page 8

Farming Column

'NEW ZEALAND IN YORKSHIRE

An “All (New Zealand” shop was temporarily opened in the big. woollen manufacturing city of (.’Huddersfield recently with a magnificent display of New Zealand , prodfige . and pictures of wonderful stenery. In this display there was much to interest Huddersfield residents, who were invited ’to pay r it a visit. In conducting... the campaign for the benefit of the greater sale of its;.produce, New Zealand believes in housewives having the op-, portunity o. both seeing-and sampling it, stated a Yorkshire-journal. For that i'eason, samples of butter, cheese and honey were sold. These samples were taken before the eyes of -the public from supplies and in the form in,which the produce is exported to England. No ordinary retail quantities were « sold The object of the-sampling was (1) that housewives may taste it, and ig,) if they find the quality go-d, as uiiey no uoubt will, that tiiey r shoulu ask for it m the shops o. Huddersfield.'Carcasses and. joints'of New-Zea-I-hind lain ir were shown 'in a refrigerated state iu a magninceut cabinet.,

THE POOR PRODUCERS

A correspondent signing himself ‘(Broker ’ wrote to the Grocer - (England) recently’ mentioning the decrease of Ills income ‘through the reduction of the price 6f butter. 0. 13. Joyful,-o. tivirguig Ditch, writes the following week in reply: ‘.‘What abont • the importers ? And what about the producers Y" he asks, and he continues: "l J re-, sent prices can only end in () ne way for the producers. The 1 importers have dearly learned their lesson, and can keep out, and unless something, is dofie to help the downward rush of prices to their present absurd, levels,, ruination will follow'. Then 'willcome. ,tlie seven

lean years which will not suit"old England. There is a lot of talk about quotas, and our ■ Government officials are, as usual scratching their heads instead o: getting cm, with tne job. ’ J

FARM FOR 14 DOLLARS.

Farmers in the;United States, it is said', are being • 'driven' • into' a corner through inability to'pay taxes' ' ant other bills. I Jn ' Wood Co'unty,' Ohio, one was forced to sell - his farin'‘ to satisfy-a mortgage. ‘He conducted the sale liimsef, and it brought 14 dollars. -

A DEVELOPING

Apropos the question of wool .supplies, it is interesting to, observe that Rhodesia is endeavouring to find a place in the world’s markets. At the current series of . auctions in-London the .catalogues have .contained .a -few. little clips from South-Rhodesia, and buyers have noted with satisfaction that these small clips show considerable improvement in style, yield aim. classing. It is said thatTsOiriV• -of the; black soil wools look worse than they actually are, while the best lines, shell as “Horse Rampant,’’ would yield well' over half weight. The mark mentioned was a fair 10-12 months’ 66’s and made 93d, or 18d clean. The farmers in South Rhodesia are not operating on’a big scale, and they’ are working togetherand have spent, a considerable amount of money on good rams. - They''are interested in classing the w-odls in the ivay best suited for the London ’ mar!cet. and judging by the prices realised :t 'seems;'-pretty clear that 'the soil in the dips is by no means tlie most treacherous of South -Alrican exports.

SWINE FEVER.

In view of the ,recent outbreak of sw.ne fever at Johnsonville the following information regarding th e disease will instruct readersAas -to "its “symptoms, cause land effect.

'lh- r , disease is also known as hot cholera, pig typhoid or enteric ; tin rrmes “red so Viler’’ or “purples’’ art also occasionally applied to it. . Young pigs are most susceptible. A' bacillus belonging to the Gartner group is I described as the causative ’agent.' The chjef • manifestations of the disease -are: -an eruption oh the skin, the formation 1 J of ulceis on the alimentary canal and very frequently consolidation of the lungs A bluish-red discoloration of the dkin on t,he shocks,- ears, • end "under surface of th e abdomen is very chat* aoteriistio. This' "discoloration-■ ig -not confined to the skin;’ but often extends J to the fat beneath. -Ar©ag' of eongesi tion, of a light or "deep “red eo’oiir,- are I generally found o n the-in»eotis-■■mem-brane of the intestines.'“.'The mucous I membrane of the mouth, pharynx, and ! Istomnch may he covered with a wellj marked exudate. The most characterJ isfcic (lesion is. however, the swinei fever ulcer. These occur for the -most ■ part on the caecum in the • neighbour- , hood of the ileo-caecal valve, but may J also be found in the colon- and’ rectum. 1 Ruth uloers > which vary in- size from n pea to a shilling or larger, begin: as small necrotic patches.

I Th e dead necrosed tissue i fi .after-wa-ds cast off, leaving an ulcer beneath. After <a fiealing process the •nhers are converted into cicatrices. The mesenteric lymphatic glands become swollen and 'A congested' '(strawberry glands), and may show caseous changes —they do not, however, go on to calcification .ary do' tubercular ’glands'. •Another point of distinction is • -that, where the glands arc Vainly partly caseous, the rest of the glandular tissue in $ wine fever is m’ore ©fies s normal, whereas in tuberculosis small tubercles can generally be made out,

The- lungs may be unaffected, blit are often -found consolidated, and the pleura may be 'inflamed. The liver, spleen, arid kidneys may be normal, but' frequently show small haemorrhages and necrotic areas.

It is -often very difficult to diagnose an isolated c a s e of ■ switie lever. Wheie an epidemic breaks -out .it is of bourse much more easily recognised.‘lnsanitary piggeries ‘fire the most potent factor in the occurrence and spread oi ,fche 1 -disease. ■ Reconstruction of pig houses' provided with concie e flo i’s• well-paved yards, a.d a good system of' drainage aie the best' means oi getting rid of'it.

WHAT A DAIRY!

Described as the world’s- fanciest dairy by the New Yorker, a- dairy fashioned in U:S.A. by* H. W. Jeffers, president of ‘ the ‘Walker-Cordon Milk Supply Company, attracts visitors from various countries in the world. The cows-live constantly indoors, and alf fodder is ground, dehydrated, compressed arid fed to them in-pellet form Some of the herd are fed irradiated yeast powders, arid are so caused to produce 11 special milk containing eight times the usual amount ,of 'Vitamin D. Three times daily each cow becomes a n osenger on* the Jefftrs -Rotolactor, a •slow motion merry' go round art an-, gcniant, there to'be bathed and milked. :Specialists - attend to her all along the line. One-man does nothing bnge.ntlv aquii’t water.ait 9Cdeg F. on passing udcie"s all day long. T-life 7 milking platform-moves at -If feet per minute. There are 50 stalls, the cows stand facing in.

Further oil stands an * udder dryer drawing sterilised towels' from-a tall glass case, fie deftly accomplishes the 10 motions which efficiency stcd.es have shown ‘achieve 'maximum diyoig with minimum effort, and then thiows the towel down a laundry chute.

Next is the liip and:tail 'washer, and beyond him the dryer, who workswith a; hose that wafts 'Yvarmcd air on the cow’s reai\ Beyond, clad likewise all in'whitej are gfrioms and-, masseurs, and after that: a ; lhcdicai inspector.

The cow's are nOvv about-,a tliil'd othe- way around arid ready to be milked: Two inch hook ' them ‘ into/milking machines '; \thl-ee’ others 1 farther /.along unhook theni and complete the final phase of milking, ; the “stripping” by harid; to obtain the last few ounces of milk, ■ which are .discarded. ’Finally, tlirire is a man who gentlj’ drives to.v and cow on to a tiled runway ’’back to her feeding stall.

PRODUCE FROM THE DOMINIONS.

The ■following paragraph from a British agricultural journal s'hcds a new' light on -the wrny some sections o' fajitnfi’s, :jn Great, Britain view competitidir’ fro'm 'Life' -of-' farmers >bn .the .-Dominions:

'V'ffThe 'Canadians are great' fallows : fpr-.' statisticsV' At any .time they can tell* H'olV many' three they have on their farms, and how many feet of railway they possess. Now, in order to. bring their information up to date they have • been having a live stock census, and •can quote' the following figures: 7,931,- • 000 cattle’ 3,608,030 sheep 4.716,021 1 pigs, and no fewer than 65,468,030 poul “try, 1 or over six fowls to every citizen in the Dominion. Going still further into statistics ’ ithey have discovered that Canadians eat 148 pounds of meat every year,’’ 11 pounds of poultry, 30 pounds of butter, four pounds of cheese, and ,something like ;360 eggs a'head. Long ■ may such healthy appetites -continue, for the ■ more they requi«« for home, consumption the less there may be to spare for' competition with the produce of the Motherland.’

JERSEYS IN AUSTRALIA

The: annual]v increasing cj' z ? of the

Jersey ‘Herd Book of - Australasia, pub

lrah'ed by ' the federal .council of the Australasian Jersey Herd Sonetv, indicates "the advance of the Channel Island breed throughout the Common.’ wealth. Voium e 19, which has made its appearance, is considerably larger than any /of its predecessors and abounds in interesting and e 7 sen'ial information to breeders and f;ncie v s. Th e total membership of the society

i's 1719, of which 927-are in Victoria, 479 in -New South Wales, If 6in South .Australia, 74 (m Western ’Australia, hnd 75 ,iy -Tasmania.- Tbe ilflth • volume, published in January, '1952 contained 542 regVration a mme

jthan those in previous edit'en? of: the '•Herd Book. The present issue shows an excess of 830 -registrat'on s over 'tbe last. The sexes are represented by 1050 males 1 and 4155 1 females, and in all 9145 bulls and 38,622 cows have been recorded. The -enterprise of Jersey 'breeders is further evidenced jn the additional 37'” tabulated of imported -animals which have been submitted for 1 registration 1 r'uce the publication of the last volume of the Herd •Book. 1