FEEDING OF STOCK.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4353, 9 December 1921, Page 2

FEEDING OF STOCK.

CATTLE CAKE IN USE. INCREASING THE MILK SUPPLY. One of the most important demonstrations for tjhe farmer,at the show was the value of cattle cake apd Unseed oil in the feeding of stock. In this connection the display of the New Zealand Catttecake and Oil Company, Ltd., was of vital interest. This enterprising company, whose offices are in Endean’s Buildings, Queen Street Auckland, has established an extensive industry at Westfield, where “Moose” Meal is manufactured in large quantities. It is well known that linseed oilcake has become in the United King dom an essential part of the food supplied to animals, and New Zealand farmers are already beginning, to realise its. importance to local stock owners. In the first place, if farmers use cattle cake as a regular feetb an appreciable increase in the milk supply results, thene will be an improved percentage of butter-fat, .and the condition of stock will be so improved that it will prolong the milking period.. These benefits are actual, as ’s borne out by the first-hand testimony of local farmers. States one letter from users of “Moose” oilcake : “We have proved to our satisfaction that the milk yields can be. greatly increased by feeding evtsn a small quantity of the meal, dry stock' thrive remarkably well on it, and as a pig flood wp have not seen its equal.’ 1 ’ By using about %lb to lib of meal or nuts to a feed, bojth the quantity of milk and butter-fat will increase. Ap important fact which should not be missed is the value of linseed oilcake meal for manuring, purposes, owing to the high percentage of nitrogen it contains. Colonel Young, director of the live stock division of the Department of Agriculture, has ventured the opinion that if dairy farmers in the Waikato and other districts where heavy manuring is necessary, would feed their cows on linseed oilcake meal 365 days in the year, it would not only increase the milk supply considerably, but would reduce the expenditure for manures to half' the present cost. The feeding properties of oil meal are now (highly recommended in all bulletins on feeding stuffs issued by the State experimental' stations. While oats, bran, pbllard, maize, and other farm-grown foods are rich in carbo-hydrates, they contain only a small amount of protein, and it is this essential food element which oilcake supplies. Until recently supplies of} oilcake were only obtainable from Australia. Now, however, with an assured regular "supply at the farmers’ door, the steady ehlployment of oilcake as a feed for stock is bound to become a regular practice. Mr Samuel Lye (Newstead) took two first and champions ; also first prize for bull calf, and champion for Shorthorn bull, at the Auckland Show. These cattle have been consistently fed on “Moose” nuts. . As a matter of fact, a large number of the winning animals at the shows throughout New Zealand have been fed on “Moose” meal. Mr G. Twidle reared thirty calves on “Moose” Meal ati a cost of Is per head, and he states that there ar* no finer calves in t|he Auckland district . Messrs Hare Bros., Paeroa, are the local agents.It may also be mentioned that those who have been using this food for pigs 'have secured highly satisfactory results.