OUR DAIRYING METHODS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4857, 24 July 1925, Page 4

OUR DAIRYING METHODS

A DANISH CRITIC. SOME PRACTICAL ADVICE. “To make a success of dairying farmers must take it up in. a national spirit. Unless this is done New Zealand will certainly lag behind, and ■other countries, such as Argentine and Siberia, will come to the fore.” That is the opinion of Mr Peter Hansen, a well-known Danish dairying expert, who visited Wellington recently. “I am tired of hearing the complaints of farmers Who are inclined to blame the Government, the land laws, taxation, and the cows for their failure to make a success of the dairying industry,” Mr Hansen told an interviewer.

He said he had come to the conclusion that the chief fault lay with the farmers themselves and their way of working their farms. In the first place sufficient attention was not given to the agricultural side ot dairying, and the plough was not kept going to ensure that an adequate amount of feed was raised for the stock. One of the most essential points in connection wtih the production of milk was a good supply of fodder. On many of the farms turnips were exclusively used fbr feeding cattle in the winter. That method was entirely wrong. He would strongly advise farmers on the smaller holdings to grow hay, and instead of putting a brake in the paddock they should cart the turnips to a place where the cows might be fed on both turnips and hay. The addition of salt to the haystack would ensure that the hay Would open out s.Weet and clean, said Mr Hansen. About 41b or 51b of ■ ordinary salt should be sprinkled on the hay every 4ft or sft as the stack grew. Salt had the effect of making the hay more palatable and was ( essential to the health of the cows. Mr Hansen contends that it is only by close application to work that the dairy farmer can succeed. He said that in both England and Denmark the clever son in a family was generally taught the higher branches of agriculture, but in New Zealand he. usually went to the city and was taught a trade or a profession, with the result that farming had suffered to a great extent. Surprise was expresised by Mr Hansen that more attention Was hot given to the pig industry, which was a great asset to the dairy industry as a side line, especially where the milk was separated on the farm.