THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 359, 10 May 1911, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

AUSTRALIAN AFFAIRS. IMPRESSIONS OF A NEW ZEALANDEE. In the course of a letter from Melbourne, Mr Norman J. Daysn, the well-known milking machine inventor of the Wairarapa, makes some interesting observations on rural matters on the other side. He says: "Some of the latest dairy factories in Victoria equal those of New Zealand in equipment, but the older factories are a disgrace. I was in one place which received only lume separated cream and m3de live or six tons of butter a week. Two men did the work with a small box churn and one circular butter table. They had only a small freezer, and this of insufficient power to reduce the cream to a proper temperature. The factory had a wooden floor, in fact was quite unsuitable for making the best quality of butter. The manager candidly admitted that the loss per year would be quite enough to build a new up to date factory. However, a late factory I was in was quite good—so h.p. gas engine and combined churns, with pasteurisation of j cream and skim-milk in operation. The farmers' carts supprised me, and I saw 160 in Bacchus Marsh alone. They contained all small ten gallon bottle-neck cans with rags around the lids to prevent the milk spilling. When I mentioned twenty gallon straight cans they said they were impossible. Land around Bacchus Marsh is very dear —£60 to .£7O an acre is a reasonable price. This value has been created owing to the land being irrigated. It will now grow five crops of lucerne in the year. "The irrigation work in Victoria is an eye-opener to a New Zealander. The works run for two hundred miles in parts. Great gulleys are dammed up, and the water is pushed back for miles, covering trees and houses. I saw one dam over a hundred feet high which took years to build. Farmers' land has had to be taken by the Govenment. One old farmer I saw absolutely refused to move. He was offered up to £2O an acre but still would not budge. When I saw his house, a really nice old farmhouse with, garden and plantations, orchards, etc., the water was within a few feet from the back door and rising six inches every twenty-four hours. Taking Victoria and New South Wales on the whole, they have not impressed me. I have been a few times to Sydney, and the country along the line has a barren appearance. "I attended the Royal Show at Sydney and saw much to interest me. They had a great display of dairy cattle, much larger than I have ever seen in New Zealand, but the quality on the whole was not as good as at the best shows of the Dominion. There was a very bad failing in all the sections—brought more with the object of selling than with any hope of securing a prize. The show ground covers fifty-four acres and is very well appointed. The high jump was a fine exhibition. The winner got over 6ft lOin, and with a lady up, cleared 6ft oin. There was a great display of machinery, eight milking machine plants, five New Zealand and three Australian makes"

THE LAMB TRADE

SOME MISTAKES OF FARMERS. With the advent of the frozen meat industry some years since came a very marked change in the sheep husbandry of the Dominion, leading to the crossing of numerous varieties of sheep, irrespective of their suitability for the class of country they were to be depastured upon or fitness for the production of the highest quality of mutton and lamb. This industry, though no doubt highly remunerative on the whole to New Zealand, has done much to destroy the regularity of type not only among the large flocks but also among those of the small farmer. Ewes and sires of any and every class have been bred from, and all manner of experiments tried, resulting only too often in the production of "mongrels" lacking constitution, and alt the attributes that should pertain to an animal of full economic value. This procedure on the part of many of our pastoralists has led to a statement in one of the annual reports of the Secretary of Agriculture that "No improvement in the quality of the mutton exported can be recorded while the best of the stock are sent away as lambs." However, it is not proposed in this article to discuss the harm that has accrued to the flocks of the Dominion through the above causes, but rather to deal with matters which lead up to the reports from the London markets, freezing works, and graders, which show that lambs of poor quality have been exported from New Zealand during the past season. It is well known that during the lambing season 1910, and for several months afterwards, the lambs did not do well and come into forward condition rapidly. This was attributed in a great degree to the softness of the pasturage and climatic circumstances over which the farmer had no control. There are, however, other aspects ot the case which call for explanation and which are intimately connected with the management of the stock. One of the principal of these is overstocking and the greed for numbers. Coupled with this is the treatment the lambs receive in many instances from birth onwards, which may be enumerated as follows:—The poor condition of the ewes previous to, and at lambing time; the careless way

j that the operations at docking are j carried out leading to the lambs be- ; coming motherless, in many instances a heavy percentage. Then following this during several seasons there has i been a feverish haste on the part of a ... *' owners to shear ''early" so : r,p !-» "n time for their wool to be j Ljld at t 1 'ical sales or shipped to ! reach ti jondon market for the ' .'"iiiar ■'''es of auctions. Through : ■ jure the lambs are knocked : another quota to those already mother- ! less, or those weaned at so early a i stage of their exstence, while the ; j whole liock are thrown back in condition by the bad treatment they re- j ceive, which is very considerable. Wet weather often prevails during j the early months of spring and summer. It is very problematical if any enhan ement in value which may or may not be realised for wool in the . early sales in any measure compensates for the loss that is entailed I through the falling oil' in condition of | the lambs. It should be the endeavour | of stock breeders to treat their young ! animals from the time of birth in | such a way that they do not go back in condition. The "lamb flesh" ; should be kept upon them, and if this is followed out there will be fewer complaints concerning the poor quality of our iamb and mutton, and less woe and lamentation over the death . rate subsequently among the more mature sheep, especially the hoggets. The classification of lambs may be | put down as follows: —(1) Those that : have been bred from sound constitu- ; tioned and conditioned evve3 and re- j ceived proper treatment in every ! respect from birth. These will turn ' out "prime lamb," and a large percentage will fatten on grass alone without any artificial feeding. (2) Those which are the progeny of weak j stock, kept short of feed, infested with internal or external parasites, and in consequence in low condition. : These will cause expense, requiring j the aid of rape or other succulent i feed, and will never make first-class j lamb. (3) Those which have become ; motherless at docking and early shearing. The wisest course to j pursue with these is to get rid of [ them as early as possible as being of ; little to the grower. j TUat is a good deal of differ- j er:-3 :.r> m*. ci'j&l : ty of lamb exported | ficra the Do jh on is a well estab- j Inhod fact, f 's made manifest by j th which is obtained for j "p r _-v=s '.erbury" as compared; withouici. brands, particularly those! from this island. There is no reason j why this difference should exist, for j are not our northern land 3 and cli- I mate quite equal, if not superior, to J those of the south? The fact is that j our Canterbury friends are better j farmers. They breed a better type j of lamb and give it better treatment, i and -luce an article more suit- j ab'j requirements of the j E ,n tra.>. The British consumer ; d ids a 3^',11, well-fed carcase j w' : ;i? i may .cr nof meat and a mini- j mt, ~'—not the big boned, j coase, y Lincoln or Romney, or ; combination of these breeds, so many of which are grown in the North j Island. The farmers must_ direct | their energies to the production of a | uniform type of animal of small size, j and the best advice that can be giv en j is—"Endeavour to grow the best of j everything."—N.Z. Times [

NEW ZEALAND DRAUGHT.

The "Sydney Morning Herald," reporting the recent show horse sales, makes special reference to the very satisfactory price realised for Royal Scotch, bred by Mr J. S. Oughton, of Okaiawa, Taranaki. The horse is only two years old and was first at Sydney Show in a class of thirty seven, which it may be accepted was a strong class. The "Herald," reporting of the j sale, says:—A sale of more than | ordinary interest reported during the day was that of Messrs Caffery and | Murphy's Royal Scotch, a Clydesdale ; stallion, two years and under three J years, which was sold for 500 guineas. I He is by Royal Crown—Lady Ran- j furly, by Lord Ranfurly, and was j bred by Mr J. S. Oughton, of Hawera. | The purchaser is Mr J. 11. Lomas, of j Yandilla, Darling Downs, Queensland, j This animal was selected by the ; judge, Mr H, R. Murray, as the best j of his kind on the ground, and one of j the finest Cydesdales he had ever seen, j The price paid for such a young ani- j mal certainly suggests exceptional j quality. j

i HEREFORDSHIRE CATTLE. j

A striking feature in the history of Hereford cattle is the remarkable ; loyalty of the Herefordshire farmers to their county breed. This is referred to in the newly-issued "History of Hereford Cattle." From generation to generation the farmers of Hereford have clung to the old love of the country, priding themselves upon their fine herds of "white faces," which they have cultivated with eminent skill and success, giving little heed to the vaunted merits of other varieties, never for a moment wavering from their affection. This speaks well both for the men and the cattle; the cattle are good, and the Hereford farmers have had the sense to stick to them. Those valuable properties which have planted the breed so firmly in the affections of its old supporters cannot fail to win fast friends for the "white faces" wherever they put in appearance, and it may safely be predicted' that "in fresh fields and pastures new," as well as in its old haunts, the breed has before it a brilliant and useful future. From 1890 to l') 08 the Hereford Herd Book Society has granted 3264 certificates of exportation to foreign countries and the colonies.