THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 382, 29 July 1911, Page 6

THE RURAL WORLD.

HOW TO RUN THE-FARM. "The dairy farm and how to run it" was the title of a paper read by Mr J. Burt Veale, of Woodville, during the Dairymen's Conference at the Palmerstn North Show la3t week. He remarked in opening that dairymen had more and more to learn of what successful dairy farming really meant. The man who thought he knew everything about it was not generally the man who rose to the possibilities that were attainable and the man whose sole object in getting a dairy farm was to sell it without delay to someone else at an enhanced price was becoming one of the greatest curses of the industry.--"Hear, hear."—The time bad arrived when this practise must stop and when closer attention must be given to detail and more systematic work.

The milking of the cows was not the only thing to 'earn on a dairy farm. For some years past dairy farms had been selling at increased values without having increased in carrying capacity, in fact, the style of farming generally adopted had been to rapidly decrease its capacity, so that many had been successful, not from what was made out of the farm's produce, but from the pockets of the other fellow. The position had become so acute of late that a serious problem had to be faced, men in the industry being confronted with the fact that the dairy farm must now be farmed properly. After briefly describing the best manner of laying out a dairy farm Mr Veale said that the actual test of successful dairying was the net return per acre per year allowing, say, 5 per cent on the capital value of the land, stock, etc., and the value of the labour and outgoings expended in producing the return. When there was a surplus or deficiency on these figures then only could the farmer say that he had had a profitable year or otherwise. It should be distinctly understood that dairy farmng was a business entirely apart from land jobbing and, therefore, must be based upon the present or producing qualities of the land and cows. These returns were capable of being made much greater by systematic dairy farming than by merely milking cows. There were very many farmers whose methods were crude and impractical, and who were a drawback to the dairying industry. It was to the latter that appeal had to be made if the industry were to be beneficial. Mr Veale went into the technicalities at some length, finally saying that the point he would like to stress was that the most urgent and yet the most neglected part of the farming operation was the keeping of a systematic set of books. The capital value of the farm and stock shoul 1 be set up and the source of income from each and the various outgoings and expenses. Everything should he properly entered up in a businesslike way. The paper was briefly discussed, and a number of questions by delegates were answered, Mr Veale being accorded a heaty vote of thanks for his informative statements.

EXPERIMENTS IN CROSSBREEDING SHEEP.

It has often been remarked how slow Australian farmers have been to adopt the New Zealand method of cross-breeding for the production of lambs for the export trade. No end of experiments have been made with all sorts of crosses, and yet it appsars that after all the method that has been so long adopted in those parts of New Zealand where the basis has been merino has practically proved the m«st successful. Where the experiments have chiefly failed has been in the endeavour to produce a lamb for export, but this has only been successful in South Australia, where they have the large-framed ewes that are a feature of the merino breed in that State, to work upon. At the recent sheep show in Sydney there was a display of sheep showing the results of a new series of experiments committee. There were two objects in view in these experiments—the producing of a combined wool and mutton sheep, or a dual purpose variety; and secondly, the production of export lambs which are ranged under the early maturing varieties. For experimental purposes the rams were divided into two classes to secure the two results indicated. There is first the long woolsEnglish Leicesters, Border Leicesters and Lincolns—which used with merino ewes gives the dual-purpose sheep mutcon and wool; and the shortwools —Southdowns, Shropshires, and Dorset Horrs used on the longwool merino cross for export lambs The system of crossing now in vogue is to use the longwools with the merino, and the Downs rams on that cross. The merino is used as the medium for transferring the wool and carcase of the longwools to the progeny of the early maturing varieties—the Downs sheep. Of the longwool crosses the Lincoln-merino still shows to greatest advantage, not on'y in weight of wool and carcase, but as a mother for the progeny of the Downs sire. From the experiments carried out it is shown that there is on the average a difference of about 101b in the weight of a fivemonths' lamb raised from a Lincolnmerino ewe to that of a lamb raised from a pure merino ewe by a Downs sire, to the advantage of the former. This goes to show that, however advantageous it may be to use the Downs sire as a second cross, its use as a first cross with the pure merino is not to be recommended. The chief difference between the New Zealand experience and the foregoing experiments is that the English Leicester is more largely used here than the Lincoln for mating with the merino ewe, and the Leicester is again more used than the Shropshire for fat lamb production. The large numbers of New Zealandbred longwool sheep sold at the recent sales in Sydney indicate that the farmers of New South Wales are going in more strongly for fat lamb production. How strongly the longwools and

the crosses will stand a severe drought remains to be seen. Happily the conditions in Australia at the present time are the reverse of the dry seasons of the past.

COWS' DIET AND BUTTER-FAT

A curious experiment by the English Board of Agriculture, has hem carried out by the Agricultural Education Association. The idea of the cxperment was suggested to the board by the case of a French dairyman who was convicted two years ago in the French courts for selling "adu'terated' milk produced by cows whi< h were fed on sloppy food large y seasoned by salt. By way of test:: g the effects of feeding cows on slopi y food which was highly salted for the purpose of causing them t" drink largely of water, the association selected seven dairy Shorthorns, which were fed on sloppy food and salte ' in a greater or less degree—from to (ioz of salt per day being given to the different cows The experiment showed that cows getting the larger quantity of salt did not drink much more water than those getting the lower quantity, and the composition ot their milk was not at all affected by the amount of water which they drank. As a matter of fact, the experiment showed that it is not possible to seriously affect the quality of the milk by the feeding which the cow receives, though the quantity of the milk may be enormously increased or decreased by the suitability or unsuitability of the rations.

HERD-TESTING. A striking case of the value of testing the individual members of a herd is rsported from a district whore a herd-testing association lias been established. Last season a member of the association was approached by a local tradesman for a cow to provide uvlk for his family. The farmer was at once ready to deal, as lie had a cow in his herd which, though she gave a large quantity of milk, was apparently such a poor producer of butter-fat that she was not worth keeping. He asked .i'lo for the possession, and the bargain was struck. Something happened, however, and the cow remained in the herd. When once the testingwork got under way the farmer discovered that the despised cow was the most valuable member of the herd. Her milk certainly did not contain a high percentage of fat, but she gave more butter-fat at each milking than any other cow. At the present time it would take something more than .£25 to induce the owner to wart with her. This is not an exceptional instance of the importance of herd-test-ing, but it is an actual experience which conveys a significant lesson.--"Agricultural Journal."