FARMING.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 179, 2 June 1916, Page 1

FARMING.

The Month's Work. Now that the rush of milking is over, attentioa should be given to putting fences, gateways, etc., into thorough repair for next season's operations. After good soaking rain the paddocks should be chain or brush harrowed. This matter is far too frequently neglected on many dairy farms. "Fertilisers are very dear at present, so every effort should be made to maintain the soil's fertility by distributing the animals' droppings as far as possible. As mangolds reach maturity they should be pulled and stored. An economical way of using the tops is to cut them off with a sharp Dutch hoe or an old spade and feed them straight away. If a little of the crown be taken off with the leaves the mangold apparently suffers nothing in its keeping quality. The

The roots may then be pulled up with a drag. The writpr has for years practised this method of handling his mangold crop, and has never had any trouble in getting his mangolds to keep in the pit. With some varieties of mangolds fully a quarter of the entire weight of the crop is contained in the leaves, and when one considers that the crop is a fairly expensive one to grow the leaves should at least be worth the trouble of saving for feeding. I have known growers turn young cattle into the mangold crop tor the purpose of eating off the leaves. This is an inexpensive way of dealing with them, but such a proceeding would not be safe in districts where heavy frosts are experienced, as the roots, without the protection of their leaves, are very susceptible to frost. If in a frozen condition they should not be given to stock. Mangolds are very frequently pitted with all their leaves attached; but this is a waste of good food. This crop should not be fed in an absolutely green state, as a chemical change is required before the root attains its proper feeding value, and this can oiily be done by allowing it to ripen, as it were, in a pit.

Carrots are often pulled and pitted in the same manner as mangolds, but there is not the same necessity to do so, as their feeding value is not increased by the change. In fact in some districts carrots will not keep if put into heaps or pits. As a food for store pigs there is very little better' than this crop, as its proportion of dry matter is higher than any other similar farm root crop. Carrot tops make good feeding for horses low in condition, and the writer invariably fed them to newly weaned foals.

The cows which are to remain in milk for some time to come should be separated from the main herd and be specially fed. It never pays to allow cows to go off in their milk, and if there is not a sufficiency of feed on hand to go round the full herd it will prove more profitable to reserve it for those, less in number, which are the more likely to adequately respond to it. It is seldom we are found with a full supply of fodder except at such times as nature provides us with it, and to make the most economical use of what wo do possess at times takes some thinking out. Always remembor that dairy stock in particular can only give you back in returns just what you give them in the first place. If you only have ample feed for ten cows' requirements it is useless to give it to twelve and expect the same average result, for you won't get it. In fact you will get less, because you have two additional animals to maintain in normal condition ; therefore there is less food available for production. The same remarks apply equally well to pigs. In neither case is it the number we keep which counts most for profit. It really is the amount of just the right kind of food we possess which governs our returns. Potatoes are now ready for lifting. In selecting seed for next season care should be taken that only such should be taken from the most prolific crops. The general custom is to reserve for seed all those intermediate in size between table and pig potatoes. As a matter of fact, a good many of these are the result of weak or unmatured plants; in no case can they be accepted as desir-

able seed. Tli» law <>f nature is that "like products lik* l ," and we cannot alter it. By particular selection we may improve an average output, but we cannot change its character. For green fodder purpo;es sow rye, wheat, cape barley, or oate, as locality and conditions allow.— " N.Z. Dairyman."