FARM AND DAIRY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 34, 2 October 1931, Page 4

FARM AND DAIRY

j NOTES of THE PRODUCER. II FlNCREASED PRODUCTION AIDS. ii I It is surprising the number of men I whose pastures are proving disappointing and who yet do not realise I that is because they have sown poor non-persistent strains of ryegrass. The better the grass is managed the worse it is for these poor strains of ryegrass. Oertified seed is available but it is not heing used to the extent it should be. Australia is waking up to this faet, and a big demand is setting in for certified New Zealand ryegrass seed from the dairying statea of the Commonwealth,

|| Bulls for Fiji. II A shipment of pedigree Jersey || bulls has been despatched from the >| Waikato to the order of the Fiji | Pastoral Company, Suva, The Com- | Pany owns several herds, totalling | well over 1000 milking- cows and is | fully alive to the necessity of good | sires in its endeavour to raise the ll standard of its cattle. Having seen for themselves what such bulls have _ done in New Zealand, producers in Fiji are evidently proposing to adopt our principles in the South Sea isles. | Sweet Ensilage Undesirable. i Accordjng to a Swiss scientist | sweet silage has an effect on milk I which makes it unsuitable for the \ making of high-quality cheese, The \ trouhle is not noticeable until the j cheese reaches the curing stage. The ! reason advanced is that at high temj peratures the desirable bacteria in \ the silage is destroyed by other or- ! ganisms which then obtain control, j and it is these organisms iwhich imI part an undesirable ° flavour to the i cheese. Apparently the temperature | of the silage should not go beyond i 110 degrees.

j Pedigree Stock Prices. i Despite the hard times there is [ still a fair amount of money availi able for the better clas3 of pedigree ' dairy sires as evidenced by the fact ■ that at the National Jersey Show and Sale at Hamilton this month by the' highest priced thirty-five averaged just on 40gns. A noticeable feature, due no doubt to the ecomonic conditions prevailing, was that huyers showed a keener discrimination as to quality, with the result that while the superior animals sold at very satisfactory prices the poorer ones were slow of sale. One young bull, barely a year old, realised 73 gns. while a number of others made price3 in excess of 50 gns. Lessons to be taken from the sale are the necessity of testing and the paramount importance of bringing out bulls in first class condition. Breeders, however, had to resign themeslves to prices considerably less than those they have been accustomed to receiving.

Mammitis. The Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture is encouraging farmers to have the milk of their individual cows tested for mammitis. The farmer sends in a sample of each cow's milk to one of the Government laboratories where it is mieroscopically tested. If the disease germ is foand in the milk of any particular cow or cows then the farmer know3 these cows should be milked last, so as not to pass on the trouble. Some authorities declare that such cows 3hould not be bred from,claiming that susceptibility to mamitis is hereditary. In the Far South. j ' By averaging 372.891b. fat in 259 days a herd of 44 grade Jerseys near Invercargill established for the season just ended what was probably a record for that end of the Dominion. Moreover, their feat has been rarelybettered by herds in even the most favoured dairying localities. The performance directs pointedj attention to what can be accomplished in all parts of the Dominion by systematic herd improvement through culling and the use of pedigree bulls. Like most herds, this great Southland bunch of producer3 originally descended from very ordinary cows, which would probably not average more than 2001b. fat, but steady improvement has been effected by the use of pedigree Jersey bulls of proved butterfat baeking until the herd has reached its present high productive standard.

Bqttermilk Powder. j Dried buttermilk powder, being made at the Te Awamutu driedmilk factory of the N.Z. Co-Operat-ive Dairy Company, is regarded in America and England as a most valuable food for poultry, while it | has given excellent results in the feeding of calves and pigs. Undoubtedly it is a valuable food. The buttermilk powder may go twice as far as meat meal, but only carefully eonducted experiments will prove this. It i3 certainly more palatable than meat-meal.

Taranaki's Top Herd. On a narrow strip of valley bordering the main highway as it winds through the Uruti hills is to be found the herd that topped the big Taranaki Herd-testing Association last season with its remarkable average for 51 head of 4021b. butterfat in only 270 days. This great herd, which is the property of Mr. J. K. Oxenham, takes second place for the entire Dominion to the Waikato herd of which mention was made last week. Mr. Oxenham's herd, which includes a number of heifers, consist3 entirely of grade Jerseys. He has developed the herd by the use of a succession of good pedigree bulls and this fact, together with sound farming methods, has been the medium of his success. In the selection of his bulls, Mr. Oxenham has odopted a far-sighted policy and where he had considered that an animal wa3 likely to raise the standard he has not hesitated to pay good money for it. The Jersey bulls that he has introduced are descended from heavy producing families and have clearly passed their inherent ability on to their grade descendants. The herd of hfty-one milking cows is practically eonfined to seventy qeres on the flat, the hills, which com-prise-the pemainder of the property, heing utilised only for dry stock. Yet from this farm which sixteen years ago was only producing 60001b. butterfat, Mr. Oxenham is now taking approximately 20,0001b. butterfat. ^ A better clas3 of cow and topdressing

are the two reasons for this great increase. "Yes, topdressing ha3 done a lot for us," said Mr. Oxenham, "for it has given the cows full opportunity of producing right up to their hereditary capacity." Mr. Oxenham's practise is to apply basic slag in the autumn at the rate of about 2j|cwt. to the acre, adding to it sulphate of ammonia at the rate of approximately 701b. to the acre. The sulphate of ammonia, he has found, has effected a great improvement especially in regard to early growth. The high production of the herd, Mr. Oxenham states, is in no small measure due to the early spring growth of grass brought about by the sulphate of ammonia. A3 some assistance to the pasture, on which otherwise he entirely relies, Mr. Oxenham cuts a few acres of green oats for feeding in the spring, months. *