NEWS AND NOTES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 405, 14 December 1932, Page 3

NEWS AND NOTES

HAY AND ENSILAGE! MAKINGl The harvesting of surplus pastare growth for hay and ensilage is in full swing right througnv/.*- the " taict at the present time, and as ther ' an oversupply of feed, good iA.oLfion of winter feed should result. !■: jjs The farmer is not only concerned with the harvesting of his crops, but the storage and preservation of such in good cond't.w- gives hina much coiacern. With ensilage, loss in storage due to waste can be minlnaised by careful building and reguku— g of temperature, this latter being done in the most practical way by getting the green material into the stack, or pit, with as little delay as possible. * * * The Farmers' Field Competitions inaugurated and conducted !by the Rotorua A. and P. Association brought out sonie valuable points in this connection. In the ensilage competition, Mr. Hardcastle won with a pit of excellent ensilage — green material conserved in the best condition with practically no waste, and further, no waste when fed to stock. In other cases much waste occurred both in pits and stacks, due to lack of eare in building and covering, and further laste occurred when feeding to stock. The expenditure in cash and labour was no more in the rnaking of the good ensilage than where the wastes occurred. The stacking and conserving of hay in the stack or bale-gives the farmer much coneern, and very often much hay is wasted due tc insufficient covering after stacking. In the competition for baled hay, Mr. R. Cop'eland Smith secured first place with hay in excellent condition, this Ihay being baled within 2i days from time of harvesting and then stored under cover, allowing space between stacks of bales for ventilation. In the competition for the haystack, Mr. H. M. Martin was the winner with a stack of hay saved in the best of condition and w^ste practically eliminated due to method3 adopted in building and covering. The methods adopted by Mr. Martin in the covering of his stack are the best to provide security against weather conditions — wind and rain. When the foundation of the stack is set out, four wires, or the nurnber of wires considered necessary, are laid in regular distances aeross the bottom of the stock, and are of sufficient length to go over the stack when completed. When the stack is completed and ready for coverirg roofing iron is used for the covering and four by two timber scantling laid lengthways along the stack and covering the iron, the wires are then brought over the top of the stack and fastened at the bottom and tightened. This makes one of the best and most :secure methods of stack covering and is no worry to the farmer in rough weather conditions during the season. It will be found necessary to tighten the wires during the first few weeks when the stack is settling. ❖ ❖ Reports from all over the district show that the recent rains have done an immense amount of good to the pastures and young grass is coming iaway freely. * :!: * A very large quantity of hay and ensilage should be saved at Ngakuru this season. The paddoeks set aside for this purpose total 1000 acres. Four hundred acres of turnips and swedes are also being provided^ so there should be no shortage of winter feed in that quarter.