VALUE OF SHELTER TREES.

Shannon News, 21 October 1921, Page 4

VALUE OF SHELTER TREES.

EFFECTS OF ITUS WEEK’S GALE

A rather important sidelight on dairy farming, as it affects the individual farmer and the industry as a whole, was mentioned to a Chronicle representative by ail lhakara dairyman last evening. He stated that the high wind which raged in this district on' Monday and Tuesday had re ; duced his herd’s output ior those two days by 1001 bof milk. His herd con sisted of 4£j cows, so that the drop per cow as a result Of the unfavourable we'ather conditions was over one pound per day. In hard cash the loss on the two days was 10s. Another dairyman who was present said his return was lowered in the same ratio, iand a/further inquiry from Mr W. Gray, manager of the lhakara Creamery, showed that the fall in the intake at' the creamery for the two days mentioned wa's nearly 6001 b of milk. ; This morning, with the improved weather conditions the supply was rapidly picking up again, and in a day or so worild tyj up to the normal figures again. As to a proper method of dealing with these, drawbacks to the farmer, the first-named dairyman said he was con-' vinced that there was only one solution, - and it was summed up in two words, “shelter belts.” He said that meteorological changes quickly affected dairy herds, and* the animals should be given proper protection by means of shelter trees. This was a point that had been very 1 . largely neglected by farmers in the past to their own detriment, but the folly of this was becoming more 'and more recognised,&and in the lhakara district during the past few seasons a good deal of planting had been done around the grazing areas. Planting, he pointed out, was an asset to the farm, and if the negligent ones realised that every cold wind that' blew whs costing them money by lowering their income they would lose no time in providing shelter*.