FARM NOTES.

Shannon News, 12 October 1923, Page 4

FARM NOTES.

On 42 per cent, of the British nation's food supply in pre-war times was homegrown. . , Each proved good cow in the nera means a profit. But the more poor cows there are. the greater the loss. Pigs demand very little of the iarmer. Give them the simple life, fresh air, good food, and ex'ercise, and they will repay you adequately . Te Awamutu reports the death or Mr. William Taylor, of Greenhill, a well known Shorthorn breeder. At Dursley, in Gloucestershire, stands an elm tree which is said to foretell the weather. It appears thiu when it is going to be dry, the toliagc turns white: but in wet Weather its colour is normal. „ ... “Live in the country, work on the land, and have a family,’' is the advice of a French journal to those wco would avoid matrimonial unhappiness. This is based upon official statistics. Seeing their father attacked and gored by a bull, a girl of II and her brother, aged 13, went to the rescue with hayforks. They kept the animal at bay until a workman could cany the injured man away. The children s father, Mr. Reuben Corfield, of Welsh Harp Farm, Welshpool, had gone , into a field to feed the animal. It charged him, and he was tossed and gored before the children heard his ere?, ror One poultryman in the Oamaru district is gathering 700 eggs per day. Hay is now being made in many -parts of England by means of- an electric fan which dries the .grass, which is cut and stacked while sun do not believe in lucerne for poultry,” said an experienced poultryman. He asserted that fowls would not 'eat lucerne if they.could get any other green feed. ~. „ . A demand has set in along this coast for wool packs, which indicates that there will be plenty of early shearing. There is also good inquiry for sheep is evidently a good time ahead for the beef producers in the Wanganui district. A farmer has sold his beef cattle at £l2 per head, forward delivery. Some little time ago the same farmer could not obtain £7. The best Dannevirke district lambing percentage comes from Ngapearuru, where .the phenomenal percentage of 132 was disclosedj as the result of last week’s docking. An interesting companion is tarnished in the figures supplied by three southern butter factories regarding the percentage of over-run. The Waitaki Dairy Co. 's statements shows the pei centage to be 1.20341 b, \ Southland Dairy Co.’s 1.18841 b, and the Farmers Dairy Federation Co.'s 1.17251 b. The highest lambing percentage reported in the Masterton district this season was 112. ; „„„ There is amongst dairymen _ one means of improvement which needs no assistance from outside the farm, ana that is the observance of scrupulous cleanliness. Dairy inspectors give very pointed advice in this matter, and quote shocking examples showing the need for reformation on 1 many a f™At Gisborne, farmers are asking 30s per head for six-year ewes. A fair number of this class of sheep have been sold to other districts. In the Gisborne district the teeth of aged - ewes do not deteriorate to the extent as in some other parts of New‘Zealand and it is not impossible to pass six-year ewes off as four-year-olds. • The lambing season in the Waikato is now practically over, and amg percentage of twins is reported. Early shearing awaits the advent of a few sunny days. s . The demand for manures for top dressing pastures:-has been very limited in Wanganui this season. This .was no doubt duo to the bad weather. Un the other hand in Taranaki an abnormal demand set in for fertilisers to distribute on dairy farms, and as the Taranaki wholesalers sold out they had to call, on Wanganui firms for supple: mentary supplies In any (adds the Herald) farmers m Wanganui never top dress lands so extensively “I am just off to kill a pig,” was the. business like greeting of a Hopami soldier settler when waited upon by the members of the overseas Settlement Delegation. “Do you wish to come along and see the execution? Invitation declined. Mr. Sinclair at an agricultural meeting in Wanganui. “We used to, charge a shilling 20 years ago for admission and our gate receipts, with less population were nearly as good as they are now at a charge of 2s. . . , The Herd-testing Association at Nireaha is now well established and some 12 herds have been tested. One herd test ranged from 2.2 to 6.3, while one cow which held part of its milk tested 1.1.