FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 21, 18 February 1909, Page 4

FARM AND DAIRY.

DKCAKMNC DAUiY COWS. h In city dairies cow- tire Irequcntly s discarded (suys Professor Thomas Shaw j. ill tho Orange Judd Fanner) heeintse 0 they are »u longer giving milk in pitying , quantities. The owner sells them and puts fresh cows in their place. | That would not be a s-ullicient, reason fur discarding it cow in a farm dairy il , a good producer. In the latter good cows -should not be discarded as long l as they are able to produce well. The j following reasons, however, would justify the farmer dairyman in getting . rid of them: —lf they tailed to reach a ' good standard in production, if they were unusually restless and irritable, ' if they were hard milkers, and if they ' failed to breed regularly. The standard ' 01 production each dairyman must set 1 for himself. In no case should it be le»s than UOOUIb of milk a year. In many ' cases it may be more than that. To know- what the cows are. doing, of ' course, records must he kept. The very fact of keeping such records will have '-t saiiiliiry intlunicc on, the dairyman. It will cans.: him to reach out for higher attainment. Winn cows are irritable and restless and give trouble more or less because of such peculiarities, the-e mat' furnish m-iiiiealiun for discarding tiiein. 01 course, it mar be wise to retain such cows for a time in the alisun-e of ollieinot much more satisfactory, but as soon as circumstances will justify it they should be dispensed with. Small teal's . are, to some extent, peculiarities of breeds, and, tin refore, are the outcome of inherit unci'. They make milking more le.liou.-, than it' would otherwise lie. sime il m.iues stripping necessary. Whew the structure of tho udder and teats is such- that considerable strength is called for lo gel the milk, the work of milking becomes much more laborious and call- for a much longer time to do ihe work. It is, therefore, of much practical moment that cows shall milk easily.

It i= also a matter of prime importance in the farm dairy that cows shall breed regularly. In. this way only can the maximum of milk How be maintained. Of course, the great object in having dairy cuws to produce young is to freshen tiiein. If this does not take place at regularlv recurring periods, as, aav. once a'voiir'. the milk How will not be sustained a- 11 ought to be. When siich cows fail to breed properly this in itself will liirnish one important reason why they should be discarded. The present has been a particularly good season for the lattctiing of lamlns 111 T'aranitki. Several sheep farmers report having fnltem/d quite 80 per cent. The really good cow is the one that il pays to own. IJut tire value of a really good cow is not usually appreciated. l.ict all the butter possible irom the cream by having the cream rich, the temperature low, and tho churn not over half-full. T'or a niaturt', well-few cow, it is not demanding too much to say she must give nearly IKIUOIIi of milk, or make 2501b of butter." l-'ov lumps in a cow's udder, give linH a pound of Kpsoin salts every three days. Also mix in drink daily one ounce powdered nitrate potash. Do not feed grain in any form. An excellent cow and an abundance of gooil food will not give the desired re-s-tills unless the cows are treated with the greatest kindness, lie ever thoughtful of the cow's comfort and she will pay you well for it. (lood butter means, or should moan, a good price, and to have good butter the cream must be properly handled. iExercise the. greatest cleanliness and avoid getting it over-ripe. Ascertain in sunn: way what each cow is doing. The most reliable method is (lie use of a pair of scales and a milk tester. As soon as you cau'gel rid 01 vour unprofitable cows and lill their places with good ones. Xo prolit is derived from the food which goes barelv towards keeping the cow alive, but it'is that which she eats beyond the imiintcnanee ration that firings in. tile nuuiey. In taking the temperature of a quantity of cream it is essentia! that the hulk be thoroughly stirred dining the operation, as otherwise different partwill be at ilillere.'il temperatures and wrong conclusions will be arrived at. The number of cows to be milked on a. farm should he determined by the size of the family, the amount of income required to keep them, and last, but not least, the number -who are able and willing to help do tire milking and ruii■a separator. A suggestion was made at the luvercargill Dairy Conference Hint a cullui'c--100111 should he attached to each factory. The ctis'l of piirallining ilieese, said Air. Ctiddie at Invercargiil. wa, IH'pl a cheese; in Canada it Wits Id. .Mr. T. It,. I'ptuu, of Asliluii-toii. has -hipped to a. North Island lloek-uwner n pariiciilarlv nice line of two-tooth Shropshire stud rums. Tile iSaliancw Cii-operalive Dairy Company paid out yesterday CllSi'Ji) for mill; supplied during January. The milk Ceiierally. in Snii'ih Canterbury, and 'tie may take il the rule is general in the Soiilh, harvesting expenses" are being cut duwa a- nnicli as possible, in view of the probable low price 01 grain. There is a dilliuttlty in getting men for stooking in the Cciiildiue district, and some swaggers who were oll'ercd vvork last week at, a satisfactory wage refused, on the ground thai it Was much too hot to work. At the Invercargiil Dairy Conference the Dairy Commissioner, Mr. D. Ctiddie, was asked- if there was any present likelihood of it dairy experimental stalioii being established, lie replied that- he was sorry lie could not answer the question. There is ample evidence all over the A-hburlon district just now (says the Chri-tchurch Press) of excellent crops of red clover, hut farmers are remarking that humble bees appear to be un-u-ually scarce, and they attribute this lo the two preceding drv seasons. As b ble bees alone are responsible for ■tho fertilisation of clover, their decrease must result in a serious loss Lo the fanning community, clover crops in former years having proved a most profitable branch of fanning. This much (says Bulletin No. I HI). Kansas Agricultural College) must always he remembered by the buyer, thai good seeds cost morn to put on the market than poor ><!Qd; that the seeds of the, dill'erent staple crop.- exist on the market in several grades, and that the quality and pnrily of the seed and resulting crop depend very largely in the' first itistaui-e upon the grade of seed purchased. If buyers insist on cheapness as the lirst 'reifuisite they cannot afterwards with justice complain of .quality except in so Far as the seed may have been purposely adulterated. Tho caterpillar is. doing widespread harm in South Canterbury. A Held here and there has been almost .-tripped, and on other farms oats had to he cut prematurely to save what was left. It i.curious 'that in some fields the cute'.-, pillars se to have a defined feedingground (savs a Press correspondent). I was in an' oats heir! where I hey have caii-e,l' immense damage, but one corner of about live, acres wns untouched. ■ The. patent gas-producing machine .s being used 'with good cil'e'ct by Mantiwatu llaxinlllers in. mincing the cost of production. An instance was supplied lite writer the other ilitv where one mill had a fuel bill of Uldii Os )0d for the 1007-8 season, wit In ordinary steam power, while an adjoining mill, turning out exactly the same amount of fibre, but using the gas-piodtieer, paid only ~U;i(l Ills Otl for the season's fuel. It is slated by those entitled lo he accepted as speaking with million!v ■that) the wheat yields are not likely lo turn out so well as was expected a week or two back (savs the North Otago Daily Times). .Many -nf the heads have an ominous black appearance as though smitten bv some blight, and are imperfect I v Idled. This is especiallv the case witli fields 011 the seiilniard. and in the Kaknuui-Alldav liav district (lie viehls will full a good hit short of anticipation-'. Oat-, on the other hand, are expeeled to turn out well- -probably better I linn was anticipated.