FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 60, 5 April 1909, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY.

J'OOR DAIRY COWS. FAITH OF THE ROBBERS. Referring to poor dairy cows, H. 11. I'.von, a well-known American writei, says :•-•■ We are often told that most dairy farmers have so many poor cows that they cannot make any money. The advice is then freely offered that these poor cows should at once be disposed of and good cows put in their places. Sometimes the assurance is vouchsafed Hull the dairyman would be better off if lie would dispose of those poor cows even though be had no others to put in their places. Now there is more than one way of looking at this proposition, and many a man is obliged to consider it from a standpoint that docs not appeal to the man who gives the advice. "Get rid of the cows nt any price that arc not paying a profit" is a very frequent assertion. It m figured that if a cow consumes :1S dollars worth of feeds, and returns 35 dollars worth of milk, sold at the creamery, that cow must lie running the farmer in debt, and the farmer would be better off to be rid of the cow, even if he got nothing for her, that seems like good reasoning, but it simply ' shows the deception of figures, sometimes. Thousands of farmers have made a living and paid for a home while keeping cows that were no belter tli.ui the one mentioned. It is not my purpose to advocate the keeping of inferior cows. f would say get the best cow possible, consistent with one's means, but it cannot safely be advised in , all cases to get rid of all the cows at once that do not pay a profit above the commercial value of the feeds consumed. This is especially true where a. farmer is short of funds with which to purchase cows, as well as to

pay bills, interest, and to make necessary payments on his farm. The feeds that are produced on the farm must bo turned into cash, and it must be done, if possible, without detriment to the farm. Tiie feeds do not represent to the farmer who has grown them their entire commercial value. When he turns them into cash at the end of the milk route, and gets nearly or quite as much for Ihciu as he can get in the market for the feeds themselves, and still has the benefit of their fertilising values, he is not doing so badly after all. Better do that than do worse. A better way is to secure cows which, while they consume the feeds grown on the farm, may also turn every dollar of these feeds into a dollar and a-lialf or two dollars at the milk can. The former value is not very difficult to secure, if the farmers understands cows and their feeding ; and the later is not impossible. AH that 1 euntend in the way of caution is that the dairyman who hasn't a good bit of spare change with which to experiment, should go slowly enough so as not to sutler serious loss. There arc pitfalls in the way of the unwary when lie goes about making a raojeal change in his herd. Better make the change, but study the question first.

MACHINE v. HAND MILKING Already New Zealand is easily leading the world in Hie development' and improvement of the milking machine and she lias done this, too, without the aid of any imported talent. No milking machine expert who says " shape " when lie means "condition," and who talks through his nose, and draws a high salary, lias yet been imported to learn .how much we know that other people do not know of milking cows by machinery. We should say that to-day we are an almost immeasurable distance ahead of any country in the world with our milking machines, and we are quite satisfied that the world's record for quick ami efficient milking is held now by a family of Taranaki farmers, who owe the knowledge they have to know one but themselves. The test made by the Tennessee Experiment Station seems to have settled for all time that as much, or more, milk can be got by machine as by hand milking. The grave doubt that have been entertained on this point,and that other more important one as to whether any permanent injury was liable to be caused by the machine milking, has kept a huge number of would-be buyers out of the market, and now that this has been practically settled by careful and non-interested'and painstaking experimentalists, we may look in the near future for the biggest boom in milking machinery that has ever been seen.— Dairyman, THE MAIZE CHOP. THE POPULARITY IN TAKANAKI. If a district farmer were questioned as to the next best thing to a plentiful iinluinn rainfall, he would probably reply, "'A good maize held," (says the Ilawcra, Star). There really seems no end of the reports of splendid crops from all sides. A Manaia resident mentioned (he other day (hat his crop averaged eleven feet in height, while another from Mereincre quoted only two less as the ."lino production of his field. Similar luxuriant growths are not by any means uncommon, n M liuugh perhaps extra fertilising ami favourable aspects have raised these a little above the average yield. Of quite recent introduction for autumn green feed purposes, maize has quickly established itself to a high standard with Taranaki farmers, and is likely to retain its posilioa. The variety known as '' horse-tooth " has been mentioned, as the most desirable, for green feeding purposes, and the planting of two and a-half bushels per acre is considered to produce favorable all-rouml results. As maizegrowmg is practically in its infancy in this district, there Is much to learn in the way of producing its maximum possibilities. Therefore any information as to variety, quantity of seed per acre, different manures and their effects, together with any other items of interest about its production, will be gladly published.

The Dairyman has it on excellent authority that there will not be quite so many men on the road during the coming buying season as we have had during the past few years. Although small cows consume less food than large ones, yet the former eat a larger amount of food in proportion to their size or weight than the tetter. Both the quantity and quality of a cow's milk are dependent upon her breeding or natural capacity than upon the food which she consumes.

The great test of any man's love for the occupation he is following is his sticking to his post through the thin as farm, and as this does not contain cither nitrogen, phosphoric acid, or potash, the amount of loss is practically nil. The French Canadian cow is now said to be the most profitable cow in Canada, and the Canadian Minister of Agriculture predicts that she will soon be known as the world's greatest butter-produc-ing machine. She possesses most of the good points of the Jersey, and in addition is hardy, has a strong constitution, and is belter adapted to the conditions on ordinary dairy farms than any of tho older breeds.

The cultivation of llax is one of the old agricultural industries. Fully 5000 years ago the value of the plant was known and appreciated. The Phocnieia-.is devoted great attention to it, and so did both the Greeks and Komans. The Egyptian mummies are found wrapped in material made from ilax.

With respect to dairying unfortunately, few men as yet enter the business because they like it ami intern! to spend their lives at such work ; the object of most being to wake money quickly, so «s to enable tlreni to cuter into something else that is not so engrossing. This is the cliief reason why there has been so little improvement in our herds in the past. If milk is sold there is a good deal of loss fertilising materials from the farm, iintl this amounts in the case of a eow yielding IiOO gallons during the year to about :161b of nitrogen, 121b of phosphoric acid, and ]l)lb of potash. Tn the case of chcesemaking the loss is considerably less ; as 11 portion of the milk—viz., the whey—is relumed and useil for pig-fecil-ing whilst in butter-making practically only the fat of the milk is sold oil' the well as t'lie thick of the business.