FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 15, 11 October 1910, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY

DRY-FARMNU. A recent cablegram stated that the United States President, Mr. Taft, by pressing a button at his Massachusetts summer ihoine at Beverly, gave the signal at Spokane, in the far West, for the formal opening of the Dry-farming Congress. In simple phrase dry-farming means a method of farming that shall include deep ploughing and frequent pulverising of the top soil out of as well as during the growing season. -lit is based on the principle that the moisture falling in rain or snow may sink into the earth if the soil be loosened. Then that there shall be kept above that moistened bed a close, fine blanket of dust that shall prevent evaporation. If the furrows be tinned at right angles to the prevailing winds of winter that the snow may be caught, and if the pulverising harrow be sent over the field after every rain, the seed is certain to receive a maximum amount of sustenance. If it does not get enough in one season it may in two, and a crop every alternate year, if a good one, is ample return on cheap land. Of course tnere must 'be good soil as a basis—only irrigation can conquer sand. FEEDING FOR MILK. All nursing animals are chronically hungry (says Professor Wrightson), and a cow" is more than a nurse. She is a cultivated, artificially-trained nurse. Just as well-bred hens are induced to lay an egg every day, so a good cow will yield enough milk for three calves. That such animals should be voracious need not 'be a matter of surprise. A cow, yielding three, four or five gallons of milk every dav does a great deal more with her food than a fattening bullock laying on 141b of beef a week. Now, who would expect a bullock to do this on less tha.n 41b of cake and 41b of meal per day? How, then, can a cow be expected to keep up three gallons of milk daily unless she is fed fully as well as a bullock? The question might be worked out by looking up the amount of solids in 141b of beef and in 2L gallons of milk. It might be taken out in terms of nitrogen; but the 21i gallons of milk would contain more than 141b of beef. Milk is taken straight out of the blood of the cow, and unless it is replaced, with allowances for waste in digestion, it must be taken from her own flesh. This is the view which should be taken of cow-feeding, with all its contingencies of gaining and losing flesh, and increasing or decreasing in value, A note from the Grading Department shows that the Lepperton Dairy Co. topped the list for grading points for last season, with 93.33. This is understood to top the list for the Dominion, not only for Taranaki. The Mangorei Dairy Factory is now turning out about 50 boxes of butter a day, an advance in the amount turned out at the same time last year. It is expected that the output will he doubled in a week or two. It is reported that the directors had a conference with the directors of a neighboring factory last week regarding the latter's desire to become a "unit" of the Mangorei Dairy Co. The result of the conference has not yet been made public. Owing to the magnificent spring season the lambing reports from all parts of the Wairoa district are highly satisfactory. A recent visitor to the Moumahaki State farm states that 1400 chicks have been 'hatched out there this season. Air. J. Johnston, of Levin, is said to possess a cow which last year returned a sum of £24 4s to its owner. New Zealand is not the only country that produces weighty bullocks. At Omes, a station in New South Wales, a bullock placed on the scales turned 1709 lbs, about 7001bs above the average weight. A Waikato farmer who has had over 10 years' experience of growing sugar beetroot, has pronounced opinions on the question of such agriculture. Twelve years ago he resolved to experiment upon his large farm. He planted beets for ID or 12 seasons, cultivating on the same lines and using about 3cwt. or super, and bonedust to the acre, in the proportion of two-thirds bone-dust and one-third super. He found that the crop depended largely upon the season and quality of the soil. Out of 10 successive crops he obtained seven good ones, the remaining three crops being poor on account of being sown in heavy soil and in a droughty season. Among the seven good crops he had had fully 20 tons to the acre in a good year, and an average of 16 tons to the acre. Milch cows fed on beet were found to yield better butter, and altogether this root was found to be a great improvement on turnips as a fodder. Speaking of the fodder value of these roots, the Waikato farmer said that one year he had turned a fairly large mob of cattle on to a two-acre patch, estimating that it would last them a week. To his amazement, however, the beet patch supported the mob for a full month. Shearing operations have commenced at Waipukurau and the immediate vicinity. Several well-known farmers in tlie Masterton district are sowing a huskless oat this year for experimental purposes. It has been grown at Home for the past five years, where it has proved a great success, and it is hoped that it will be equally successful in the Wairarapa. ■ A Pahiatua settler has been fined 10s and 21s costs for exposing for sale a cow affected with epithelioma, which, being interpreted, means a malignant growth on the glands. A supplier in the Carterton district to one of the local factories has demonstrated in a convincing manner what can be done with a herd of carefully-selected dairy cows. It is stated that his land is not of the best, yet a herd of a score of cows are reported to have yielded him a return of £l7 per head. Reassuring reports are still being received from all parts of the district as to the prospective prosperity of the [ dairying industry this season. Nearly all ( the factories and creameries will show an increased supply, due to new suppliers, wkilst, in addition, nearly all the older ones who are not fully stocked have increased the size of their herds. The Hundalee correspondent of the Kaikoura Star writes:—Potatoes grown at Hundalee were sent to Ireland to test their blight-proof qualities, and, though subjected to the severest tests, escaped the disease. They were tried in three different counties known to be blight-in-fected, but showed no signs of contamination. Dr. Moore, curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, in whose charge they were placed, intends to enter them for exhibition in various agricultural shows in Britain. 1

Merchants in Southland are optimistic in regard to an Australian market for their oats. The other day four thousand bags left the Bluff in <the Ulimaroa for Melbourne and Adelaide, this being the first shipment of any importance from Southland to Australia during the current season.

Reports from the Hauraki Plains are that settlers ar« well pleased with the

quality of the land, and a la rgfr; number of dwelling witf soon be erecte<fc»~Auckland Star. The North 1 pktigo times hears' hhat in some parts- of tile Oamaru district Miere has beeii X, fceav'y'mortality amongst ewes and lam'ta the shortage of feed caused by the feeent drought.