MILK-PRODUCING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 139, 8 December 1911, Page 7

MILK-PRODUCING.

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING AT WERAROA. A SPLENDID DEMONSTRATION. (From the New Zealand Times). Weraroa Experimental Farm, the home of the finest herd of decp-milking Plol- | steins, south of the Line, is not only a source of attraction to the dairy farm- 1 ers of this country, "but is a centre of experimental activity which must appeal to all who desire to see the dairying industry of the Dominion placed on an absolutely sound basis. The activities of this station are mainly directed at advancing milk-production,'but it is more in its later work of establishing an absolutely high-grade herd of Holstein cattle that Weraroa has come into prominence. For many years, it should .be emphasised, the work of breeding dairy cattle on the sound principle of breeding according to a performance pedigree has been followed, and at this station there is to be seen the detail work of weighing and testing the milk of individual cows carried out simply and effectively. VALUE OF PEDIOREE PERFORMANCE.

Though throughout the principal dairying countries of the world it is now <ia,r - v / ilrmprs of •<" ranks that the pedigree of performance is the «°!e index to merit, it i s only at the l,rn,7 oa f f , !" r " m,nt:ll Fam where the breeder of dairy cattle or the dairy farmer of hj,„ country has been able to secure hiforlr + <- T 1 with tl,is "ecessarinformation attached to its history 1 ,s not , to ° to say that the splendid example set by the Weraroa in this connection has led to the recent activities of the societies controlling the interests of the different breeds of the Dominion—the Holstcins, Jerseys and for assistance from the Government m order to have officii! r? Th thc f- iking power ° f the ' ir Stock. The most important lesson ever conveyed in this country in regard to the value of milk records and of the growing appreciation of these has been conveyed at the sales of pedigree dairy Stock which have taken place at the Palmerston \orth show, when the Department has established remarkable records in the prices of purebred dairy bulls by reason of being able to suppl'y itii ? a milk recor(,s of th eir dams. At the last show at Palmerston the Department realised no less than 140 <niincas for a calf from a cow which "the lately-formed Holstein Breeders' Association declined to enter in the first section of its Herd Book because the breeding of the dam was not stated. Other prices realised by the Department clearly proved that show-ring merit was absolutely of no consequence to the dairy farmer of the present day when he has the pedigree of performance placed before him. The record put up bv the Department 5s for seven bull calvos. or an average of £93 15s—is cusilv not only the best value ever secured for a line of bull calves of a dairy •■"train in this country, but has not been • "profiled by breeders of fashionable Shorthorns. or Aberdeen An",ls; '» fa(, t. it. U doubtful if the salevard return of a <!'-> ft of yearling bulls from the one herd lias ever been excelled. RECORD-BREAK IXf COW. There are cows in- the Weraroa Holstein herd which have put up records which'probably are unexcelled in thc world, when it is remembered that the icor- 3 ? Mvn T-n/'M produced under ordinary farm conditions—that is, that the cows have never been housed and never fed with artificial feed other than green maize in summer and hay and roots in winter. Take the cow Manola. whose last bull calf realised £147. She gave last season over £25 worth of .butteri fat, calculating this at lid per pound. Her milk yield was 14.35f11b5, and her butter-fat 546.61b5. Thus if her yield of butter-fat was calculated at the'highest, price being paid for butter-fat by a dairy company this season, Is 2d,'she would have given last season no' less than £3l 16a 6d worth of butter-fat, to saj nothing of the value of her skim milk. Manola's highest dav's milking was 84!bs, but there is another Holstein at Weraroa this year which has given 1131bs of milk, and her test ranges from 3.6 to 3.9 per cent. This cow was purchased at £4O. and the Department has since refused 300 guineas for her, offered bv a prominent Holstein breeders. The Department has a grand-daughter of this cow which promises to be her compeer. It. is also fortunate in possessing a «reat"randson of the 1131b cow. There should be monev in this animal, for it is doubtful if there is a cow in the world today which will give 11,'ilbs of milk on prnss alone and running out in all weathers. It would appear i'""-edible to owners in other countries ih-it cows of such remarkable productive powers can be maintained at such a standard of pro- 1 duction under natural conditions—no housing and no artificial feeding.

developing milking power. The development of deep-milking cows lias reached a fine art at Weraroa. The management of the dairy herd is a demonstration of how, having the desired stock, the maximum return can be sccuri d from them. The hand milkers have each tjicir selected cows, and the | fact of weighing each milking has aroused a keen rivalry among the milkers. | This encourages each animal to be milked out to the last drop, a system which develops the milking propensity. Then the cows are never taken out of a walk, dogs being tabooed. Thus by kind treatment and thorough milking, combined with liberal feeding, the Weraroa cows are given every opportunity to produce to their maximum capacity. Let us consider the feeding problem at Weraroa. GRASS THE NATURAL FOOD. In New Zealand it is most desirable—and it is to our advantage in every way • —that grasses should form the essential feed of our dairy stock, not only from the point of view of economy of production, but as the best means of ensuring a sweet-flavored milk and thereby a clean-flavored and good-keeping dairy product, a vital essential considering the distance of New Zealand from the world's markets. This is ideally exemplified at Weraroa. There are no better pastures in the Dominion. The soil and climate of the locality are essential factors to this end. but undoubtedly the splendid result achieved has heen'in a very great measure due to the careful management of the pastures. Overstocking is sedulously guarded against. Then by following sheep after the cattle. with the pasture rested before the dairy stock again return to the field, there is the clean and even sward, so essential to the cow of high-producing power, which is thereby enabled to obtain the food necessary for her to ex-, hibit her highest degree of productivity. FEEDING THE DAIRY COW. The question of mixed stocking ig accepted bv all practical farmers as the means of maintaining pasturage in the highest state of production and feeding value. Each class of stock has its own particular predcliction in feeding, with the result that where sheep and cattle are grazed on the same property the pasturage has an even growth. * By this it is not to be supposed that sheep and cattle are allowed to graze at the one time, but rather than when the

) cattle have been grazed on a field for a considerable period, and the coarser j plants and those which are least favored by the cattle are. thus given an opportunity to gain possession, the sheep, under heavy stock, come in very opportunely to maintain the pasture in the best condition. Mixed stocking, attended with discrimination in feeding off pastures, may be applied to the animal as what is understood as rotation to crops and is attended with equally useful results. ■SPECIAL FEED. A very important feature in the management of the Weraroa herd is that in seasons of the year, when grass does not provide the necessary milk-producing ration, as in summer when it has lost its succulence, or in winter when it contains too great a degree of moisture, these difliculties are overcome by a liberal supply of green maize in the former period and hay and roots in the latter. The management is not content with following stereotyped system of feeding dairy stock, but each year varieties of fodder crops are being tested with the object of discovering for the dairy farmer the most effective means of maintaining the milk supply. These tests at the station arc being largely supplemented Iby tests conducted by hundreds of farmers in co-operation with the Department throughout the country. These J latter experiments are particularly valuable in. that when a variety has been tested at the Experimental Farm and is found to be of promise it can be tested by farmers in different localities to determine its value under varying conditions and to bring it under the appreciation of farmers in general. i CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE. From the above recital of facts in egard to the Weraroa Experimental I'arm it will be seen that the dairy farmers of New Zealand are being p'rovided with a remarkable demonstration of the profit-making capacity of dairy stock, not only in developing milk-pro-ducing power, but in providing the means of enabling this power to be made effec-. tive. The success achieved is a feather in the cap of the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. T. .Mackenzie, who has made dairy cow development, and the production of milk-record bulls, a feature of his policy in directing the agricultural service of this country. •