FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 178, 26 January 1912, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

NEWS AND NOTES. The astounding development that has taken place in tlit New Zealand cheese industry during the last few years (says a leading English farm paper) is but as . the early dawn of the wonderful day that is opening before the New Zealand dairy-farmer. Canada, which has held the undisputed sway over the' cheese supply of the United Kingdom for, the last quarter of a century, already recog'nises the growing power of the new and vigorous rival who .in-a very few years will probably have obtained supremacy over her in the British markets, as regards the volume of trade as well as the quality of the supply. During the latter half of the past decade the Dominion of Canada has been steadily reducing her cheese shipments to this country, while the Dominibn of New Zealand has been equally and steadily increasing l hers. Since 1900 our supplies from across the Atlantic have fallen off by 16,000 tons, those from it,he Southern Pacific have grown, by 16,800 tons. This friendly rivalry between two daughter nations to supply the wants of the Mother Country is "most gratifying to every inhabitant of the British Isles. The finality of New Zealand cheese has .continuously improved, and those who hove riot, kept in close touch with it will lie surprised at the .advance made .in tli- lt\«> five years. A considerable quantity . of. : it already equals, for make and flavor.best of the Canadian production While Canada' is hound in the icy grip -of winter, New Zealand pastures are fitll ' of browsing cows in the flush of summer, and so the two Dominions can together fill up our yearly supply without any interregnum. ■ Some farmers in the Manawatu district axe growing a considerable area of peas this year to be used as fodder for their stock. The value of the pea as a fodder plant is not generally appreciated by farmers to tlie extent that it merits. Probably the example that has been set will be_ followed by others. _ Ensilage is also being made in one or two instances. { A further instance of the way in which the present season is affecting the' milk supply and how the deficienqv is more than i counter-balanced bv the higher prices' is afforded by comparing the November returns of th° Ngaere and Lowgarth factories with those for the corresponding iponth of last year. Last month these two factor,ies received between them 103,6201b butter fat, the. payments for which total £5450. Tn November last year a larger auantitv was dealt with, 105.3841b. but the payments totalled only £4655. As every farmer knows, more pasture means less labor. More than half of Great Britain is in pasture, but Only one-quarter of Belguim and Germany, and. less than one-third of France. With I regard to cereal crops, the percentage is 20.0. as compared with 42.0 in Belguim, 42.5 in France, and 43.5 in Germany. The English have fewfr horses and cattle per square mile than any other country | except France, and have fewer pigs per 'i square mile than any other country. In pig population' they are remarkably rieflcient, as they have only one third the | total of Belguim, Germany, and Den-' mark. j In a recent work, of Milk' Yield of Cattle," by James Wilson, M. A. B.Sc., the author describes how the Danes 1 raised the milk yield of their cows great)y in recent years, by keeping milk records and .studying the results. From their records they found that good milkers were usually the daughters of good milkers 1 , that some hulls left better milking progeny thaji others, and thart such bulls were usually the sons of good milk- ' ers. At the present time not only are the milking records of cows ajid their dam's carefully scrutinised, but , it is aj • fundamental principle in purchasing a ( | sire that his "milking pedigree," as far I back ns possible, be satisfactory. j The cocksfoot crop op Banks Peninsula ( will be very late this season, and it is i expected to be quite the middle of the ] month before any cutting is done. The crops in many places look splendid, and i good yields are anticipated, but in some' i parts, owing tb. the hard grazing during the past autumn and winter, the crop is 1 very thin and full of rubbish.' In> many , paddocks the long spell -of wet weather 1 has caused a prolific growth of tares, j which will greatly impede the reaping of , the cocksfoot. However, given fine ■wjea- 1 ther for ripening and harvesting, the 1 local experts, predict a good average crop. , British fanning, according to the Ag- i ricultural Gazette, lias attained its eminence on account of the dual system that ' characterises its practice,, whereby the owner of the land equip® it for the pur- ' poses o,f the farmer, the, farmer contents himself with developing its fertility. The dignity of ownership is thus retained for the proprietor, while the tenant is Left free to, devote,all his cagi- ; taj. to , the actual work of tillage and stock-keeping. Had the latter to equip as well as farm the it may be taken for-granted tMt neither depart- j merit would'be so well' attended to as' they; happen .to be at the present day. ' He would not care to spend, so much on j equipment as the landowner is usually, prepared to do; he would naturally want I bo keep as much for farming, as he coiuld. j Withal, however, he would either have ( to content himself with poorer forming I of.the same ai*ea as before, or do with ■ less ground. It is at tflie biggish farm that enterprise is most marked; rarely is the small one a centre for, the dissemination of high-class stock, and there is less chance of the latest implements and machinery being found there, Evidently, therefore, the farmer of a few hundred acres, who ds free as regards the equipment of land, is in a much better position so fa>r as regards tlie advancement of agricultural practices than his fellow possessed of the.same amount of capital, but with a part thereof sunk in equipment. A cheese weighing over 10,0001bs> and taking 65 tons of milk and cream coming from 6500 cows, milked by 1350 men, will be on exhibition at the .National Dairy Show, Chicago, from, October 26 to November 4. This will be by far the largest cheese ever made, and to make it wiill require eighteen expert cheese makers and twenty-five assistants, and will be transported to Chicago in a specially constructed refrigerator occupying an entire fiat-car. The entry comes from Mr. N. Simon, pf Wisconsin, who also made the big cheese exhibited last year, which weighed over 40001bs. It will not be built alone for exhibition purposes, but its quality, to meet the demands of a most exacting market, will also be taken into consideration.

A correspondent sends an exchange the following as a certain remedy for all kinds of worms in shoe]) and lambs, which he has tried for the. past eight years with great success:—One pound of Milestone (sulphate of copper), one pound of bi-carbonate of.jgpda. Pound tilie Milestone fine, then ptit it into a small wooden vessel with four or six pints of water; then add the soda gently and keep stirring it till disolved. Dose—2ozs for each lamb at weaning time. I take out the culls and give them a second dose about, two weeks after the first. The mixture should be given ''bloodwarm." The simplest and quickest way to disfi'Olvo blue-stone is to put it into a piece of muslin, scrim, or other open cloth, and suspend it in the water, which need not bo heated, nor is it necessary to crush the Milestone. Suspended in the water the Milestone dissolves quickly, as, being heavier than water, it sinks as it dissolves."