FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 229, 26 March 1912, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

IMPROVEMENTS IN DAIRY STOCK. INTERVIEW WITH MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE. While the Hon. Thos. Mackenzie was in the Waimate Plains district, Mr. T. McPhillips, well known as an ardent advocate of herd-testing and improvement, interviewed him as to the practicability of the Government initiating a scheme for securing to the dairy farmers the services, at a moderate fee, of bulls with proved and authentic records of parentage for butter-fat producing. He maintained that, although there are some good bulls in New Zealand,, few have the record which he considers necessary for so improving the yield as to keep pace with the' continued rise in the price of dairy land. The class of bull requisite for the purpose needs to have such a record in parentage that the minimum yield of butter-fat should be 4001b for the season. By the use of such animals the average of herds throughout the Dominion could be materially raised: The Minister expressed himself in full sympathy with Mr. McPhillips' idea, which contains, lie considered, the germ orf an excellent scheme. At present, he said, the Government had no such bulls. Until they had they could not take it up. When, by breeding at the State farms, the bulls were available, he was willing to consider placing some at the disposal, say, of the agricultural societies, who would be held responsible for their safeguarding. They could then place the bulls at suitable locations in their several districts, and arrange for the services of the bulls being available to the farmers.—Hawera Star.

BREEDING DAIRY COWS. The successful breeder of high-class dairy stock has an ideal cow in his mind; and his efforts tend in that direction, It is, of course, known to every dairyman that there are now two types of cowthat designed for beef • production, the other for milk. Nature, in its original scheme of things, probably did not vary the milk of flesh-forming powers of these animals in any marked degree. They produced no more milk than was required for the calf; but man took advantage of,the "all-powerful impulse of motherhood for the preservation of the young of the species," and stimulated the dairy cow with abundant food and favorable surroundings to produce much more milk than was originally required for the calf. The dairy cow became more or less an artificial creature.

Thus breeds of cattle of the dairy type have been evolved according to environment for hundreds of years. They have had fixed in their conformation certain characteristics which sharply define their milking powers and beef capacity. In specific localities or countries distinct breeds of dairy cattle have arisen, possessing great milking quality. These types or breeds reproduce themselves in perfect form and feature, and as such are known as purebred. It has been found that as each of these ' breeds of animals became peculiarly : adapted to their particular country, : cross-breeding one with another produces i a cow more suited to some districts than ' purebreds. It is in cross-breeding, how-1 ever, where so many of our dairy farmers make grevious errors. ' INTENSIVE DAIRYING. Very strong evidence of the value of adopting intensive methods in dairying is furnished by the returns obtained from a herd on a small farm in Victoria. | The farm consists of 55 acres and a herd I of 24 dairy cows are maintained and \ milked by the farmer and his wife. About eleven acres of land are cultivated, eight acres being devoted to fodder crops' for the hand-feeding of the cows during the dry portion of the yeai. Owing to the methods pursued an exceptionally high yield per cow is realised. The returns for cream only for each of the twelve months of 1011 are and show a total for the year of £4OO 10s I lid. According to these figures the cows have averaged 800 gallons of milk pcr head during the twelve months The best return was 45s in the month for cream from one cow. The average -yield of cream was £IC 13s fld per heacf for the year. It is expected that the usual bonus will bring the return to £l7 per head. None of the herd are pure bred or pedigree animals. The best milker which gives up to 1400 gallons of milk during the twelve months, contains a good proportion of Jersey blood. But in no case is there any trace of type or breed m the cows. They strike the eye as being a good lot of ordinary dairy animals, well developed in the back part and all carrying deep, rotund bodies, indicative of heavy feeding capacity They represent a careful selection that has been going on for some years, the policy or Mr. Logan, the owner of the dairy farm referred to, being to get rid of a cow that is not both a deep and an insistent, milker. One of the problems of the farm is to dry the cows off in a month or six weeks before coming in Owing to the heavy hand-feeding resorted to it is not uncommon for a cow that is due to calve in a few weeks yielding as much as three gallons a day. Maize and mangels form the chief items in the handlf"«' f d r the Sromng of these crops and the feeding of the cows are carried out in a thoroughly systematic manner lhe maize provides feed until well on in June, then the main crop of mangels ic 11 y ' a wu by - the time the ™°ts are' con Sulne d the influence of the spring is be ng felt, and the many small paddocks mtowhich the farm is divided fuSte n neh rye grass and clover, on- which the cows do well without any hand-feed-ing, lhe paddocks keep green until about.the middle of December It m also be mentioned that three acres of ™ f rm '»' e de ™ted to onion culture. the uZ TT the e ross ,eve "" e °'f the farm is about £650 a year. This arm surely affords an excellent objec lesson as to what may be accomplish to work on the right lines. .The writer of the article describing Mr | Logans farm and his methods points out' however, that it is difficult to learn o ■one farmer ,n the district who has been simulated by the valuable object IcS In , me hods This may be taken as an in 'lament that farmers as a c]ass \ ! 0 conservative ,n their methods, and wi'l perversely continue to follow old svs- | eins even when they have an opportunI Ah, to be derived from adopting some (Other system. However, the fi<nm' s quoted should have a. tendency to male .farmers pause and think