Farm and Dairy.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 191, 11 February 1914, Page 7

Farm and Dairy.

WATKIi POWER ON Tilt; I'AKM. lIUW A TAIUXAKI FARMKR UTILISES JT. Tlic man wiio makes tiic must of .ill tlic natural re so lire 08 of his farm is the "iiiiii whlio is most likely to .show (he biggest profits. The natural resources of ii farm are usually fairly obvious, though they are not always ntiliseil, sometimes because the trouble is considered too great, ami sometimes because their possibilities are not fully realised. To put it briellv. however, it should resolve itself to tiiis: does it, or does it not ,>ayV jf, after earefill' consideration, the fanner is convinced it is going to pay him and wil ladd to the productiveness or lower the cost of working his farm, then he ought .it once to set to work to make the most of tin- resources at his disposal. Water power on the farm may be classed ,is one of these, and there are a large proportion of farms in New Zealand which have water-power running to waste. •The kind of wheel to be used would depend somewhat on the fall. In parts ; of Taranaki, for instance, where rapid sli'euins have cut deep, ravine-like passages to the sea, the peltou wheel lias been found exceedingly serviceable, and a wheel of thiß kind, installed by Mr. •11. 10. Patten, of Jlawera, has been run ning for throe years now without a hitch, and at no expense except the cost of a little oil (writes the Auckland Staff) Of course, it has to he remembered, -thai with the pelton wheel a fair fail is necessary to get the power, say, at least 20ft or more. This, however, is easily obtained on farms of a hilly nature, and in Air. Batten's case there is a fall of lioft. The water is conveyed by ii race from some distance up the stream to si point immediately above the wheel, which, as stated, is'tiOft below down a steep bank in the bed of • the creek. Pipes, having an inch and a quarter nozzle at the lower end, lead down to the. wheel from the outlet of the race, arid when operations are. commenced the water, instead of being allowed to run through the outlet, is diverted by means of a trap-door into the pipes, and thus shoots down on to the wheel, which has a diameter of 42 inches, and with the nozzle develops about 2%-horse power. The milking shed is about nine chains ) away from the wheel, the connection with the milking machines being made by means of a long wire-rope. To he exact, 1220 ft of rope is used, which, .when doubled and allowing for splices, gives a distance of about 000 ft. To prevent Mich a length of rope from sagging, two stands, each containing two • runner-wheels, have been erected, one at tb<' point where the rope conies over ;the bank, and the other about half-way 1 to the sheil. while a wheel, of course, is 'necessary at the shed and by the pelton wheel. These wheels, naturally, are grooved, -and those on each of the stands are run in opposite •directions, .thus carrying an*endless rope. The run- ] •ning is smooth and even, and Mr. Bat- I ten is of the opinion that with additional carriers for the extra length of I rope the shed could be placed very j Jiinch further away, if desired, with only j 'a very trifling loss of power from the I extra carry of rope. It is essential, of J] •course, that (ho drive is a perfect one, : otherwise the loss of power in nego ] .tinting an angle would be considerable, j The cost of installing the wheel was :is follows: £ s. d. Pelton wheel, with castings and nozzle ...: 26 0 0 1.225 ft of wire rope 12 10 0 Six runner-wheels, at ,C 35s each ; 19 10. 0 Pipes 3 0 0 Material for (wo stands ... 5 0 0 Total £OB 0 0 Once the wheel is installed, however, if the work has been properly done, the cost of running is practically nil. As against that an engine can be installed for say, £(>o, but then there is the continual cost of running, which comes •to a very considerable item for fueJ .alone, while there is also a great deal •of worry from unexpected stoppages which are always possible with any engine. A> already stated. Mr. Batten ; has not had a single breakdown or found it necessary to effect any repairs for some three years—surely an excellent argument in favor of water-power. NOTES.

Mr. P. A more has secured the coiltract for rebuilding Auroa factory, which was recently burnt down. The Kiiupnkoiiui factory itself, the largesttn the world, was erected by Mr. Amoore. The new factory at Auroa, for which i fre-h and much more convenient site has been secured, will be up-to-date in every way. It is to be erected in ferroconcrete, with all the latest improvement >. and water power being available, this will be made use of instead of steam. It is expected to commence the work in March, and it has to be finished in August. A farmer, writing to au exchange, states: -\\"e hired a man once because we noticed that he spoke pleasantly to hi» team. It was a small thintr, but the straw -hows which way tire wind blows. He stayed with us three years— on)v left to go to a farm of his own—and all that time we never kcard a curse or saw a blow ••truck in anger. The stock did -better during those three years than it had done for a long time. The cows looked more thrifty, the horses grew less skittish and restless, and even the young stock settled down into regular, sober habits. Did it payV Try it yourself and sec."

The agricultural returns for Kngland mid Wales collected in June show that there is ii decrease in the totiil area under 'crops and grass, of 4">,r,08 acres. There \- a decline in the arable land f ■JT7,()il(l acvc«, most of which has been transferred to perman .it pastures, the area of which for the first time surpasses lli.oofi.ooo acres. These figures seem tn tell their own story about the reduced supply of labor, ivhich is iudr-<pen-sable in arable farming, and on the other hand, the increased attention that is paid (o dairying and grass land farming.'" The returns from the Trim.; Park milking herds of Jei>eys and dairy Slioitliorn- show that with Jerseys 17 cows, which were in the. herd throughout tlie year ending September 30, gave a tnJal of 120,03011). or an average if 7(Mit)lli per annum. The highest, average per day was produced by the well-known cow. Triangle If., born December 13, lflO."!, which' has given birth to six calve-, and last year, in 2f>7 days, produced 10,4091b of milk, a daily overage of 37.321b. In the dairy Shorthorn herd TO cows I JoM_of^7C J 725]b J or o,u

average of uXililb per muiuin. Dolly Grey, born February, 11)0(1. in HO] d:ivs yielded 13,1321b of n*:ilk. :\ daily avera-e of 43.74. An aged eo.w, Dorothy, in the herd ten years, has given an average of 10,").)31b pel' year.

f Farlilcrrt iil (lie Miiuain (ii-tricl'.statf.' the Wlttiess, are rcnnivkin<r just limv 6a '{lie curious fact that the iiiiniiii:iiil feed is producing beef in-lead of the usual increased milk supply. Tii other words, instead" of putting it in the bucket, as one farmer expressed it, the cows are putting it on their lucks. A furt.li.">;peculiarity is, that the comparatively short milk supply, which is usually accompanied by a high test, is giving quite tin; opposite results. Aliundanl. feed usually means a generous milk yield, but at present all the*c condition* are reversed. Feed is plentiful, but milk production is low, and so is the test, while there are stacks of unwanted and profitless beef.