FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 114, 7 October 1914, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY.

MODEL DAIRY FARM AT STRATFORD. FARMERS DETERMINED TO GET IT. DEPARTMENT'S MOVABLE PLOT SCHEME DECLINED. A meeting of fanners under the auspices of the A„ aim P. Association \yha held in the Stratford Borough Council Cluinrbe-rs on Saturday afternoon for the pimpose of meeting iMr liaylis, of Hie fields and experiments section' of the Department of Agriculture, and discuss ing the matter of agricultural experiments. In the absence of the presid 'lit of the Association (Mr K. .hickiion). Mr R. Dingle was voted to the chair, an.l he brieHyi introduced Mr Baylis.

Mr Baylis said he wished to discuss the question of experiments and to sec if tlic present method of conducting them could bo improved. The prei-eiu systcmi wnsi to have a great many very smtill plots scattered all over the district. There had. of course, been good results from these experiments, but not the Vest. Many fanners had undertaken to look after tlnwo iplots; ibut in many cases thev fojrnd themselves unable to give them the requisite attention. Jt was now proposed th.it in place of the numerous scattered plots experiment?! should be carried out on a single plot of ten to fifteen acres, such pint to serve the'whole of the district. Experiments could 'be carried out on the plot over a series of years, thus enabling the caliabilities of the soil to in U-oroughly determined. After a time the plot "could be shifted to another locality and in time it would liave been operated in all parts of a dislviet. The land for the plot, which should be ropresi illative of the hind of Hie dii-trict, 'could be leased from a, farmer, who tould do the. requisite work at an agreul price. If the pro-luce was the property of Ihe Department, and not. as now. of the settler, the .proceeds of its sale' should make the plot pay fo- itself. 'lf such plots could be made se.UBiippoiting if would follow naturally that they would become numerous. In lalmcrstoii it was proposed lo have the plot available for High School and Technical School pupils, who would do part of tlio work required. Taranaki had a great asset in ils -leal depth ot soil. The. surface soil .was not u|MTbut the land could be iime.h improved l> ■ turning, the red u.b-„oil into black soil bv the introduction ot huniii-. 1 >"* could be done by a of crops The farmer should find out the orst feods to grow and the correct rotation „f crops. 'lf this was propeily attended to the fertiritv of the laud would be increased. In Taranaki in the past, speakin- «en. rally, aiiv c-opiuiig done I,'ad left the land les„ instead ot ...ore fl Mr'''Dingle said SI ratio, d fanners would like, to nave a model dairy la™ of about a hundr.-l acre, »»»■» «ould be run- as a dairy luri". cop cxpoiimerits le-in- carried out at the same time. The A. and I". Association had considered the proposal and had approached the (iovcrnment on the matter. He said that at, Mounuihaki they san turnip, which nad been '■hand-led. I Farmers wanted to know what it cost to bring foods up to a certain pitch and 1 alsolo know their feeding value. Mr liavli, said he felt sure that i! U,,, fifteen-acre, scheme was gone on witli it would finally lead to the establishment of a dcinon.-lratio" larm lis outlined bv Mr Dingle Mr c. J. Jackson said thai '•! there was a central larm in Taranaki people would visit, it from all parts of tne province, but lo in're plots at say. ratford Kaponga and Uawera would not have, the same interest. Farmers would take an interest in a model farm wdneli thev saw was being run at a profit. Mr 1!. 'McK. Morison -personally fnvorcd a model farm, and if they made n long and strong pull for it lie was sun

they would get il,. Willi Jl JUUUIU UUU. there would be art expert in charge. Taranaki land would be greatly improved by the use of a plough which would do mock trenching.

Mr Baylis said there were attachments which could be used on ordinary ploughs to do mock trenching.

Mr Dingle said that if two types of •ow were stocked on the farm a lot of useful work could be done, both in respect of crops and testing Hie cows. Farmers would want to sec ft prober balance-sheet showing the exact cost of everything. If the Government of the day would buy the farm and place it in the hands of local farmers, he was prepared to guarantee the Government u return of 4 per cent, on their money. Mr Baylis: That is a good proposition. Mr Huggctt suoweivted that the liin,l round the showground should be procured and run as a model farm.

'Mr Dingle said farmers wanted to know how much they could take of! their land and still leave it in good heart. The average annual yield of the dairy cows of the Dominion was only 1701b., and it would be a great thing if this could be increased by 1001b. He was sure that with proper treatment the land of the Stratford district could he made to carry a cow to two acres. He had n paddock of 2% acres on which he kqit two co vs the whole year round, but, of course he did not get that result by merely looking at the land. If he could do it, so could anybody else; and if the people of the Dominion properly improved their land and bred the proper cow,, instead of exporting £4,000,000 worth of dairy ftoduce they would be able to export £8,000,000 worth off the same area of land.

Mr Baylis said that if the 15-acre scheme were adopted it might later on develop into what the Stratford farmers wanted.

Mr Dingle thought it would he difficult to get a farmer to look after the plot, as most farmers were kept busy otherwise.

Mi- Bayliss was accorded a hearty vote of thanks, and in returning thanks, he said his views and those of Stratford farmers seemed much the same—but his •cheme was the cheaper.—Abridged from the Post.

TAECItUTAiXGI DAIRY CO. Following is the 10th annual report of the Tarurutangi Co-operative Dainv Company, to bcl laid before a general meeting of shareholders on Siturda,, October 17:— In presenting the sixteenth annual report and statement of accounts for the year, it is satisfactory to note that the result has been all-round improvement. The cost of making and/placing the butter on the market is less than'last year, flnd the suppliers have received more. The addition to the number of suipplicirs no doulit has partly caused the improvement. One hundred shares haw been taken up in the Eymont {Box Company, Ltd., for which this company had ■■• a premium; a portion has. 'LoM'cV'/r, been written off this year. The buildings and plant have also been written down. The quantity of milk received was 1,4<i7,02d1b5, and cream 128.«231b«this produced 103.2B01b» of buff ir-fat. which manufactured' 120,5331bs of butter. The average tent was 3.80 and overrun 10.73. The average grade for the year has been 03.03. The actual cost of making is OuVld tktt lb. TCacing hnt-

ter on the market, including charges, boxes, etc., brings the total cost to 1.21.1 per lb. The average cash payment to survnlicrs has/ been 1*2.10 d per lb butterfat.