FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 281, 6 May 1915, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

SOUTH ISLAND DAIRY ASSOCIATION INTERESTING STATEMENTS. The annual report of the South Island Dairy Association, to be presented at the annual meeting at lnvercar gill on May 18, contains some state .' ments of special interest. Tlie report nays, amongst other things:—

THE POSITION IN THE SPRING. Early in August, when our factories were considering the sale of their outputs, as usual, war broke out. At first every one was staggered, both factory directors here and our usual buyers at Home; some thought shipment of our produce would be difficult, if not impossible. This state of matters lasted but for a short time. The nation, including the dominions, bad never lost their faith in the power of our great British Navy to dominate the sea and protect British commerce, and we have now ample proof that this faith was not misplaced, for by September it was clearly demonstrated that Britannia ruled the waves as ever. Confidence among London buyers was restored, and there were plenty of buyers at from to (i'/>d, f.0.b., for cheese, and ll'/;d to Is for butter outputs. In the South Island, as usual, factories decided to sell at these prices. They were good prices, and such that by no means all buyers were prepared to pay. The buyers, it must be allowed, took big risks and paid war insurance, and other increased expenses, which at the time looked as if they might be considerably increased. Some of those who usually buy largly had not sufficient confidence this year to buy at all. Now that consignments have turned out so well some firms are inclined to boast that they advocated consignments, and that their attitude in not buying was one of benevolent consideration for our factories, to enable them "to get the higher prices that have ruled. There is ample proof that this assumed benevolence was simply caution and unwillingness to risk the market in buying. None of our factories grudge the buyers the profit they made, as Ihey recognise the risk in buying was considerable, and that the price paid to them was decidedly good. The buyers at Home did not anticipate these high prices, and most, if not all, who bo"7ht, cold at once at very moderate profits.

HOW HOLDERS " FELL IX." Under date, February 15, one firm who bought largely -writes: — '■" Unfortunately, on our cheese we did not see this extreme market, arid sold forward the goods, when \vc • got our usual commission. Where we all ' fell in ' about cheese was the fact that we did not know that the army would take up cheese as a ration; it was usually thought that tucy would buy canned meats, and nobody seems to have got hold of the fact that cheese would, have been one of the main articles of diet: Wliat a fortune we could have made if the inspiration had struck us." In the past tinned meats have been a main army ration, but in this war the army uses fresh and frozen meat, and cheese, and very little tinned meat in comparison. American and other tinned meats, instead of booming, have slumped and gone lower and lower, and some speculators must have fallen in badly on these lines. They recovered in prwe later. There is no doubt that the cheese will continue at a high price as long as the war lasts, and probably for a considerable time afterwards, and tile prospects for both cheese and butter are bright. Butter is in very short supply-; the amount in store for winter local trade is less than last year. There is considerable demand from Australia, where drought has shortened supplies, and it is believed that even of the amount in store at present a very large portion has been sold forward to Australia. So it seems certain that butter will be very scarce ere winter is over, and reach a'higher price than ever before.

SHIPMENTS. Up to the end of February, despite war conditions and the use of many insulated steamers for transports, our dairy produce, was sent away well, and more dairy produce was sent away up till then than in the corresponding six months of the previous year. During March and April, however, dairy produce has not been going so well, and at the end of April we shall have some 15,000 crates of cheese awaiting shipment at the Bluff, Dunedin and Lyttelton that should have gone in Aipril. This will be all got away in May, is i 9 expected. Two causes operated latterly to cause the shortage in space for dairy produce; first, the British Government decided to buy all the frozen meat, and the Government took the whole refrigerated space. The National Dairy Association and the South Island Dairy Association urged the Government to give adequate space to the dairy produce, and after one or two shipments this was done, but the shutting out of dairy produce at first in some steamers has caused a considerable accumulation of cheese which it will take a little time to overtake. The other cause is the congested state in the return of our steamers to this Dominion. The New Zealand and Shaw, Savin and Albion shipping companies, under contract with the two Associations, decided not to suspend the contract in so far as rates of freight were concerned, as could have been done under the war clause in the contract, as freights in all other countries have considerably advanced, and the cost of running steamers, in increased cost of coal, war risk insurance, etc., is considerable.

It is added that "the decrease in cheese shipments from the Dominion, and from various ports to the end of April, will be turned into a considerable increase on last year's shipments when we are able to get all shipped." XEW ZEALAND'S CLIMATE. An authority on agriculture, dealing with: the different conditions- affecting farmers in England, America and Nqw.-' Zealand says:—"When the tliree climates come to be compared, .New Zealand has an enormous advantage over j the other two countries. The New 'Zea- | lander knows nothing; of the laborious winter work that must be faced in Bri- ; tain and manvi parts of America, or of the expenditure incurred in connection therewith. Housing of farm stock, with the attendant expense of providing elaborate buildings, is almost unknown, particularly so in the North Island. The staple food of all live stock in Xew Zealand, summer and winter, is grass, and practicaly all supplementary feed is grown on the fawn. Under such natural conditions all stock thrive and fatten much better than they do under the

necessarily artificial and costly conditions obtaining in 'Britain and many parts of America during the. winter. In many instances farm horses do not even feed under cover, and stabling overnight, particularly in the North Island, is al- ; most unknown. In winter time each j horsv is protected by a waterproof canj vas rug. The staple food is chaffed oat I sheaves, plus a run on the pasture. Un.ler this simple and inexpensive system | .iorsis keep in excellent health, as is '"■ proved by the fact that at Kuukura for, 'h':.u past three years, although there _are iorty horses of ail ages, tiiere has 'not been a single case of illness."

WASTE ON THE FARM. Idle work animals; cows that consume more than they produce; machinery ■■Hint is used but" a day or two and stands idle the rest of the year; fruitless orchards that occupy good land; pastures that are tillable, yet are only used for paddocks—these are some of the profit sinkers that keep down the net balances of hundreds of farms. The onh| time some farmers- ever clean up their places or take anything, like an inventory is when they have a public sale; then they are astonished at the amount of inferior stock and machinery that they have. The tax of depreciation on unprofitable fields and animals ij greatei than any other land tax, and it cannot be dodged, for it is paid as you go. The end of harvest is the best season to take an inventory and to clean up and dispose of the svijphis. Earm management experts formerly took inventories of farms and then told tiie owners to. sell certain animals and to omit certain erop'3. These experts have learned that the only way to educate the farmers effectively is to have them take their own inventories and face the facts of their own losses. Then they are ready to dispose of their profit sinkers.

MODERN DAIRYING RULES. lucking the cow has not been good form for some time in even moderately advanced dairy circles, says the Chicago Herald, though the bann upon it probably originated more in practical tiian humane considerations. Painful experience warranted the conclusion that the cow thus approached was far more likely to kick the mi.ker through the side of the bam. Of late years the cow house code of manners and morals has developed rapidly from the negative to the positive style—from "thou shalt nots" to "thou shalts." It has been discovered that the cow, long the poet's live stock emblem of placidity, has nerves, and should be sothed and not censured when she is disinclined to "give down" her milk.

Not only pitchforks, milking stools, swing'etrecs and fence stakes have fallen into disrepute as cow persuaden; bad .language is also under ban. The eow physiologists and psychologists seem to have conclusively demonstrated that the eow addressed in profane, abusive, or even 'harsh language, gives 1e33 milk for the same amount of feed. Even the tone of voice is said to make a difference. The ears of the cow, though less mobile than the mule's, are still sensitive. They are irritated by strident squeals and rough gutturals. The milker who is gifted by nature or has acquired by aft the low, sweet, soothing "drawingroom" tone of cultured Bocicty, is averred to find his reward in an increased yield of milk.

BREAKING IN A HEIFER. In breaking in a heifer, kindness and gentleness, a contributor writes, are the first rules to be observed in every case. (Jain the confidence of the heifer fir-it, and then if she persists in being contrary let her have her own way as mucli as possible until she is tired. Perhaps I can moke my meaning clear by givuig a bit of experience I had in this line. The man I was working for bought a two-year-old heifer, an animal of no particular breed, yet showing points of making a good cow. She was very wild, and when I put here in the cow house we had a task to get her fast in the bail for the first time.

She dropped her calf out in the fteld late in a cold sleet storm, and when I was away from home. When I found her. at night the ealf was dead, and it. took a lot of persuasion to get her tu leave it and go in the cow house, 1 knew that it would fall on me to train her to milk, so I had taken some pains to get acquainted but had made little headway in the few days I had handled her. When I attempted to milk she outdid any mule that 1 ever read about for kicking. The next morning I got her in the bail with her left side next to the wall. I handled her very gently, then sided her around the wall, placing my head against her flank and braced myself in sucli a way that she could not kick me, and began to milk. At the first touch she began to kick and kept right on kicking, and I kept on milking and never saUl a word. In about five minutes she had completely exhausted herself, and stood comparatively quiet till I finished milking. I milked her this way four days, with more or less kicking, when she stopped and never bothered afterwards. I simply let her kick till she was tired of kicking. I have since tried this plan on several other bad ones, and have never yet found one but what came down quiet and gentle in from two to fcwr days, and never bothered any more.

- NEWS AND NOTES. Now Denmark possesses fewer cattle than South Africa. In 1911 the annual average yield in Denmark for butter per cow was £lO 3s, the average yield of bacon per hog was iC Is; of eggs per. hen, .€1 Is; of live cattle and beef, £2; of skins and hides, Ss Id; of horses, 17s fid.

Corriedale sheep are being tried in parts of Queensland. They have given good results so far. iA large shipmentwas recently secured in Xew Zealand, and landed in the northern State, with small loss. The use of salt is recommended as a manure in porous light and gravely soils, as it stiffens the land and licjps to retain moisture. American farmers lead the,, world in, agricultural matters because,, they thoroughly test everything. At the present moment American potato-growers are holding "potato meetings,"- at which they discuss the best kinds of seed, manures, sprays, etc. The,, improvement of the potato in America, is an assured fact, and the results of present experiments will be interesting. A settler in the Wft-ipawa district re?, ecntly lost four head of cattle by turning them into a paddock of new graiss. Tile cattle had previously been graaing. on practically bare land, and the luxuriant growth of the new grass proved fatal to the. beasts. The menace of a "film famine," which, because of the European war, threatened to hurt the (American moving, picture industry, has been banished. Moving pictine 111 m is being mado out of skimmed milk. The (ir.st roll of practical skimmed milk film was shown in the exhibit

of the Illinois State Food Commissioned at the National Dairy ghdWi ... Holstein cattle are still booming: in the United otafces. The sale ■ list, at | Syracuse, of the Fairview 'herd; belonging to the late Mr. E. 11. Dollar, shows sonic extraordinary figures. . Tlie four-year-old bull ltuji Apple Korndyke Bth realised £SOOO, whi.e another "of the bulls, 'Korndyke Segis Johanna, made £2500. The two brought £I3OO and £llOO. The general averages of the sale for 172 head was £174 Hs. The fact that 80 calves have been reared at tlie Ruakura Farm of Instruction this season without deatli or .illness ia '. ; further .proof of the value of the "dry" system of rearing. On an average of,years the weight of ' a bale of Argentine wool is about (1101b ?/"lr 0r Un 'S ua y the average is about ■ lOOOli). The average weight of nn Australian bale last Tear was 327.211) and for the 'previous eight years ,')33ib ' In 1885 Denmark had 250 dairy societies with a turnover of £4OO 000 whereas in 1912 there were 3050 societies • with a, turnover of £28.000,000. In 191;) the factories owned by the societies" slaughtered 870,000 pigs. Sheep slaughtered for local consumption in Australia and New Zealand were 20 303.006 head in 1313-14, as complred with 13,041,349 head in 1912-13. V