FARM & DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 February 1916, Page 10

FARM & DAIRY.

LESSORS FROM DENMARK, Joseph E. \\ ing is dead, but this sympathetic comment nn Denmark, happily camp from It is pen en? Hp passed over. Little Denmark was poor, and none of it highly productive. Then caine the great awakening some 40 or more years ago, with the beginning of installation of co-operation among' farmers, better ua.t -'it better dairy cows, the coming of the bacon pig, the wide use of good agricultural schools. In 11)14, after feeding about 2,000,000 people, the export of but" ter was about 229,320,000 pounds, Great Britain alone paid Denmark £10,000,000 for butter. The export of bacon for the year amounted to 252,252,000 poinds, worth £7,000, COO. Denmark is a land of thrift, and perhaps in no other land is contentment and happiness found so universally. There must be a reason for this. The ordinary farm of Denmark has in it about 93 acres. There ara also many farms as small as six acres, The soil i s not very good, and the climate is for seven months of the year very bad. There is little wealth aside from that created by agriculture, since no mines exist. The wealth of the Danes consists in the character of the Danish people, their intelligence and their spirit of helpful co-operation. Late in the last century they awakened to their needs. Before 1875 the farmers were growing grain and the soil was becoming impoverished. With the opening of our own new West came the competition with our grains, prices dropped, and farmers in Denmark faced ruin. But they turned to the cow. ! At first only the more intelligent and careful men made profit from dairies. Then they began forming cow-testing associations, they taught the people about «be robber cows. In 1882 was started the first co-operative dairy. Now they have more than 1,200 of these. Now the slogan is: "Danish butter first in the world, there must be no inferior Danish butter." Study of the soil and soil management became general, the productiveness of the land rapidly increased. Eggs, butter, bacon, and till three of highest quality for export, became the outward and visible sign of tlie wealth of the Danes. They say that Denmark is built upon the ideals and enthusiasm of one man, Bishop Gruntvig. Dead now for many years, his thoughts and liis systems are as enthusiastically discussed as they were during the first half of the nineteenth century, when he was the leader in the flesh. Gruntvig held to a cardinal principal that education ought never to be rendered in such a manner that it breeds despondency and a contempt for work, but so that it "ennobles a man's work and heightens his ability to perform it well," as someone has succinctly put it. Denmark is covered over with what might be called agricultural high scliools. Their terms and courses are so arranged that the boys and girls get their education and yet are kept in close contact with work. They read and study and work on the farms. Education in Denmark is compulsory. The boy begins his farm work as soon as he can handle a spade or feed the chickens, and his school education goes right along with the work. ,'Te does not waste much time on things that cannot be correlated witli his work. It is to the high schools t!u-. the Danish farmer owes most. The wealth of the Danish farmer is a thing inherent in him. It lies ill his healthy active body—trained to useful work. It lies in his normal, well-deve-loped brain, trained to think, reason and observe. It lies in his intimate knowledge of his own affairs and in his education having been of a nature that he was given to believe that to make clovers grow is a work in which one may well take honest pride, to which one may well give deep, serious thought. He has been taught that the cow, marvellous and intricate machine that she is, is well worth not only his deep study, but his constant and loving care as well. The Danish people have true perspective, true knowledge of values. Not disdaining any knowledge of books, they are nevertheless taught and led to see that the things nearest arc the things of highest value, that the right of man is to labor, to think, to sing, to laugh, and to have a humble, reverent attitude toward nature and the soils, plants, flowers, fruits and animals. With that attitude men will succeed, put them anywhere, on a sandbank or a peat bog. So it is that the Danes are making farms where were heaths and wastes but yesterday. Trained by this fine dual system of the books of the. school and the plain teaching of outdoor work, the Danish farmer has emerged into ft nearly ideal rural existence. Egan says: "There are few farm-houses that have not in them a piano or some musical instrument and everywhere you find upon the walls prints of the masterpieces of painting." The Danish farmer's knowledge of history is extensive. He reads modern literature and knows what is going on in the United States, as well as what is happening in Europe. Yet lie works with his sons and daughters in the fields and among the cows, and is happy. He has been taught the dignity and worth of labor, and at the same time his mind lias been stored with the things that make the educated man. Happy little land of Denmark. Many are the lessons that we can learn. Hon. Maurice Francis Egan says on Danish schools: "When Denmark was in despair this wise clergyman, Bishop Gruntvig, looked into the future and saw that the Danes, lo he kept in their country, must love it, and in order to love it they must he taught to work with cheerfulness on its soil. He struck the first note in the modern progress of Denmark—education adapted to the souls, hearts and bodies, not mere instruction. Gruntvig was a poet as well as a e'ergvman. He wrote stirring songs and hymns. He knew well the educational value of music. 'Von must use the talents God gave you,' he said, 'you must realise, the value of the life He gave you by educating yourselves.' He cut loose from the sixteenth century traditions (hat the written vvorl was all and harked back lo the point of view of the days before the art of printing had closed the eyes of so many people to the value of nature and the tenching of visible objects. Gruntvig believed that while a child's body is growing it may he taught the habits of mind, but that to ask it to use both the vitality of the mind and the body at the same time is to defeat the end of education, which is to make it sane, ehereful. well balanced, and desirous of living upon the land. In 1841 a farmer's high school on Grmitvig's plan was opened in Rchleswig. In 184S war distracted the country, but afterwards the high schools multiplied." SOIL THEORIES. It is well know that when certain crops are grown continually on the same ground without fallowing or rotation, the land becomes unsuited for that particular crop. The cause usually assigned to this phenomenon, namely, that the continued growth of the crop in question removes certain elements of plant

food necessary to that crop, requires some modification in view of recent investigations. The suggestion has been advanced by scientists that tile plant during its growth secrets toxic material which is injurious to the succeeding similar casop, though not to crops of a different nature, and a good deal of work has been dose in trying to isolate and identify these toxic substances. A corollary of this theory is that the beneficial action of fertilisers is due less to their actual value as plant food than to the fact that they neutralise or otherwise alter these poisonous substances. Another theory is thai these plant toxins are formed net by the direct secretion of the growing plant, but by tlie action r.f bacteria upon the residues left in the soil by the ci'op. Such a. theory would afford an explanation of such phenomena as clover sickness, etc. where it is found that bad results follow the continuous growth of the same crop on the same land, although the soil itself may show no appreciable loss of plant food. It must, however, be stated that these theories have not yet advanced much beyond the speculative stage: and that, although a considerable amount of work has been done, and several definite organic substances have been isolated, the toxicity of these Biibstances in the field has not yet been established conclusively. Whatever may be the real cause of the trouble, whether it is due to soil exhaustion or to the production of toxin, either by the growing plant or by bacterial action on crop residues, or to a combination of these causes, the remedy indicated will in overy case be the Bame —namely, crop rotation or fallowing. A GOOD JERSEY. At the University of Missouri a record of the milk and butter production of a small Jersey cow, Grace Biggs, was kept for fifteen years. The assistants who handled her have come and gone, but the Jersey cow is still oh the job. In the fifteen years she has produced 108,988 lbs. of milk, and 5,882 lbs. of butter. Her best year's record was 13,322 lbs. of milk and 735 lbs. of butter, authenticated linger the roles of the American Jersey Cattle Club. During the fifteen years she has given birth to twelve calves. Her last calf sold for £6O, and the average for twelve is about £4O. About £4BO was obtained from the sale of all the calves. Figuring the entire milk production for fifteen years at four pence a quart, the total would bo £B7l. The approximate cost of keeping her was £lO a year, or a total of £l5O. The average daily production of milk for the fifteen years was a little more than nine quarts a day. If the butter was sold instead of the milk, at the price of 35 cents a pound, the total for the butter production from Grace Biggs would be £*oß,

SILVER BEET, It is some time since experiments were made in New Zealand with silver beet as a forage plant. The plant's possibilities in this direction have now been recognised in most of the States of America, and a letter from Mr. A. W. Anstruther, Assistant-Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, London, to the Under-Secretary for State at the Colonial Office, shows that the fame of the silver beet has extended to the United Kingdom, whore probably, it will be grown for forage. The letter was sent to the Agricultural Department, Wellington, and has been forwarded to Mr. A. Macphcrson, of the Christehurch branch, who first brought the plant's capabilities in this respect under notice. The letter is as follows: "I am directed by the president of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to acquaint you for the information of the Secretary of State, that the attention of this department has been drawn to the cultivation of the silver beet in New Zealand, and of the good result that has been obtained by feeding the plant to cattle and sheep. Lord Selborne has observed that experiments in the cultivation of this forage plant may be made in this country, and he wouldaccordingly be much obliged if Mr. Secretary Bonar Law could see his way to obtain from New Zealand as soon as possible 281b. of the variety of silver beet which is most suitable for stock feeding." Mr. Macpherson is making arrangements to obtain the seed and to have it sent to the United Kingdom. TREATMENT OP PIGS. A Canadian agricultural paper says: During the summer we hear very little about the pig's stomach except the wonderful amount of food that it can manage to stow away in it. But when antumn and winter comes we have those pot bellies, and, the immediate recourse to worm or pig powders and tonics. The. reason is that the pigs have been deprived of their natural corrective—Motiier 'Earth. A pig would now gnaw every bit of wood or even the bricks in the floor if it was given something to keep its Little Mnry in good tone and condition. The pig by nature is a rooting uuima!, and, therefore, when it has ploughed out a savoury morsel it proceeds to eat it, and the morsel is accompanied by a little of its native sauce —earth. If, instead of wasting money on jiig powders, pig-keepers were to give their pigs a good turf a day. or, if this is not available, a shovelful of small coal or coal ashes, the pigs wou'd do better. The following is a very favorite recipe. used ill Canada for stomach trouble in pigs: Take three bushels of common charcoal, eight pounds of salt, two quarts of air-slaked lime, one bushel of wood ashes; smash the charcoal up thoroughly and run the lot through a fine-meshed sieve several times to thoroughly mix it. Then take one and a quarter pounds of copperas and dissolve it in hot water. When dissolved, sprinkle this through the rose of n watering-pot over the heap of prepared material and then thoroughly mix it. Put a little of this mixture in a small trough where the pigs can obtain access to it; they will partake of the contents of that trough nearly daily with pleasure.

JOTTINGS. About one hundred farmers and threshing-mill owners met at Invercargill recently to consider the rate of pay to be given mill hands this season (says the Southland News). After discussion, if was decided to increase it from Is an .hour and found to Is 3d and found, this being the wage paid in Canterbury. It [was stated that, according to rumour, the mill hands had decided not to accept employment unless they were given the increase the meeting said they were entitled to this season owing to the price of grain. Mr. John Deegan, or Oreti, stated that owing to the rise in the value of belting and oil the mill owners had decided on the following rates of pay by farmers:—7s per 1000 bushels for oats, 7s per hour for grass seed, and 8s per hour for wheat. In regard to oats, the new rate is Is per 100 bushels more than that ruling last season, - "

A Canterbury firm has, and has had since last winter, 30,000 sheep grazing in Southland. Having spent the whole of last winter there, their owner was expecting to send them north in the spring, but they have been shorn there, and from all appearances will be killed there. Recently a. Waimate graaier sent 100 head of cattle, described us genuine stores, by road from Waimate to Southland. These measures indicate the dearth of feed in Canterbury and North Otago. It is reported from London that a synthetic milk is being made from a bean shaped like a haricot, and about the size of an ordinary pea, which has been described as the eighth wonder of the world. It is said to grow in Manchuria and in some parts of the British Empire, and posesses a great nutritive value. Among other things claimed for this "remarkable" milk is that it contains a higher percentage of fat than ordinary milk. In the meantime protests have been mado to the British Government against the booming of thi* alleged milk imitation. It is now taken for granted that there will be nn early harvest (says the Mataura correspondent of the Southland Times). The very propitious weather we have had has brought on the oat crops amazingly; indeed, they are so heavy in this district that in many cases they are lying down, and a heavy rain with wind would lay them so flat that they would be difficult to harvest. Grass'is also abundant, and in the memory of the oldest inhabitant there were never such crops of hay and such good weather to harvest it. The result is that the freezing works have started much earlier this year, sheep and lambs being available. Dr. Ivanhoff, a veterinarian in the service of the Russian Government, has been carrying out the artificial fertilisation of mares belonging to trotting, remount, and draught classes, with great success, over a long term of years. No fewer than 579 mares were impregnated in eleven years, and with excellent results, some of the progeny proving very successful on the trotting track. No injury to reproductive organs has occurred, and the method is easy to carry out. About 10 c.c. of spermatic fluid is employed, diluted with milk. It is reported that a Guernsey heifer has been produced by this means in Victoria, and is a healthy, vigorous animal. Colonel Nichols' wellknown station, near Oamaru, is pardonably proud of its Roll of Honor, containing the names of fifty-five men who at_ different times have, worked at "Kuriheka," and who during the past year have responded to the call to arms. Of this number, several have laid down their lives, while a big proportion have been reported sick or wounded. It is Colonel Nichols' intention, as soon as the list is complete, to have the names inscribed on a brass tablet, which will serve as a permanent record, and should be a constant source of pride to future workers on the station. Witing in the Veterinary Record, Mr. J. H. Parker, Berks, reports the following interesting "discovery":— "When in an Oxfordshire village last week I was called to see a cow with milk fever, which she had in a welldeveloped form. I asked what treatment she had, and they said they had blown her udder up with a bicycle pump I saw the pump; : c was nil ordinary pump, and was fitted to the valve of the inner tube. Being curious as to its action, I blew up the udder with it myself, and found it to be the best and quickest method I had yet tried. We gave the cow a drench, and she was up next morning. I think it was the pump that did it." Southdowns scored heavily at the Norwich fat stock show. The special for best pen of three wethers went to ths prize-winners in tlie Southdown class exhibited by His Majesty the King. They weighed sewt. Oqr. 121b., and were a very uniform lot. Lord Derby's Southdowns, weighing 3cwt. 3qr, 151b., took the prize for best lambs, and also the championship for best pen of sheep in the show, His Majesty's wethers being second. The lambs were nine months two weeks old. The winner of the prize for the best beast in the show was the Aberdeen-Angus lieifer Eve of Maisemore, aged two years ten months two weeks; weight, 15cwt. 2qr. 131b; bred by Mr. J. J. Cridlan, Gloucester. Owing to the continued fine weather, harvesting operations in Marlborough are almost complete, writes a correspondent of the Nelson Colonist. On the whole, the crops are very heavy, for, though the district has not received a thorough soaking since the drought of 1914-15. still, » few heavy showers at the right time brought on the crops ill a wonderful manner. Owing to the reports as to the shortage of harvesters that had been circulated throughout the country, men of all classes ilocked to Blenheim to secure the • higher wages that they fondly imagi>i«-a j would he paid by the anxious fanners. ' However, the ruling rate has been "ltl an hour for forkers, and Is 6d for ers and binder-men. This rate of wagcv ' was not sufficient inducement for many • to commence work, and scores returned 10, their homes without making ft stnrt. Among those who took off tliejr cunt* was a party of eight schoolmaster* from Auckland. These men, «■<•« not seeking higher wages, soon ed employment, and worked with a.wu. being able, after a few weeks' expend * to hold their own with their hornyhanded brothers. There is a remarkably fine crop of oats to be seen on the Southland Frozen Meat Co.'s property at Makerewa (savs the Southland Times). It is in the paddock in '.vliich the experiments in regard to turnips were carried out in 1914 and 1913, and favorable comment regarding it is to lie. heard regularly from passersby in the train. When pointed out to Ml'. W. A. Cox, of Ivauana, the provincial president of the Southland Fanners' Union, one day during the week, he admitted that it was a very fine crop, but he said that he had a crop on his farm which was half as good again. He mentioned that last year lie had a return of 120 bushels from the paddock, and disposed of the oats at 4s per bushel on trucks. Mr. Cox smilingly added that that particular paddock did not owe him much, and those who were present unanimously agreed with him. A return per sere of £2O is a magnificent one truly, and is a further striking indication of the great fertility of Southland. At a meeting of farmers held in Oamaru on Tuesday week for the purpose of receiving the report of the committee in connection with the negotiations for Government relief for settlers affected by the drought, Mr. ,T. Milne said he spoke from experience of over thirty years in North Otago, and he was quite sure that the present need was the most acute the district had known. Mr. S. Crow (Malieno) pointed out that the immediate need was the provision of pasture for stock. Many dairy farmers sold part of their herds, and if

pasture was not provided the remainder would have to bo sacrificed. Mr. Preen (Kokoama) stated he had visited Southland recently in quest of grazing, and reported that several southern farmers .were prepared to give grazing in return for the milking of the cows. 4 motion of recommendation to the committee urging the pressing need of securing grazing for dairy cows was carried. Subsequently the committee met Mr. ,T. Brown, of the Agricultural Department, who stated what the Government had arranged to do. On behalf of approved settlers, the Department was prepared to negotiate for supplies of hay, chaff, bran, molasses, roots, graic. for seed add feed, and grass seqds. Endeavours would also be made by the Department to secure grazing for stock on beliajf of farmers and dairymen. Arrangements would shortly be made for the free outward railage 'of stock which is the bona fide property of farmers in the district, and for the refund of outward railage on stock (likewise the property of bona fide farmers) railed before 1 this concession shall have come into force. Arrangements have been made whereby two firms would be granted free railage of chaff and bran for the purpose of distributing these commodities amongst persons reouiring only small ordersi■