FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 September 1916, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

NEWS AND NOTES.

Freezing companies, it is reported, are already offering £1 per head for this season's lambs in the Feilding district. The next steamer to leave New Zealand about the end of September, will taKi. 5000 crates of cheese from the t'atea stores.

The August paj-out for milk, plus the bonus of 3d per lb. on butter-fat for the season, meant some substantial cheques at the .Toll factory this month. The four biggest were £589, £513, £4OO and £354.

The feeding value of ensilage as against hay has often been discussed, and a good many dairy farmers are now of opinion that the verdict is easily in favor of ensilage. The experience of Mr. ,T. E. Meuli,'of Okaiawa is, however, interesting, not only on the feed ing value of ensilage, but because of the fact that his herd was quite free from milk fever troubles this season (says the Star). As farmers know, n great many cows went down with milk;fever this season, and it may only be a coincidenci that Mr. Meuli's escaped, but he is of opinion that the absence of milk fever in his herd was due entirely to the fact that lie fed his cows for two months during the rough weather of July and August entirely on ensilage. They had no gras3 at all, but were given an ample allowance of ensilage, and they did well on if. They were in really good condition, and cleansed we'! at cahing time. Dis-cuss-in;' the cost of making ensilage, Mr. Mevili remarked, first of all, that be had all the necessary implements, including a Manitoba stacker. Twenty-one acres of gra«s, incli'ding sever, or eigut sacks of salt, cost for labor and material, £2O; 21 acres of oats and new grass—costing £?5 for labor and materials—turned into ensilage, fed fifty cows on seven acres for two months, all through the rough weather of July and August, and they did well on it. This year he purpose's putting down 22 acres in oats and barley for the coming season's ensilage. The stacks are made out in the paddocks; no special silos or anything of that kind are used, so that the cost is not serious nor the preparation or labor in any way formidable. Mr. Meuli's herd is not a rclected one in any w,ay; it hns .not even been reasonably culle'd, but the fact that ."<! cows, including 13 2-ycar-old heifers, pn.duced lfl,fi;J2ibs of butter-fat lastyear, or an average of 2901bs per cow, must be considered very satisfactory, and proof that the animals did well on the feed provided for them.

Taranaki has just had a visit from an interesting lady—Mis» Kirk, from South Africa (reports the Haw era Star). She came over to New Zealand especially to loarn all she could about cheese, making, and the Government Dairy Division officers gave her all the information at their disposal. But she was not satisfied with this; she went into the factories and worked at the cheese vats for days and days, so as to gain a practical knowledge as well. In eonversaion with a reporter Hiss Kirk said that they were not taking on cheese-making in South Africa in the way they were in Now Zealand. They were mostly farm dairies, but in their own way they, had made qaite a lot of fairly good cheese this last year or two, and there appeared to bo an inclination to develop the industry over there, to some extent. Some districts wcrs quite suitablo for dairying, and doubtless good herds of cattle would soon be established. At present there was a larg? numler of Kaffir cows, and one moderately good herd of 80 of these had managed to give -10 gallons of mil'; to their factory per day—an average of half a sriHon of milk per day per cow.

A matter which is of vital interest to farmers at the present time, when spring sowing is being pursued with all possible speed, and preparations are being made for autumn sowing, is the position of the seed market. \ message from the Christchureh correspondent of the Auckland Herald indicated that tli position of the southern seed market was normal, there being just about sulficient imported grass seed to meet requirements until the new crops come in. Enpiiries nuuk 1;: Auckland by the Herald sin. wed that there will be ample seed locally for all requirements for spring ard autumn sowing, by which time the new crops will be in. They showed also 'hat the current urices. which compare favorably with those at present prevailing in ihe South, have a tendency to demise. Reports from the South indicate that there is every probability that the crops of cocksfoot and ryegrass will be good, while informati.iii received from England by last mail indicates that yields of Knglivi grasses will be above the average, and that in consequence the pri-'is show ..oi inclination to fall and ?i,ould substantially decrease by the time the requirements for autumn sowing are due to be met.