FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 July 1917, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

NEWS AND MOTES. One of the .best soiling crops is / the Vetch, one of the best crops for green manure is the vetch, one of the host crops for the milk cow is the vetch. It is a gatherer of nitrogen, which it collects from the air and transmits to the soil. The now scale of taxation for dogs lias not yet -been settled 'by the "British I'arliamcnt. It is declared that there are 3,500.000 dogs in the country, and

that no tax is paid in respect of 33 per cent, of them. A Yorkshire correspondent estimates that in that country, Notts, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Lincolnshire, 68,912 ewes have dropped 29,150 twin or triplets, and 39,702 single lambs. This yields an aggregate of 93,068 lambs, or 142 per cent. •Superphosphates do best if mixed in the soil. For wheat il 's best harrowed ill before seeding, ami the same with root crops. When mixed with soil to a depth of four inches it is at once available for the young roots. (Mr. H. Stanley Coffm, an American sheep-breeder, who visited New Zealand in March last, and purchased 100 head of Romney, Lincoln, and sheep, writes to eay that only one waslost on the voyage, the others arriving in capital order. Some eighty-eight quarters of Rhodesian frozen beef, representing the first shipment from that country, were recently placed on the Smithifield market, fltatea the Meat Trades Journal. It is said that the meat attracted a great deal of interest and favorablo comment. The shortage of shipping is unques-

tionalily affeoting the t priee of fat sheep, and this was demonstrated at Wallacetown on Tuesday when the market for fats was much easier than it was the previous week. The demand for hoggets is still holding, and this class of sheep appear to be very safe holding just now. The British Board of Agriculture in its monthly report ' f ( or April declares that the fall of lambs was generally about average, and perhaips even somewhat over, but the severe weather cans ed considerable losses, except in some Savored southern counties. Losses also .occurred among ewe. Hill Hocks have had a particularly trying time. The British and Argentine Meat Company, Limited, have formed a sudsidary company in Brazil, and already started work at Rio dc Janeiro. One-fifth of the capital of this new company is Brazilian and the remainder British. Cattle are to be slaughtered at the Kio municipal slaughter establishment at Santa Cruz and the carcases conveyed 011 refrigeration waggons to the cold storage at Rio. The fat cattle yarding at Wallacsiown on Tuesday was well up to the market's requirements, but much of the stufl penned was unfinished. The quality all round was not as good fl.s the previous >.veck, and this largely accounts for the drop in the prices quoted per head. Ii is estimated that the actual drop ir "values was not more than about a shil'

ling wer hundred pounds. It "costs about £ls per head to get over from England each ram sent to the Argentine, and some exporters have lost their shipping expenses on most of their recent individual deals. There has been a disappointing demand noted at this season's Argentine sales of impoited Lincoln rams, and the Buenos Ayres Herald foretells that such poor sales "are likely to adversely affect forthcoming sales in England." The (potato market is in rather a peculiar state just now, for there is very little demand by the merchant, yet in the produce auction rooms last Saturday I noticed (remarks a writer in a Southland paper) several lines of good potatoes bringing up to nine shillings per bag under the hammer. The samples of Southland potatoes are unusually good and sound this season, and most of those on offer now have the appearance of being good keepers. Enquiries from the North Island for matured colored medium cheese have continued during the week, and s>%rt ; per 1 lb f.0.1)., Bluff, less a buying commis- , sion, has been on offer. As tnere does i not appear to be much chance ot getting much cheese away from Bluff just now, t it is expected local factories will seize i the opportunity of making sales out- [ side the Imperial supplies Department - whenever ready payments can be obtain- [ ed.

During, the past week, a good , deal °f rain has fallen throughout Sftsuthkmd—as usual, more along coastline than inland—and the country has at last began, to appear wintery attired. The roads are muddy, those without gravel formations are not safe for ordinarv t.raflic, and the pastures which have held out so well are beginning to wear a bleak abearance. On the high country there have been several light, falls of snow, ibut, even so, the hills are carrying a very light covering for this time

of vear. Mr. Walter Blakie. of Branxholme, sold during the week his well-known Winterseugh Hero—Herd Laddie mare gelding which has had such a successful show career to a \Palmerston North buyer for 00 guineas—a record price for these times. This gelding, now r; ing six years old, won in his classes as a 3-vcar-old, 4-year-old, and 5-year-old at hoth the Win'ton and Irivercargill Shows, and was also one of the horses in the pairs and teams of three with which Mr. Blakie. has been so successful during

the past two years. An old bull to a young and vigorous cow will, it is claimed, throw a. heifer, and a vigorous young bull the other way about. At the same time, a bull in his prime may sire hull" calves if his services are called upon too heavily. We should not like to say that this rule works with absolute certainty, but an American veterinary surgeon of great experience has expressed the theory in these terms: "The animal most vigorous at the moment of conception will stamp its individuality indelibly on its progeny." English" breeders aim at finishing off the voting ho;' at 1401bs, and they say: "When 2001'bs is exceeded tlio price is usually reduced, especially if the fat is slightly too thick ; and so reduction continues" to be made until the outside weight is reached, which may be placed at 25-Olbs, beyond which & bacon pig should not be fed. It will usually be found that a pig fitted for bacon and Weighing laMb* will produce one-half «* weight of fresh 'bacon and one-fefth its weight of fresh hams, the loss in cutting up and the remaining meat forming the j balance." The following is from a recent publi-

cation received from Canada, and the statement is made by a member of the Federal Bateau of Crop Estimates in America. "There is a general impression that the American farm'' '» feed the reat of the world, Sta.i.-...s tell another tale, and I have just liaishing working *a» ft fow that stew *!>&t ont

greatest agricultural produce for export is wheat. When we look at the large amount af agricultural produce shipped into this country, we are obliged to speak with caution of what part the United States could play in feeding the warring nations. We have our own millions to feed first."

The proposal of the Argentine Government to impose an export tax of 5 per cent, on all goods shipped would, if it eventuated, be a great help to the meat trade in Brazil. As Mr. Finney ) managing director of the Frlgorifico Armour do la Plata) points out in an interview, Brazil contains about 30,000,000 head of cattle. The creation of the tax would induce several large freezing companies to establish works in that country, and Mr. 'Finney estimates that the output of meat might easily increase to 20,000 tons per month. Last year the average was about 3000 tons a month. Brazil is likely to become a very strong competitor in the frozen meat trade, as besides possessing such a large number of cattle the (Brazilian port oE Rio is only fifteen days' steam from London. For a few years after the war at least all the meat that can he produced will be wanted.

Almost simultaneously with the presentation of the petition praying for the removal of the iniquitous ibutter-fat tax in Parliament, the department in charge of the collection of the tax made demands that all demands must 'be paid at once, and has kindly included orderforms against the next payment to be made by the Department of Internal Affairs for cheese. As there is every chanca of the tax being abolished, and the well-known difficulty of obtaining a refund of any moneys paid over to the Government, I understand that a number of factories are seriously considering the withholding of this money until such time as (Parliament has decided whether the tax shall be abolished or otherwise. I am afraid that the chances of o'btain-

ing « refund of the money paid are very remote, and also that all moneys due will have to bo paid, but I do think that there is every chance of the tax being removed during the present session.

KAUPOKONUI TESTING ASSOCIATION. The Association average for the season is 207.07 lbs, a decrease of 16.29 lbs fat from last season. This is largely due to the long spell of dry weather. The highest individual cow (grade Jersey) for the season produced 507.56 lbs fat in 267 days ; the next best cow (.pedigree Holstein) produced 481.04 lbs fat in 243 days. This cow has produced over 1000 lbs fat in less than two years. One of the worst cows produced 117.32 lbs fat in 236 days. Many cows would have produced less than 117 lbs fat, but were cold after being tested for three and four Months.

Many a farmer will tell ydu he has no low producing cows, but the following may be of interest to many who read these figures:—ln taking the best producing cow in each herd tested, I find they average 374.59 lbs fat, against 175.43 lbs fat for the lowest cow in each herd. ißy going still further and taking the price of butter-fat at one shilling and sixpence, the best cows make ft return of about £2B per cow, the worst' about £l3 per cow. The. aJbovc figures include cows that have milked from ISO to 365 days.—Star.