FARM & DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1919, Page 11

FARM & DAIRY

Wealth of farmers. jHtXJE wages bill as an off-set. Masterton, August 31. At the Farmers' Union meeting at Masterton to-day, Mr W. J. Poison made an interesting statement relative to <he wealth of the farmers. He said that there were 80,146 farms in New Zealand. Kifteep thousand of these were small holdings, and the balance employed labor to the extent of 80,000 men. Prior to liie war farm labor was available at a .wage ranging between 25s and 35k per weelf. Now, some men were receiving over £3 per week and found. The farmers paid over £3,000,000 per annum extia in wages alone, not to mention the enhanced prices for all materials used on a farm . The increased value'of the ei«ports was £5,000,000, and the increased ccst of labor was between £3,000,000 and £4,000,000. So much for the alleged war profits. Some people had amassed fortunes, of course, but that was in a great proportion due to good management and luck.

NEXT SEASON'S WHEAT. SMALLER ACREAGE EXPECTED. Timaru, August 31. At a, meeting of the South Canterbury farmers' Union Executive to-day, the opinion was expressed that mere will bo less wheat Bown this year- It was resolved to aslc the new Minister of Agriculture to declare fixed prices for next season's wheat. Complaint was made that the cost of thrashing wag too high. A rumor that the New Zealand Government had sold the Home Government the two million bushels of Australian wheat that had not been brought over was discussed, and it was remarked that % woyld be required here next year. It was decided to ask the Wheat Controller it the scale had been made.

IMPROVING MILK YIELDS. Whatever may be the purpose uppermost in the mind of the individual breeder, it is obvious that the real purpose oi testing is,,or should be, the development of dairy cattle toward more economical production by selection, based, to a reasonable extent, upon milk and fat records. The question, then, reverts to one of economics. As population increases and land becomes poorer and [higher in price, the average dairy cow roust become more and more economical 'a the use of her feed in the processes of production. If we grant this to be true, that this is the real purpose of testing, then our problem is to decide 'how this .purpose may best be accomj p!ished. In the long run, it is the av■txage farmer who is to raise the standard. of production of the nation's cows. Asian here and there will conduct his -cattle breeding in? such a way that he >, will succeed in producing a strain of cattle whose production will be ou a higher plane than the average for his breed. 'When this is done intelligently and the resulting animals are not thereby rendered deficient in some other ne- ! cessary quality definite advancement has been made and blood from these animals will scatter far and wide and lc-aven the mass of the breed. Such success has heen possible onjy to a few because of the cost in money, time, and skjll. Now, if the average farmer ,js the nj an who must perform the most of thtf work, can he beßt do it T The answer is by testing Ms eows carefully year after year under conditions of what may be termed good dairy husbandry, and by using, bulls from stock, handled in the same way, that has proved its ability to produce economically. The bull question is receiving much attention nowadays, but it seems that many breeders aake a mistake here as well a* in their desire to produce big records uneconomicaljy. They seem to be chiefly interested. in the butter-fat record of the dam of the prospective sire, but entirely nnr.ifndftll of the conditions under which that Tecord was made. It is obvious' tjiat a bull from a cow with a high record, produced by heavy feed and unnsnal care, cannot get any higher producing stock than one which is from a | cow with a creditable record made un-1 der usual or ordinary care.

VALUE OP LEGUMES. Owing to the high cost of nitrogenous fertilisers, farmers should endeavor to conserve nitrogen by every means possible. Leguminous plants should, therefore, take a prominent place in every rotation. It is well known that in many districts red clover is liable to become Mover sick" if sown,on the tame field •t too short intervals. It is probable that none of the leguminous forage plants are absolutely safe from attacks of "clover sickness," but it is evident that red clover is the mos-t susceptible. Peas' or beans, both valuable crops under existing conditions, could with advantage be introduced into the rotation of land that is known to be "sick" provided that it is at the same time suitable for the production of these crops, while in the formation of rotation leys, plants other than red clover should be used on '"sick" land; or a. mixtuft consisting only partially of red clover dwuld replace large seedlings of red clover by itself. Alsike clover, white clover and trefoil do not suffer from "clover sickness' to nearly the same extent as red clover, and may, therefore, be used as substitutes for red clover.

LAND AND CAPITAL. A leading Australian paper says:—According to old-world ideas, Australian landowners almost always have too much capital wrapped up in land, with an insufficiency' of working capital. The proportion of working capital deemed necessary is somewhere about 30 per cent, and Jiot less than 25 per cent. Thus, on a maximum land grant of £2500, the amount advanced for live stock, machinery, seed, feed, lahor, etc., should be about ..£750, and not less than £(l2">. The maximum advance to soldier setters in. Australia for working capital has lately been increased from £SOO to £025; but there is no certainty that the maximum will be reached, and this hardly gives scope enough for enterprise. The factors which make a farm pay are sufficient working capital wisely expended, the economical employment of labor, and high yields from crops and stock.

BRITISH DAIRY SUPPLIES. Mr .1. A. Ruddiok, Canadian Dairy Commissioner, states tJjat the annual importation pf butter into Great Britain up to the outbreak of war was very nearly 500,000,0001b. Of this quantity practically 200,000,0001b came from Denmark. The other chief sources of supply were Russia, Australia, Sweden, New Zealand, . find France in the order named. The present situation will be easily understood when it is realised that in addition to a lanie reduction in the home make, the supplies from Den- ' mark, Sweden, Russia, and France, total-

ling 340,000,0001b annually, are wholly I cut off for the present. The total im- [ portation of cheese before the war .amounted to about 200,000,0001b, o;' 'which Canada supplied 150,000,0001b, the other sources of supply being New Zealand, Holland, and Italy in the order named. Neither the Netherlands nor Italy is in a position to furnish any cheese at present, and the total imports from these two countries before the war amounted to 44,119,9361b annually. Caftada always hjis been a larger exporter of cheese and during recent years has become a large exporter of butter as Well. The statistics given above require no elaboration to show that the dairymen of Canada will have less competition in their old market, Great Britain, than ever before, and good prices will be assured for some time to come.

VALUE OF PROTEIN. The value of protein as the necessary food for keeping up all the living tissues of an animal is widely known. The most difficult problem of both feeding tattle and raising crops is to keep up the supply of this all-essential nitrogenous food. It will be seen that of green fodders the various legumes, a3 lucerne, clovers, peas, and beans stand pre-emi-ccnt. All the root crops are relatively poor in protein, while ensilage and hay correspond to I i - greenstuff from which they are made, hut in hay tho percentage is relatively high, because the dry matter has been increased by the disappearance of CO per cent- of the water. As the crop ripens the portein is rapidly concentrated in the seeds, and hence the richness of grain and the poverty of straw. Here again the quantity of protein attains a maximum in peas and beans.

IMPROVING FARM STOCK. If we could only impress it on the minds of every farmer that certain results invariably follow certain conditions, wo would be a long distance on the road towards the ideal dairy animal, says Hoard's Dairyman, fevcrything connected with a cow is the result of a purpose, whether it he lor offence or defence, speed or draft, or projection to tfie young or herself. In the wild state all the characteristics ore so evenly developed that no one of them is prominent; she runs neither to fat nor milk, her whole body is of equal value. But as soon as we begin to breed Iter for our own use we find that in certain ways she must be modified. The men wiio for beef find that the wild animal ;e not suitable for their purpose. It is too full in some places, too deficient in ethers, too ranch bone here, too little flesh there. Consequently they begin to bred toward a certain form, and we find that everything is subservient to that form. They have rounded, filled cut, and padded until they have produced an animal in which everything that can possibly draw from the fleshproducing power is eliminated. The men who have had the most success with dairy animals have been equally successful, only in another direction They have found that a large amount of flesh on an animal is kept up at the expense of the milk flow. A pound of flesh on an animal requires a certain amount of feed to keep up its vitality, to replace the waste that is continually going on, and to supply the power that is necessary for its transportation when on the animal All this must be supplied at :he expense of the milk production. In proportion as the breeder has recognised this fact, he has reduced the superfluous flesh, has carefully fostered any tendency toward an increase in the jnilkproducing organs, and by continuous and progressive selection toward* the result sought has given 11s the dairy cowIn proportion, as the breeder al ?- ?- '!, THE FERTILISER PROBLEM, WHEN WILL THE PRICES DROP? THE STATE AND. NAURU PHOSPHATE. It is not so many years ( ago that the average fanner was inclined to look askance at what was spoken of as the chemical fertiliser, and when stable manure and bone-dust failed, he put much of Ilia simple trust in providence and fallowed fields. But the times have changed. Lime, potash, phosphatic mixtures, and other coaxers to increased productivity are eagerly sought by the farmer resolved on getting the best results from his land, and the market price of these several commodities is a serious concern. At the present time, and for a good while past, the price of fertilisers has been high—very high—and many a returned soldier who has gone back to the land for the cradle of iiis future hopes is scratching a perplexed head over this newly-found manuring problem. Ib there any way by which the farmer in generai, and the soldier farmer in particular, can get the necessary fertilisers at a cheaper rate? Can the State, with the help of New Zealand's share of the Nauru phoshatos, reduce the price to him? These and kindred questions prompted some inquiries, and the sum total of the answers was not greatly encouraging for the immediate future.

REMEDY NOT WITH THE STATE. Mr. E. Clifton, who as head of the Agricultural Department for a good many years, gathered a wide experience and local knowledge on this subject, expressed the candid opinion that the State, could not become a manufacturer and supplier of fertilisers to any great advantage to the farmers. He pointed out that the phosphatie manures form the great bulk of the fertilisers used with most profitable effect throughout the world. The bulk of this class of manure we use in New Zealand is obtained from various islands in the Pacific, and also from Japan Unless it is used in the raw condition,'that is to say. in the simple ground-up state, this phosphatie rock requires treatment in chemical works, while the large proportion of this mineral phosphate that is used in its simple state returns only a moderate margin of profit to the merchants who handle it. If the State entered this fertiliser industry in order to help the farmer, the benefit to the farmer would be very doubtful, remarked Mr. Clifton, and as the State could not deal with every class of fertiliser, there would 1 ; n tendency for certain lines to go still higher in price. Co-operative buying by farmers was another aspect which did not appcil t.o him. Tie had seen some sat! results of such buying, and in one or two instances, when head of the Department, he had actually been obliged to refuse permission to sell fertiliser lines so purchased, owing to their poor quality.

SHIPS WANTED FOR NAURU ROCK. Discussing the Nauru Island phosphate —hopes in which have developed considerably of late—Mr. Clifton was of opinion that this rock, like most of the other mineral phosphates we obtained from the is'amU, could be used to <*ood purpose as a manure in tho form it reached us from the islands, without going through a clieniicej and mixing proce*» That meant that the only seriow

j trouble was the finding of ships to bring lit here, 'lie doubted, however, whether j the State could distribute this more -heaply than tlie trader, whri /onld be bound by competition to keep down his profit to a reasonable margin. HTGH PRICE FACTORS. T think we have to assume that W2 shall get our share of the phosphates from Nauru at bedrock prices," said Mr James Boddie, president of the Farmers' Union. "But if we could get a million tons a year instead of 100,000, I don't see how it would greatly help us at present, as the output capacity of the only fertiliser works in New Zealand capable of dealing with it are going at full speed now. Until the local works at Te Papapa are completed I see nothing to encourago us to anticipate that the price of fertilisers will be reduced. As to the Government undertaking to supply settlers, much as I realise, being a farmer, that a cheap and plentiful supply of manure is of vital importance to the producer, I do not think that the State could do anything to relieve the position by entering as a competitor with the'manufacturers and merchants. Superphosphate, which forms about 75 per cent of the whole of our fertiliser mixtures, is only manufactured by one firm in New Zealand at present. The Te Papapa works will lmve an output of about 60,000 tons per annum and will bo the largest chemical manure works in New Zealand, but they are not yet ready although it is three years since the'y were started. How long would it be, then, before the Government could ease the situation by supplying fertilisers? No, I am afraid until we get additional means of manufacture and, distribution the present high prices will continue, and 1 do not think it ig useful or wise to look to the Government aa a possible manufacturer or distributor."

WHEN PRICES ARE LIKELY TO DROP. A gentleman who is closely associated with, the fertiliser Industry expressed the opinion' when speaking on the topic that we can look for no immediate relief from the present high prices of phosphatic manures. One of the most valuable manures was basic slag, and the best quality of basic slag come from the continent, especially Belgium. ■ Unfortunately the English product was mostly inferior, and though it was still obtainahie, some of it was so poor that merchants were not importing it. When the machinery was replaced in tho iron districts of the continent that had been devastated in the war, basic slag of the best quality would soon be available, again, and with the shipping supply back tn normal, prices would soon come down. So far as Nauru phosphates were concerned, tho main thing respecting the price would be the freight, as the actual producing the selling profits would bo so small that the Government could not hope to place the material on tho farn) cheaper than the private trader. The same remark he applied to lime What the Government should do was to remove the (ravelling limit and allow agritural lime to be carried any distance on the railways free. He was satisfied the State could not produce the lime at a cheaper rate than that at which it was being now supplied. The average price in the North Island was about IBs per ton, and he believed one co-operative company in the South Island was producing it at liis, which was not a greatdifference. Summing up the fertiliser situation, he expected to see a big change for the better in prices in about a year's time, though we could not, in his opinion, ever hope to see prices baok to pre-war rates, owing to the higher wages now being paid.—Auckland Star.