FARM & DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, 7 February 1920, Page 13

FARM & DAIRY

KILLING OF CALVES. Mr. W. R. Wright, of Rahotu, writes to a Wellington paper:— The enclosed cutting shows that between 30.000 and 40,000 calves have been killed in the Waikato this spring, while the report of one Taranaki firm ftlone stated that, for their ifovember sale, 5100 calfskins were catalogued, and the stock inspectors estimate the killings in Taranaki at 40 per cent. Now, does anyone wonder at this, with good mixed Shorthorn weaners selling in Car-bridge a month ago at 10s each (their skins are worth 9s to 15s), and here in Taranaki, a week ago, for good, well-bred weaner heifers 25s was bid?

So many freezing works are now operating* (many of them overlapping one another), that the slaughter of calves ib suicidal, for in two or three ■"ears beef will be unobtainable. -With'milk and meal at such high values the rearing costs of calves at five months exceed £4 10s (which is the absolute minimum), and, as there is not a hope of getting this, indiscriminate slaughter must conr tinue.

The cutting referred to was a report By the inspector of stock at MorrinsVille, Auckland, stating that between •JO,OOO and 40,000 calves have been killed in the Waikato this summer. He states that farmers find it does not pay to rear calves and pigs while present lugh prices for butter-fat continues. New country is not being opened up qui&lyenough to absorb all young stock, and he predicts a tremendous shortage op beef.

STATEMENT BY ME. 0 HAWKEN

Mr O. Hawken deals with the letter in the Hawera Stcr. He &fiys:—lt would, perhaps, be as well to quote the statistics and point out the position of the cattle and pig stocks of the Domln--10"; „ In January, 1911, there were •2,020,1(1 cattle, including 633,733 dairy cows In January, 1919, there were 3,033,478 cattle, including 526.135 dairy cows. There were also at date -520 000 breeding cows of other than d.-.'rv breeds. The increase was a contiwo:;* ',,-je and las probably continued ikr'r" this last year, though the flMirr-;- «,v > : ot 'available yet It will I*. f.-om these figures that the in the cattle stock lias been tj.o rrawrlraK* one of 50 per cent, m eight years. Jt will be noted that other than dairy cows Increased on the greatest ratio, and the reason is well known to all Block men Very large numbers of ivcll-bred cattle of other than the dairy breeds have been bred by tie farmers and runholders during the last decade, the principle reason for this being the unsuitafoility of the dairy cattle for grazing purposes. 6

Killing of calves has been going on for years among dairy farmers. Last year about 150,000 calves were killed for tneir hides out of 750,003. which would he the approximate annual increase among dajry cattle. Not ten per cent. of the male calves in Taranaki are worth keeping •as .araziers, and probably not more than 00 per cent, of the 'heifer calves either. Should we keep all these unsuitable calves when we already have an increase in cattle which is more than we know what to do with, or should we Kill them and use the milk, etc., used in rearing them to raise pigs instead? Thousands of calves have been reared this year at a dead loss. They are hardly worth their hides even now. and as Mr. Wright says, it takes £4 10s to'rear a calf. If the farmers had gone in for nigs they would have made a good profit instead of a heavy loss. Pit's bave decreased in numbers' to the extent of over 50 per cent, during the same period namely, from 348,754 in 1911 to 235,347 in 1919. Pork is making the record price of lid per lb in New Zealand to-day. This means that bacon will be ? retail, and tho scarcity of this .article of consumption has broken down the effort by the Board of Trade to control the price. By all means et tho farmers kill the calves and keep larger numbers of pigs. Another factor that will have much to do with the position, and must not be overlooked, is the probability of butter being made jnuch more evtensively by the factories next year, and if such should happen to be the case, then the dairy fanner who has a good supply of ' igs on hand will probably score heavily. In the past, in Taranaki especially, large numbers of mongrel cattle have been reared by dairymen, and always at a losr, and, seeing that the stock of good, well-hred beef cattle has increased so largely, it would seem the height of folly to rear calves which no one will want, instead of pigs, which are likely to extreme prices, and the bacon from which is liadly wanted by consumera generally. New Zealand'has such immense numbers of dairy cowc, in addition to the 520.000 cows of the beef breeds, that the stock of cattle can always be augmented very rapidly indeed. The increase disclosed in the official figures, coupled with the increase of nearly two millions in the sheep stocks was a Temartaible one, considering the difficulties to be met in growing artificial feeds and the small amount of new country brought into use during the war period. The figures suggest' overstocking rather than the reverse, and it would be as well for farmers to be cautious, as the coming winter may be a hard one for stock.

THE PIG INDUSTRY, The following extract, taken from an article entiled "Can We Supply Oursolveg With Food?" and prepared by Professor James Long, the greatest living authority in the British Isles on (agriculture, should prove of interest to [dairy farmers. When milk and its byproducts are entering on an advanced stage towards increased value aDd pig keeping in Taranaki is gradually losing interest the methods of other countries surely will bear examination. In the section of his work relating to "The Meat Supply," the Professor says:— "While I have endeavored to show that by taking the necessary steps we can keep a largely increased number of cattle and sheep I hold the opinion that so long as we continue to be a peat meat-eating nation we shall not be in a position to produce all our mutton and beef. • . . It is possible, however, to deal somewhat concisely with one branch of the meat question. I refer to the production of pork and bacon, which costs the country so many millions a year. . . . The pig industry could be developed so extensively and so rapidly that in a short time it would be possible to produce the whole of our bacon, abandoning importation altogether. . . . The first point to impress upon the whole landed community is that pigs pay when in good hands as well as, and possibly better than, any other stock on the farm. While the four-fifths of their food can be grown en th» farm in th« form of grass##, po-

tatoes, mangels, beet, parsnip?, carrots, artichokes and swedes, I am aware that long practice in grain feeding has led pig breeders to believe in nothing else. Let me, however, take one example in explanation of what I mean. At hayvest time a large proportion of the food material of a plant, such as barley, is concentrated in the seed. Were the plant eaten before the seed was formed the animal consuming it would obtain the nourishment which later on would be furnished I the seed. It -would, however, obtain something more —the indispensable fibre and water which form part of the green crop or plant. It is precisely the same with the potato and the roots to which I have referred. An average potato contains about 22 per cent, of nutritive food in combination with some 75 parts of water. On the other hand, the mof i popular pig food—barley meal—contains 66 per cent, of nutritive food. Thus, weight for weight, one pound of barley meal should be equal to 3 lbs of potatoes. In practice, however, it is essential to recognise the deficiency of the potato in protein, and so we assume that it requires 3Jlb to 41b to Xuake it equal to 111 of barley meal. Let us suppose that the ration of a pig is 41b of meal per day, or an equivalent of 141b of potatoes. If. in mixing the meal in a pail, which is a customary practice, a gallon of water is added, we obtain precisely a mixture weighing the same as the potatoes, and we might, therefore, be disposed to regard it as a poor food owing to t-lie large proportion of water. It is because of our ignorance and our too great willingness to accept an old practice as gospel, and to regard a new practice with suspicion and distrust, if it is the result of scientific teaching, that we have so frequently failed. Thus I would impress upon all concerned with this question the absolute folly of relying upon foreign nations for a class of food which we are able to produce so much cheaper and so much better. It is England which has supplied the stock from which Denmark and other countries have bred .the pigs which they cure and send to us! It is England, too, which, by the purchase of butter from Denmark, lias enabled her to provide the skim milk of her factories, the best food of all, for her pigs. We have been engaged for 40 years in building the national industry of this little country and neglecting ourselves, and we have bitj terly paid for it."

POULTRY AND EGOS, AND THE LAND QUESTION.

In his work entitled "Can We Sup- ! ply Ourselves With Food?" Professor Jas. Long makes some pertinent remarks in connection with the use of land in Great Britain, which should prove of more than ordinary interest. Regarding his contentions as to the poultry question as applied to the farmer of Great Britain, they so aptly apply to the farmer of New Zealand as to, perhaps, cause more interest being taken in these side lines, the increased production of which would do something towards increasing revenue. His argument anent waste lands - should receive serious consideration from all those who desire this country to prosper and be a big lever towards the increased production we are told is so essential to this Dominion. He says:— "The poultry industry, which a few years ago was a mere hobby—a combination of fanciers engaged in sporting competitions—has emerged into a national asset. Instead of importing hundreds of millions of eggs, and hundreds of thousands of fowls for the table -we should produce all. The possibilities of the home production of eggs and poultry are as great as the possibility of producing pips. While I have not abundant faith in the efforts of Governments which have failed so egregiouslv in the past, I a.tn convinced that, unless there is ampler encouragement given to this branch of the farming industry, as well as to others I have mentioned, what could do done will not be done. To the farmer poultry should appeal far more than to the amateur who occupies little or no land, apart from his garden; yet it is Jhis man who leads the way with none of the advantages which the fanner possesses, with his waste in stables and I stockyards, and his harvest and grass field. I have visited farms on which there are numbers of hens of excellent type, but there are not one in a hundred, the flfl possessing but few, and these of a nondescript character, or no hens at all. If we are to produce eggs and poultry there must be a national organisation with some authority at its back. ... It is not enough to reconstruct a system; that system must be worked. Faith is faith only wlinn there are acts of faith. AVe must build a bigger England, and this can be done by the reclamation of waste land in almost every county. There is no land so poor as to be non-productiv!, and although it may not pay a rent it should still be imed. I have seen thousands of acres of mountain land in Ireland which have been let M Sd an acre for grazing, and yet have been abandoned, while the poor people adjoining were unable to obtain an acre under any conditions to liety) them to live. The system that prohibits the use of land which will not pay a rent is a wrong system. Land which will not produce sufficient to pay for "the labor involved in its cultivation) and the interest of the capital employed, will not be cultivated. Where, however, the food produced exceeds these combined values, rent commences, and not before, for there is nothing with which to pay it. Unless uncultivated land, which can be made productive, is cultivated, it should be taxed. I know of no other course of compulsion which is likely to be so decisive as this- Under evisting conditions land which is poor owing to years of bad management, pays the least to the rates, while the best cultivated land pays the most. It should be the reverse if all the poor land in the country is to be put to the best use. If the Government accepts the recommendations of the Reconstruction Committee and pursues the course they liave devised, landlords will be compelled to manage their estates with the object of insuring thorough cultivation of the land and the production of maximum crops, while tenants will have no option but to give up their farms to better men than themselves if they fail to make the mo9t of the land in their occupation. Already over 500 fanners have been removed from their farms by the County Agricultural Committees owing to their indifferent work, while land amounting to tens of thousands of acres lias lieen taken from some farmers and added to others in order that it may receive greater attention. . . We cannot produce more than 50 per cent, of our normal consumption of grain for the one reason that we insist on providing food for our flocks and herds before we provide for ourselves. Pork, bacon, sugar, milk, egss, poultry, fruit and vegetables we can grow if we will, but in practice we decide that we won't. It rests not with nature, nor legislation, and not with the farming community, but with the people themselves—to the majority of whom meat and strong drink appeal with much greater force than the sunpier, cheaper, and much more valuable

foods, all of which we can grow in these Islands "

NATIONAL FORESTS; Thfl following article from m English publication nhould prove of more than passing interest to the New Zealander as to the importance of conserving our timber snppi v -_ and also the necessity of plant| n , v ill unworkable spots with trees fo.- vears to come. We hear much talk r,om MP's, etc., about the matter of afforestation, but the general public require some sort of a bomb to wake them up to action in tho end desired. The article reads:—ln view of the depletion of our forests during the last, few years, the Government should promptly take in hand the question of re-afforestation—not in the interests of the private landlords, but for the future generations of these islands. The follpwing statement of the areas of n, t land under State control is suggestive—especially as our country is at the bottom of the list:—

Percentage I Forest lane], owned I Acres. by State. Russia 516,000,000 CI Germany 34,490,000 33 France 23,530,000 12 Spain 20,960,000 S4 Bosnia and Hefzegovnla 6,790,000 20 Greece 2,030,#00 80 Rumania 0,030,000 47 Great Britain 3,030,000 3 A great deal of misconception is shown by settlers contiguous to Mt. Egmont as to the use and value of the area protected, let us hope, for all time, and the Forestry Department would be following a wise course during the winter moijtha in arranging lectures to be given farmers in connection with the matter. FRIESIAN MILK RECORDS. The Canadian cow, Zarilda Clothilde 3rd de Kol, owned by Colony Farm, Egsondale, 8.C., last year broke the Canadian record by making a strictly official year record of 30,4271b milk, containing 1,072,2201b butter, is now making another year record that may even be greater than the production of the hitherto unparalleled champion of the world, Tilly Alcartra. The figures for the great Californian cow are 33,4251b milk in a year. If Zarilda can hold her own for the nescl; six months she will slightly surpass the production of her American rival. Zarilda Clothilde 3rd de Kol has to her credit 10,337.31b milk in the first 185 days of her test, which is 646 8 lb more than the amount given 'as the six months' record of Tilly Alcfirtra. Zarilda avefgged 104.51b milk a day for the entire six months, and during her sis months produced 2,963.41b milk, showing that she is still going strong. Her butter record for the 185 days is given as 885.311b, which, although not as essential as her milk record, is highly creditable.