FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 1922, Page 12

FARM AND DAIRY.

GENERAL. A consignment of 250 prime bullocks from a Manawatu station was shipped to London last season (says an exchange). The returns to hand show that they realised approximately £1750, of which £250 was net. The balance of £6 per head was. eaten up by freezing and shipping charges. One . would almost regard this as sufficient to take them home alive and feed them on the way.

The loss between the weight of green fodder, as it is cut and put into a silo, and the weight of the cured ensilage that will ultimately be obtained is very much greater than is commonly realised. It varies, in fact, from 20 per cent, to as high as 50 per cent., depending on the kind of material used. That is to say, it requires from 120 to 150 tons of gi*een fodder, weighted as cut, to fill a 100 ton

Sunflowers are quite a popular crop for ensilage in Canada, but they lose more in weight when put into a silo than probably any other crop. To fill a silo of 100 tons capacity rtt the Lethbridge Experimental Station last year with sunflowers, required 150 tons, or to be exact, 298,2401 d. The results of experiments in the growing of sunflowers at Lethbridge indicate that in a fair, but not wet, season, 7 to 10 tons per acre is a reasonable yield to expect on dry land when the crop is put in on well prepared soil. On irrigated land 12 to 20 tons per acre may be expected. • • • • A farmer from the Taihape district told a Standard reporter that there was every indication of a record lambing in his district this season. Pasture was plentiful, weather conditions were favourable, and lambing was much earlier than usual.

In the estate of the late Mr. D. A. Spence, his British Friesian herd was valued for probate at.