FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 September 1922, Page 12

FARM AND DAIRY.

METHODS OR FARMING. OLD WORLD AND NEW.. -Some interesting observations concerning agriculture in Europe and the United States were made by Mr. Donald McCormick, manager of the Onehunga branch of the National Bank, who returned by the Makura the other day, after six months’ furlough. His tour included Italy, the South of France, the battlefield areas in Northern France and Belgium, Great Britain, and a fairly extensive trip through North America. Dairying methods were very different In the Northern Hemisphere, Mr. McCormick said, the climate requiring that the cattle be hand-fed during a large part of the year. That probably accounted ifor the phenomenal butter-fat records made by some cows, one Holstein in the United States registering over 1200 lb within a year. Home-made butter was greatly featured in England, but it was often produced under conditions of absolute dirt, which would not be tolerated here. In the cleanliness of dairies New Zealand had. much to teach the Mother Country. New Zealand mutton and lamb were very high spoken of throughout England. It was worth noting that it was always called "prime Canterbury,” the rest of the provinces, or the Dominion itself, getting no credit for their production. He received a strange reply from a French waiter with regard to our frozen meat. “It was very good, but it tasted of wool,” said the Frenchman, but what that meant Mr. McCormick failed to elicit. On the Continent the meat generally was of wretchedly low quality and very high in price. There should be a great market there for our product.

As the New Zealand soldier had been oefore him. Mr. McCormick was greatly impressed with the intensive farming in Northern France and Belgium. Every inch of land was used, and often no space was spared for fences. Manuring was much heavier, both artificial and farm-yard, and the methods used meant “real farming” in a sense that New Zealand did not yet understand. The cropping of cereals on so enormous a scale was also impressive to a visitor from a purely pastoral province like Auckland. Mr. McCormick noted that in Western America the even climate permitted almost universal stook threshing, if not threshing as the standing grain was cut. Tn the battlefield areas the brutal scarring of the land by war had been almost completely healed by reconstruction since the war. Isolated areas remained in the desolate condition in which they were left .in 1918, the district about Passchendaele being a case in point. But the Hindenburg line was no more, and the Belgians were working very hard at replacing Ypres. The laborers worked in the long days of the Northern summer from dawn to- dark, escaping by ingenious pretexts from the eight-hour day which the trade unions tried to enforce. Many of the men averaged the equivalent of £1 a day.

The tour of the battlefields was still being made by a good many people, although little but the pill-boxes, which cost too much to blow up, marked the old fighting lines. Still the people went chiefly to find the graves of relatives. Mr. McCormick found the war cemeteries generally well cared for. In one cemetery at Passchendaele there were 3400 graves, chiefly of colonial troops, all carefully tended.

HERD-TESTING. T. L. JOLL DAIRY COMPANY. PERIOD ENDING AUGUST 30.

PROCESSES OF THE SOIL. There are two great processes going on continually in the soil, which are known to be due to the activities of bacteria: (a) The conversion of ammonia and other compounds containing nitrogen, derived from decaying organic matter and nitrogenous fertilisers, into nitrates, the only form in which, so far as we know, plants can utilise the nitrogen. (b) The utilisation of free nitrogen of the atmosphere by leguriiinous plants. Both these processes are greatly facilitated by the presence in that soil of a sufficiency of lime. The application of lime to the soil is one of the oldest method of' treatment known in agriculture. It was apparently employed by the Romans 2000 years ago. In various European countries it has been practised for many years past.

Noxious weeds continue to give the Department of Agriculture much concern. The Director of Agriculture (Dr. Reakes) remarks in his report: “The

experience gained leads to the conclusion that the legislation relating to noxious weeds needs to be recast and brought

into line with preeent-day conditions and requirements. At present its administration involves considerable expense, yet no matter how zealously and thoroughly the inspection work is carried out, satisfactory results cannot be expected. Blackberry and sweetbriar must be dealt with as thoroughly as is possible, and amending legislation is necessary to enable this to be done. Californian thistle and ragwort should be placed in the third schedule, thus enabling local authorities to exercise optional power as to whether these should be treated in their districts as noxious weeds or otherwise. Before amending legislation is drafted, I am of opinion that, the whole question should be thoroughly gone into with local authorities, particularly County Councils, seeing that they are so closely associated with the working of the Act.” ADVERTISING PRODUCE. EFFORTS MADE IN ENGLAND. Advertising New Zealand produce in Great Britain forms the subject of a special letter from The Post’s London correspondent. The question has arisen whether the Government or the producer, or both together, should pay for it. It is pointed out that a propaganda agent who takes upon himself to get a series of paragraphs into various newspapers throughout the country during a period of three or four months will charge anything up to six or seven hundreds of pounds. If by continually bringing the merits of New Zealand butter, for instance, before the public he can create a demand which means the difference of several shillings a cwt. in the market price those few hundred pounds are well spent. During this past season, agents for New Zealand dairy produce approached the High Commissioner and asked for co-operation in a propaganda campaign in favor of Dominion butter, and in drawing attention to the disparity which existed in the prices of the New Zealand article and the Danish—a disparity which was not warranted by the difference of quality. An arrangement was come to, with the result that for a month or two one was continually coming up against relevant and sometimes irrelevant paragraphs in the London and porvincial newspapers concerning the merits of New Zealand butter. In the long run this reiteration has a wonderful effect upon the public, who know nothing about the methods employed in getting these paragraphs past the jealous eye of sub-editors. Some may pass through into the columns of newspapers as acceptable news, others are forced through as a financial proposition. There are many ways of spreading the gospel of “Eat New Zealand butter,” but however noble the gospel may be, it needs a generosity of expenditure comparable to the profits derived by the producers through the higher pirces received by reason of the spread of that gospel. The danger; of course, is that producers may never be able to gauge the benefit they derive from intelligent advertising and propaganda, and will take their good fortune merely as a tribute to the quality of their produce. It may be taken as correct, however, that the few hundred pounds spent by dairy produce agents and by the New Zealand Government this past season in propaganda has amply repaid its cost. It is pointed out that the Dominion Government, spent £7 or £8 in two trade papers in advertising 100,0C9 cases of apples sent by the New Zealand Fruitgrowers’ Federation. It also made window displays at the High Commissioner’s office in the Strand of honey, gum, woollen rugs, apples, canned meats, an,d other products. GENERAL. Sir A. Griffith-Boecawen, the British Minister of Agriculture, recently stated that they had checked the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, but it had necessitated the slaughter of 23,000 cattle, 20,000 sheep and 9000 pigs, and expenditure of £1,000,000. He was perfectly certain the money had been well epent in preventing the spread of the disease and protecting healthy flocks and herds. He expressed his gratefulness to farmers for the way they had accepted the restrictions. It is not often that Americans yield to British Dominions any. superiority in produce, says the Imperial Food Journal, but an exception has been made by the Pacific Review, of San Francisco. -Some shipments 'of Australian and New Zealand butter have recently arrived in that city, and this is what the local organ says of them: “When butter can make the long eight thousand mile trip, which requires some thirty days, in a steamer refrigerator, and arrive in the excellent condition that this butter is in, we are prone to wonder what it is like before it started on its journey. The fact is at least 25 per cent, of the butter made in this country one week after it leaves the churn is not up to the butter from New Zealand and Australia after it arrives in this country. Our leaders in dairy education have laboured under the idea that then* education is not complete without a trip to the dairy countries of Europe. They should include New Zealand and Aushralia, for those countries evidently know how.”

The Argentine Government just now is peculiarly active with regard to the stimulation of conditions for the improvement of its meat export industry. In fact, the President of that Republic has sent to Europe, at the request of Argentine cstancieros, official delegates to report on the best means of obtaining new and more remunerative markets. Such an emissary is at present in England. and his mission is probably to study among other things the factors which may improve the position of Argentine mutton ana lamb in the markets of Great Britain. Such being the case, it is needless to point out how important it is that New Zealand should do everything in her power to strengthen her relations with those who have in the past conducted here business on her account with the consumer, and have been responsible for obtaining here the premium which she now enjoys for her meat over that from other sources: “Imperial Food Journal.”

A common ration for horses in the western .States of America is 101 b lucerne hay, and 121 b barley. Cavalry horses are given 14lb ha.V and 121 b oats.

Good stock must always be associated with good farming. Whatever may be the future of New Zealand agriculture, the farmer can be assured that pedigree stock will always be in demand.

When pure bred sires are used to improve farm live stock the offspring is more saleaUe than t hat of non-pure bred sires, and brings nearly 50 per cent, greater return.

Highest Herds. No. cows. Lb milk. Test. Lo tat. 32 1038 4.0 42.06 37 1052 3.9 41.68 37 940 4.1 41.14 26 889 4.3 3S.59 19 906 4.2 38.47 17 838 4.6 38.32 13 866 4.4 38.27 Highest Cows. Lb milk. Test. Lb fat. 1410 4.5 65.45 1290 4.7 60.63 1350 ' 4.4 59.40 1410 4.2 59.22 1110 ", 57.72 1095 5.2 56.94 1080 a.2 56.16