NOTES AND COMMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20731, 15 February 1939, Page 13

NOTES AND COMMENTS

Jersey Field Day The Hamilton Jersey Club is holding a field day at the property of Mr D. D. Wilson at Hillcrest on April 1. The demonstrator for the day will be the well-known stock expert, Mr C. E. Robertson. Members of young farmers’ clubs have been invited to attend and the proceedings will be opened by the Mayor of Hamilton, Mr H. D. Caro. “Greencroft” Stud’s Sucoess The most successful exhibitor in the Jersey cattle section at the Te Awamutu Show was Mr J. Bones, proprietor of the “Greencroft” Stud, who at the same fixture last year carried off the points prize with ease. At last Saturday’s show, Mr Bones won the reserve female championship, seven firsts, five seconds, and four thirds, an outstanding performance. Pig Breeders at Home Pig s breeders at Home are very progressive and in the majority of instances their pigs are kept under excellent conditions, considers Mr R. Chilcott, senr., the well-known Te Rapa breeder, who recently returned from a visit to England. A betted type of Berkshire pig is being evolved, he states, and the Large White appears to be slipping from the preeminent position it formerly enjoyed. Calves at Te Awamutu There was an excellent showing of calves at the Te Awamutu Show on Saturday, the judge, Mr D. D. Wilson, of Hamilton, who afterwards commented very favourably on the entries, having a difficult task in separating the prize-winners. To see such a large number of young exhibitors at a show is a very healthy sign as far as the future of our agricultural shows is concerned for the young people will be the exhibitors of to-morrow. Their participation in agricultural shows, too, should encourage them in the selection of a better type of stock. Mr W. C. Wallace’s Success Perhaps the most pleasing feature of the Te Awamutu Show on Saturday was the fact that the Ayrshire breed made its first appearance at the show after an absence of 10 years. Of excellent dairy type with splendid constitution, the Ayrshire entries were very favourably commented upon by all those who saw them at the show. The Fencourt breeder, Mr W. G. Wal- 1 lace, exhibited with conspicuous success, winning both the male championship and the female championship and obtaining 28 points in the points prize against the next most successful exhibitor’s total of 10 points. The Ayrshire judge, Mr W. Bailey, was enthusiastic in his description of the cattle. Attention to Harrowing The presence of pastures which are even in growth and colour denotes a farmer who gives proper attention to harrowing at the right time of the year. On many occasions one sees tufts of grass which have become long and rank, scorned by stock, and which indicate the existence of natural manures which have been allowed to go to waste, and even to cause harm to the pasture, through lack of harrowing. Sheep-dipping Feat A remarkable feat of sheep-dipping was performed on Mr T. Davey’s property, Pakowhai, Frasertown, last week when 560 sheep were dipped in 30 minutes. The sheep were ready at the dipping yards and were treated thoroughly in a 60ft dip, the time from which they were put into the yards until they came out taking only 30 minutes. The feat was performed by the men to see what they could do. Canada’s Bountiful Harvest As a result of this year’s bountiful harvest, Canadian ports have greatly benefited from the increased traffic and shipping activity. During the first four months of the current crop year to the end of November, 50,716,442 bushels of Canadian wheat or 78 per cent of the total quantity exported, passed through Canadian ports. Similarly with other grains, 9,390,998 bushels of barley comprising all the exports to cjnte, 726,948 bushels of rye and 256,242 bushels of oats have been exported through Canadian ports. In addition, 1,423,400 barrels of wheat flour were shipped out of the country via the allCanadian route. “Wheat Basket” of Empire Canadian harbours are well equipped to handle Canada’s vast crops of grain. Canada has been well named the “Wheat Basket of the Empire” and the ports have been designed to efficiently handle extensive quantities of grain. Immense terminal elevators have been erected which, by means of carrier belts and chutes, can unload and load grain-carrying vessels in record time. The port of "Vancouver on the Pacific coast is an allyear round port and handles much of the grain from the western sections of the Canadian prairie provinces. The ports of Montreal, Quebec and Sorrel on the St. Lawrence River only operate during part of the year, but handle most of the east-borne grain traffic. The ports of Halifax and Saint John, on the Atlantic coast, operate all year, but are most active when the St. Lawrence River is closed to traffic. How Weeds Are Spread The rapid spread of weeds, which lie thought had been carried about the Marlborough County by road graders, was remarked on at the last meeting of the Blenheim branch of the Farmers' Union by Mr C. L. (Jhaytor. It was the speaker's opinion that a grader, after working in a locality where’a certain type of weed was common, moved to another area and the seed which had accumulated on the knife was liberated on the roadside. It. was becoming a serious problem, and he thought something should be done to check the spread of the weeds. After a general discussion it was decided that members approach the riding members of the Marlborough County Council, with a view to investigating the matter. Clean Milk Campaign At a medical conference held in Edinburgh recently the question of “safe” milk was discussed and the

expressed opinions of several speakers were that the eradication of tuberculosis in dairy herds was the surest means of procuring it. Pasteurising might be regarded as “safe” with certain reservations and a report of a Privy Council committee puts it thus: “The ideal is to supply milk from healthy herds and the freeing of dairy herds from such diseases as tuberculosis. contagious abortion, and the like must still be the primary policy of the clean milk campaign." A medical authority at the Edinburgh conference while admitting that pasteurising was a safeguard, stated that the milk so treated was still liable to infection and that, for children especially, it was not so palatable as fresh milk.