NOTES AND COMMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20743, 1 March 1939, Page 13

NOTES AND COMMENTS

Imported Berkshires A centre of attraction in the pig pavilion at the Auckland Show was the Berkshire pigs recently imported from England by Mr R. Chilcott. They were there for exhibition purposes only and they certainly comprised a very educative exhibit for they served to indicate how British breeders have improved the Berkshire breed. All of them were lengthy pigs with beautiful bone and they should help to improve the breed in the Waikato. Auckland Show Successes Waikato breeders exhibited with conspicuous success at Auckland Show and the number of awards won was a splendid advertisement for the district's stock. A pleasing feature was the number of awards won in the fat stock section. Mr H. J. Finlayson, of Tuhikaramea, won the bulk of the fat cattle awards and was awarded the points prize, which carried with it the Auckland Saleyards Gup. The champion fat beast of the show was shown by Mr R. Allen Bent ,of Putaruru, while another Waikato exhibitor, Mr Neil Reid, obtained many class awards in the fat sheep section.

Pig Field Day There was a good attendance of pig producers of Otorohanga at a field day on Mr U. Langkilde’s farm. The visitors were shown around by the farm manager, Mr J. Fredriksen, and were given the opportunity to inspect the breeding sows, bacon pigs and a very modern grinding plant. The visitors were very interested in the root crops, chief of which was a 15-acre crop of artichokes. Mr Lagkilde uses artichokes very successfully in conjunction with the meal ground at his own mill. There are approximately 500 pigs on the property.

Te Anga Field Day A field day organised by the Te Anga Pig Club in conjunction with the Te Anga Young Farmers’ Club, which was held on Mr A. E. Burt’s property, Te Anga, last week, proved very successful. In a lecture to the good attendance, Mr C. P. Harington, district pig supervisor, dealt with the judging of a bacon pig and stressed the necessity for length, conformation and the right proportion of fat to lean. Mr R. Sanderson, well-known Jersey breeder of Otorohanga, afterwards dealt with the points of the dairy cow and indicated that actually there was very little difference between the good points of the dairy cow and the good points of a sow.

Pig Husbandry Methods Mr H. M. Peirson, extension Officer in Pig Husbandry, will be in the Waikato from March 27 to 31. He will tour the area controlled by the Waikato District Pig Council in company with the district supervisor, Mr G. P. Harington, and will lecture to pig club members and all those Interested in better pig husbandry. Mr Peirson will be bringing with him the latest talking pictures dealing with pig management methods and breeding. Every Waikato pig producer should take the opportunity of seeing these very educative films for himself.

Many Pig Awards Won The pig section at the Auckland Show was probably the strongest yet seen at this show and this was because of the large entry of pigs from the Waikato. The well-known Ngaruawahia breeder, Mr A. T. Rogers, had on show probably the largest consignment of pigs from one exhibitor yet seen at a Dominion show. He obtained tl>e bulk of the championships in the Tamworth, Berkshire and Large Black classes and was the winner of the “Old Stone Jug” Perpetual Cup for most points in the pig section. The New Zealand Go-operative Dairy Company also Avon many awards and several championships for Berkshires and Tamworths, while Mr G. D. Porritt, of Pukeroro, showed very successfully in the Large White classes. Fat Lamb Weights The province of Southland has be* come justly noted for the production of fat lambs and from reports it looks as if some fresh records will be put up this year. An Aparima farmer has turned off 1100 averaging over 371 b without a single reject which is good, yet not any better than the man on the Drummond flat who from a 270 acre farm got 250 away in the first draft to average 411 b and the second lot of over 000 went last week and averaged 371 b Tasteless Baby Beef The large joint of meat appears to be a rarity nowadays in Great Britain, at least for the average householder, although there is said to be a special demand among the more affluent classes for the larger joint of beef. Some authorities in Great. Britain have asserted that a contributory factor in the increased demand for lamb has been the tendency on the part of consumers to tire of . flavourless baby beef. Work of Tractors An estimate made from Year Bookstatistics arrives at the conclusion that 60.000 draught horses would be required to do the work performed by tractors in the Dominion last year. That “team” would mean a lot in several ways. Allowing an average value of £3*3 a horse, they would represent an investment of £2,000,000. Annual replacements at 10 per cent would represent a breeders’ market of £200,000 each year. Harness for 60,000 horses would cost about £400,000 as capital cost.-Annually those horses would require, shoeing and feeding—another big turnover lost to once important trades. The tractor has certainly wrought great changes in our rural economy. Maize Growing in Waikato The growing of kuini kumi with the maize erbp lias been iound to be a\ery economical crop by many Waikato pig producers and in some cases outstanding yields of maize have been obtained. The climate of the district is by no means ideal for maize, writes Mr P. S. Syme, instructor in agriculture. Warkworth, in the Journal of Agriculture, and it is not surprising to find that the yields'obtained in the variety trials conducted at the I lUiakuru Farm Training College during the past four seasons have reacted strongly to the weather condi-

tions. A uniform system of management had been adopted throughout the period, and, while the differences in the soil fertility and in seeds used might have been lo some extent responsible, there could be little doubt that the higher yields obtained during 1937-38 had been mainly due to an exoeptionallly favourable season. Bull Subsidy Scheme Some years ’ago a hull subsidy scheme was inaugurated by the Victorian Department of Agriculture, and the amount of the subsidy paid by the Gqvernment on a bull is calculated on the dam’s butterfat record, provided she has passed her standard for age, and that the dam of the sire has also obtained her certificate. The amount of fourpence a pound of butter-fat is paid, and this scheme has no doubt been greatly responsible for the progress of testing, while, on the other hand, the number of purebred hulls purchased through the - scheme by dairymen with grade herds has resulted in an increase in the production of grade herd recording, and this factor must be credited partly to the purebred breeder. Young Farmers Abroad Mr E. J. Breakwell, organiser of Junior Farmers’ Clubs in New South Wales, has returned' from abroad impressed by the high quality of English stock, by the neatness of German farming methods, and by the development of club movements among young farmers. Mr Breakwell said he was surprised by the high prices which junior farmers in England secured for their stock. They sold at the ordinary stock sales and the auctioneers gave their services free. At two sales he attended Devon yearlings brought as much as £26 a head. ••Looking at the record of costs, however,” he said, “I noticed it cost about £ls a year to‘feed each beast. Australia and New Zealand certainly have a great advantage in open grazing, against the winter stall feeding in England. Neatness In Germany “One cannot but admire the thorough and neat farming methods in Germany,” Mr Breakwell continued. “We travelled hundreds of miles in Austria and Germany in June, and saw practically the same type of farm throughout—a strip of a few acres of wheat or rye (costly rye), then a strip of potatoes, then sugar beet, then the hay. There were no fences between the farms; not a weed could he seen; crops were as level as a billiard table, and all the family were participating in hay-making. The scythe was mainly used to cut the hay and the fork to rake it into cocks. Wooden supports of various shapes are used sometimes to dry it.”