On the Land
GENERAL. Vetch is a, very good dairy feed. It is. richer in protein and total digestible nutriments than lucerne. It is also a feed that is relished by cows, and a crop that does well under a great variety of conditions. Oats are ready for the silo when they are in the milk stage. Care must be taken to thoroughly tramp them, for the hollow stems carry considerable air, a' large amount of which is removed by tramping. In harvesting the bush or meadow hay crop the timo of cutting is important. Analysis has clearly demonstrated that the plant is richest in nourishment at the time of early flowering. At that stage of its development the growth ceases, the seed formation begins, and the herbage becomes more hard and fibrous. The profits from cow-keeping depend upon three main factorsviz., cost of production, the yield of milk, and the price at which the milk or the product into which it is converted is sold. The first of these three factors works against the other two, and over all three the cow-owner has a larger or smaller degree of control. The Queensland National Shoiv opened in brilliant ' weather. : Clydesdales.—Stallions, four years and over — Royal Scotch (bred in New Zealand) 1; three and under four years—Recruit (Mitchell and O'Brien, Oamaru) 1; two and under three—Sir Logie (bred in New Zealand) 1; mare, four and over Mitchell and O’Brien’s Flora was awarded second prize. The practice of cultivating lucerne after the first season for the purpose of eradicating grass and weeds is rapidly increasing in favor in the United States of America. In the opinion of a number of growers, the proper implement to use is some kind of spring or spiketooth harrow. The spring-tooth harrow does not seem to injure the young sprouts above the surface of the soil, and for the thorough eradication of weeds it is preferable to any other implement. At Addington last week there were only small entries of stock and a limited attendance of buyers. Store sheep showed little change, though ewes were rather easier. No fat lambs were penned, and only a few hoggets. The entry of fat sheep consisted of ten lines of wethers, which brought high prices. Fat cattle were rather easier, but without appreciable change, the quality of the yarding being only moderate. Pigs of all classes were in good demand, and porkers showed some advance in price. Fat sheep: Extra prime wethers made to 345; prime wethers, 25s to 31s 6d; others, 20s 3d to 245; hoggets, 19s 3d to 23s 6d. Fat cattle: Steers realised £8 to £ll 15s; extra, to £l6; heifers, £7 10s to £9 10s; cows, £5 7s 6d to £9 15s. Pigs: Choppers made £5 15s‘to £6 17s 6d; large baconers, 63s to 675; lighter, 55s to 60s—equal to 6d per lb. Heavy porkers made 45s to 525; lighter, 40s to 46s equivalent to per lb. Small sorts were in good demand, but the entry was small. Large stores realised 31s to 38s fid; smaller sorts, 18s to 28s; and weaners, 14s to 18s. / At Burnside last week there were only moderate entries in all departments. The fat cattle forward totalled 150, _ including several pens of good quality bullocks. ices were from 10s to 15s per head better than at the previous sale. Quotations: Best bullocks, £l2 10s to £l4; extra heavy, to £l7; medium to good, £lO 10s to £ll ss; light and inferior, £8 to £9 10s; best heifers, £lO 10s to £l2 17s 6d; medium to good, £8 10s to £9 10s. There was a yarding of 2500 fat sheep. A number of butchers had secured supplies outside, and prices were from Is 6d to 2s per head lower than at previous sale. The yarding included a good proportion of good quality wethers. Quotations; Best wethers, 25s to 28s; extra, to 31s ; medium, 21s to 235; others, 19s to 20s 6d. Best ewes, 21s 6d to 23s 6d ; extra, to 31s; others, 16s to 19s. Fat lambs: 200 yarded. Freezing buyers were operating, but graziers
secured a large proportion of the yarding and prices were-a shade firmer. Quotations: Best, 17s to 18s 6d; extra, to 19s 6d; medium, 15s to 16s. The entry of pigs consisted of 33 fats and 12 stores, which were disposed-of at late rates. JERSEY COWS. ' The performances of the winning cows v at, the Spring Show of the Royal Agricultural Society of Jersey, where the Jersey cows are the particular feature, set one thinking of the things that have been accomplished in turning the beasts of the field to the service of mankind. The gold medal was won by a heifer two years and four months old, which had been 124 days in milk at the date of the test. The total milk of the day was disappointing in quantity, being only 291 b, well under three gallons, but the butter yield from this milk reached the wonderful weight of 31b 6oz. This would make the analysis of the butter-fat work out at about 9.77 per cent. The silver medal cow gave 351 b 4oz ■ milk, yielding 21b 13oz butter, after 148 days’ milking. In this case again the proportion of butter-fat was very high, reaching 6.7 per cent. The bronze medal • cow gave 371 b 4oz milk, yielding 21b lloz butter, thus making the butter-fat work out at 6.06 per cent. MANURING SWEDES. ' Long experience and many trials (says the Weekly Freeman) have shown that phosphatic manures in al- - most any form are pre-eminently the manure to use for swede turnips. Wile, a French scientist, long ago demonstrated that phosphoric acid was the ‘ dominant ingredient’ of turnip and swede manures. This question of dominance has never been satisfactorily explained, for, in the case of swedes, nitrogen, potash, lime, and soda, are all required by the crop in larger quantities (and in the order named) than phosphoric acid, and yet it is phosphatic manures, that have the most effect on the crop, and any form of phosphate will have a beneficial effect on most soils. The opinion is gaining ground that the ordinary ‘ acid ’ superphosphate is responsible for part of the ravages of the finger-and-toe fungus, and that the basic super— which' the acid has been corrected by the addition of limeis a good substitute, A 1 complete ’ manure (containing all the elements of fertility), will, of course, give the best results, especially on a soil in a run-down condition, but where the land is in fair condition, or where a fair lot of dung is put on conjointly, then a dressing of from three to five cwt. of some phosphatic manure will give a full crop of good quality by itself, if say, one cwt. of nitrate is also applied. Even basic slag will give good results. It is covered in and mixed with the actual soil, and thus acts more quickly than it would do so as a top-dressing, though perhaps not so quickly as a ‘super’ would, and the same thing holds true of finely-ground mineral phosphate. WOOL PRODUCTION. According to an estimate, all the wool sold in Australia during the past season made the splendid average of 10.2 d per lb, as compared with 8.53 d for the preceding season. The actual oversea shipments of wool during the past twelve months amounted to 2,718,486 bales (or 551,977,7021 b) from the Commonwealth, and 528,779 bales or 169,843,8141 b) from the Dominion of New Zealand—a total of 2,247,265 bales (or 721,821,5161 b). The value of the wool has advanced from £ll 15s 5d per bale in 1911-12 to £l3 13s Id per bale in 1912-13. The total value, of the clip sold in Australasia during the past twelve months amounted to 24J millions sterling, as against 22| millions sterling for the previous season, notwithstanding that only 1,804,801 bales were sold, as against 1,926,926 bales in the previous year. ■
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New Zealand Tablet, 21 August 1913, Page 59
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1,323On the Land New Zealand Tablet, 21 August 1913, Page 59
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