On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 4 September 1913, Page 59

On the Land

GENERAL, A cow giving a moderate quantity of milk over a full lactation period is a more profitable animal than one giving an abnormal quantity for a few months. •Common lime has been found by a French chemist to be a good preservative for potatoes, carrots, onions, and other root crops, also for fruit. Sir Walter Gilbey, in a recent pamphlet, shows by statistics that an increase in the consumption of milk means a decrease in the spread of tuberculosis. It is important that the dairyman should know which of his cows are good producers and which are kept at a loss, so that the latter may be eliminated and the herd built up with profitable cows. As a preventive for ticks, the Breeders' Gazette "recommends a large spoonful of sulphur, added to a 'little more than a pint of salt, and thoroughly mixed. The sheep may not like it at first, but soon come to eat it, and begin to show signs of improvement. For pigs affected with lice, put a good quantity of sulphur in the slop trough, and. they will soon be free of the pest. In turning suddenly on to green pasture, difficulty is usually experienced with the cows scouring badly, and whenever this occurs the cows' systems become deranged, and the milk will have a disagreeable taste and odor as a result. This is easily overcome by giving a good feed of dry hay just before turning on to the paddock, and allowing the cow to be in, for two short visits only, during the first day, gradually increasing the length of time, until, after a few days, she may be allowed to remain on all day. But even after the cows have been accustomed to the pasture they must be given enough dry feed to properly, regulate the bowels. As the grass and herbage contain more solid matter, the amount of dry hay fed may be gradually reduced. Last week (says a writer in the Pastoral Review) I had a communication from a Lincolnshire woolstapler to the effect that he had shifted 10,500 fleeces of Lincoln wool, a large portion of which was forty years old. It appears that a number of years ago a well-known Lincolnshire agriculturist, who has recently died, was smitten with a foolish fad. He had made up his mind to sell at three guineas per tod of 28-|lb, and having only had £3 bid, he piled up his clip year after year until it totalled about 10,500 fleeces. I suppose that would be in 1872, when Lincoln wool fetched a tremendous price. The old man having died, his executors naturally wanted to realise his estate, and so sold the wool. At Addington last week there were fairly large entries of stock, though the break in the weather prevented a number of consignments from coming forward. There was a fair attendance of buyers. Fat cattle sold more freely, though there was no change in prices. Store sheep were very firm, and store cattle sold well, as did also fat sheep. There was no change in the prices of pigs. Fat sheep: Prime wethers made to 33s 6d; prime, 23s 6d to 31s; lighter, 19s 9d to 235; prime ewes, 20s 6d to 24s 9d; others, 15s lid to 20s; hoggets, 16s 6d to I9s 6d; merino wethers, 19s 4d to 22s Bd. Fat cattle: Steers made from £6 15s to £ll 10s; extra good, to £2l; heifers, £5 17s 6d to £9 ss; extra, to £l4 10s; cows, £5 17s '6d to £ll. Pigs: Choppers made £2 . 15s to £6 13s 6d; heavy baconers, £3 2s 6d to £3 12s 65; lighter, £2 12s 6d to £3; extra heavy animals, to £4. These prices are equivalent to 6d per. lb. Heavy porkers made 46s to 50s; lighter, 40s to 455, equal to 6Jd to 6Jd per lb. There were only moderate yardings of sheep and pigs at Burnside last week, and all forward met with a ready sale. There was a full entry of fat cattle, and as a result prices were from 15s to 20s lower than those ruling at previous sale. The yarding of ,fat cattle totalled 213, consisting mainly Of good quality bullocks, and a small proportion of medium steers, cows, and heifers. Best bullocks, £l2 15s to. £l4; extra

heavy, to £l7 10s; medium do, £lO 10s to £l2; light, £9 to £10; best cows and heifers, £lO 10s to £11; extra, to £l2 10s; medium, £8 10s to £9 10s; light' £5 10s to £6. 10s. There was an entry of 1700 fat sheep for which competition was , brisk. The bulk of the entry was made up of good to medium wethers and a few pens of ewes. Some extra good wethers were yarded, and these realised handsome prices. > Extra heavy-weight wethers, 32s to 36s 3d;k prime, 27s to 30s; medium, 24s to 255; light, 19s 6d to 21s; ewes (good), to 22s 6d. There was a moderate yarding of 42 fat pigs and 19 stores. Baconers and porkers met a ready sale at prices equal to late rates. Store pigs were, if anything, rather, weaker compeared to last Sale. ;:;;;■: . . ',:'.} . , './ ; LUCERNE SEED-GROWING IN NEW ZEALAND. The bulk of the lucerne seed used in New Zealand is imported (writes Mr. A. H. Cockayne, in the Journal of Ayriculture). It has been amply demonstrated that the best results have invariably been secured when locally grown and acclimatised seed has been used, though excellent results have been attained from seed acclimatised in Australia. A great deal of the seed sold in New Zealand is of Asiatic . origin, and the experience with this has not been at all satisfactory. Seed from that quarter is not held in high repute in other countries into which it has been imported, pointing to the fact that it is necessary to produce lucerne seed in the country where it is to be used. So far in the Dominion the only local seed used to any extent is that harvested in : the Marlborough district. Evidence has just reached me that the production of lucerne seed is now claiming attention in other districts of'the Dominion. Messrs. Williams Bros, have demonstrated in the Poverty Bay district -that lucerne seed can not only be produced successfully in that province, but at such a rate that it may prove a highly profitable undertaking. Off 6J acres of ground they have secured over 2 tons of cleaned seed, or, roughly, 6901 b per acre. At the market price of lucerne seed—£9o per tonthis works out at a gross return of £27 per acre. The original seed came from the Argentine, and an examination of the plant shows the form to approximate closely to that known as Hunter River, the foliage being exceptionally broad-leaved. The lucerne was cut in October and then shut up for seed, being harvested during the middle of March. From this it will be seen that the production .. of seed was not the only source of revenue from the crop. This return of £27 per acre is, of course, an exceptionally high one, but it indicates clearly the great possibilities in front of lucerne seed-growing in those districts where the climate is a suitable one. A very important factor in successful lucerne-grow-ing is to use seed which is free from dodder, and this can be by no meaas guaranteed when foreign seed is used. So far the lucerne fields in New Zealand are free from this dangerous parasite, but it is feared that with the use of low-grade Asiatic seed (often, unfortunately, sold as European) the danger of the establishment of this pest is very great. All lucerne seedgrowers should examine their fields carefully from time to time for the presence of dodder. The best means of keeping out the pest, however, is the production of our own seed, and for this reason alone the experiment quoted above is to be heartily welcomed. An important fact in lucerne seed-growing in this country is that there is no danger of overproduction, while under proper management the quality of the local seed can be of such a high grade that it would always command a remunerative price on the great lucerne markets of the world.