452 Agncultiiral Gazette of N.S,W. [June 2, 1920. 



never grow properly. With wheat he preferred »ot to sow until the ground Avas moist 

 enough to germinate it at once, his experience being that if it was sown in a dry fine 

 seed-bed and heavy rain came, a great deal of the young growth failed to come through, 

 and the stand was a thin one. He found that crops sown on land in a fairly rough 

 condition on the surface did much better at the start than those on a very fine surface, 

 the air being able to circulate around and among the roots, and evaporation being 

 prevented. In the spring, when the land could be worked, there was a surface that the 

 roller and harrows could act on, killing all small weed seeds, and leaving a mulch of 

 loose soil among the growing |crops. 



St. John's Park. 



At the meeting held on 16th April, Mr. M. J. Seccombe lectured on 

 tillage, and demonstrated the presence of soil bacteria good and bad. Mr. 

 Seccombe's lectures are becoming very popular with local residents. 



Stratford. 



A meeting of thirteen rnembers of this branch was held on 10th April, 

 Avhen, after the general business had been disposed of, a discussion took 

 place on the dairy cow and successful dairying. 



The secretary ,*Mr. Dbards, in opening the subject, said three things were necessary, 

 (1) a good type of cow (pure-bred or neai'ly so, and a Jersey for preference) ; (2) a good 

 property on which ample supplies of winter fodder could be grown ; and (3) the use of 

 the Babcock tester and the scales, so that each animal's production should be known. 

 The farmer who tried to dairy without a tester was labouring in the dark, and where 

 small holdings existed only the best cows should be kept. Testing once a year was not 

 suflBcient, but by testing and weighing for six months reliable data could be obtained. 



Mr. H. T. Pekrin also advocated individual testing. They would not then be buying 

 each other's culls. 



Departmental Note. — The Dairy Expert remarks that much depends on the 

 inherited productiveness of the cow herself and the feeding. Being pure-bred does not 

 necessarily mean being of production strain. Many grade cows yield more at the bucket 

 than their better-bred mates. The point is that the purer the breeding, the more 

 prepotent the animal is. It is therefore essential to have inherited production in 

 addition to long pedigree and type. 



In grade herds the use of a pure-bred bull of this class would improve tiie average 

 yield, and by continuing to breed on such lines, a high-producing herd could be built up. 

 It is most advisable to settle on the breed that it is intended to develop, and adhere to 

 it — not constantly to change the breed of bull used in the herd, as is sometimes done by 

 daii'y-farmers. 



In the bulletins annually published by the Department, the production records of 

 hundreds of pure-bred stock of each dairy breed are made available. These can be had 

 by dairy-farmers or branches of the Agricultural Bureau on application, and act as a 

 guide to intending purchasers of herd-book sires bred on production lines. 



The general use of the grade bull cannot be too strongly condemned. 



The exhibit staged by the branch at the Gloucester show was a great 

 success, and aroused much interest. The exhibit contained twenty-six 

 varieties of artificial grasses, six of fodder, twelve of maize, and .sample 

 bales of lucerne hay and Sudan grass hay. In addition, many varieties of 

 carrots, tomatoes, beet, parsnips, cucumbers, grammas, potatoes, sweet 

 potatoes, &c., were shown. Apples, pears, persimmons, walnuts, medlars,, 

 quinces, oranges, &c., were also displayed. 



As a result of the above display, the local Press have suggested the 

 formation of other branches in the district. 



At a meeting on lat May, the high cost of living and the means by which 

 it could be met wore discussed. It was urged that more vegetables should be 

 grown, some members contending that in this respect farmers were very 

 negligent. Mr. Germon, a baker, quoted the case of a custoxner who. 



