144 Journal of Agriculture. [lo March, 1910. 



BACCHUS MARSH FARM COxMPETITION, 1909. 



A. V. BecJier, Dairy Supervisor. 



A. Stock. — The cattle on the farms visited were considerably above 

 the average. Especially was this so in the case of four herds of milking 

 shorthorns, which included some Royal Show winners. The country 

 around the Marsh seems particularly adapted for growing typical speci- 

 mens of this very fine dairy breed ; Mr. James Lidgett at Mymiong 

 possesses some of the best cows in the State; whilst his brother, Mr. 

 Henry Lidgett, has the present champion milking shorthorn bull. 



The only farm where I saw evidence of the scales and Babcock tester 

 being used was at Mr. Meyers', and he duly gained p>oints for it. It 

 seems very difficult to get farmers to realize the importance of regularly 

 weighing and testing each cow's yield, when it has been asserted on good 

 authority that at least a third of the cows milked in this State do not 

 pay for their feed let alone show any profit ; and it is only by this 

 means of keeping records that the individual yield has any prospect of 

 being improved. 



In horses, Mr. Robertson gained most points, having two very good 

 stallions, which I was pleased to see did their share of the ordinary farm 

 work. It is a pity that stallions are not more often given regular farm 

 work, instead of, as in most cases, being pampered up and overfed on 

 boiled barley and not given nearly enough exercise to keep them in good 

 health and effective as sires. Some nice draught mares were also to be 

 seen at Mr. Meyers', a two-year-old filly in particular being exceptionally 

 well grown. 



Sheep were in evidence on all the Myrniong farms, and seemed to do 

 particularly well, Shropshires being most in evidence. Mr. James Lidgett 

 had 30 acres of very fine rape on which some well-grown wethers were 

 grazing. His ewes and lambs also looked well. Mr. Meyers' pure 

 Shropshires were a select little lot, the lambs being well grown and showing 

 plentv of quality. Four competitors did not carry sheep on their 

 farms. 



On most of the farms, pigs were conspicuous by their absence; I only 

 saw two brood sows on the nine farms visited. It seems hard to under- 

 stand why this very profitable branch of farming is not given more atten- 

 tion ; and I should like to see more points allotted for this class of stock 

 in future. I know many of the farmers get no skim milk from the 

 factorv, but with the fine lucerne country most of them have. I see no 

 reason why they should not all keep a brood sow or two. ISIy own ex- 

 perience has been that a good sow always paid me better than mv best 

 cow. 



The poultry were mostlv of a nondescript class, with the exception 

 of Mr. Dickson's; but most competitors lost points in this section on 

 account of the poor accommodation provided for the birds and the in- 

 sanitarv state of the houses ; on one farm thev evidentlv roosted on the 

 implements. 



B. Best System of Cropping. — The crops seen on the majority of the 

 firms were not as good as one might expect considering the pood season. 

 This I consider was mainly due to defective cultivation methods and dirty 

 seed. Several crops suffered from want of harrowing, the roller having 

 been used last, thereby causing the soil to cake, strangle the crop, and 

 allow the moisture to evaporate. In a wet season like the one iust passed 

 thro'Jgh. the harrows require to be used frequentlv to keep the surface 



