II July, 1910.] Subsoiling. 4^7 



likelihood of this the owner was advised to kill the cow accordingly. Of 

 the 17 permanently prohibited, only one was tubercular, 16 being acti- 

 nomycotic. 



The Winchelsea dairy farmers have been satisfied in the past to depend 

 on the natural pasture alone, and when this fails, to allow the yield to 

 cease; in many instances drying the cows off, that they may the better 

 retain their condition during the scarce season. This is as an alternative 

 to growing and conserving fodder enough to meet their needs during the 

 time when the natural pasture is an almost negligible quantity. Many of 

 the dairy farfners recognise that the latter is a more economical policy, but 

 they also recognise that it needs m.ore application and they excuse themselves 

 by claiming that they are not dairy farmers in the proper sense and cannot 

 see that it is worth the trouble. A large proportion, however, are on 

 the land for all that it will return them, even if extra work is required, 

 and they welcome any suggestion of a practical nature which is likely to 

 increase the monetary' return from their cows. I am satisfied that, in most 

 cases, a substantial increase could be brought about, without undue expense, 

 and with the co-operation of a few of the whole-hearted dairymen referred 

 to, I hope for sufficient to be achieved to demonstrate to the many that 

 the complaint. " there is nothing in dairying " is not justified, but is due 

 in a great measure to the half-hearted methods of dairymen themselves. 

 I look forward to an increased interest in dairying, due to the greater 

 comfort and convenience of the improved milking-.sheds and dairies which 

 the Act requires. 



The discomforts of the old system made the work a drudgery, and 

 many of those engaged in the business longed for the day when the dairy 

 herd' could be dispensed with, and hay-growing or sheep-farming indulgea 

 in instead. Any suggestion towards increasing the profits from the cows 

 was unwelcome, becau.se its adoption would render more unlikely the 

 possibility of a change to the less laborious callings mentioned. Increasea 

 profits w'ere right enough, but unless the work could be robbed of some 

 of its unpleasantness they did not appeal much to the dairyman's family. 

 With the improved conveniences the drudgery has at least been reduced, 

 and I have little doubt that the increased returns will follow when the 

 farmer — beginning to suspect that milking cows are not being given a 

 chance on grass alone — engages more in cultivating for fodder crops, 

 adopts a better system of fodder conservation, and, through the agency 

 of the Babcock tester, keeps only those cows in his herd which yield suffi- 

 cient butter- fat to prove that they have the capacity to turn to the best 

 account this home-grown fodder when fed to them. 



SUBSOILING. 



.4. 5. Kenvon. C.E., Engineer for Agriculture. 



There is a growing belief that subsoiling our northern plains for wheat 

 growing will be of great benefit, not only by giving a much greater water- 

 holding capacitv to the soil but also by unlocking large quantities of plant 

 food which analysis shows occur in the subsoil, practically as abundantly 

 as in the surface. In addition to the naturally stiff and pugged con- 

 dition of most of our clays, there is. in practically all old cultivation 



