lo Oct., 19 io.] Dairying in tJw Shire of Glenelg. 62'j 



done in the way of growing greenstuff in tiie form of rye, Cape barley 

 and early oats in company with legumes such as peas, beans, lupins, 

 vetches, &c., to be fed in conjunction with chaff', mangolds, carrots, and 

 chou moellier. All of the latter good dairy fodders have been success- 

 fully grown on a small scale by comparatively few farmers. 



The growing of summer fodder;^ has also been successful, as far 

 as it has been undertaken, lucerne, maize, and millet especially so. From 

 lucerne plots as much as six cuttings were obtained last season. The 

 great advantage of increasing the area under this form of fodder was 

 pointed out to several of the farmers, whilst going through their dupli- 

 cate slips from the butter factory. The amounts received by them com- 

 mence to decrease early in December and by the end of January had 

 dropped to practically one-third of the November returns. The figures 

 were so striking that these farmers have now decided on laying down 

 lucerne plots and also on growing maize during the coming season. 



The type of cow kept is very inferior indeed, having chiefly originated 

 from the beef breeds pre\alent in the district. There are, however, some 

 ten or twelve very good herds in the Shire and the Jersey breed of bull 

 is used on most farms, so that there should be a noticeable improvement 

 in the progeny. It is a fact worthy of mention that, on the farms where 

 the better type of cow is met with, the owners have for a number of 

 years practised some form of culling. In some cases, they have kept 

 the cream from individual cows separate from the bulk and churned it ; 

 in others, the test flask, similar to those used on the Babcock tester, has 

 been used, merely allowing the milk to stand in the flask and the cream 

 to rise and so getting a rough idea of the cream productiveness of the 

 cow. Others again, have had tests made at the local butter factory. All 

 of these farmers would welcome demonstrations and instructions in the 

 use of the Bal)cock tester, and I hope during the coming season to be able 

 to give such instruction. 



On some farms excellent shelter has been provided by planting breaks 

 of ornamental trees along the different dividing fences. The chief varie- 

 ties grown so far are sugar gums, tree lucerne, and pines. The sugar 

 gum is the most popular on account of its quick grow th ; when grown from 

 .seed it produces a reasonably good winter break in two years. The en- 

 thusiasts in this direction, however, are few in number, but I hope, by 

 constant reference to the subject, and by pointing out the advantages 

 gained by those who have sown down shelter belts, to gradually bring 

 home to all the advisability of acting likewise. 



The health of the dairy herds is remarkably good, udder affections 

 being practically absent. Some cows were found to be tuberculous. These 

 being comparatively few in number and always likely to infect other 

 members of the herd, also calves and pigs which partake of skim milk 

 from them, apart from the danger tO' the owner's family, farmers generally 

 were grateful for the opinion of the veterinary officer as to the .soundness 

 or otherwise of doubtful cows, and they were more than compensated for 

 anv loss they mav have sustained in this way by having any diseased cows 

 out of the herd. 



There is another disease, about which most farmers know very little, 

 viz. : — Contagious abortion. This, apparentlv, existed on six dairy farms, 

 and to show the loss sustained through its prevalence a few figures may 

 be given with advantage. The total number of cows milked on these par- 

 ticular farms was 268, or about 45 cows on each. The cows produced 

 £7 To^- per head per vear for cream, but as 34 of them were out of pro- 

 duction through slipping their calves, the owners sustained an annual loss 



