10 Feb., 1919.] Feeding— The Basis of Prop. 95 



Tlie consistently good feeder will, however, give a satisfactory return 

 always, and a striking example of this is to be found at the farm of 

 Mr. Stephen Rowe, of Mt. Eccles. Mr. Rowe was at one time a well- 

 known wood chopper ; but he is now more generally known as an up-to- 

 date dairy farmer. Mr. Rowe hand-feeds almost all the year, as cir- 

 cumstances require, and his monetary returns for the last few years 

 speak volumes for the quality of cattle kept on this farm, the system of 

 feeding, and his farming methods generally. 



His good management will be better appreciated when it is mentioned 

 that his farm is situated high up on some of the roughest of South Gipps- 

 land hill country. The home block on which Mr. Rowe is dairying consists 

 of 106 acres; but another 14-acre paddock is rented for cultivation, to 

 supplement the comparatively small ploughed area on his own property. 

 The young stock and dry cows are usually run on another more distant 

 block during the best months of the year; but, at the time of my visit, 

 these were being hand fed with the milking herd. The home block is 

 cleared, and has been sown with the usual grass mixture of cocksfoot, 

 rye, and clover. It is also securely netted against rabbits, which 

 swarm on many farms in this part of Gippsland, and are a serious 

 hindrance to the dairying industry. Many cases are known where, this 

 year (1918) over 1,000 rabbits have been trapped or poisoned on 

 holding of 100 acres or thereabouts. If the average estimate of 40 

 rabbits eating as much grass as one cow is correct, these places are 

 greatly overstocked with rabbits alone, without considering the destruc- 

 tive and soiling influence they have on the pasture grasses. 



Mr. Rowe is a strong advocate of the Jersey breed of cattle for 

 dairying, and the stock on his farm are of strong robust type. When 

 his farm was inspected early in August last, the herd was coming into 

 profit, and all the cows being in splendid fresh condition, they were 

 milking well. They are fed night and morning at the stalls with as 

 much as they will eat of steamed oaten and wheaten chaff. Mr. Rowe 

 sows 2 bushels of Algerian oats and one of Warden wheat to the acre, 

 and finds that the wheat does remarkably well in j)laces which are 

 rather too damp for oats. 



A Watt engine supplies the motor power for the chaff-cutting and 

 milk-separating work. The method of heating the feed for the cows 

 is simple, but effective. The chaff is raked direct from the cutter into 

 a shallow concrete pit, and into this a large copper of boiling water is 

 thoroughly mixed. The pit is then covered with bags, and the feed left 

 standing some hours so that it may be effectively steamed, and the 

 grain softened. Such warm, steamed feed of good mixed chaff is itself 

 a fairly good ration, but a few lbs. of bran per cow each day would 

 make it an ideal one to use with green grazing. For summer feeding, 

 Japanese Millet is the crop principally grown. 



Mr. Rowe intends working into pedigreed dairy stock, and has 

 already purchased the nucleus of what should ultimately be a really 

 good milking herd. At the head of this is Mystery 8th of Melrose, 

 a bull bred by the well-known breeder and dairyman, Mr. Wm. Wood- 

 mason, of Malvern. The three pedigreed cows are all entered for the 

 Government herd test this year, and much is expected of them. Tiddle- 

 winks II. of Holmswood, a Jersey with an unbeaten show-ring record 



