310 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 May, 1916. 



With regard to heifers, it, has been found to cost at least £6 per 

 head to rear to two years old, when they will usually drop their first 

 calf, but very rarely could anything like that amount be obtained for 

 them, so that instead of showing a profit they were sold at an absolute 

 loss, consequently there was no inducement to rear, l^ow these heifers 

 will bring £12 to £15 per head, and so will pay well to rear. I notice 

 in the Age, of 1st March, a statement by the Hon. the Minister of Water 

 Supply, to the effect that a farmer at Cohuna realized an average return 

 per cow of £19 per head, so the foregoing is not an exaggeration. 

 Cheese makers in the Western District have for years past made some- 

 where about that figure. 



In conjunction with the dairy, for satisfactory results, the pig is 

 almost indispensable, and while 30 lbs. of skim milk will produce 1 lb. 

 of pork, when combined with grain feed or mill offal the return is 

 enormously increased. The addition of lucerne chaff, or better still 

 lucerne meal as produced by the Kelly Duplex, or similar mill, is also 

 very beneficial from an economic point of view. When lucerne is ground 

 into meal it is practically equal to pollard or other meal pound for 

 pound. It is fovmd that 40 lbs. of green or 15 lbs. of dry lucerne 

 will produce 1 lb. of pork. So that one acre of green lucerne, equal 

 to 15 tons, should produce 840 lbs. of pork. This at 6d. per lb. is equal 

 to £21. When the pig industry has developed, however, we shall have 

 to depend upon export values, which are ruled by the London market, 

 so that we should reckon on about 4d. per lb., which would work out 

 at about £14 per acre. Of course, it must not be assumed that this 

 return will be obtained by feeding lucerne alone, but in conjunction with 

 other food, such as skim milk and grain. It has been found that lucerne, 

 like clover, has an increased value through being rich comparatively in 

 mineral matter, such as phosphate of lime, especially in the case of 

 young animals, as growing pigs. A plentiful supply of phosphat3 of lime 

 whether in the food naturally or added in the form of bone meal, reduces 

 the cost of production very considerably, by enabling the animals to 

 digest and assimilate a bigger percentage of the food they consume. 



It must not be expected that these good results are likely to be 

 obtained by novices, but they can be and are being obtained by those 

 who understand the management of stock. The high prices now ruling 

 should increase the interest in herd testing, for a dairyman would be 

 safer in paying a good price for a cow that, by the test, has proved a 

 good producer. Yery frequently the finest looking cow is absolutely 

 unprofitable Avhen her capacity for production is ascertained. 



It must ever be borne in mind that a cow must have all she can eat 

 if she is to produce her maximum, and that then it takes about 60 per 

 cent, of the food she eats to keep the body going, and it is only what 

 she eats in excess of her bodily requirements that she can convert into 

 milk. A very large number of cows in this country are unprofiable 

 only because they do not receive sufficient feed. 



The most primitive form of farming is to grow crops for sale to 

 other people, who buy them to feed to stock for the purpose of making 

 profit, which the grower might as easily obtain. Besides by feeding for 

 the production of milk or meat, the crop is concentrated to from ^ to -^o 

 the weight, thereby saving considerably in freight. Another point that 

 is all important, but lost sight of, is that when selling the crop for 



