10 July, 1917.] The Policy of " Tliat'll Do." 425 



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are not sold, aud the flock is reinfested. What is the lose? " Ci-ow- 

 foot," iu the I'mtoral Review (republished in the Journal of Agricultuie. 

 February, 1916), conducted some experiments, and found that dipped 

 sheep cut from '*^ to 1^ lbs. mere wool than uiidipj>ed ones, and increased 

 in body weight 3 to 5 lbs., showing a profit of 2s. 7Jd. per head over 

 the undipped, and this experiment was conducted on clean sheep. How 

 mucli greater would be the difference on sheep which have to spend part 

 of their lives rubbing aud biting themselves in an endeavour to allay the 

 irritation of ticks. 



Take another stage of farm work. Harvest is over, and the machine 

 is brought back from the fields. The farm hand asks where to put it. 

 "Under that tree, or against the fence; that'll do." Next> year new 

 canvas is required, or some part has rusted, warped, or split, and re- 

 quires renewal, and before many years a new maciiine is also wanted. I 

 think you will agree with me that the majority of fanners do not provide 

 sufficient accommodation for their machinery, and those who oil or paint 

 it before putting away for the season could Ise easily counted. Have you 

 ever stopped to think what it costs you for this neglect, or to make good 

 preventable waste in directions sucli as this? 



How does this policy appl)' to breeding operations? There are two 

 stallions travelling in your district — one witli a Government certificate 

 standing at £4 4s., and one without, standing at £2 2s. How often is 

 the verdict given for " the cheaper one; thai '11 do," without thought of 

 the value of the progeny, which may vary from £20 for the cheap one 

 to £50 or more for that of the dearer aud belter horse ? Or, amongst the 

 cows again, how many farmers are there who are quite satisfied so long 

 as they get calves? Any old squib of a bull will do for the purpose, 

 and Victoria's average yield per cow is in the region of 350 gallons of 

 milk, instead of 600 or more, and the progeny of valuable cows in j^our 

 herd deteriorate instead of improve. I am glad to say that this aspect 

 of breeding is now receiving more attention at the hands of dairj'men 

 than formerly, and a number are looking to the bull to improve their 

 yields, but there are still far too many content witli " That'll do." Some 

 years ago, in order to improve the lot of irrigation settlers and the breed 

 of their cows, the Depai-tment purchased a number of pedigree Jersey 

 bulls and placed them on the settlement. A fee of 5s. was charged for 

 service, and the holder of the bull was entitled to free service for 20 

 cows. The settlers were very thankful, but it was necessary to take the 

 cows, perhaps, some little distance, and it became much easier to open 

 the gate aud let in that stray bull, which was wandering the roads. 

 Slowly the Government bulls were removed. One I can quote was sold 

 to a farmer near Melbourne, who is very grateful to those settlers, for his 

 bull has paid for liimself over ajid over, as he stands at £1 per service 

 and cows from a distance are taken to him, besides which his owner has 

 a most promising herd of young stock coming on. At the present moment 

 the Department owns one of the finest bulls in Australia, who can show 

 in his pedigree all the finest strains of blood that ever came out' of the 

 Island of Jersey, either for show standard or butter production, and he 

 is practically begging for a home amongst the settlers, who must mainly 

 depend for a living upon butterfat. They have, however, come to the 

 conclusion that,, as the steers by a Jersey bull are not of much value and 

 meat is so dear just now, any old bull bought in the local yards 

 with a bit of frame is the one "that'll do." Follow this policy a little 

 further, and see that farmer replenishing his herd with cows bought in 



