10 
Three Small Dairy Farms. 
A—tThis farm consists of 46 acres, near Yar- 
“ragon, Gippsland. The whole of the land is 
now cleared. The last nine acres are just being 
brought under the plough for summer fodder 
crops for the dairy herd. These crops are to 
consist of maize (flat red), mangels, and sugar 
beet. The land was purchased about eight years 
ago, being thenin its natural state; the price 
paid was something like £10 per acre. 
To the inexperienced it would appear that the 
amount of labour entailed in reducing it from a 
wilderness to its present state of high produc- 
tivity was sufficient to purchase the land with- 
out any capital whatever. This is not the case, 
however, and the owner is thoroughly satisfied 
with the result of his labour. Few men of his 
years can lay claim to having performed the 
pioneering work he has done, and be able to take 
things comparatively easy on the fruits of hig 
own efforts. Webelieve this result is due, in 
the first place, to the indomitable pluck and 
energy vt the man, assisted by the fact that only 
# small area of land was worked upon. Many 
men with five times the area of similar land 
failed during their own lifetime, and even their 
families after them have not arrived at the 
stage of advancement as is seen in the case in 
the farm under review.. Much’ better would it 
have been had the original selectors been allowed 
in densely-timbered country like this to take up 
smaller holdings, say, 50 acres for each adult 
male in the family. “The same efforts concen- 
trated-om a smaller area would produce quicker 
returns, und owing to the prolific nature of the 
soil.the pioduce taken..off the cleared portion 
would nut supply the necessaries of life, but 
also-help to pay tor the portion of the clearing 
of the remainder, and thus relieve the selector 
of the necessity of the heavy toil of subduing 
and reclaimig the whole of the land himself. 
He could employ his time more profitably in 
the cultivation of the land already cleared, and 
in tending his stock, This feature stands out 
prominently in the case of the farm under 
review. 
The farm is divided into thirteen paddocks, 
yarying in size from two to eight ‘acres, and 
when asked the reason for such close subdiyi- 
sion, we were informed that as a certain area, 
no matter how small, was cleared and might be 
producing revenue, whilst the remainder was 
being prepared: In this way prompt rettirns 
were. secured, and in the owner’s own words ~ 
“the wolf was keptfrom the door.’ Due care 
was taken in the clearing of small areas that no 
unnecessary fencing was erected, and thuse 
erected could be allowed to stand permanently. 
In addition to clearing, the land is all under- 
ground drained. Trenchés about 2ft. Gin. deep 
are made every 2 chains, running north and. 
south the full length of the farm. These are 
filled with split rails'and covered with tussocks, 
and the soilspread overthe top, Little evidence 
of this work can be seen on the surface, as the 
grass is growing as thickly as on any other part 
of the paddock. ‘Ihe result of this work, however 
is apparentin the healthy hue andthe magnifi- 
cent growth of the yrass. It is intended to 
intersect these drains with others running east 
and west, so as-to more thoroughly drain the 
land. 
The principal pastures grown are alsyke, cow 
grass, and rye grass, a luxuriant growth of which 
is seen in all of the paddocks. Up to the 
present the whole of this farm has been devoted 
to dairying, with the exception of about2 acres 
that were sown in potatoes and onions last year 
anda similiar area will be devoted to the same 
purpose this year. Maizeand root crops (man- 
gels and sugar beet) are the fodder crops grown, 
the former is fed in the summer and autumn 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
DecemsBer 15, 1905 Me: 
green, and the surplus conserved in the form of 
ensilage. The method of making silage is 
cheap, and evidently gives good results, the 
maize being cut and carted into a stack, packed 
between upright posts and well weighted, little 
or no waste takes place, and the stock relish the 
food and yield well on it. 
There are fourteen cows in milk now, and 
seven more to calve. The yield of milk at 
present is the lowest for some considerable 
time, chiefly on account of the continuous cold 
weather, and the fact that the severe winter 
kept the grass late in coming, and the supply of 
home-grown fodder in consequence ran short. 
The actual averege yield of each cow taken 
from the number of cows in milk each month is 
726 gallons, the value of which was £12 1s. 10d. 
percow per year. The average number of cows 
in actual milk was fourteen, Among the herd 
were five heifers with their first calf, and three 
of the cows aborted, but were kept in milk. 
Some of the best of the cows are now very old, 
but still continue to yield profitably; the whole 
are of mixed breeding. A Shorthorn bull from 
a good dairy cow is used for breeding purposes, 
In addition to the twenty-one cows milking and 
to calve, there are ten head of other stock, in- 
cluding three horses and one bull. 
Last year fifteen poddies were sold, realizing 
£1 8s. each, and two fat cows were disposed of 
at £5 each. A two-year-old draft filly, the 
progeny of one of the farm mares, is now valued 
at £30, 
£30 is the actual amount estimated as profit 
from pigs. 
The product from half-acre under onions 
was £30, and three-quarter acre potatoes £12. 
Yorkshire hero peas (5 bags) were grown and 
‘sold, realizing £8 15s net. 
Onions and potatoes were used for household 
purposes, and two tons of potatoes are kept for 
seed, the value of whichis not taken into account. 
The total result from sales as enumerated 
above is £111 15s. added to milk cheques £281 
0s 9d. from a 46 acre farmin one year. The 
enhanced value of the two-year-old draft filly 
could forthe year safely be calculated at £10. 
The two tons of seed potatoes would give another 
£14, bringing the total up to £305 0s 7d. or the 
respectable average of £6 12s. 7d. per acre per 
annum, 
The owner contemplates erecting an up-to- 
date milking shed as his next move, and after 
that a modern silo, and he himself says he in- 
. tends making the farm do a little more in 
future,and enable him to do less himself. 
It may be mentioned that the cows are given 
about three or four weeks’ rest before calving, are 
rugged in winter, and fed on ensilage, chaff, aud 
bran; when the former runs ‘out, mangels and 
sugar beet are used. ? 
B.—This is another farm in the same district, 
on the fringe of the Moe swamp. The land was 
purchased about five yrs ago, ‘Lhe original hold- 
ing was 68 acres. 'I'his was cleared of timber and 
scrub and put under pastureand crop, Sixty-two 
acres have lately been added to the holding, only 
a small portion of which is yet available for de- 
pisturing and cropping. The total area consists 
of 120 acres, of which about 80 have been cleared 
and improved. The amount of stock carried at 
present is over 70 head. 
The number of dairy cows is 30, but never more 
than 27 are in milk at any one time. The cows 
are of mixed breeds, showing a lot of Jersey and 
Ayrshire blood, the latter predominating, and are 
-of small size, being what you would call “good 
little cows.” The total value of milk sold and 
produced during the year 1905 is £312 15s. to 
which must be added £90, value of pigs and 
calves, or a total from this farm of £402 15s. 
The pastures consist of alsyke, white clover, 
cow. grass, and rye grass. 
fodder, and conserved in the form of stack ensilage 
At one time last season, the directors of the 
Trafalgar Butter Factory, wishing to verify the 
Maize is grown for 
results obtained from the herd, and knowing how 
many cows were milked, the manager was in- 
structed to attend, unknown tothe. owner, weigh 
the milk from. each cow, and take a sample for 
testing, The result was a total of 912 Ibs., or 91 
gallons for the day from 20 cows, averaging 4} 
gallons per cow. The remaining 10 cows were 
strippers, and gave 20} gallons, The whole 30 
averaged over 3 gallons per cow. The average 
test_was 3,7 per cent of butter fat. 
C.—While at Nagambie in connection with 
the farmers’ classes being held there, we were 
told ofa herd of pnre shorthorns which gave 
very good results. On inspection, we found that 
they were the remains of a herd which had been 
kept pure for between 20 and 30 years. Pure 
shorthorn bulls have always been used. The 
herd in milk last year consisted of 11 cows, 
mostly heifers with their first calf, but these did 
not calve until they were 24 to 3 years. They 
were consequently well grown, and bear out the 
contention that heifers should be this age be- 
fore coming in, when they will give returns 
almost equal to mature cows. In the long run, 
they will be far more profitable than if brought 
in earlier, when their growth is checked, and, if 
persisted in, will gradually reduce the average 
size, and, consequently, the produbtion per head 
of the herd. Although these cows are pure short 
horn, many are typical dairy cows to all appear- 
ance. When there are steers for sale, they real- 
ize, when about 13-2 years old, £1 to 30s. per. 
head at auction more than those from other herds 
and this, taken in connection with the returns 
for butter, goes to show that the dual purpose 
cow is not altogether the myth many people sup- 
pose. 
Eleven cows were milked last year, and gavoa 
total return of £123 1s 8d for butter ex cream 
supplied to Messrs. Boddy,and Partridge’s Sey- 
mour factory, or average ‘per cow of £11 3s 9d. 
In addition, butter and milk for the family were 
kept out, and the skim milk used for calyes and 
pigs. We saw the morning’s milk from typical 
dairy cow weighed. Jt turned the scale at 33 
Ibs at4.3 per cent. equals over 14 lbs of butter 
and this for the morning’s milk must be consider- 
ed good, as we saw that the cows were milked 
late the previous evening, and our visit was 
quite a surprise. The cows are mostly fed on a 
40 acre paddock of lucerne, These cows had 
never been tested before, and so no system had 
been followed in culling, and not much interest 
taken in dairying now, although it had been ex- 
tensively conducted and had been a scource of 
great profit. 
W. H. COATS & SON, 
Fruitgrowers 
And Wholesale Exporters 
East End Market .... Adelaide. 
EXPORTERS and Importers fof Fresh Fruit 
Agents for Renmark Fruits 
nd Driediirnita: 
Also for Terry’s Jams and Preserves. 
Fresh. Fruit and Vegetables 
packed and forwarded to all 
parts of the State at lowest 
rates from our own gardens a 
Tronbank. 
