“say, five handy paddocks. He puts his cows into No.1 fora fortnight, a! 
\ 
74 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Fep., 1900. 
Take any number of our dairy farms—what is their grass worth in results! 
Just about nothing. And if it is worth anything, in nine cases out of ten it ® 
only for a very short time, as it simply gets no chance to grow. ‘The everlastill 
chewing down that the grass gets in many places knocks all the heart out 0 
It cannot bear up against the constant attack, and Nature gets disgusted becat® 
proper growth and development are never allowed. But this is not the fault 
the country or of the grass. It is the fault of the owner. Things really, ? 
most cases, should never have come to this, and, if the cause of it all is wantel 
I should say at once that it is want of management, or, as I have alread! 
remarked, the utter absence of system. And the remedy, where things hat 
got so far, and the preventive where they have not yet gone down hill, is to be 
found in systematic working and feeding of dairy farms and grazing paddock* 
Tt is possible to increase the carrying capacity of your farm and paddocks! 
an extent that is really surprising. Many people would hardly credit wht 
can be done under careful, intelligent management. In subdivision and feedit 
paddocks off in rotation lies the secret of the business. Split up your farm 
grazing country into as many paddocks as you possibly can, taking water ml? 
consideration, of course, and in the case of, say, a dairy herd, put your milket 
into one for a week or a fortnight, and shut all the others up, and watch t 
results. Before long you will find yourself getting very pleased over it; a! 
why? Because your cows will rapidly improve in condition, and in yield & 
milk and butter, and they will improve because your grass is improving, as 
must do. Just reckon it up now for amoment. A man subdivides until he ey 
SS See 
the other four have a fortnight’s spell. He goes on with No. 2, and thre 
of the others get a month’s spell, while No. 1 gets a fortnight. Now 
follow this round, and for one fortnight’s feeding each paddock gets eighl) 
weeks’ spell. What will be the result of this? Well, all your grass is 1@ 
off evenly, and when the paddock is shut up, it all grows evenly, 1 all has # 
equal chance—no cows coming along every hour of the day to tear off a bum 
of good grass as soon as it puts its head above ground, and leave the wor 
ones to grow ahead of it; but an even growth, and for eight weeks without! 
being disturbed! And how it will grow in that time if the land is good, a! 
the rain comes at the right time! And won’t the cows enjoy it when th 
keep on getting into these fresh well-saved paddocks! And won’t your ml! 
supply increase, and your credit at the factory mount up! Yes! and i) 
short time it will be found that the same country is growing four times as mul 
grass and carrying four times as many cattle. More than that—your gr’ 4 
will improve in quality. The old good sorts, which you have deliberately ! 
out in many parts, will come back again and take their proper place in yo" 
pastures, and the bad sorts will no longer have complete possession. 
This system can be successfully applied to small farms as well as to larg! 
ones, or to big grazing areas. In fact, it is one of the conditions of sucee 
and I think it is quite time our farmers, in particular, gave careful attention " 
this line of work. I know perfectly well that this sort of thing cannot be dot, 
ul at once, because the necessary fencing costs money, and means labour, a 
many of our farmers cannot afford too heavy expenditure; but there ix ™ 
reason why a man should not begin now, and, being quite clear in his 0M 
mind what he is driving at, keep steadily on, doing a bit whenever opportu, 
offers, or as he can afford it, until he accomplishes his object. We may be su” 
of one thing—it will pay. It means getting the best possible results from ee 
land aere by acre, instead of holding so much and getting little or nothing off ® 
It means that even in a bad season your grass will last longer and go farthe 
because it will not be tramped over and over, and because it will be able to t 
advantage of any passing favourable change that may occur. A proof of Mt 
can be seen in the way farm headlands and odd corners that are enclosed oft 
brighten up if only with a short spurt, and put on a growth which the paddock 
do not show at all, but which would mean a great deal if it could be obtaim® 
outside. By the system above explained, one can get this result in the paddoc™ 
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