The Project Gutenberg eBook ofAustralia, The Dairy CountryThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Australia, The Dairy CountryAuthor: Australia. Department of External AffairsRelease date: May 19, 2008 [eBook #25527]Most recently updated: January 3, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Nick Wall and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file wasproduced from images generously made available by TheInternet Archive/American Libraries.)*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRALIA, THE DAIRY COUNTRY ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Australia, The Dairy CountryAuthor: Australia. Department of External AffairsRelease date: May 19, 2008 [eBook #25527]Most recently updated: January 3, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Nick Wall and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file wasproduced from images generously made available by TheInternet Archive/American Libraries.)
Title: Australia, The Dairy Country
Author: Australia. Department of External Affairs
Author: Australia. Department of External Affairs
Release date: May 19, 2008 [eBook #25527]Most recently updated: January 3, 2021
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Nick Wall and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file wasproduced from images generously made available by TheInternet Archive/American Libraries.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRALIA, THE DAIRY COUNTRY ***
Dairy Farmers are specially invited and assisted to come to Australia because it is considered that in a progressive young Country with so much Territory adapted for Dairying such Settlers will advance the interest of the Country and of themselves.
Dairy Farmers are specially invited and assisted to come to Australia because it is considered that in a progressive young Country with so much Territory adapted for Dairying such Settlers will advance the interest of the Country and of themselves.
PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA . . . . 1915.
PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA . . . . 1915.
Note the Shedding is of very light description.
PAGEBacon-Curing48Bee Farming21Breeds of Cattle in Use33Butter Exported11Cheese-making47Clearing Land45Condensed Milk36Conditions of Selection45Co-op. Factories, Facilities given36Cost of Starting a Farm27,34Dairy Herds47Experiences of Farmers35Facilities Offered to Dairymen31,38,42Gov'mnt. Assistance to the Farmer31Grasses35Growth of the Industry10Labour Conditions5Land for Dairy Farming26,31,32,43Land, Price of26,33,43Monetary Aid to Settlers25New South Wales26-27Pig Raising14Poultry Farming20Profit per Cow33,40Queensland31-36Seasons7South Australia37-40Share System of Dairying22Size of Average Herd34State Supervision12Stock, Price of33Tasmania44-48Victoria27-31Western Australia40-44Winter Feed35
Information Concerning AUSTRALIAmay be obtained on application to—
In America:
AUSTRALIAN PAVILION,PANAMA PACIFIC EXHIBITION.NIEL NIELSEN, Esq.,Trade and Immigration Commissioner for New South Wales,419 Market Street, San Francisco.F. T. A. FRICKE, Esq.Land and Immigration Agent for Victoria,687 Market Street, San Francisco.
In London:
The High Commissioner forTHE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA,72 Victoria Street, Westminster, London, S.W.
In Australia:
THE SECRETARY,DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS,Collins and Spring Streets, Melbourne.
The suitability of Australia as a country for the dairyman is referred to in the report of the Scottish Agricultural Commission,[A]who toured the States of the Commonwealth in 1910-11, in the following terms:—
An up-to-date Milking Yard.
"The practice of dairying, in a limited domestic sense, as applied to the milking of a few cows and the making of a little butter andcheese for family use, is as old as the history of mankind, and in that restricted meaning dairying has been carried on in Australia since the arrival of the first settlers. But the industry as existing there to-day is a vastly different matter, being already of great importance, and promising rapid and extensive development. It is a young industry, so recently out of its infancy that if this report had been written fifteen years ago the section on dairying might have been almost as brief as the famous chapter on snakes in Ireland.
"The practice of dairying, in a limited domestic sense, as applied to the milking of a few cows and the making of a little butter andcheese for family use, is as old as the history of mankind, and in that restricted meaning dairying has been carried on in Australia since the arrival of the first settlers. But the industry as existing there to-day is a vastly different matter, being already of great importance, and promising rapid and extensive development. It is a young industry, so recently out of its infancy that if this report had been written fifteen years ago the section on dairying might have been almost as brief as the famous chapter on snakes in Ireland.
Cream Carts at the Factory.
"The live stock brought to Sydney by Captain Phillip in 1788, and sent to propagate their kind at Farm Cove, consisted of one bull, four cows, one calf, and seven pigs. Their descendants in 1908 included about ten and a-half millions of cattle, of which nearly two millions were dairy cows. This is about one cow for every two persons in the Commonwealth, which seems a large proportion, but as it means only one cow for every two square miles in Australia, there is ample room for expansion. In Great Britain we have about twenty-six cows for every square mile, and only one cow for every fifteen people. These figures indicate that in proportion to its population Australia is much more of a dairying country than Great Britain, but that in proportion to its area, it has developed the industry much less extensively, and is still capable of making enormous growth. Until within comparatively recent years there was little dairying anywhere in the Commonwealth, and what little there was appears to have been carried on by somewhat primitive methods. Modern developments, the spread of scientific knowledge, the fostering care of Government, and, above everything, the advent of the separator, of the milkingmachine, and of the freezer have changed all that. To-day the industry is prospering and full of promise...."There is no denying the fact that every State in the Commonwealth has extensive districts where dairying could be carried on very profitably. Indeed there must be very few parts of the world where Nature does so much to help and so little to hinder the provident and industrious producer of milk."The most important advantage of all is undoubtedly the climate, and that, like many another thing of value, is a good servant, but a bad master. It would not be easy to overstate the benefit a dairyman receives from being relieved of the need for housing, hand-feeding, and tending his cows during a long winter. His cows are healthier, their feeding costs less, there is no cleaning of byres, no washing of floors, no preparing of food, no never-ending carting of turnips, no filling of sheds with hay or straw. His anxiety, his work, and his expense are reduced by half, through the simple agency of a friendly climate. And yet this same climate is also his most dangerous enemy."There are certainly also adverse influences which must not be forgotten, but a careful examination of the whole position will probably lead to the conclusion that Australia is, on the whole, a good dairyman's country."The advantages include:—(1) Cheap land, (2) cheap cows, (3) inexpensive buildings, (4) a climate permitting cows to be in the open all the year round, (5) a convenient market and a fair price at the factories, (6) helpful Government supervision."The disadvantages are:—(1) Dear and scarce labour, (2) an inferior stock of milk cows, (3) occasional dry seasons, and (4) the farmer's inexperience and ignorance of scientific dairying."
"The live stock brought to Sydney by Captain Phillip in 1788, and sent to propagate their kind at Farm Cove, consisted of one bull, four cows, one calf, and seven pigs. Their descendants in 1908 included about ten and a-half millions of cattle, of which nearly two millions were dairy cows. This is about one cow for every two persons in the Commonwealth, which seems a large proportion, but as it means only one cow for every two square miles in Australia, there is ample room for expansion. In Great Britain we have about twenty-six cows for every square mile, and only one cow for every fifteen people. These figures indicate that in proportion to its population Australia is much more of a dairying country than Great Britain, but that in proportion to its area, it has developed the industry much less extensively, and is still capable of making enormous growth. Until within comparatively recent years there was little dairying anywhere in the Commonwealth, and what little there was appears to have been carried on by somewhat primitive methods. Modern developments, the spread of scientific knowledge, the fostering care of Government, and, above everything, the advent of the separator, of the milkingmachine, and of the freezer have changed all that. To-day the industry is prospering and full of promise....
"There is no denying the fact that every State in the Commonwealth has extensive districts where dairying could be carried on very profitably. Indeed there must be very few parts of the world where Nature does so much to help and so little to hinder the provident and industrious producer of milk.
"The most important advantage of all is undoubtedly the climate, and that, like many another thing of value, is a good servant, but a bad master. It would not be easy to overstate the benefit a dairyman receives from being relieved of the need for housing, hand-feeding, and tending his cows during a long winter. His cows are healthier, their feeding costs less, there is no cleaning of byres, no washing of floors, no preparing of food, no never-ending carting of turnips, no filling of sheds with hay or straw. His anxiety, his work, and his expense are reduced by half, through the simple agency of a friendly climate. And yet this same climate is also his most dangerous enemy.
"There are certainly also adverse influences which must not be forgotten, but a careful examination of the whole position will probably lead to the conclusion that Australia is, on the whole, a good dairyman's country.
"The advantages include:—(1) Cheap land, (2) cheap cows, (3) inexpensive buildings, (4) a climate permitting cows to be in the open all the year round, (5) a convenient market and a fair price at the factories, (6) helpful Government supervision.
"The disadvantages are:—(1) Dear and scarce labour, (2) an inferior stock of milk cows, (3) occasional dry seasons, and (4) the farmer's inexperience and ignorance of scientific dairying."
These several points are touched on in this pamphlet in the chapters dealing with the individual States, but some general remarks are offered here in regard to the four points mentioned as operating disadvantageously.
(1)Dear and Scarce Labour.—Every young country at times experiences the difficulty of procuring sufficient skilled assistance to keep pace with the rapid expansion of its industries. Australia is no exception. Dairy farmers there have not always been able to obtain experienced milkers. The farmer with children old enough to assist him is at a great advantage, and some of the most successful dairy farms in the Commonwealth are worked mainly by the owners and their families. But where the herd is too large, or the family too small, the milking machine, which is really a valuable aid to the dairyman, has been pressed into use, with satisfactory results.
A fine herd of Holsteins.
There is no doubt that rapid as has been the expansion of this industry in Australia, its development has been distinctly retarded by the want of reliable milkers.
But what is the farmer's bane is the farm labourer's boon. The scarcity of labour has checked the farmer's operations, but it gives the man seeking employment a wider field.
Competent milkers readily find employment at $4.80 to $6.00 per week and keep. In every important district good dairy hands also have facilities extended to them for entering into arrangements for dairying on shares, with profit to themselves (see pp. 16-18).
(2)An Inferior Stock of Milk Cows.—The fact that while in many districts there are to be found dairy herds averaging barely 300 gallons per cow per annum, with a butter fat percentage of little over 3.5, carried on the same class of land as herds which average over 500 gallons per cow, with over 4 per cent. butter fat, will enable any dairy farmer to realise how much room there is for improvement in this thriving young industry, and what scope there is for the man accustomed to get the best results from his land and his herd. But the Governments of the respective States afford special facilities by way of importing and placing at the disposal of farmers stud cattle of the highest standards. Private persons are also doing a great deal in importing and breeding high-class animals. Herd-testing associations are becoming more numerous. Farmers are learning that it is profitable to keep milk records and to cull out of their herds the cows that do not give payable yields, and pronounced advancement is being made in this direction.
(3)Occasional Dry Seasons.—The effects of dry spells, which sometimes occur even in the best-watered dairying districts, can be greatly minimised by the conservation of fodder, by cheap and easy methods of silage. So rich is the country in succulent natural grasses, and so congenial is the climate, that farmers exhibit a tendency to rely too much on the bounty of the seasons. This is what the Scottish Commission meant when they referred to the friendly climate as being the dairyman's most dangerous enemy. It is true that in normal years milch cows may depasture the whole year long on the natural pastures, and on this food alone yield milk of magnificent flavour, producing butter and cheese of the highest quality. But there should be put by to supplement the natural fodder during dry times a supply of food either as hay or silage. The experts of the various agricultural departments strongly advocate the use of the silo, but the advice has not yet been generally adopted.
As the loss in the silo is insignificant, it can be realised how cheaply ample stores of the best class of stand-by fodder can be conserved. Silos to hold 100 tons cost about $480.00 to construct, and a cutter and elevator about $144.00. To this would have to be added the cost of a horse-works or engine, but until a settler is in a position to indulge in the most up-to-date outfit, he can follow the usual practice of serving his greenstuff in the form of stack silage, which entails a very moderate outlay.
Silos, Victoria.
Many crops excellent for silage are easily grown, and the cultivation areas need never be idle for a day at any time of the year.As one crop becomes fit to use, the land can be replanted irrespective of weather conditions. For instance, in spring (September) maize or sorghum can be sown, either over the whole area at once or at intervals of a week or a month up to January. In three to three and a-half months, during which time the pastures are at their best, and there is no need for supplementary fodder, the first of the areas will be ready for use as green fodder, or for conversion into silage to serve as a cheap and juicy winter fodder. In many districts as soon as the earliest-sown maize crop is harvested a second maize or sorghum crop is planted, and by the time that is ready to cut, barley and vetches or field peas can be planted to come in to supplement the stores of winter fodder.
A fine growth of Sorghum—Victoria.—An excellent fodder crop.
Maize is harvested for silage when the cobs are well filled, and the grain is beginning to glaze; at this stage a normal crop will yield about 20 tons greenstuff per acre. Sorghum will produce about 15 tons, and barley and vetches or peas about 10 tons per acre. Wheat and oats are often grown in order to be cut for hay, and make an excellent fodder.
Another most valuable crop to the dairyman is lucerne, which will keep in a well-built stack for an indefinite time.
(4)The Farmer's inexperience and ignorance of Scientific Dairying.—To this last point the Scottish Commissioners furnish a reply in their report.
A typical Australian Dairy Farm.
"A great many," the report states, "of those engaged in producing milk have had no training in the business. If a man can milk a cow, or is willing to learn, he thinks himself quite able to run a dairy farm. In time, if he is intelligent and observant, he becomes as expert at his trade as if he had never done anything else; but his experience has certainly cost him a good deal. The men who are neither intelligent nor observant learn little from experience, and their dairy methods leave much to be desired. It is they who breed their cows anyhow, who keep no kind of milk records, who think it economy to bring in their cows to the calving as hard as wood, who depend entirely on pasture for food, who make no provision for drought, who have nothing to learn from anybody, and who are keeping the reputation of the Australian cow at a level much below respectability. By-and-by, no doubt, this type of man will become scarcer. The State Governments are doing what is possible to spread abroad scientific knowledge in dairying matters, and a younger generation is growing up that has been made familiar both with the practice and the theory of milk production. When their time comes it is certain they will make dairying highly profitable. The fact that, with an average milk yield of 'something under 250 gallons per annum,' the industry as a whole is in a prosperous condition affords the most remarkable testimony possible to the excellence of Australia as a dairyman's country. What will happen when the average doubles itself, and attains, as it surely will, the moderate figure of 500 gallons per annum?"
Starting out with splendid natural advantages—a wide range of soils of great fertility, indigenous grasses of high food value, and a congenial climate—the dairying industry in Australia has made phenomenal strides.
The establishment throughout the chief districts of co-operative factories, owned and managed by the farmers themselves, and the introduction of cold storage greatly stimulated its growth. During the last decade its advancement has been remarkable. The Australian dairy industry is based on the world's markets. Every year the demand in various countries for Australian and other dairy and farmyard products increases, and the large home market is also expanding.
The facilities for supervision, handling, and transportation are improving, and Australian dairymen to-day obtain high prices in both local and outside markets for their produce. It is stated that in South Australia dairymen who delivered good cream were able to secure from the factories an average of $0.22 per lb. from the butter made therefrom.
The following table shows at once the advance of the dairying industry (including poultry farming and bee culture):—
19021912Increase.Dairy Cows (No)1,113,9112,086,88587.34 %Pigs (No)777,289845,2558.88 %Hives (No)80,111167,441109.01 %Production (quantity)—Butter79,572,327 lbs.187,194,161 lbs.13.525 %Cheese10,005,787 lbs.16,160,491 lbs.61.50 %Bacon and Ham30,608,345 lbs.54,192,175 lbs.77.05 %Honey2,873,763 lbs.8,007,492 lbs.178.63 %Beeswax68,243 lbs.130,959 lbs.91.90 %
1907.1912.Increase.Production (total value)$74,803,200.00$97,344,000.0030.13 %
19021912Increase.Exports (Value)—Butter$1,820,371.20$16,044,681.60Cheese$20,592.00$27,648.00Condensed Milk$55,689.60$92,308.80Bacon and Hams$37,060.80$328,814.40Lard$6,100.80$177,902.40Frozen Pork$70,339.20$79,972.80Honey$7,891.20$9,235.20Other items$269,246.40$78,859.20Total$2,287,291.20$16,839,422.40636.21%
In the Butter Factory.
The United Kingdom purchases the great bulk of Australian butter—about 88 per cent.—but considerable quantities also go to Canada, Ceylon, China, the Dutch East Indies, Egypt, Hongkong, the Islands of the Pacific, Japan, Philippine Islands, the Straits Settlements and South Africa.
Besides the co-operative factories there are many proprietary concerns, and the farmer is benefited by the keen competition between them. The establishments in the Commonwealth where the manufacture of butter, cheese, and condensed milk is carried onnumber several hundreds. They are distributed throughout all the States, but they are larger and more numerous in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland.
In the Cheese Factory.
Cream separation and butter-making are often carried on together under the co-operative system. The creation of large central butter factories, supplied by numerous separating establishments or "creameries," has resulted in a considerable reduction in the cost of manufacture, since improved appliances, such as refrigerators, may be profitably worked at the larger establishments. The product is also of a more uniform quality. The number of farmers who adhere to hand processes is rapidly diminishing. Formerly the average quantity of milk used per lb. of hand-made butter was about 3 gallons, but separator butter requires only about 2.6 gallons.
Each of the State Agricultural Departments exercises considerable supervision in regard to the industry. Dairy experts are employed to give instruction in approved methods of production, to examine animals, to inspect the buildings used for milking, separating and butter-making, and to examine the marketable produce. A high standard of dairy hygiene, cleanliness ofpersonnelandmaterieland purity of produce have also been insisted upon under State laws. Financial assistance has been given to facilitatethe economic handling of dairy products, and much benefit has resulted, the advances having generally been promptly repaid.
For the maintenance of the purity and quality of Australian butter and other dairy produce, the Commerce Act passed by the Commonwealth Government requires that each of these articles shall conform to certain standards. Butter intended for shipment oversea must be covered with a true trade description, and that the following information should appear on each box:—The word "Australia," the name of the State in which it was produced, net weight, manufacturer's or exporter's name or registered brand, and the words "pure creamery butter," "pastry butter," "milled butter" (that is, butter which is a mixture or blend of two or more butters ordinarily packed alone and under separate names or brands), or "repacked butter," as the case may require. Other matters may be added, but must be true, and not liable to mislead. Margarine must be so stamped or marked. All butter and other dairy products intended for export must be sent for inspection to appointed places. The inspecting officer issues a certificate on the authorised form that it is up to the standard.
The regulations now in force contain important provisions in regard to the standard for export dairy products. By means of these provisions purity and quality are guaranteed. Trade is also facilitated, since quantities of butter are purchased solely on the certificate issued, without inspection. The standard for butter, the most important dairy article, is as follows:—Butter which contains only—No fat other than butter fat, not more than 16 per cent. of water, 3 per cent. of casein, 0.5 per cent. of boric acid, 4 per cent. of salt, or less than 82 per cent. of butter fat; or any colouring matter deemed by the Minister for Trade and Customs to be harmless.
Lucerne Hay.
Pig-Raising.—Not least among the rural industries awaiting a far wider development in Australia is that of pig raising. For very many years the number of these animals raised in the different States showed no appreciable increase, though of more recent years improvements in this direction have been noticeable. Yet the rate of progress is quite unequal to the requirements of local demand and of the export business.
Pig raising for years has been a kind of subsidiary industry to dairying, and as such has seldom received the attention warranted by the returns yielded. To some extent it has been the ease with which these profits have been obtained that has brought about the condition of affairs existent to within a few years ago. Pig raising now, instead of being regarded merely as an adjunct to dairying, is being looked upon much in the same light as is a main line whether connected with dairying or general farming. This is indicated by the fact that where previously any description of boar or sow was good enough to produce a litter, now both farmers and dairymen are using chiefly the pedigree stock, and are giving attention to the different crosses most likely to give the largest litters suitable for bacon production, which can be brought into condition for market in the quickest time. The introduction of these businesslike methods has naturally resulted in greater gains, and has further given a stimulus to the pig-raising industry.
The policy of closer settlement which is entering freely into the rural development of the various States is furthermore causing farmers and settlers to give more careful attention to any side industry which can be made to return a good margin of profit on the labour expended. In other words, the modern farmer is becoming more alive to the business possibilities of what may be termed specialised production. It is in this fact that the future development of the pig-raising industry depends. A dairyman, general farmer, irrigationist, and even the fruitgrower finds the pig of inestimable value in using up the waste produce, and turning it into a commodity which will return high interest in a remarkably short space of time.
This turn of events is making itself felt in other directions. Bacon-curing establishments and co-operative factories are coming into existence where formerly supplies would never have justified their presence, and the result is that those who have suitable classes of pigs to dispose of find no difficulty in turning them over at lucrative prices.
This, however, can only be regarded as a commencement in the turn of affairs, for with the increased demand and added facilities of marketing, the sound establishment of the industry is each year becoming more assured.
A Modern Piggery.
Feeding pigs with corn grown on the farm.
As an instance of the value of this side line to the settler, the experience of a Victorian irrigated block owner, as related in the columns of the Melbourne "Argus," is worth recording. Writing from Rochester, Vic., the local correspondent reported as follows:—"The pig industry is becoming of great and growing importance on our irrigation holdings, and that settlers are recognising its great value as an adjunct to dairying is proved by the fact that there are now on the settlements four times as many pigs as there were a year ago. A leading auctioneer estimates that, with improved facilities, the sales in Rochester would in the near future amount to 1000 a month. The methods adopted on the irrigation farm of Messrs. Jacob and Kennedy, at Nannulla, show that pig raising is a leading factor in their success. Mr. Jacob demonstrated that $192 per acre a year canbe realised from pigs reared almost wholly on lucerne, for half an acre suffices for the sustenance of a brood sow and her progeny of about 20 per annum till they are fit for market. Well-bred animals pay best, especially in the case of the sire, for which a Yorkshire is recommended. Mr. Jacob is prepared to submit his books and returns to those interested, as he did to the writer.... It has to be observed that pig raising does not require either the capital or experience demanded in the case of sheep."
These facts relate in a general way to the industry as it is possible to be carried on in all parts of the Commonwealth. A dairy man or mixed farmer finds that the carrying on of his work at a maximum of profit involves the growth of a number of different crops with which to supplement the rations of his dairy herd. Peas, barley, wheat, maize, pumpkins, carrots, mangolds, lucerne, rape, and other crops are more or less used for a succession. Each one of these is of special value from the pig-raiser's standpoint. Both peas and barley have a high value for fattening purposes, and some of the successful breeders maintain that the addition of wheat contributes largely towards rapid development. Similarly the root crops play an important part in the general rations, whereas lucerne and rape make an admirable pasture for the running of stores and breeding sows. General experience has shown that when pigs which are being fattened for market have the run of a good pasture of these crops they do better and fatten on much less food. Consequently with some one or another or several of these crops to supplement the skim milk provided by the dairying operations, no more favourable conditions could well exist for the development of this adjunct to the dairying industry.
With suitable root and pasture crops there is no reason why pig raising should remain merely as an offshoot of dairying and farming operations. It is sufficiently remunerative even when all food has to be purchased on the open market to justify attention being devoted to raising alone. But such circumstances do not enter into the operation of the industry as managed in Australia. The close proximity of separating factories would in many districts make it possible for a breeder to entirely ignore the dairying side of the question. From these sources such supplies of skim milk as were considered an advisable supplement to the ordinary rations might easily be obtained. With only very limited supplies of skim milk pig raising and fattening affords wide scope for the investments of men with limited capital. F. C. Grace, of Warrnambool, Victoria, who recently went into the matter of the cost of producing pork, indicates the possibilities of the bacon industry in a report furnished to the State Department of Agriculture. In this account he states:—"Over 6 tons of live pork have been produced, and the average cost per pound for all rations with pigs of all ages has been 4 cents. The actual selling price has been 10 cents per pound, but a number of the pigs were sold as studs, somewhat above market price. Taking the average of all pigs sold in the open yards for bacon purposes,about 4-1/2 tons, the selling price was 10 cents per pound—a margin of over 6 cents per pound over and above the cost of feed."
This statement is of interest as showing the position of the industry when everything has been paid for at well above market rates for the produce, and in a degree serves to emphasise the much-improved position of the breeder who, with root crops and pasture land, is able to dispense with the costs incurred in purchasing foods for fattening purposes on the open market.
A Happy Family.
Throughout the Commonwealth there is a difference of opinion regarding the relative value of the manner in which the predominating breeds, the Berkshire and Yorkshire, are crossed in raising pigs for market. This no doubt will always exist, owing to predilection of breeders towards particular types, and to the relative merits resulting from the various crosses. The main point is that both breeds are wonderfully well suited to Australian conditions, and that they are prolific. Brood sows will, if kept in an ordinarily thrifty condition, farrow two litters of pigs in the year, which will number from eight to twelve pigs to the litter. If anything, the predominating cross favours the use of the Yorkshire boar with the Berkshire sow. The cross has this advantage that the litters will consist of all white pigs. The boar used should be pure and the sow of good type, preferably three-quarter bred. The average litter from such a cross is eight. These, if kept until about five months, will weigh out at about 140 lbs., and at 12 cents per lb., the ruling price, will return approximately $16.80 apiece, or $268.80 per year from each sow. In some instances as many as five litters may be obtainedduring a period of two years, but when this is done too much is taken out of the mother.
Another aspect worth considering in the choice of crossing these two breeds is that the Yorkshire sow is a better mother than the Berkshire, and the litters produced are larger. In this case there is a lack of uniformity in the colour of the litters, a fact which no doubt must often cause slight depreciation when the marketing of large numbers of pigs is taken into consideration. From experience in the Commonwealth the middle Yorkshire of a pure strain is more favoured for breeding purposes. He is a quicker grower, of hardy constitution, and as a rule a better shaped pig for market requirements.
Typical Dairy Country.
But while there are differences of opinion in the matter of breeds for crossing purposes, it is clear that this subject has never been exhaustively determined. For example, while there are advocates for the maintenance of pure strains, and the crossing of the Tamworth with both the black and white pigs, the large white Yorkshire is practically an unknown quantity. Both in Great Britain and in Denmark this breed has done more to establish the bacon industry than any other breed. Its value is indorsed by experience at Dookie College, where the only pure strain of the breed in Victoria is located. The Berkshire sow used with the large white boar produces a shapely offspring, which takes on the short snout of the sow with the pure white colouring of the boar. The cross is a longer pig than the Berkshire, cleaner in the shoulder, but with much the same conformation elsewhere. A common plan is to use all the longest and deepest sows of the first cross for breeding baconers.The pure large Yorkshire is not as economical as the Berkshire if growing pigs for the pork trade, as it takes longer to mature. The sows, however, average about ten to the litter, and some have fifteen or sixteen. Only the fine-haired ones seem to scald, otherwise they stand the sun as well as the Berks. They are good doers under a wide range of conditions, prolific, vigorous, and more likely to do well under the rough circumstances to which they are accustomed on most farms than the more delicate Berkshires. When sold at the same time as other breeds and crosses, they always top the market; and a half-truck realised over $20.00 per head when sold in Melbourne under six months old.
So far as Australian experience has gone there is everything to indicate that pig raising, while an extremely profitable occupation, has not yet attained the results which may be expected to follow as more attention is given to the choice of breeds, the selection of the hogs, and fecundity on the part of the sow. These are all matters which from the ordinary farming standpoint have never been gone into thoroughly. That pig raising will pay and does yield handsome returns is admitted, yet when so many avenues of improvement are open, it cannot be said that the industry is receiving the attention it deserves. Up to the present farmers and dairymen have been chiefly concerned with raising the pigs, disposing of them perhaps at two months, or, as more often is the case, of keeping them on till four months, when they are topped off and sent to market to bring what can be realised. Many send away their pigs too fat, and few engaged in the general branches of agriculture really give the animals full attention over the growing period.