CALF REARING

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 59, Issue 263, 9 December 1930, Page 5

CALF REARING

BOTS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS. JUDGING IN SOUTHERN HAWKE'S BAY. REMARKS OF THE JUDGE. •The offieial calf rearing section of the boys' and girls' agricultural dubs in the Dannevirke district was judged .on Saturday last by Mr L. J. Bowden, of Matamau. Mr Bowden was very much impressed with the general appearance of the calves in practically every instance. The children had gone to a great deal of trouble to bring their calves up to the standard, wliieh showed great perseverance and a very real interest in the objeets of the competition. A total of 28 calves was brought to the judging centres. eight at Takapau, oue at Ormondville, two at Dannevirke South, four at Rua Roa, eight at Te Rehunga, and five at Kiritaki. Tn most instances, the judge was able to addvess the children, his remarks illustratiug the importance of handling, feeding and dairy type. He drew the children's attention to the closeness of the award points, showing that aetually hetween each calf the margin was very small and it did not follow that hecause a calf was unplaced at this stage it would not grow mto better condition and form, later on and aetually he quite as good as the first prize calf. He urged the children to persevere in the work and not be dowuhearted because they did not get a jnrize for they were learning something which would be of very real benefit to them later on. These were the essential, points of a dairy type of calf.

CARE IN FEEDING. He stated that the subject of feeding was most important. As much harm could be done to the .calf by overfeeding as by underfeeding. The children should therefore see that the calves were well nourished hut not allowed. aceess to unlimited food, such as skim milk, etc., as this would result in many complaints, which would have a detrimental effect upon their appearance for some eonsiderable time. Handling calves was a very hig factor in successful rearing, for the tre.itment that a calf received when young aetually laid the foundation of its attitude towards its future owners and its performances as regards production. Finally, Mr Bowden urged the children to keep on with the excellent work which they were doing, studying their award cards and in that way picking out the weaknesses in their calves and trying.to improve upon those figures ih any way that they possibly could. They should always rememher that their endeavour should he to try and rcar th© best as there was only room for the best in everything. SWEET, FRESH FEED. "Where possible, Mi- H. WoodyearSmith, instructor in agriculture, said a.few words to the children on tlie importance of' sweet, fresh feed for tne calves, after they had been weaned, also pointing out the fallacy of the old calf paddock. Calves should. he allowed to run on clean ground and not in a paddock which had been used for ealfrearing year after year. Mr E. Herdsfield, the Hawke's Bay Education Board's agricultural instructor, und.ertook the judging of ihe charts and notebooks in connection with the competition and at each scliool, spoke to the children on the extreme importance of keeping proper and accurate records. This did not only mean records in ealf-rearing hut a proper system of record control for all farming operations, such as costs, etc. Mr Herdsfield also said tliat these records would, in a very great measure help tlie ohservant boy or girl to pick out the different grasses, etc., which composed the pasture upon which the calf was grazed.

Children should therefore always make a point of getting specimens of grasses aua weeds, pasting them in their notebooks and, if possible, naming them. Where this could not be done tliey should keep their records until he canie round. The children, thoroughly enjoyed the judging, much gooo, sportsmaniike feeling heing shown amongst the competitors. Tlie following are the awards ; — Takapau School. — Helen Caugliley 1, 78 points; Jim Parker 2, 77 points; John Parker 3, 71 points. Joyee Robertson gained a special prize for a calf not dairy type, lier points totalling 87. Others entered were : — Leslie XN'liite, 69 points; Stanley Thomsen, 67 points; George Savage, 66 points, and Alan Keegan, 62 points. Ormondville School. — L. Lorigan 1, 73 points. Dannevirke South School. — Leslie Alding, 1, S1 points ; Don Macdonald 2, 61 points. Rua Roa School. T. Ryan, 1, 72 points; Jvy Coldstream. 2, 69 points; Winuie Edwards, "3, 68 points; Jim Coldstream, 64 points. Te Rehunga. — Carol Phillips, 1, 85 points ; Arthur Leach, 2, S3 points ; Frank Gibson, 3, 81 points ; Pameia Jewiss, 75 points, Colin Walker, 73 points, Maureen Murray 72 points, Jill Smith 70 points, Bessie Babbage 65 points. Kiritaki School. — Maurice Blake 1, 74 points ; Joyce Sanders 2, 73 points ; Joan Alderson 3, 72 points ; Mervvn Snook_ 63 points, Emanuel Hermansen 61 points. Owing to some of the children not bringing their charts to the judging centres, these points have not heen made up, but will be published later as special prizes are heing awarded for charts. The group championship for calves (first, second and third, from each school) will he decided 011 W ednesday next. December 10, at Dannevirke, when the judge, Government Yeterinarian and hoth agricultj1]'3' instructors will address the children.