--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