Farm and Garden

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 351, 29 January 1903, Page 7

Farm and Garden

OBIGINAL ARTICLES FEEDING INCUBATOR CHICKS. 3|fcN feeding incubator chicks it does not iffp appear 10 very important what the $t food is provided.that there is plenty of starchy, albumind'iß and green vegetable matter. In some reports tbey say that in a. neural way small seeds, insects and grass f irniah food for chicks. These are abundant in the spring and summer months, aad it is that time that the chicks tleivo To secure the best results foods sim 'dating both the composition and mechanical character of these should be supplied. For green stuff to be easily assim'lable soma plant should be supplied which may also be easily broken. It has been found that hanging a head of lettuce in the brooder by a string exactly furnishes the desired want and is greedily eaten by the chicks. Millet seeds, broken rice, rolled oats and other things of this character are greedily eaten and well digested. For the very youngest chickens the sterile eggs boiled hard and ground through a sausage or mincing machine are given. While it is preferable if one has time to chop the egg fine and mix it with bran, or even by itself, it has been found satisfactory to mix it with br<in until it was crumbly and feed it in bulk, a sufficient quantity being given for the number of chickens in the brooder. As the chickens grow older meat scraps may be added to the grain ration and strewn upon the fbor of the brooder. One mixture of seeds for the brooder is made a j follows:

For ehicks frcm one day to six weeks old mix four pacts crushed oats, one of fine crushed wheat, one half part of millet seed, one half of broken rice, and two of fine scraps. For the first two weeks it la usual to add .one pint of millet seed, leaving out scraps. Boiled eggs, three for each fifty chicks, have also been used. After six weeks and up to ten weeks, feed the following mixture: Four parts cracked corn, two cf finely cracked corn, ono of rolled oats, one half part of millet, one half of broken rice, one of grit and two of scraps. For chicks kept in the colour system give for grain three parts of wheat and four of cracked corn j also give the following mash tbreo times a week and daily after ten weeks : One of ground corn, one of ground oats, and one of meal pollard. To feed the meat scraps the seed feed ia made into a mash with boiling water, and the scraps mixed with it, and covered over until wail steamed. This kind of mash seems to hasten the growth of the chicks. While it seemed necessary to feed the youngest chicks rather oftener, those ten days old were fed mash in the morning, green food at noon and dry seeds at night, allowing them to fill their crops. When fed oftener the chicks seem to get satiated and had no desire to eat. For the first day or two after the chick has emerged little food seems to ba necessary. But it is desirable to place the young chick directly on either a and containing rather coarse grit, or procure grit of the proper size and allow it to eat what it will. That which is bright and attractive to the chick's eye, like quartz grains, peems to be best. Very black grit does not seem to be eaten when any of the brighter sorts are near at hand.

PLANTING THE CORN CROP. The time for planting corn is after the seed bed has been so prepared as to furnish the conditions necessary for the ger- ' urination of the seed and when danger from frost has passed away. There is a decided loss to the grower by planting corn under unfavorable conditions or by having it cut down by frost. If cut ofE by frost the seed will regerminate, but the plant will never recover its proper vigour or vitality. Re-germination always results in a lessened yield. Absolute rules for the time of planting in all sections of the colony is obviously impossible because of the different climatic conditions. However, there is a time every season favorable for planting, and it is the business of the farmer to have the seed bed prepared in readiness for the occasion when it occurs. The depth of planting varies with the kind of soil In a general way corn should be planted deeper in light loose than in heavy clay soils., because in order to furnish the requisite amount of moisture for germination it is necessary to go deeper in loose soils than in the heavier clay soils. Further, it is easier for the plumule to reach the surface in iocse than in heavy soils, as the young plant cann t secure any plant food from the air or soil until the leaves reach the surface. It is necessary to plant, shallow, so that the seed will iurnish enough plant food to supply the young plants until the leaves reach the atmosphere and the plant can begin to use the food in the soil and in the air . The loose sandy foils warm up more quickly than the heavier clays, so that in order to obtain the necessary heat for best germination the depth of planting must be resrulated by the character of the soil.' The depth will vary with the season and the time of planting. If planting is done late in the season after the soil has been thoroughly warmed, the corn can be planted deeper than if planted early in the season before the soil is warmed up. The depth of planting the sead will also vary somewhat with the size of the seed. If the seed be small it should be planted shallower than larger seed. Where email seed has been planted deep in loam soils only a small proportion of the plants reach the surface, while large seed planted at t'-e same depths all came up. The depth ot planting must vary with the amount of moisture in the soil. If the soil is very moist at the time of planting the seed should be planted more shallow than if the soil iB comparatively dry. This is from the fsct that it is necessary to go deeper in dry soil in order to secure moisture for germination, and because the dry soils warm up more quickly than the moist soils. It has recently been discovexed that no matter how deep seeds may be planted the root system develops always at about the same depth—that is, the seed planted deep in the soil sends up a tube to the ordinary height at which the roots develop. At the end of this tube the roots branch out and a stem is sent into the atmosphere. The practice of hilling or drilling corn will depend upon the fertility of the soil, the condition of the field and tbe variety of corn. As a rale it is not advisable to plant more than four stalks in a hill, because they would ■ interfere with each other during th°ir . growth; so that if iu a very fertile soil its is desirable to plant more kernels than this per hill j then it is better to plant in drills. If corn is planted the ordinary distance apart, and one stalk grown in every hill and every stalk bears an ear weighing a pound, the yield will be forty. six bushels per acre. If two stalks ars grows in every hill the yield will be double that, while if three stalks are grown in every hill the yield will be one hundred and thirty-nine bushels per acre. However, a certain per centage of the stalks in the field are barren, and a large percentage of the ears do not weigh a pound, •o that ia order to make up for these deficiencies it is the usual practice to plant from three to four stalks per hill,