THE COUNTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 59, 8 March 1912, Page 11

THE COUNTRY.

THE LEGS OF THE HONEY BEE. lUe legs of the bee, of which there are six, **i especially those of the worker 'serve other useful functions beside that of walking. For instance, the * nut less (A) have a structure formed bvtb» adjoining ends of the tibia and the first tarsal joint ,1 T*r) which is ,alled on account of its use, the antenna Selier It consists (C) of a semi-circu-lar notch (dd) provided with a combKke ro» of bristles. A flat movable ,pur (ee) shown at B, closes over the notch when the leg is bent. By graspfa- an antenna between the notch and S. spur and drawing it through the Wosure the bee is able to remove from his sensitive appendage any pollen or particle* of dirt that may be adhering to ne middle legs (D) present no special* wodiflcations of importance, but like the other legs they have the first ioint (1 Tar) very greatly enlarged. tbo tod le ß 9 of tne worker ' F > • tne onsen tt», «d the drone (H), have both the tibia and the large basal Kgßtent of the tarsus very much flat-

tened. In the queen and drone t&ere seem* to be Da special use nude of these parts, but in the worker each of she two segments is modified into a ve.y important organ. The outer surface of the tibia (F, Fb) is fringed on each edge by % row of long carved hairs. These constitute a eort of basket (Qb) in which the pollen collected,' from flowers is carried to the bive. These structures are generally known as "pollen baskets." The inner surface of the large, flat, basal segment of the tarsus is pror vided with short stiff spines «3) forming a brush by means of which the be* gathers the pollen from its body, «inc« it often becomes covered with this dust from the flowers it visits in search of nectar. The pollen baskets are alsif made use of for carrying propolis. Between the ends of the hind tibia (Tb) and the first tarsal joint (1 Tar), is a sort of pincer-like cleft ( Fand G, ff) guarded by a row of short spines on the tibial edge. This is popularly known as the "wax shears," and' is supposed to be used for picking the plates of wax out of the ws- pockets of the abdominal segments. It will be seen;' that the legs of the worker bee are furnished with highly specialised organs.—lllustrations and extracts from I "The Anatomy of the Honey Bee."

LEGS OF THE BEE. A left front leg of worker, anterior view, showing position of notch (dd) of wtenna cleaner-on &*e pf first tarsal joint (Tar) and of doling *&*(<*) «J Wo/-tibia (•») ; B> spine of«nte»a» Meaner (eel J«. «**• V*»»EJ Q> drfflS-P* «SmM cleaner; D, left middle leg of worker, anterior view; E, left hind leg of iStti anterior or outer view; F, left hind leg of worker, anterior or outer view, tSSftfap pollen basket (0») on osnter surface of tibia (Tb); G, inner view of firrttesal joint of hind leg or worker showing rows of pollen-gathering hairs »ni tie so-caUed "wax shears'* (ff); H, left hind leg pi drone, anterior or outer

■ AGE EH BUIXB. If the dujl is properly taken care oi providing he is healthy and sound constitutionally, he ought to be in better coniitjes and ought to be more vigorous at four gears of, age than he is at one year or eighteen months. Many a bull has lived to be ten or or fjft*ea years of age and was vigorous during his entire life. Some of tot best bulls oi every breed have lived to be of that age. As a matter of fact, y«u do not know the value of a bull until he is {pur years old Thsrt is no way of judging accurately ttH *|lue of a dairy sire until his heifers ■liars as cows. That would be whan Ihsy are. two years old, and this will mike tot boll four years old. -ta Man would be foolish indeed, after hj hid paid a good price for a promising sire, a good individual, and one well hiae, to dispose of him before his heifers became cows, because that is the only sceorate way in which you can judge the ban. 'W« want individuality; we want performance in ancestry or a good pedipss; but, above all we want, a sire that *ill transmit these desirable qualities to *m female off-spring, and how can we •all about this until the heifers are old SSUft so that we can judge them at the luTkpeJl? : IJsssfoxe, no promising dairy sire *fflt to be disposed of until after he is Wtt years old. then, if he does not {•?*** ** fe» what one desires, the sooner JgL» disposed of the better. On the JgfJwS, J{ he does prove to be a, valuS?iS?* e ' on 6 e r y°u can keep him ■f* htIHR for. your .herd. i

* E **ow sxnrs aot> the mtlk YIELD. TU connection between yellow skins S tte P°wer to yield rich milk does W Mem to be bo strongly realised Hf fe farmers « might be, "*» Professor McConnel in "The ~*jy- One of the farming papers Wab out that this characteristic is ■*» pronounced in the Guernsey breed, n* ♦wx!* fitron S with the Jerseys, «« «iat these two are the most celegfff* W «&- yeUow milk and butter. g"™^» en *et great store by this fa breed » do their best ££**£« up »nd accentuate it. It is Z? J*"* «»* realised, however, that 2J-y the ways of doing this is to let tew P lent y °f sunlight. J"*? ordinary circumstances, when out •J? W get all the sunlight that it Aut -when shut up in winter-time k A-f f * houae » the time that harm IP**: " woaM & PPear that this col tT^T^.* 11 otheT cci °! a *», is largely du« ' £ and ** *• indeed analagous » soaburning. In summer all cowi ™w awe colour in their milk than ii tor the pigment (lactochrome) i ■W* plentiful in the cow itself, and thu: ■Wire^ liberally infused into the mill .JS--™ tun is strong and there i «f green grass to carry them on £•« weaehed and brown food of the win drawback to the makin; mwi «T«en-cured hay alonj ""■ffatj; <rf windows will help it

production in winter. A celebrated breeder of Ayrshire cows once told the writer that one of the points he paid attention to was the colour of the inside skip Of the ears; the deeper the yellow or orange of this part the richer would be the colour and yield of tne cream. Il would be interesting and useful to know if in the Ayrshire milking teatsrrrnow so largely carried out—the best-yielding cows show the corresponding skin colour of a deeper tint as the above breeder (now dead) said 'he found it.

hJUJS CHEAPER THAN STEAK.

The declaration has been made in America that "a pound of steak contains no more actual nutritive, value than one quart of milk." This assertion may come as a surprise for the simple reason that very few people realise the great economical value of milk as a food. To impress this point, however, the Federal Department of Agriculture, U&A., furnishes data which will make the point more easily understood. The following table shows the amount of nutrients in a pound of round steak as compared with a quart of whole milk, which weighs 2.15 lb. V

.tut? i.Hu obauuarua ba&ca Here—pounds against quarts—are used because we bay our steak 'by the pound and our milk by the quart. The price of steak (round) will vary, but will not fall far from the average oi twenty cents; while an average price for good whole milk i is eight cents. A quart of milk is com- , rconly considered to weigh two pounds, but investigation has proven that the i standard quart weighs 2.15 rbs., so wo i have used this figure to be exact. ! It will be seen from the table that a pound of round steak contains thirty-one ; hundredths of a pound of nutrients or I solid matter, or nearly one-third of its ' edible portion, the balance being mostly i water, with a little refuse. It will be 1 observed that the quart of mjlk lacks but approximately three-hundxadth» of a pound of containing the same amount of , nutrients, or total solids, as* the pound of steak. The difference, in favour of the steak would be n»ore than made up ; for in the case of the milk by the waste in the fat part of the steak, a. good deal of which is not eaten j while there is no part of the milk that is not consumed. It will also be seen that every quart of ; milk contains over one-tenth of a pound of carbohydrates in the form of 883k sugar, which the steak lacks entirely. Of course, in the case of adults, milk ; alone as a food would not be entirely i satisfying; but if an economical as well : as a nutritious food is desired, a simpler ; and more palatable and healthful menu . than bread and mirsr could hardly be • obtained. However, if varioty is sought ; in the diet it may be obtained, though ; the cost is greater, while -the nutritive i value may not be.

Bound Whole Steak Mi* (2.15 lbs. lib. lqt.) .0045 Fat 12 .0860 Carbohydrates ... .1675 Mineral matter ... 01 .0215 .31 .2785