Untitled

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 307, 27 December 1924, Page 20

Every load of roots or other fodder that is carted to the pastures is equal to so much manure from which the pasture benefits, hence an equal distribution of the fodder is just> as essential as in the case of topdressing with an artificial manure. Unfortunately the rise in wages has the effect of lessening the area under the plough on dairy farms, except where all the work is being done by the farmer and his family. In order to decrease the immediate expenditure the area under the plough has been cut down or eliminated entirely, and in the average ciue this is very doubtful economy. The price of implements, the cost of repairs, and other necessary expenditure in connection with arable land are all inducements to lay down the entire farm in grass. That it is a mistaken policy most practical men will admit, but the temptation to carry it out is very real. CARE OP WORKING HORSES. Horses, like all other farm animals require to be carefully treated and attended to if <he maximum is to be pot out of them: especially is this the case with the working horse. A teamster should bo a man of great patience, and must be prepared to study the temperament of Ins horses individually. The hours of work should not be too'long and should be regular, as far as possible, each (lay's work being balanced with the previous day's. A four hours' spell in the chains is quite enough for horses doing heavy farm work, but the animaU may bo '-avcd a great deal of strain by arcful handling, and by putting each horse in the team in a ii'larp which best suits him. Horses in the collar should never be hurried in turning. The teamster who yells and roars at his horses is never a good horseman. The proper and regular feeding of horses is the most important consideration of all, hut this does not mean that the other points should be neglected. The morning feed should be of not less than one hour and a half's duration; in fact, ! three hours is better, while at noon the minimum should be eet at one hour and j

'β-quartcr. In the evening the time allowed slioukl he two hours. Working horses should never be fed the whole meal in one lot. The horse, especially when tired, will only nibble at the food and pick it over, takinjr all tho oats he ran and leaving the chair. A feeder should be '.-mall on the bottom so that the i animal cannot sort out the oats easily J However, if food is given a little at 'a time, the animal is induced to clean up each lot. and in this way will eat a good deal more. A horse cannot work continually if he does not eat well Dur ; n<* winter months, if grass is sca rce, a small ration of carrots will be found beneficial. In dry weather chaff should lie i moistened for working horses. Half an ; nunc-e to one ounce of Epsom salts in the feed every morning will be found to keep the animal.s fren and soft in Hie coat. Salt ia an absolute necessity, nnd every manger should have some placed in it. i •WHEN IS GRASS AT BEST ? Few cattle men seem to realise the great difference in the composition of young immature grass and the same grass at maturity. Young grass is richer in protein than mature grass, but a. larger total yield per acre, both of protein and carbohydrates, is obtained when the grass i« mature. As an example of the relative yields of pasture and hay. Henry and 'Morrison quote an experiment by Crozier. He cut growing pasture eight times from a measured plot, while on another he. cut it and cured it into hay after it had made full growth. The' hay from the frequently cut crass was" a |,out three times as rich in crude protein as that from the nearly mature gra*s but almost four times' as much "totai dry matter, and also the greatest total yield of protein was secured when the grass was approaching maturity. Herein lies the explanation as to why men get such good results from resting paddocks.. Explained, too, is the reason why a little corn meal, fed to cows on immature pasture, gives such satisfactory returns.