AGRICULTURAL NEWS.

Bush Advocate, Volume IX, Issue 668, 27 August 1892, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL NEWS.

JM. Cans, a IToTonu, and an authority on hcp:-r«iriu(r, draws attention to the importance of reculatinK the food of pigs as tbe aim maybe to" produce lean or fat. The latter has an immense sale— especially since American pork has bpen jockeyed out o"t' the French market — with the poor, who eat it like butter on bread, in audition 1 o its being used for the dressing of vegetables. M. Caux selected six hogs ot ihe Yorkshire and Augeron or native breed. They were all of the same aga and nearly in the eame condition. They were fed on a mixture ot three parts of barley end one of ryemeal. One lot received its rations dry with a separate trough for a measured supply o£ water : the second lot was given the meal iu the slop state —that 18, wetted with kitchen washingswater, and vegetable parings. The experiment lasted 95 days. Both lots were free to scamper in a common yard and to drink clear water aa they pleased. The commencing weight ot lot No. 1 was 3471b., and of lot No. 2 3201b. : at the termination of the experiment the weights were 4G4lb. and 6121b. respectively. The Englißh pigs— they were mixed two each with the Augerons in the two lota— augmented la weight 149 to 200 per cent., some animals revealing a superiority ot 28 per cent. The Normandy pig showed in the putting up of meat a less difference of 44 per cent., aiu? Oi fat 6S per cent., as compared with the English pigs. M. Caux concludes that it is better to commence fattening with pigs five or six than three months old; that the English pigs were fit for sale two months after being styed for fattening, while the Augeron required six weeks more to arrive at the butcher Btage. The average all round profit was 49 per cent. He states that all fat stock ought to be aold by actual live weight. The habit of deducting one-third to obtain the net weight of an animal meanß a dead lobs of 10 per cent, to the vendor. ' If the animal haß not been fed during 24 hours, only one-fourth is deducted from the live to obtain the net weight. O£ 10 pigs slaughtered after receiving a ration, the difference between the live and net weights wa3 1G to 13 per cent. ; of 10 slaughtered rationless during 24 hours, the difference"between the weights was 17 to 21 pet cent. M. Caux concludes that the most remunerative manner for fattening hogs is te give them the barley and ryemeal mixture dry, and tha drink, water, or wash in a separate trough. That plan also produces more streaky bacon. Daring my long career as a breeder I acted on tha old motto, " A. horse well groomed la equal to half-fed." "When ahorse on returning from work is heated I never allow it to enter the stable till it has been walked up and down for a little time, to allow the agitated lungs to return slowly to their normal state. In order to possess horses of strong aud resisting constitution, continues a writer in the Hityal Canadian, it is essential to give them suitable and eubatontial food, of which oats constitute the type. The attempt to replace oats cannot succeed even though economy bo the desired aim. Beans approach most to oats in point of nutriment. Indian com, peas, ryeand barley are foods that readily produce derangement in the health of the boree. Ryelis the' least suitable of substitutes, and should bo given only to those horses that suffer most from fatigue. It iaemployed steeped or cooked, but not crushed, for in thiß latter condition it forms in tha stomach in a pasty mass, inducing colics. Though horses appear to relish Indian corn they do not derive from it the strength and endurance requisite for 'Strff work. Maize fed horses ■ are very liable to stomachic troubles. As a nutritive, barley, owing to its containing less albumen, is not capable of replacing oats. Peas ought to be given prudently, as they bloat the stomach and induce constipation. They are not the less a fortifvingfood and go well with oats. Bran too frequently contains foreign substances. Respecting tbe latter, the stomach of tha horse is very sensible to their action. Branimpatts a good appearance to horses, but 13 not a strength-imparting food, and lessens' the energy of the animal for sustained work. Save as a dietetic, and in such case that of linseed is to be preferred, oil-cake is unsuitab.e for horses. Carrots and Jerusalem articnockes acton the digestive glands and so promote the health of hoises. Besides, carrots, when they cease to be available due to th* advance of spring, the artichokes that keep well during f rOBt coma then as a grateful relief. • As for potatoes, these often produce oolic, and should always be well washed. In any case, whatever food substitute is employed, it should never replaea more than the moiety of the feed of oats. Calves of all breeds are Bubject to maladies which appear to depend, aa regardß the organs attacked, rather on obscure atmospheric conditions than on any matters we can regulate. Sometimes the tendency is to brain attacks, aometimf b to lunga, sometimes to stomach or bowals, and so on. Bnt Guernsey calves in particular will not bear forcing. In their own island they are brought up wholly on what a there called " sour milk," that iB, buttermilk, always v»ry sour, and with plenty of water added. Njr are thsir dams fed highly, cake being very little used, while they have grass nine or ten months in the year. Now when we como to feed cows indoors for six months on dry food, including cake and meals, the milk (evea when skimmed), becomes too rich, and seta up inflammation in one organ or another. The only preventive I have found effectual is to limit the milk to a maximum of three_ pints a day, and to ra»ke it up with a sufficiency of hay toa. On this they do very well. A httl» bran or linseed meal (not cake) may be given as they grow older. Red scour, if it should occur, is best treatol with a teaspoonfulof the dilute sulphuric acid of the pharmacopoeia, given in a little water. White scour means B enerally undigested milk. Diminish therefore the quantity given, add for a day half a spoonful or carbonate of 80da to each feed, and give once a day from a tablespoonful to half a pint of linseed oil, according to age, as it may vary from f ov.r days to four monthß. If the comSlaint continues after thia treatment, try half a rachm to two drachmß of citrate of iron and quinine dissolve! in water and given three times a day, Sometimes I have found benefit from pepsin, 5 grains, dissolved in the milk at each meal. Guernsey calves have not the aptitude of Shorthorns to lay oo external fat, benca all excess of food seems to go to richness of blood, and to tend to rapid inflammation. — J. B. K. in the Lire Slock Joimiat. Thepurportofthisparagiaphiatoalargeextent an endeavour to arrest the common error that the roots of trees extend only as far from the base of the stems as the spread of the branches, and that the roots of trees extend but that distance. Fruit trees, whether youne or old. alwajß throw out roots on each side, lully equal to the entire height of the trees, and otten much further. Dwarf pears wore formerly supposed to have very short and compact roots, but no difficulty was found in tracing them through the soil to a distance equal to the height of the tree. An experiment was tried some years ago, with a row of young beaaing peach trees, standing 4ft. apart in the row. A quantity of manure was placed within 3ft. of one of tue treeß, and it produced a growth, in one season, 2Mt. long. Iu another tree, Trt. from the manure, the growth was. loin. ; ana in one lift, off, the growth was 7in. or Bin. The trees which were 15ft. and more away from the manure, graw only ."in. The tree which stood lift, from the manure nont its roots to that distance, aud by the nutriment thus obtained, more than doubled the growth made by the treeß more remote. These trees were Bft. or 9ft. high. Apple orchards 12 years old, with the troes standing H3ft. from eaolj other, were found to have already occupied all the ground, and some trees 14ft, higfc nad pußhed their roots to a distance of 2(ift., or within 7ft. of the opposite row. -these instances were cited to show the great mistake which owners of orchards make in applying a small oirclo of manure about tne foot of tue stems to benefit trees, the roots of which were already many feet distant, and the equally great mistake of digging a small circle abeut the tree when standing in grass. The small amount of benefit which the trees thna receive may be easily determined by calculation ; for if a tree 10ft. high is fed hv roots 10(t. long on each side, making a radiating circle 20ft. in diameter, a dug or manured circle at the foot of the tree, 2ift. across, wouM benefit only one C4-th part of tho area, occxipiod by the roots, aud be of no perceptible benefit The advantage would be quite Bmall, even if the manure or cultivation extended aa far as the spread of the branches, which in a 10ft. tree, is about oft., which iB only one 16-tn. of the root area. The same rule applies to nuraory trees, the roots of which are often cut needlessly short, although young trees with honlthy growth soon throw out now roots to replace the nmtilatod ones.