Information Wanted

Bruce Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 2646, 3 May 1895, Page 4

Information Wanted

('Agricultural Gazette.*) WOBMS IN PIGS. Can yonr veterinary adviser tell me whut will kill worms in pigs about fourteen weeks old? — J.P. [To each pig give 10 grains of santonine, and | drachm of powdered areca nut, in a little food, after fasting them for twelve hours previously. The next day give each pig £oz of castor oi), also in a little food, on an empty stomach. 8.-3---pe-tt this treatment two or three times, at intervals of a few dayp. Of course it is essential to the success of tbe above that e.ich individual pig gets its share of the medicine, so that care is required in giving it to them to provide for this. — A.] ENSILAGE, Will you kindly tell me, through 4 Agricultural Q-azet'e,' if it is necessary to put any pressure at all on ensilage? Last year (1894) I put 11 acres of ryegra^s and clover on to a stack green, and weighted with seven wa.gon-loads of hay. The ensilage came out perfectly but it spoilt the hay — made it so dry and hard. If there oiu-st be pressure would not straw do as well ? I found the sides that were cut off the he^p (it was made as a dungheap, catted on in tumbrils and shot down) were not nearly so good as the rest, I suppose from having too much heat. Would the waste be excessive to cart into a heap, and leave it precisely as manure? — C.M. [The sides are better left rough and not cut down. The question as to whether weighting is neces ary on the top of a silage heap hnß often been discussed, aud there is aorse doubt, as to wKioh is l>esfc. We are inclined to the opiniou that B'ime weight id beneficial, and were not aware that hay would be injured, but we have alwajs used rather rough and damaged hay for this purpose. Straw would no doubt do, but it is not often very abundant just at the time when required. Why not try a bed of Btraw, of two feet thick, between the top of the silage heap and tne hay 1] SAWDUST. I am told that stable manure mide with sawdust for bedding encourages slugs when applied to arable land. If you or any of your readers who have tried it could inform me if this is a f net I should be very glad, [ft may be so, but it ujusil be exceedingly difficult to prove. Like so many things we are told, all depends upon who tells. We sh>u'd not pay attention to such a (statement, because any moist organic substance would be liable to encourage slug*. If anyone has had experience, and formed an opinion, we should be glad to be enlightened,] COW KATIO**. Do you consider the following a suitable ration for milch cows:— 211 b hay (chaff), -i"2lb mangels (pulped), 2ib decorticated cotton cake, 21b crushed oats, 21b bran per day, all mixed together, and hot wa'er sprinkled over ihe heap 1 ? Your answer ia nest issue will greatly oblige. — S. W. T. [Phis in a very well-balanced ration, and wo cannot propose any improvement upon it except to suggest that the c iws would like to have a little of their hay in the long form, and also that the cake might be given dry, as a separate meal.] FEEDING PIGS O>~ SKIM MILK. Please suy whether it is considered that it would return a profit by buying skim milk from a separator at 2d per gallon, or even 3d, and feeding piga on it, mixing it with oatmeal ; or whether it would be more economical in the long run not to buy the skim milk, but simply mix the oatmeal with water ? Whether it huris or is the same to the pigs if the skim mik from a separator is sour ?— H. F. W. [At tbe ptesent range of prices of pig produce, the value of separated milk for the production of pork is 2d per imperial gallon. The most profitable method of farming pigs is to keep a certain number of breeding sjws and fatten tff their produce at the age of three or four months, at a weight of from 601 bto 90; b eacb. The cheapest food just now is a mixture of the following meals, in a proportion of four of wheat, two of barley, and one of white peas, made into a thick gruel by the addition of separated milk. This will ensure both quality and quantity. Let the food be given nt an even temperature of 55 degrees. S c that this is strictly carried out ; variation of temperature causes irregularities of the system, which lejd on to more com plicated disordeis. See that the food is heated by a steam jot, and not over a fire. — G. M.]