TUSSOCK AND FURROW.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13880, 3 November 1910, Page 5

TUSSOCK AND FURROW.

(■'Weekly Pres* and Referee.") Uy *w"w. DTlic Hawke's Bay people are great on tho telephone. Quite a big proportion of farmers and sheep men have this useful instrument laid on to their homes, and though it no doubt has some drawbacks, yet its undoubted usefulness greatly outweighs these. It seems an inexpensive amusement, too, for thc poles can be erected on rises and ione; spans of plain galvanised wire ' of **■ Km all gauge used, which, though ; p-.-i-li.ips not quite as effective as copper wire, is very much less expensive ! and acts well enough.. The time saved | by a telephone would no doubt pay for ! its initial cost in the first year. Bei foro it came iuto general uso hours j v.eve wanted in riding to the store to ! give orders, further trips having to bo ! made to act the stores when they ar- ! rived: now one journey suffices. As I an aid to sociability, the telephone is j not to be despised, and the wonjenj folk, or men-folk, either for that matI ter. can rin-_ un their neighbours and i learn the news, issue or accept invitations, etc., that in the old days may havo meant a long drive or ride to accomplish. Most of the lines seem to be party lines, that is to say, all the people- who run a telephone arc ' connected up on the one line, and coni sequc-ntly each has a special ring or call. i .Supposing your call is throe rings, you I naturally don't answer the 'phona j when you hear a call of four—unless j you -want to overhear what your neighbours aro talking about; and that is I one of the drawbacks —everyone can ! hear what everyone else says if they j care to eavesdrop. | While up North I "heard a rather I good yarn anent tho method used to | make a certain old horso do his best j when hauling a spring cart. As a rule, I thc animal could scarcely be induced to ! go faster than a walk; it was no earthJ ly use hammering him with a whip, J for that made no impression on him, and all that happened waa that the I whip broke! A big rail if continually applied was better, but cventuallv a scheme war, tried that proved most effectual. The old horse had one pet aversion, and that was a motor-ear, and if ho met one on the road, or one cam© up behind him. there was trouble, and it took three men and a boy to hold him, while he would do a "mil then in well under the four minutes. Bearing this peculiarity in mind, tht driver one day took an old motor horn in tho trap with him, and when he got

on a good straight atrctcb of road he softly drummed with his feet on the bottom of the trap and gave a very gentle little "Pip!" on the horn. The old horse, who before that looked as thouch ho was liable to lie down and die at any minute, at once pricked up his ears, 'and pulled himself together. A louder toot on the horn wakened \ him up properly. and he began to step j rut, hold his head up, and tore at rthe ; bit; another blast and the noddy wa.s , pulling like mad and swinging along j like a first-rate track performer! Ever i since that time the horn and not the whip ha* been taken out when the oh. horse is used, and it has not yet lost its efficacy. The old moke is getting quite ; a reputation for *peed in the district, ; and no doubt kick himself on being ; able to keep ahead of an automobile. , while I have heard it mentioned that his owner 15 curiously thinking of en- ; tering him for tbe local trotting races, if the stewards and committee will allow the jockey to carry tho horn instead of the regulation -whip! It does not take long, usually, for a sheep farmer to find out that it is a non-paying gnmo to try and run a certain class of sheep on eounrry for which they are not suited. This iact was well illustrated on a certain station -n Ha who's B.\v th?.t I was over recently. The owner "had purchased a good big mob or Corned ale cues, and tiiese. to- j get her with another lot ot Ror.-.ncy and Lincoln cross ew.'.s, were running on the place, both lots being treated in practically the same manner, and both being well shepherded. The Romney and Lincoln cross ewes did very veil, keeping in excellent condition and having a good percentage of good lambs, while the deaths from vanour. causes were fairly low. On the other hand tho Cornedab ewes did miserably, a large j proportion of them gradually lost condition till they became mere skeletons. When the lambs came and the ewes had an extra drain on their systems, they went all to pieces properly and died in great numbers and of conrso their lambs perished with them. Ako they j wore rather badly attacked with foot- j lot, a disease from which the other class of sheep were, to nil intents and pur- | poses, immune. No sort of treatment j seemed to be of any use to keep the { Corriedaies fit, and the whole cause of > tho trouble seemed to be that they were j entirely unstated for that particular j class of country. Yet. put Corriedaies j on country that suits, and they will no j doubt be found profitable enough. It has not yet hern settled beyond > argument whether the use- of the knifo j or tho scaring iron is best for docking j lam lis. According to Mr 11. T. Little, of "Hui-Hui," tho use of the iron has its disadvantages, and ho intends to . use tho knife in future; on the other j hand, gearing scorns a fnvourit? method of docking in the North Island, and several sheepmen to whom I had a chat recently, say that in their opinion it is the best method, and that the lambs do better after be'ng docked with the iron and do not seem to suffer tho snme shock from loss of blood. By the way, I saw a gcod tip while up Xorth for getting lambs and owes into the docking yard. As is general'v the caso now, ehfcp farmers find it pays better to make temporary yards in the paddock to dock in, an it practically eliminates tho danger from bloodpoisoning that is always present when tho docking is done in the permanent sheep yards. In temporary yards itis usual to run a. long wire-netting wing out from the entrance to the holding yard, .«<> as to give tho mob a good lead into the yard. It was found j that a great deal of bother was caused by the lambs turning and rushing the wing when it was hauled round behind i them and many escaped over and under the netting. To obviate this a length of light scrim i-i fastened to tho wire of tho wing, and this, seeming a ■solid wall, effectually deters the sheep and lambs from breaking back and getting away. It is a fiimple and cheap expedient, and I was told that in practice it has proved very effectual.