The Farm.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 12, 24 September 1874, Page 3

The Farm.

Grass on Rich Land. . Hayor grass on liberally manured land' is more nutritious, than if- grown *©n poor soil. The difference is less noticed in hayj but ; every farmer must have seen that cattle and horees will eat nearly bare the grass from manured parts of long-cropped fields, while the unmanured parts wilL be almost untouched. Of course the rank grass ' l {Stowing around fresh droppings is offensive, but I refer to soil made rich by continuous' manuring with compost. I have seen the same thing on underdrained land, cattle following the line of the drain as accurately as could the man who dug it. Where this is the -case, something is doubtless due to the effects- of Bubsoiling, as a good drain should make dry one or two rods wide on each aide of' it. Top-dress one-half the pasture early in Spring with guano, or any good fertilizer, and you will find the cattle will stay on that part of the £eld mOst of the summer. It is evident that to some extent the composition of the same variety of plants varies on different soils. The superiority of old pastures is chiefly because long-culti-vated soils are less fertile. Cattle will pick- the grass out of the corners of the fences and leave young clover till it acquires age and solidity. Young, newly-seeded grass will not keep cows up to their milk, and still less produce abundance of cream and butter without meal. It is impossible to use grain more profitably than in feeding it to good cows, which will return it to you in the milk-pail, vastly improving the quality, if not increasing tne quantity of milk.

Before sheep or cattle can be brought to a healthy state, they must have a •mixture of grasses. It's just as absurd to expect sheep or cattle to be in a healthy state eatmg one sort of grass alone, as to expect man to be healthy eating bread and nothing else. Ryegrass is all very good in its own place, amongst other grasses, and if farmers ttnd others try to dispense with it, they -will soon find their mistake to be on the wrong side. Farmers generally content themselves with rye-grass and clovers, -and forget the most important of all namely, timothy, or catstail, which imparts to sheep and cattle the same nourishment as oats to a horse, making the flesh firm and enduring. Timothy, or phleum pratense, is one ol the best of English grasses, and is comanon throughout the whole of Britain It has been for many years held in high •estimation in America, where it is largely cultivated. Timothy thrives on -all soils, and should always form a portion of grass seed mixture, where pasture is intended.

Smut in Wheat. — There is not the least doubt that smut is fungus, and is propogated by spores. The only known remedy is steeping the seed in a solution of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), and this is so cheap and effective that the farmer who neglects it has no excuse, and should not complain if his crop is injured or lost. When smutty •wheat is thrashed, the dust that arises -consists of spores or seeds of the smut plant. If one spore only out of a million finds a resting place, there will be •enough go out from each barn to stock .a hundred fields; it is therefore very improbable, under our present careless -system, that smut will ever disappear. The remedy lies in the hands of the farmers themselves, if they will only use it. Management of Rams. — A ram ■may be for breeding purposes until he is seven years old, if well Jcept and judiciously used. But there is no animal more easily spoiled than a ram by careless .usage. He is in bis prime from two to six years of age. An old ram may be safely emasculated if the operation is properly performed and the wound is properly treated afterward. In the hands of an unskilled person probably nine out of ten will die ■under the operation. A vicious ram should be partly blindfolded by hanging a cloth over the front of his face.

Pigs. — Paralysis: This disease which •paralyses the hind quarters of pigs, is probably caused by an affection of the spinal marrow and the kidneys. The most effective remedy is to administer •diuretics, such as turpentine or saltpeter in the feed. The dose to be given is a tablespoonful Qf turpentine or a dram of saltpeter powdered and mixed with molasses, and placed upon the animal's tongue. The loins should be bathed with warm water, then dried and rubbed with turpentine. PerseTerance with these remedies may bring ■about a cure in a week or two. Giving Tegular doses of wood ashes with the feed is considered a preventative.

Jersey and Axdernet. — The cattle known as Jersey are a pure breed which come from Jersey, which is one of the Channel Islands, a group lying off the north-west coast of France, but belonging to Great Britain. Formerly these cattle were called "Alderney," that name havingbeen common in England, where they have been highly -considered for many years, hut of late years this came has" been -abandoned, and the more definite one of ""Jersey" given to them. As there are but few, if any, cattle from Alderney — another of the Channel Islands — in this country, the two names as here used generally reier to the -same cattle. Jersey is, howler, the proper distinctive name for thetttfaUte.

, Sorb Throat. — Sore throat or laryngites is common among cattle, sheep and pigs. The symptoms are a tickling or hard cough, and a difficulty of swallowing. If the throat is pressed pain is caused, and the parts are generally swollen. Frequently the bronchial tubes become affected, and there is a discharge from the nostrils. An injection of a pint of linseed oil may be given, but no liquid medicines should be given by the mouth. The following is recommended in these cases, viz — Two ounces of muriate of ammonia, one ounce of camphor, and one ounce of gum kino, to be reduced to powder and carefully mixed together. The mixture is then added to a pound of molasses, and a tablespoonful is to be put upon thetongue of the sick animal two or three times each day. The food should be soft, emollient, and given slightly warm. Linseed tea, bran mashes, and oatmeal gruel should be given freely, and the throat rubbed with mustard and water. The disease often results in the more serious bronchitis.

A flock of 684 sheep were suddenly surprised in the field by a violent storm of wind and rain dashing in their faces. They instantly turned and ran away to escape the driving shower, but, unfortunately, the path they selected led them straight to a deep pond, into which they plunged one after the other, and were all drowned. A poor dog in charge of the flock endeavor ed to stop them, hut the pressure of the frightened animals were so great that he was borne down and shared their fate.

The Christchurch correspondent of the ' Daily Times' says : — A recommendation has been given to the Agricultural Association here to offer prizes for essays on the best system of farming in Canterbury, and quotes the conditions under which Lord Bective at home offers a prize of LSO for a similar purpose. The subject is to be " The best mode of cultivating a farm in the Kendal or Lonsdale Wards, or in the parish of Orton, Westmoreland, supposed to contain not less than 200 acres, without reference to the breeding of stock, and exclusive of unemployed fell or moss land. All information contained in the essay is to be founded mainly on tbe experience or observation of the competitor, and not simply on reference to books. He must specify the relative properties of arable, meadow, and pasture land, and the rotation of the crops suggested. He may employ a person to incorporate his ideas, and write the essay j but the ideas must be original ; and, if required, the original notes of the competitor must be forthcoming. The theory must be in accordance with practice, and the farm itself inspected by the judges previous to their award. The prize essentially is to promote the best practical farming, and the essay will consequently not merely be judged as a literary composition. For my own part I do not see why one prize should not be offered for farming and another for the breeding of stock. In fact, one prize might be offered for sheep and another for cattle, and so the subjects might be increased indefinitely. The idea, at any rate, is a good one, and f trust it may assume a tangible form in the hands of the Committees of the various Associations.

Mr W. C. Croffut says that farmers in Minnesota treat the earth as if it were an orange to be sucked, a goose to be plucked, a sponge to be squeezed, a reservoir to be everlastingly drawn from, without in the least diminishing its flow. The same notion used to be held all through the, central West, but good husbandmen there are ascertaining — and Minnesota has yet to learn the same lesson — that " nature's sweet restorer," to which the poet so touchingly alludes, is not balmy sleep, but rich manure. A somewhat romantic story accounts for the introduction of Swedish turnips into Great Britain. Mr. Miller was an eminent farmer near Dumfries, Scotland. He had been a sailor in his youth, and bad of course been wrecked upon a lee shore. From that disaster he conceived the idea that a ship that could be moved by paddles would be a good thing to have when cruising off lee shores. He carried his idea into execution, and built a vessel fitted up with paddles which could lie worked by means of a windlass. This he offered to the British Government, by which it was refused. He then offered it to Charles XIII. of Sweden, who accepted it, and in return presented the Scotch farmer with a gold snuff-box setwith diamonds. In the box was a piece of paper, in which a few small seeds were wrapped. These Mr. Miller sowed upon his farm, and the result was Swedish turnips. Thus we owe this valuable root, or at least our knowledge of it, to the shipwreck of Mr. Miller upon a lee shore. Bots in Horsks. — The complete inefficacyof the various popular panaceas for bots in horses may be better understood when we come to know something of the nature of these persistent parasites. They are not worms, but larva? of a fly, and are possessed of remarkable powers of endurance under adversity. The most insinuating substances are but as milk and honey to them, and in an instance recently recorded a colony of them attached to the stomach of a dead horse were in no way inconvenienced by an hour's exposure to a bath of spirits of turpentine. But when whale oil was poured upon them, they let go their hold and died immediately. Now, whale oil being thus indicated as an effective dose, and being aperient, in its action upon the horse, it " aihfuld hit «h«JWn hefore suit other.