Agricultural.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 17, 29 October 1874, Page 4

Agricultural.

I^SfWiTf-^here Ts i one jpoint in re Inference to the selection of sires the importance of which- we feel we are in duty Ihound never to lose an apportunity of | impressing on owners ot mares — viz., f-never to put a mare to an unsound stalLlfon. Nine- tenths of the ills that hor*epJesb ia heir to, have omen from the j:j>erriiciou3 system— knowingly carried j ofct, too, by many breeders in the old country— of mating* their mares with a fcjallion . known to be unsound, but J MJ-hose .defects are overlooked because \ tb.er'blood nicks, on the off chance of Ibretftihgr an animal that is sure almost to.be 'afflicted w«ith hereditary unsoundness, but may, perhaps, be patched up to win some of the great .two or three year old prizes. The temptation is too great .to be" resisted, and the result is 'thfrt.-a long- list of "splendid cripples" - ut the stud could easily be made out. A valuable paper on the growth and consumption of mangolds was read by Mr W. Scott at a meeting of the Ballarat Club last! month. The writer stated as the result of 20 years' experience that the mangold, when ffrown,oa .naturally or artificially well- [ drained and manured land, was one of | the best paying of rotation crops, useful either for horses or cattle, and specially adapted for pigs He mentioned mci dentally that he had recently sold several porkers, under^ve months old, that averaged lOOlbs, which returned L 2 per bead-net cash. These had been fed exclusively ou mangolds, and from first to last had eaten on an average 2olbs of roots per diem each. Consequently they gave more than LI per ton for -what they had consumed Losses through Bad Shearing. — A writer in a -Victorian paper says : Few. persons realise the losses sustained through bad or careless shearing. I have been assured by a large'sheepowner that with a too easy superintendent he had calculated that he had lost, vhe year before last, sixpence on every -feheep shorn, or LI2OO on the whole of his flock. This is perhaps an extreme case, but in another instance, in my presence, a .squatter in the sou'h took one of the shorn sheep from the pen when being countod out, aud by re- - shearing obtained nine ounces of wool from it. Jn reply to ray query this gentleman asserts that the wool so left on the backs of the sheep is lost, for it -x;omes off in streaks afterwards. Not a season passes but we notice especially «r exceptionally high prices for certain > bales. The auctioneers tersely explain ■t&at these are " well got up," that is besides quality, they have something «Ue to recommend them. Judges who iaave seen shearing on the continent and ! in England invariably state that not i one-half the sheep in this colony are properly shorn, and that we lose sixpence per fleece, thereby. A gentleman well posted up on the subject writes ; — "The flockmaster wants a large capital :a the purchase and improvement o,f «h£ep. spares no expense, no toil, no csre in putting on his flocks the best fleece that they are capable of bearing, washes them with soap and hot water, by means of an expensive apparatus, and brings them into the shed in as perfect ii condition as possible ;" and when there a careless, nasty, or unskilful shearer so mangles both sheep and wool, that & considerable portion of the squatters' labour and expense is thrown awuy." If -flockmasters would only consider that while they pay 3s 6d. to 4s. per score for shearing, and lose 3d. to isd. per fleece, or from 55,/ to 10s.' per score through "tomahawking arid "camping," some' active steps towards reform would perhaps take place. From what 1 have written it will be seen that the losses arise from two causes. First, through leaving too much wool on, and causing broken fleeces with "under and over" cuts ; and secondly, Through bi utal carelessness by injuring the sheep in cutting off skin and wool. Last year, when there were 18.000,000 sheep in -the colony, we estimated at a low eal« culation, the losses through these combined causes, were not less than a quarter of a -million sterling. A Great JDefect in a Horse — If there is one defect in a horse which should never be passed over, it is that of a very narrow forehead. A horse with that very ugly defect — narrow between the eyes—is always a dangerous animal, either to ride or to drive, fretfu and nervous, continually on the watch, as it were, for something to start at. A bird in a bush, or a shot fired half a mile away, will cause him almost to jump iroip. under you, or to bolt. In the .table such horses are equally objectionsole ; in general they are of a weakly constitution, and consequently delicate feeders. The slightest noise alarms .them, makes them turn the head round, and drop the mouthful of corn ; and if they are not approached with great caution they are almost sure to lash out with their heels. liut it is on the racecourse that such horses are particularly conspicuous for their bad temper. At the starting pos,t they become almost frantic with excitement, and give no end of trouble, and, after all, generally get tired before half over tha course. I have 6een jsuch.a horse cause more than a dozen false starts, plunging, rearing, £c., and of /course making a very bad race. I would therefore advise every person about to purchase a horse to look well at his forehead, and if it is very siirrow between the ev^s, to leave him there, and not to buy him on any accouut, even if he should have many good points, which he rarely has.