THE FARM.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 21, 15 September 1911, Page 3

THE FARM.

m— ♦ " I |TAUION9 REGISTRATION BILL. Efihe suggested Stallions-Registration f ffill wtifch is proposed »s a ;me§ns of idling with hereditary psotbdtfess, in fthorses has been summarised and comfuffented on as follows by Mr C. J. ißfakes, DfrectoNofthe LimStocfc Divi. sJUiiin of tne Agricultural Department: •sv.lle Bill is not to apply to stallions over i'tto years old at the time it becomes fUnr. Thus, when it is passed, only ;-:-tßose stallions which are one or two Isjtars old at the time would be subject $» its operation, and, seeing that in s.practical working it is unnecessary to horses for hereditary unsounduntil they are three years old, time "would be given to arrange the necessary machinery for carrying out the provisions of the Bill before those animals " readied the age of three years. Provi- . sjon is made for the owner of any animil over three years ok} to submit njtontarily to examination if he wishes. Tius, a year after the Bill is passed all tSree-year-eld horses will have to submit to examination, the following year these j hjrses will again come up for examina- . tion as four-year-olds, together with the three-year-olds of that year, and a year later three-, four- and five-year-olds will hive to be examined, and so on. 'lt is proposed that the license shall iave to be renewed yearly up to six jyars, the horse being subjected to examination each time; that a license granted at six years old shall remain djrrent for two years, the horse again bfcug submitted for examination at eight years of age; then the certicate of license granted to eight-year-olds shall remain current for the rest of the animal's life unless special circumstances should render it necessary to later call it up for examination. Provision is made under which animals imported from Great Britain, Australia or other countries may be examined before purchase by veterinarians especially appointed for the purpose, whose certificates will be accepted here as being equivalent to the certificates of New Zealand Government veterinarians. All examinations in New Zealand are to be conducted by two Government veterinarians acting in con- ; cert. Provision is also made for'a , right of appeal in the event of an ; owner being dissatisfied with the deci- :. sion of the examining veterinarians. Tiie schedule of diseases classed as ; being of an hereditary nature is as un- ; der: —Bone-spavin, ring-bone, sidebone, navicular arthritis, laryngeal muscular atropy causing roaring or whistling during ~the act of respiration, jtring-halt, shivering, and any inferiority in the structure or quality of the Joof which impairs or is likely to impair the animal's usefulness, and is, in the examiner's opinion, transmittable to the , progeny.

. A NEW MILKING MACHINE. Much interest is being evinced in agricultural circles in Germany over a new milking apparatus which has recently appeared, designated the E.S. process. If the now invention is all that is claimed for it, the cry of the bacteriologist that contaminated milk is being sold to invalids and infants should in a few years be a thing of the past. Tin's new apparatus has been designed for the purpose of excluding all possibility of germs, dirt, etc., falling into the milk. It consists of a milk pail, a cooler and a collecting vessel, all specially constructed, and a leather thong to hold the cow's tail. The milk pail is oval-shaped, with a spout to pour out the milk and with a lid in which is fastened a curved, trumpet-like funnel for collecting the jets of milk. Both tlte funnel and the spout are furnished with properly-fitted covers. The first milk drawn is thrown away, as it often contains germs. After milking the funnel is at once closed, and the Bilk is poured into the cooler, whence is passes into the collecting vessel, having a capacity of 100 litres, equal to 88 quarts by English measure, or 105 quarts United States measure. From this collecting vessel the milk bottles supplied to the public are filled. In this way the milk during the whole of its passage has only a few seconds' contact with the air. The bottles and all the vessels employed in the process are thoroughly sterilised each time previous to use, in a special apparatus provided for this work. Before milking, the cow's udders'and flanks are carefully cleansed and the men are required to disinfect their hands and Tear a white linen coat. By these methods the chance of disease germs entering the milk is reduced to a minimum, especially as the milk is only in contact with the air a short while, which is the chief source of contamination. Reports indicate that milk obtained by this process answers completely to all hygienic requirements.

Experiments carried out with lucerne in tlie Feilding district are said to have been a complete success. Mr H. J. Booth supplies the Feilding 'Star' with the following particulars in regard to a plot of lucerne on his farm. Kimbolton Road: —The ground on which the seed was sown in river deposit. It had previously been cropped for several years, and before putting in the lucerne the owner had it thoroughly ploughed and Worked. A mixture of superphosphate and sulphate of potash was applied to the soil, but in the opinion of Mr Booth this did not do much good to the crop. At the end of the first year the leaves took on a sickly, yellow appearance, and Mr Booth put the discs on and gave it a thorough working, in addition dressing it with lcwt lime and scwt sulphate of potash to the acre. The lucerne then went ahead rapidly, and now, at the end of the fourth season, it is firmly established. It is cut four times a year, an ordinary mower being used, and made into hay.' Mr Booth's opinion is that it makes the best hay, and for horses, cattle, sheep, or pigs it is the best food that can be got. A curious case, involving the point as to whether pigs are cattle, was recently heard in "England. A farmer was summoned on a charge of making an untrue declaration for the purpose of obtaining 1 dog exemption certificate. Defendant admitted that the dog fras only ■used fa 1 driving jMgs, hut contended ihat ■jjjgs came under the Head of cattle. m tferk to tb« Jwtwe* informed the

they were cattle within the meaning of* the Act under which the present proceedings were taken. In this case it would be necessary for the defendant to'pjteve the dog for driving pigs to and from his field. Defendant stated he only used the dog on the laud for the purpose of keeping the pigs under control when he went to feed them. The chairman of the bench said that defendant diid not think he was making a false declaration at the time, and they therefore dismissed the case. Another fibre recently put forward as a possible substitute for wool is pine fibre. A lecture was recently delivered before the Manchester Textile Institute describing the manufacture of this paper yarn. Samples were handed, round, and, while many experts agreed that the fibre would serve as a good foundation for linoleum, etc., it was rejected as having no value for use in the product n of fabrics. The suggestion was made that the fibre would be useful for woolpacks, but practical tests would have to be made to see if it will stand the strain. It may be possible to use it for paper lining jute packs, but the whole thing wants a practical test. As a substitute, forj wool it is worthless to the manufacturer of good-quality goods. A fanner, many years ago (sa3>s the 'Scientific American'), discovered that wood can be made to last longer than iron in the ground. Time and weather seemed to have no effect on timber. The posts can be prepared for less than Id each. This is the recipe.—Take boiled'linseed oil and stir in pulverised' coal till the mixture has the consistency of paint. Then apply. This sounds simple, and may be worth a trial. I presume the reason is that it is practically a deposit of indestructible carbon on the wood, the same effect that is got by charring. In a locality where furze is a pest, some advantage can be gained by collesting the young growth, bruising.it, and using it instead of hay, or, if preferred, mixing furze and hay in equal parts. Horses thrive on it, and cutting the young plants arrests growth and keeps them within bounds. An English authority essays to give the total value of the world's wool production, which it states, is £1,281,333,333. It estimates the number of sheep at 504,000,000, and takes the average weight of wooi shorn per sheep at 71b. It is, however, very much .'open to question whether 71b is not an excessive figure to apply to sheep of all countries, and this fact largely discounts the value of the estimate given.