FARMING.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3148, 18 December 1922, Page 8

FARMING.

TELLING A HORSE'S AGE. It is a remarkable fart that comparatively few horse-owners can tell the ageoorl r a. horse by examining the mouth. The following may interest many :—fnspect the lower jaw, where there are six teeth in front when the horse has a. full month. Before the foal is two weeks old two middle nippers appear, Iwo more at eight weeks old, and the two corner ones make 'their appearance, at the age of eight months-. At V2 months the outside groove's disappear from two middle ones. The grooves disappear from the second pair at two years old. and from the corner pair at three years old. All these, are what are usually termed foal's teeth, audi ihey disappear fchui—the .middle pair at two years old. the next pair at three years old, and the corner pair at four years old; no that when the horse is rising four there will be four permanent teeth and one pair of foal's teeth —viz., the outside off corner pair. At live years old the horse has a full set of horse's teeth —deep black spots or hollows are plainly visible on each nipper, at the point, at this age. At six years the two middle l spots are worn down ; at seven years the spot's on the second pair are worn down, and at eight years the spots on the two outside teeth art- worn down. After that age look at the upper jaw, where the marks remain two years longer. From these the marks disappear from the middle pair at the a ge of ten, the second pair are worn to a light color. As the horse gets older the teeth (formerly oval-shaped) become three-cornered, and grow longer. As age increases they project forward, and get still longer. ENGLISH FARMING. It is an old saying at Home that when Norfolk farming is down, England i_s down and according to Mr J. F. Wright, secretary of the Norfolk Farmers' Union, agriculture in this leading agricultural county has now reached a depth of depression unprecedented in the history of the industry. Wheat, which is largely grown in East Anglia. is fetching 36s per quarter, the: same price as in 1914, though the costs in rates, machinery, foodstuffs and wages are more than doubled. The yield per aero, which was pre-eminent at 5 quarters, is likely to reach only 3 to 4. Thd cost of growing it in Norfolk isi £lO per acre. and the result shows 1 a loss of more than £4 per acre. Barley which is the county's staple cereal' and the best in England for malting, is fetching only 38s per quarter, and there was consternation at the Norwich market recently, when it was announced that Messlrs 'Guiunesis, the TrisTi brewers, arc buying no English barley this year, but relying solely on Irish produce. AMERICAN BEEF CATTLE.

There are three systems of handling heel-bred herds in common usage in the United States, says a writer in one of Armour's .publications. The straight beef (system in which the steers are grown out as cheaply as possible y adapted to regions where pasture is plentiful and cheap and m practised more widely in United! States than any other method of beef production. Tho dual-purpose system is more common hi the general farming States, although up to the present it is not more popular than the straight beef system if the numbers practising it be any criterion. In this system the; cows are milked l and the calves are raised on skimmed milk and supplemental feeds. The dual-pur-pose calves as a rule are not as eeono'niical beef producers l as the straight beef calves but when grown out and fattened they frequently make very acceptable heel'. The dual-purpose system is commendable only when adhered to properly, and is likely to be quite unsuccessful if it is attempted to turn the beef animals into a dairy herd. The baby beef system is a highly specialised method, and is adapted to such district** as the corn-belt, where there is a good supply of feeds for fattening and sufficient pasture for the summer" maintenance of the breeding cows with their calves. While it requires a little more equipment to handle the- herd the best market prices can be 'obtained in baby beef as well 1 as, in the dual-purpose systems', if the calves are dropped in the autumn and' finished to market in the summer and early autumn. SKIMMINGS. A dairy cow in England, having lost its calf, is acting as wet nurse to four motherless lambs. The excellent condition of the lambs shows that the cow makes a capital foster mother. Tho Mexican Government has removed the import duty on breeding cattle entering the country. The action in taken with a view to encouraging farmers to increase their herds. Showing the value of prime beef in the Old Country, it is stated that a LOiewt. bullock.'consigned from Western Leoehel to Meessrs Reith and Anderson's mart at Alford on May 30 fetched £ol 2s 6d, of 90s 9d per cwt. It has frequently been proven that it it, detrimental to' live stock to keep them on one feed continuously. A variety is much to be preferred. The same applies to pasture. The animals will do better if they get. change of pasture during the season. It is found in practice that it is better only to feed rhe sitting hens once each day'. Kor this-reason, it is essential to sec that suitable food is provided, that is, food which will take a long time to digest and which will, therefore, keep the digestive system of the birds occupied as long as possible.

The Homo Office, says a London cable message, lias carried out at Liverpool successful experiments in a new process <if disinfecting wool and hair infected uitli anthrax. The process consists of n modified scouring and carbonising system, the material being automatically bathed in the disinfecting solution.

Id is undoubtedly a serious mistake to use a bull of nondescript breeding. Progress is slow where such breeding is followed. We would advise the selection of a purebred calf, even though it would be inbreeding, which is one of the quickest ways of establishing desirable blood lines. If the animals have no common weakness and are satisfactory producers we could much rather use the purebred and inbred than the other.