AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 77, 2 April 1910, Page 12

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS.

MAKING HARD MILKERS EASY. One of the trials of the dairy herd ia tho pi'esenco of hard milkers, which waste time, weary muscles, and dishearten beginners. Mr. James Weir, an East Middlesex (Ontario) checso factory patron, always on tho alert for improvements in practice, has mado a couple of hard milkers easy by a very simple method, which 'ho passes on to other renders of the Farmers' Advocato who may bo similarly troubled. Ho tried it first on an old cow that for years had been a "'tough one" to milk, and then on a valuable heifer that ha was inclined to part v/ith for tho same reason. The troublo ho found jubt at the orifice of tho teal/ the hole being so small as to let through only a very fine stream of milk. Tho problem was, how to mako it larger without causing: soma other injury? Grasping tho teat firmly with ono hand, ho pressed tho point of a sharp small penknife blado into tfin opening, making a slight incision quickly in one side. Of ton thore aro just two teats to tn.at, as the foio pair are usually hardest to milk. He found at onco that the stream of milk flowed larger and more easily. Lest thero might bo leakago at first, or the slit healing up closo again, ho made a smooth little pm of wood, with a shoulder, and, after putting on a few drops of some healing oil, ho pressed it up into the hole, loaving it there till next milking. Tho cow was regularly milked, and in about a week the incision was nicely healed, and no trouble whatever has resulted. A local resident 'showed an Ashburton Mail reporter a finely-grown green tomato that had beei< rendered worthless through having been attacked by somo msoct pobt Tho tomato was perforated by a numbsr of hole? similar to those made in applos and pears by the cocjjin lnoth ; and on being opened it was found to bo in a state of decay. In Tasmania tho tomato is often attacked by tho maggots of a fly, known as lonchaca splendida, biue tomato-fly, and these maggots hnvo frequently beon mistaken for those of fruit flies; but tho insect is not known to attack fruits. To tho tomato, however, it is often very troublesome. The fly itself is smaller than the common housefly, and is of * beautiful deep-bluo colour. Complaints have been made by fvuitpvers ctnd others that codlin moths have been found in a largo proportion of tho outdoor grown tomato crop this season. Experiments mado on behrJc of the Now South Wales Department of Agriculture go to show that if caro is exercised with the seed tho potato crop will bo much tho better for it. The custom in manj* places is to sail tho good tubers and usa tho weeds for seed purposes. This, howpver, is said to be a shortsighted policy. Mr. Valdcr, tho chief inspoctor, has in his office samples of what « good strain of eecd can produce. The yiold in this instanco was throo tons to tho acre moro than any other variety used. Tho grower simply picked out ordinary good tubors for seed, throwing aside tho unworthy ones. Tho Wairarnpa Daily News says that Mr. C. Burch,> at Papawai, Greytown, has pn effectivot codlin moth trap, which consists of a Kcroseno tin about thre* partM full of watot. On thu surface of tho water is floated a slubh lamp made of a herring tin, or similar vessel, containing oil and wicks mado from rag. Tho trap 1 ! aro placed under tho trees, and the lamp 1 * lighted at dark. Myriads of motli3 am attracted and find their way ituo tho tins Jievu. to wine out ali\e. Mr. Burch has nearly cleared his orchard of codlin moth by this siniplo means, and this season has a larger ptoportion of sound fruit than ho has se-cured-for yeari by. apy-pther, scheme.