Poultry Notes.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 107, 12 November 1908, Page 4

Poultry Notes.

In the rage for the classes of fowls that are credited with exceptional laying powers it must not be torgoiten that other breeds of poultry, which are fair layers and are also more than fair table fowls are of great use to develop the export trade in poultry. Such fowls as the Orpington, Dorking, Game, and other simliar high-class table fowls should not be neglected. The so-called phenomenal egg-laying strains are right enough as far as they go, but a bird !for the table is also not to be despised. The breeds mentioned as being useful for the table must not be altogether put at one side, as is likely to be the case when the public become enamoured of any one particular breed. It will be remembered that the qualities which are most appreciated in the table varieties of poultry are a full breast, a white . skin, and white legs. Such birds having these qualities, if young and. well fed-are fit for any table, and bring the highest prices on the London market.

To keep cows' teats from cracking, grease them once each week with vaseline. It will keep them soft, and save the poor brute considerable pain. A good ram forms the basis of sheep breeding ;the ewes are almost a secondary consideration. One faulty ewe only influences her own progeny, whereas the influence of the ram is felt throughout he flock.

Agriculture is not the whole of country life. The great rural interests are human interests, and good crops are of little valuevto the farmer unless they open the door to a good kind of life on the farm.

There is no more important person, measured in influence upon the life of the nation, than the farmer's wife, no more important home than the country home, and it is of national importance to do the best we can for both. There is immense waste in .the disregarding of intelligent rotation of crops. This is the worst sort of waste, for. it means devastation of soils that require years of prudent tillage to replace. Scientific agriculture will [[prevent the abandoning 'of farms because no longer productive. It will prevent soil deterioration by showing hqw constantly to improve it. To determine the sex of geese a curious plan is adopted in Cambridgeshire. All the geese are shut in a stable or pigsty. A small [dog *is then put in. It is said the geese will all lift up their heads and go to the back of the place, while the ganders will lower and stretch out their necks, hissing all the time. The feeding value of silage is, in a large measure, due to its comparative richness in nutrients especially suited to the nourishment of cattle, its ease of digestion, as compared with dry feeds, its palatability, due to its aroma and succulence!, "and the fact that it aids in cooling'the system and keeping it free of effete materiaLand keeping the circulation active. Opportunity for dairying appears in the inrceased demand for pure milk for the large cities. When meat is given to fowls care should be taken to cut it into pieces of moderate size, so that they can swallow it easily. If a number of fowls are kept a meat chopping machine should be used. Be honest with your cows and your customers, and you will have no trouble in producing good cream and butter and always find a ready market for both. r Any farm which will grow clover will produce pigs at a profit. The United States last year exported over 83,000,000 bushels of maize and 766,000 barrels of maize meal to help feed the people of other countres. When any one quotes figures as to the high mortality among the city children from tuberculosis, one is inclined to question whether cow's milk or infected city slums is the primary cause. Cheese was known to the Greeks before the time of Homer, apd Caesar relates that the German tribes supplied the Romans with cheese in his day. There is only one definition for overrun, and that is, the increase in weight of buttsr produced as compared with tbe weight of butter fat in the milk or cream from which the butter is made. Unless the butter produced weighs more than the fat in the milk, there can be no over-run. The use of rotted manure rather than fresh manure is desirable in connection with many market garden or vegetable crops, as it gives quicker results and with root crops will give a smoother and nicer product.