FARM AND FIELD

Lake County Press, Issue 2669, 15 February 1917, Page 7

FARM AND FIELD

)RIQINAL ARTICLES (Hf F.C.S.) SPRAYING FRUIT TREES. For some time past it has been practically useless on account of the heavy and almost incessant rains to attempt to spray the various orchard trees, while even the work of pruning has been greatly delayed. As soon as this is completed, however, and more favourable weather conditions exist no time must be lost in thoroughly dressing the trees with either Bordeaux mixture, lime, sulphur solution, harbas, red oil, or other effective fungicides and insecticides. In the material applied the grower must bo guided by the object for which it is used. If for destroying fungoid diseases Bordeaux mixture, vermorite, or lime-sulphur solution is a safe and effective remedy when properly applied. If on the other hand, the trees are infested with mussel or other scales, red mite, aphis, or other insect posts, harbas or red oil is the most effective remedy. The dressing of all orchard trees is an important and very necessary operation, and should in no case be neglected. The number of pests that nearly every fruit-grower has now to contend with, not only with insect pests but fungoids and other insect diseases, can only be overcome or even kept in check by thorough and persistent dressing. No person growing fruit trees should neglect to use the means at hand to protect the trees and fruit from the various pests. The material, with full directions, how, and at what strength to apply, is procurable at any of tho seedsmen. The advantage of winter spraying is that material can be applied while the trees are dominant at greater strength than would be safe when the trees were in leaf. Peaches and nectarines, even though sprayed during tho winter, should I)o again well sprayed when the buds are swelling and just before bursting into growth. This assists to check tho foliage being injured by leave curl, though it is by no means a sure cure, as adverse weather conditions in early spring has much to do with the spread of this disease. CROV/INC PEACHES. To what extent the orchard should be cultivated after three years from planting the trees will depend upon the season, and the crops grown after the third year from setting. Half of the last season’s growth should be cut back. That may reduce tho quantity of the crops a little, but tho quality will be very much better. Tho fruit will cost less to pick, and the breaking down of the trees will be very much less. Experience teaches that tho trees live longer and do better every way than trees not cut back. The cutting back should bo done just before tho sap begins to rise in tho spring. Peaches should be picked and handled very carefully, and picked and packed at the right time of their growth. That ensures most profit. Another important item is to see that only the best fruit gets into tho lower part and centre of the package, as well as on top, where it can be more easily seen. In packing peaches, or any kind of fruit, it is best to adopt similar principles. It pays best in the long run. THE HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPIONS OF THE POULTRY YARD—THE , LIGHT BRAHMA. i Without exception the Light Brahma j is the heaviest breed of fowl, and on | that account is chiefly noted as a meat I bird. Hie standard weights are twelve ' pounds for cocks, nine and a half pounds for hens. Cockerels and pullets weigh respective!y two and one and a half pounds lighter. When tho birds are properly managed the" full-grown fowls are pre-eminent. They are much appreciated as layers, and produce best when eggs are high in price, and the , eggs, being brown in colour, arc greatly . in demand, as the flavour is excellent. * As mothers they are docile and attentive, and for limited range arc favourites, because they scarcely fly at all. The Light Brahma, being tho largest j fowl raised in a general way, holds a | j similar relation to the poultry industry .as tho Shorthorn bears to cattle. It stands what may be called “stall feeding” well, and will produce more pounds of moat for the amount of food consumed than any other variety of fowl. When bred with a view to egg prot dnotion the liens have made records as high as two hundred and twenty-five • eggs in u year, and there are some ’ , strains which tire almost now sitters. 1 Because of their profuse feathering , 1 they will stand more cold weather thar L any other breed, and thus when pro

•i ’ perly cared for. rank well among pro- ‘ ducers of winter eggs. That is a very trong point in their favour, because - winter eggs are high priced. Another t advantage is that only about a fourloot fence is necessary to keep them in, ) because they do not fly much. Almost t no other fowl excels them in ability to . thrive well in small enclosures. They are market birds, and will fatten well when mature, and command tho highest market prices. When one year old, i cocks weigh ten to fifteen pounds, cocki erels niue to eleven pounds, hens nine to twelve pounds, and pullets eight to ■ ton. At ten weeks of age, chicks aro ready for broiling at about half a pound in about ten weeks. On reaching these weights they aro fairly quick. Another good point about tho hens is that they seldom steal their nests. | BROWN LEGHORNS. 1 Tho Brown Leghorn is the- most ( idely distributed variety of all the I leghorn family. Tho white variety is ( probably kept' in larger numbers in close proximity to a market, where ex- ' ceptionally largo white fresh eggs aro iin great demand. The brown Leghorn i is reputed to bo a better layer than the white, but to lay a somewhat smaller, and less nearly white egg. There are, however, strains produced by careful selection,'which lay as large eggs as the whites. Like their cousins they rarely want to sit, are very active, excellent foragers, well adapted to farm range, but not to confinement in small yards. The larger strains make excellent broilers and small roasters, but as egg producers they are most notable. A large number of people can make them profitable in that way than by rearing almost am- other breed. The reason for that is. probably, because they are less likely to be put out of condition by injudicious feeding, and they aro hardier than other layers of white eggs. VALUE OF PROTEIN. In colder countries, where handfeeding is systematically and generally practised, dairymen naturally study feeding problems very closely. They look at the subject from various points of view', amongst others being tho value of the manure produced. They endeavour to grow as much of the food consumed as possible on the farms, but are careful to provide what they term balanced rations. One authority says: the farm crops should be fed on the farm. Good, prompt, handling of the manures leaves about ■ 85 per cent, of the fertility taken from the land in the crops. Protein is the mainstay for making milk. It is also necessary to furnish repair material for wasted tissues of tho animal. Carbohydrates and fat furnish fuel and energy for the living machinery. Each pound of digestible protein is good for about ten quarts of milk. Now, protein can bo used also as fuel to furnish energy. If the fuel given in carbohydrates and fat is not enough protein will be burned up. If more protein is furnished than necessary it will lie lost in the manures. While one pound of protein is good for about - 10 quarts of milk; as pure it furnishes less than one-tenth of what is required ■ by a cow for a single day. Used 1 as fuel, therefore, protein is very expensive. Seventeen and one-half 1 pounds of clover hay furnishes enoughenergy and repair material a day for a 1,000 pound cow. But it gives nearly a Half pound more protein than is required for repair material. That ; is, what would make about 4-} quarts of milk a day is lost in the manure. - With milk costing a penny a quart : to produce this loss is 4;jd. a day, or £6 17s. 3d. a year. That is a serious 1 loss. If tho same kind of mistake is i made in adding tho milk ration —for : a milk ration must be added to that furnished for energy and repair—it is ; easy to run this loss up to over £lO Bs. 4d. a cow a year. The cow’s machinery is made to furnish a cer- i tain amount of milk. It cannot do this unless tho ration is balanced so ; as to keep that machine well repaired, well cleaned, well oiled, and well supplied with good fuel and good milk making material. Many a cow that is hardly breaking oven with her feed would make her owner a good snug profit if sho_ were properly fed. The economy which cuts down the cow’s ration is short-sighted.