AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVIII, Issue 11367, 7 September 1897, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

f“ Canterbury Times.”j Itis with afeeling of very great disappointment that we once more turn to the subject of Government instruction in poultry rearing. The breeding season, the most important period of the year, is passing, yet farmers and settlers are still receiving no viva voce instruction in setting, rearing and feeding poultry,; in fact, a precious year is being lost. If a thorough course ot instruction is impracticable—which;, “*®. case, would -render the , appointment of an expert^ ! ‘UujustifiaWerrf,sojpo elementary guidance, 'fat least, should, be afforded to the many settlers and; farmers who know that an ample iiiaixet awaits all the poultry they can fatten, yet fail in their efforts to supply that market, purely from ignorance of tne proper methods. The breeding stations which are being established in connection with some of our public institutions may ultimately be of some benefit, but to be really useful they should be made model poultry farms, where all the branches of poultry farming could be seen in operation by those desirous of learning the art. The Government din not_ begin its instruction in dairying by importing cattle and establishing stud herds, main fruit-growing by preparing to supply orchardists with fruit trees —though both these enterprises may, by-and-bye, be advantageously undertaken by the Agricultural department. Dairying and fruitgrowing have been fostered by the best instruction being given to all who cared to avail of it, and the present position of both industries show with what wisdom and results. The good work was begun by lectures and practical demonstrations in centres where the industries were, to some extent established, and this is the course which settlers, as well as ourselves, hoped to have seen followed in the case of_ the poultry industry. Then, with a visit to one of the model poultry farms to observe the plan and arrangements, the settler Gould have gone on improving his flock in the knowledge that he was on the right lines.

It is impossible that the peripatetic Government expert can do more than give poultry rearers this fair start. For thorough theoretical and practical knowledge of the subject a course of instruction at a modern poultry farm is necessary. The lunatic asylums are obviously unsuitable places for poultry schools, and.therefore no time’ should be lost in*establishing poultry farms in locations where they would form part of an existing scheme, such as, first of all, the Agricultural College tit Lincoln, against which it is a reproach that education in poultry-keeping continues to be neglected. The Slate Farm at Levin, the Hopiahaki farm, the Sumner Deaf and Dumb Institution,the BurnhamandNelson Industrial Schools, and similar institutions to these should bo availed of as situations for poultry schools. Where fruit-growing can be combined with the poultry-rearing, as at the French School of Aviculture, it is advantageous in many respects. Indeed that institution might well serve as a model. The farm, at Gambais, near Houdau, is fourteen acres in extent, but a large part consists of woods in which the fowls run in summer. As 30,000 eggs are hatched there in a season, it will be seen that a much smaller establishment would’ be ample for the requirements of any districts in New Zealand. The course at Gambais is of three months duration, and the practical work includes—(l) Artificial and natural hatching of eggs; (a) Artificial and natural rearing of chickens; (3) Fattening, natural and by cramming; (4) Testing of eggs; (5) Killing and preparation and packing of fowls for sale; (6) Study of the principal breeds of poultry for the production of eggs, for the fineness of fiesh and suitability for fattening, showing the breeds most advantageous to raise for profit and suitable to the climate and soil of the country. In addition, the best methods of management are taught, including the science of feeding for all purposes. The staff of the school consists of the Director, who directs and superintends the tuition, both practical and theoretical; a practical instructor, who directs the actual work done by the students; and a poiiltryraan, who gives instruction in the killing, plucking and trussing of fowls. At schools, such as we urge should be established in various districts in New Zealand, the instruction detailed above could be given by one person, and well qualified men are to be found in the colony. Theoretical instruction should most certainly be given at the Agricultural College, and at a suitably situated experimental farm in the North Island when established. This branch, at the Gambais school, consists of lectures arranged as follows: —First month —Anotomy of the cock and of the hen, with classification of the feathers covering the body; definition and description of the various French and foreign races of poultry, large and small; diseases of poultry; monthly work (calendar) of the breeder; turkeys, geese and ducks in the same manner as fowls. Second month The poultry house : Choice of situation, construction, ventilation and fittings; value and use of poultry manure ; runs to houses—their arrangement, size of runs, shelters, &c.; incubation of chickens ; care given to the eggs, hatching, drying of the chickens, rearing; cleanliness and maintenance of the houses, management, food, water for the chickens, &e. Third month: During the third month the pupils go over the theoretical studies of. the previous months; but they apply themselves, above all, to becoming perfect in the practical management of the poultry yard, to the methods of cramming, the killing of fowls, and their preparation for market. Conferences on aviculture are held every week by the director. The students at Gambais are boarders, as is requisite seeing that their work extends from 6 a.m. to after 8 p.m. Time is allowed for recreation each day. The fee for a term (three months) is .£l4, and students attend from all parts of France as well as from other countries. Scholarships are offered by the State and by various Departments. There is nothing of luxury in the establishment, which is probably nearly or quite self-supporting, and probably so high a fee would he regarded as prohibitive in New Zealand, though were efficient instruction received the investment would bo profitable to the f indent. Forming a branch of a general agricultural college or experimental farm, as we have suggested, the expense of a poultry school would bo much less, and a special term during the college vacation might ha arranged so that the poultry course alone could bo taken by those who Ht wished. There is really no difficulty

save the prevailing inaction In the way of carrying out a comprehensive, useful and inexpensive system of instruction in poultry-keeping in New Zealand, as is being done in other progressive countries, and the principle having been admitted by the Government it is to be hoped the other i steps will follow. The cable news that the best English authorities estimate the world’s production of wheat in the current year as insufficient for the year’s requirements for food and seed, has not been unexpected.. So low had stocks run in. all parts of the world that many months ago it was recognised that 'only a good harvest in the, principal producing, countries could ward off a scarcity. In the, early summer there' was a promise of at least an average yield in most of the , exporting countries, but disastrous storms after midsummer changed all this, and the Crops in the United Kingdom, France, Russia and North America are falling far short of anticipations, while South America and India have almost ceased to export. That usually trustworthy authority, Beerhohm, states that to balance supplies and requirements eleven million quarters will have to be obtained from the Argentine, Australasia and minor exporters, beyond Europe. The ‘-'minor exporters” may be omitted fx-om any calculation, even though they may include Japan and Algeria, which together exported, in the year 1895-96, about five million quarters. Argentina occupies a peculiar- position, her exports for the year ended June 30, 1897, amounting to only 500,000 quarters, which make the Statist’s assertion that that country has exported “ under four million bushels before August ” somewhat incomprehensible. The plague of locusts will certainly have precluded any great surplus being produced in the River Plate provinces. Australia is by no means assured of a good harvest, though prospects have greatly improved during the last month, as they have in New Zealand; but it is yet too soon to calculate upon an exportable surplus from these colonies. It will thus be seen that the most favourable conditions during the next few months are necessary to enable the production to equal the requirements, and at present the estimates of a world’s deficit of from five to ten million quarters certainly appear to be well founded. An unexpected large surplus in the Argentine is the only factor which can tell against a’ substantial advance in prices, unless, indeed, the statisticians are greatly at fault, as, truth to tell, they have been many times during the last ten years.

We have for some years urged that the crop statistics, to be of their greatest value, should be published at a much earlier period of the season than is at present usual. The Department of Agriculture has made an advance in this direction, by letting us know about harvest time the area sown of the various cereals. Seeing that very little grain is sown later than September, it should surely be possible to obtain and tabulate the returns by November, and reports at intervals on the progress of the crops would enable those interested to estimate pretty approximately the probable yield. In this connection a new system, devised by the Government Statist of Victoria, and adopted by him for the collection of last year’s harvest returns, should receive the attention of the New Zealand Agricultural Department, which undertakes the similar work in this colony. Instead of a more or less perfunctory farm-to-farm visitation being made by collectors of statistics, a form is sent by post to every farmer with a stamped envelope for its return. Though adopted for the first time, the method proved entirely successful, very few second applications for the information being necessary, and it is thought the system is capable of much wider application.

Farmers are often at a loss to know the nature of the soil of their farms, and analysis frequently fails to give them quite the information they desire. Dr Clark, of the Victorian Agricultural Department, in a recent lecture, expressed his opinion that the best way of ascertaining the true character of the soil is to get the plants to tell themselves what the soil does or does not contain. If four plots, each 10ft by sft,’ are taken front a grass field and treated with' different kinds -of manures—the first .•with potash- and phosphate, the second with potash and nitrogen, the third with phosphate and nitrogen, and the fourth with potash, phosphate and nitrogen—it is possible, by comparing the results in each case, to ascertain whether the soil is deficient in potash, phosphate or nitrogen,’ and to act accordingly. This is a practical test, which shows not so much what plant food the soil contains as the amount the plants are capable of getting out of the soil, and it is, in Dr Clark’s opinion, of greater value to farmers than chemical analysis. Similar experiments could be carried out, of course, with grain, roots, and, in fact, any farm or garden crop. A leading authority states that animala suffering from tuberculosis may be recognised by the following tests; —Flabbiness behind the shoulders; when bound up in the shippon they will be found almost constantly bearing on the chain or strap, as the case may be; when a tuberculous beast is lying in a field, and you approach it from behind, the head will he hidden from view; the head is also lowered when walking; general wasting of the flesh. The opponents of the tuberculin test contend that to any observant owner of cattle these tests are much more effectual than can be that of tuberculin. The objection to depending on the observation ;test ;is that .. when an. animal exhibits'* the symptoms so plainly, it has already become dangerous to the rest of the herd, the disease being then in an advanced stage.