RURAL TALKS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15901, 12 April 1912, Page 10

RURAL TALKS.

(By RUSTTCUS.) V { Many dairy farmers consider it a hardship to have to concrete their oow l byres, but in the long run they will undoubtedly benefit by it. It is important that the floor of tho cowshed should be kept in good order. If the floor is un- * even, the depressions get filled with liquid and manure, and the smell from these places is anything but pleasant for those who have to do the milking, and is also prejudicial to the good qnality of the milk. It has been proved that warm milk very soon absorbs smells that may emanate from a filthy cowshed. Sometimes there is a good deal of trouble in drying off deep milkers before another calf is due. It is certainly advisable to give the cows, if a short rest before they calve again. With the average run of cows this is not difficult, because the cows’are only too ready to dry off of their own accord. The trouble often is to keep them in milk as long as one would like. But | there are cows that can only be dried ! off with great risk of' injuring the udder, and perhaps causing some of the quarters to go blind. These cows sometimes remain in milk practically all the time from one calving to another, and it does not seem to hurt them in any way. Of course, they might do better if they could only get a month’s rest, biit this they absolutely refuse to take. Unfortunately, most of our cows can only be kept in milk the desired length of time by giving them frequent ! changes in order to encourage the flow iof milk. They take a rest before the , next calf comes, but they rest longer than is necessary. Heifers should abe kept in milk for as long a period as possible in order to give them the habit -of milking for a long time. They may, be kept in milk even after they have 1 ceased to yield profitably, simply for the purpose of educating them to re* - main in milk for a good time. I The clover harvest has now com- ; menced, and it is found'that the stuff i varies a good deal. There axe in som< | paddocks three distinct and different stages of ripeness, in the heads on th« I-clover plants. It has been found that some of these heads contain good seed, and plenty of it, while others have scarcely anything to their credit. One may find in a paddock, for instance, that the earliest heads are comparatively empty of seed,’ only a few inferior ■ pickles of seed resulting when the head lis rubbed out in the hands. The heads | just turning, on the, other hand, mar I contaii? quantities of good seed, ano . the green ■ grains may be seen closely packed together on cutting the head open with a knife. The latest heads of j all, those- still in full bloom, also appear to contain-seed. This would seem I to establish the contention that is frequently made that the early seeds do | not fill properly, and that clover seed j can only be obtained in payable quanI tities by cutting the first crop for hay. , However, there seems to be no fixed rule' in the matter. A very great deal seems to depend upon the season. ~1 havo known good crops to result frqitt the first crop, and it was reaped fairly early. As a rule, however, it seems safer to cut the grass for hay about the middle of December, allowing the 1 clover to afterwards nrr-vr up Again and go to seed. In adopting this method pure clover is gathered in'instead of a • lot of weeds with the clover. A good price is likely to be obtained for clover : this season, and no doubt every effort will bo made to save as much as possible, seeing that the harvesting of it does not cost much time and money if the weather continues fine. The good prices received for draught ) horses at the Sherwood Down sale in . South Canterbury last week, even ! though many of the best animals were j no longer young, demonstrated the fact that goed, heavy horses, thoroughly | sound, will command a really good . figure. It is to ho feared that too-many draught horses in the dominion arc on the light side. In Southland, the home 1 of the Clydesdale in New Zealand—or, | at any rate, one of the principal districts for the breeding of him—it is

, stated that a great change has taken place in the type of animal produced, lie heavy, hairy-legged horse lias practically disappeared in favour of a lighter, quicker-moving animal possessing light bone. The result is, in the eyes | of some critics, that-the draught horse :is sadly deteriorating. The first cross, from the heavy, old-fashioned Clydes-

* dales may be all right, but what is going I to happen when the succeeding generations are still getting lighter. >lt.is not . easy to keep up to old size and quality. It is fatally easy to produce I lighter, smaller' horses, lacking substance. It is stated that in Canada the Clydesdale has become so light that I they are used to pull buggies! Tht Canadians have sacrificed strength to | speed, because they require an animal that can get through the woeb of culti- ' ration and sowing in double quick time. Much of the Canadian soil is very easily [ worked, and is quite distinct from the heavy clay soil which is so prevalent in New Zealand. The Scotch breeders have ' met the Canadian demand for a light, I active horse by entirely changing the type of the Clj'desdale, and to-day people are turning to the English Shire horses for weight and strength. Teams ' in New Zealand are, in the majority of cases, much lighter than they use to be, and it is just a question if the tendency to light bone has not gone quite far enough. We certainly want a good deal of weight when we used multiple and digger ploughs, giant cultivation and heavy combined drills. It will be a ■ great pity, if tho old class of draught . horse becomes virtually a thing uf the ' past. I In our hacks, too, it is questionable if we are maintaining the old st.ind- ' ards. There are too many" light, weedy thoroughbred horses about. They certainly lack bone, and they lo not. pot s ' sess the constitution that hacks had thirty years ago. These small mares are still being put to thoroughbred horses in large numbers, and the result 1 must be that tho progeny is becoming lighter and more weedy all the time. Wo do not want light horses that are good only oil the sprinting track. What Jjs needed is big, useful animals that I can pull a good load on the road, at , tlie same time cutting out a journey without delay. There are a good many useful trotting horses about with good bone and constitution. If this type of animal is mated with the lighter, v.-cedier-looking horse is produced, which will go a journey with a good turn of 'speed and keep it up even if there ia a good load behind it. Trotting horses v ~- are generally accused of being unsound and incapable of standing hard work.On a solid road. But it must be remembered that trotting horses . are often pushed along at top speed on hard, metalled roads, and it is no wonder that some of them go in the legs. If thej are treated reasonably they shoulc stand a lot of work. Good saleable har. ness horses should be produced by mating the lighter “thoroughbred” looking hacks with the sturdier, stronger trotting horse.