FARMING AND COMMERCIAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 28, 31 December 1926, Page 5

FARMING AND COMMERCIAL.

TREATMENT OF WOUNDS. [By “ Ploughshare.”] The first step in the treatment of wounds is to stop the haemorrhage, or excessive flow of blood. While a haemorrhage is seldom dangerous unless a large artery or vein is cut, yet it is best to stop it at once. Bleeding from an artery is more serious than from a vein. Arteries carry blood from the heart to the different parts of tho body, while veins gather the blood and carry it back to the iheart again. Arteries have thick elastic vails that throb with the beating of the h*-art, and the blood is always under considerable pressure. If an artery is cut the blood is bright scarlet in colour and flows with forco, coming in a full spinning stream. If a vein is cut the blood is dark in colour and simply wells out of the wound with no forco. If an artery is severed, the end of tho blood vessel towards the heart must be treated. If a vein the end of the blood vessel away front tho heart must bo treated. If the haemorrhage is frorp a large blood vessel, the best way to stop it is to find tho cut end of the vessel and ligate, or tie it. This can be done by getting hold of the cut end with the fingers pulling the blood vessel out a little, and tieing it tightly with silk or linen thread, or any other that can be obtained, provided that it is clean. . In ordinary wounds the treatment is to hasten the formation of a clot. Tlii4 can be done by bringing the edges of the wound together and hold the blood, and so hastens clotting.

THE -UTILISATION OF CONCRETE FOR POSTS. The shortage of timber for fencing posts is being felt not only in this country but also in Australia. In many cases concrete posts are boing used. One particular station has been making its own, and although sand had to be carted several miles, the men were able to turn them out at a cost of 2s 6d each. At Longerenong College concrete posts, five feet five inches long, were turned out at a cost of Is 7id each. DIPPING. If dipping is carried out shortly after shearing, especially if the lambs havo been shorn at about the same time as the others only a few live ticks will bo left to deal with, as tho pupae does not usually adhere to the short wool. All sheep farmers Should have a dip on their own properties. This will ensure an effective dipping, as they can dip when and how they like. VENTILATION IN THE DAIRY. Now that tho warm weather is upon us it would be a wise plan to look to the ventilation of the dairy by constructing air shafts in opposite walls of the building. Tho one for the intake of - air can bo 8 inches by 4 inches, about 4 feet 6 inches in height, with an opening at the base to tlie outside wall and a similar one for the inside at the lop. The other shaft should extend from near the floor to the top of the roof, and have the bottom opening inside the building and the ono at the top to the outside air. It is a good plan to cover tho inner opening of the shorter shaft with a thickness of butter cloth; this will prevent the dust passing into the dairy. KEEP UP YOUR QUALITY.

In order to maintain their grade, farmers aro urged to take the utmost carq in their 6heds during the warm months. Many, during harvesting are tempted to do little jobs which are necessary for the production of a first grade article. Most teed flavours can be partly removed by cooling and storing. If a separator is washed only once a day, there is a direct loss to tho owner, as it will not skim cleanly tho second time that it is used. There is also the fear of tainting from the stale residue. . Cream should be run over a small cooler as it leaves the separator. A clean receptacle should be used for each skimming. Always keep the skimmings separate until sending to the factory. Never mix hot and cold cream. Cream should be stirred frequently with a metal plunger. The separator room should bo kept as clean as possible. Never use it as a store room. Rusty cans impart a bad flavour. Always send your cream on tho days arranged by the factory. THE POTATO CROP. Cultivation- and moulding up should bo continued. The soil should be kept well" and deeply cultivated between the drills until the potatoes are in flower. Caro should bo taken to see that the cultivator does not get too close to tho roots, otherwise the tubers may be cut off. Tho final moulding should bo done when the. potatoes havo commenced flowering. The soil should be well banked up to the haulms, otherwise the potatoes are soon greened with the sun. GENERAL NOTES. Every inch of rain means roughly 100 tons of water per acre. All young plantations on the farm should be protected from stock, as it is only a waste of limo and money to plant the list's and leave them open for the farm animals to destroy.

Maize is better made into ensilage than fed in green form. In the latter case it has tho tendency to promote flesh instead of producing milk. A s ensilage it is an excellent milk producer and is easily digested. In tho case of dairy cows, a considerable amount of the natural chlorine goes in tho milking, and it is usually necessary to add salt to their rations. Rock salt left in the paddocks is apt- to bo wasted, and it is a better plan to have it placed in a box, in some accessible spot in tho shod. Fertilisers for swedes should consist of a quick-acting phosphate, in order to promote rapid growth during the early stages when tho plants are subject to insect attack, and a slow-acting phosphate to carry on the growth well into tho winter. Mixtures of super and bone give good results. The seed and fertiliser should be mixed immediately before sowing and not left to stand. Inter-cultivation of - mangolds, keeping them free from weeds, will havo a marked effect upon the resultant crop. The wool bale should bo branded on both ends with the farm name and the number. The class of wool in the bale may also bo branded if desired. Young cattle aro at times attacked by ring worm. Tho affected parts should first be washed well with soft soap and water. When dry a preparation consisting of loz creosote and 7oz olive oil can be applied with a stiff brush. Tincture of iodine is also used. The presence in quantity of sorrel and of other acid-loving plants is as a rule a sure sign of a sour soil. On these applications of limo would bo beneficial. Limo stimulates the valuable grasses and clovers to a great extent, the result being the ascendency of the latter. Tho wheat function of limo is not as a manure but as a releaser or preparing agent of soluble plant food constituents and its action in connection with those processes is physical, chemical and bacteriological. Limo will stimulate the growth of legumes such as clover and lucerne.

PRICES OF METAL. LONDON, Dec. 29; Copper.—Standard, on spot, £56 11s 3d per ton; forward delivery, £57 8s 9d. Lead, £2B 17s 6d and £29 Is 3d. Spelter, £32 15s and £32 13s 9d. Tin, £297 17s 6d and £294 10s. Silver. —Standard, 24J, fine, 26 13-10 d per ounce.—A. and N.Z. cable.

AUSTRALIAN MARKETS. SYDNEY, Dec. 30. Wheat, 4s 9Jd per bushel at country stations, equal to 5s 5d trucks Sydney. Flour, local £l3 10s per ton for export, £l2 5s on f.o.b. sacks basis. Oats, Tasmanian white giants 4s 3d to 4s 5d per bushel; Algerians 3s lOd to 4s. Potatoes £24 to £26., Onions £9. Owing to the rain the prices of green vegetables have fallen heavily.—Press Association. ADELAIDE, Dec. 30. Wheat. —Growers’ lots, December, 5s Oid per bushel; January, ss*3d. Parcels nominally 5s 4d. Flour.— Bakers’ lots £l4 to £ls per ton. Oats 2s 4d to 2s Gd per bushel.—Press Association. DAIRY PRODUCE.

LONDON BUTTER PRICES. AMERICAN AND FRENCH FIGURES Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Dec. 30. The New Zealand Dairy Produce Board has received the following cable from the London office of the Board, dated December 24 ; Butter.—New Zealand, finest, 174 s ; first grade, 172 s ; k unsalted, 182 s. The market is firm, with an upward tendency. There is little demand for stored butters. Australian, 164 s to 170 s; Canadian, 164 sto 1655; Argentine, 154 sto 160 s; Dutch, 180 s to 184 s; Danish, 173 s to 182 s. Retails prices are unchanged. A good demand is anticipated after Christmas. In France the market is unchanged. ' Cheese.—New Zealand, white and coloured, finest, 965; first grade, 955; Canadian white and coloured, 94s to 965; exceptional, 98s. Tho market is quiet, with little demartd at the moment. Retail prices are unchanged. The board has since received a cable from London, dated December 28, 1926, stating that cheese . prices have been reduced by tho board, which has also received the follown cable advice from its agents in Canada ; Butter:—Vancouver, 44 cents (Is ,10d) ; San Francisco, 50 cents (2s Id) ; New York 52 cents. (2s 2d) ; Montreal, 40 cents (Is 6d). IMPORTED FOWL-WHEAT. Mr D. Jones, M.P., has received tire following letter from the Acting-Prime Minister in reply to his request that the importation of fowl wheat should be suspended: “Further to my telegram of yesterday in reply to yours urging suspension of further importations of fowl wheat, the officers of the department are keeping in close touch with all imports of such wheat, and every parcel imported requires a special permit. Probably there will be a certain amount of ■ overlapping. The risk cannot be run of having a shortage of fowl wheat between now and the time when New Zealand supplies are available, but every effort, will be made to keep such overlapping down to the smallest possible margin.”

SEASON IN NEW ZEALAND. Speaking at the annual meeting of Dalgety and Co., Ltd., in London on November 11, Hon. E. W. Parker, in reviewing the-operations for the year, said that in New Zealand the company had not done nearly so well as last year, when the Dominion was responsible for a considerable percentage of tho earnings. On this occasion, however, the season had been far from good, and the North Island was the victim of generally unfavourable weather. These conditions naturally affected the earning power of their branches—especially so as prices of the primary products of the Dominion had declined during the year.

AYRSHIRE COW’S RECORD. A message from Middle Musquodoboit, Nova Scotia, states that the world’s Ayrshire record for butterfat has been beaten, and again by a Can-adian-owned and bred cow of the breed. Betsy Wylie, bred and owned by Samuel C. Crockett, a leading Ayrshire breeder of Middle Musquodoboit, has just completed a 365-day test in the Canadian Record of Performance with 1103 pounds of butterfat from 21,805 pounds of milk with amaverage test of 5.06 per cent fat. She thus heats the world’s record in butterfat, held since last June by Nellie Osborn, of Howick, Quebec, with 1003 pounds of fat from 23,223 pounds of milk. The last named cow, however, still holds the record for milk production in the duration of the official test.

An amazing price was paid for fleece at the recent Sydney, wool sales. A buyer for Japan gave 60d <j, lb for the first lot offered in the bag section —the fleece of a pet sheep owned by the baby son of Mr A. Shiels, a popular buyer, who lives at Killara. This phenomenal price was not an indication of the market. It was merely a Christmas box for the happy youngster at Killara.