ON THE LAND.

Northern Advocate, 30 January 1922, Page 7

ON THE LAND.

WOOL GROWING

Tn tho course of a paper read nt 1 lie recent conference of tlie Council of Agriculture, Mr W. Perry, the wellknown Wairarapa sheep breeder, gave the folio-wing opinion:—"Breeders of the heavier wools would be, I think, very unwise to go rushing into fine wool now, for by the time they had developed a fine-woolled flock the fashions would probably be changed, and they would be out o.f it again. It is better to breed a class of wool that will have a good average demiand over a number of years, and, provided it is suited to the land and climate with which one is working, to stick to it right through. A prominent wool buyer recently informed .me that tho counts of wool which met with the most ready

sale over an average of years wore from 44's to 48's, provided they were of first-class quality." TREAT THE COW KINDLY. "Kindly treated cows give more ami better milk." So reads a poster in the stable of the groat Carnation Stock Farm, where Segis Pietortje Prospect recently made her world's record of over .°.7,0001k5. of milk in -one year. Another poster in the same stable reads, "No swearing allowed. These are contented cots." The sti.ble rules do not permit of any loud talking or hard usage. "Treat the cow like a lady" is the rule insisted on and if it may seem superfluous to many practical dairymen, the Carnation Farm is certainly getting results. Never a. nwnth passes now but some new world's record is announced from tho Carnatio.il herd, and the herdsmen will assure you that contentment has a lot to do with the results. There is a really round scientific basis for the belief that the cow should be treated like a lady. A cow is not a machine that will produce so much milk, if she is fed a certain quantity of nutrients. The .secretion of the milk depends directly on the operation of her nervous system. When the milker sits down to milk, there is a certain a/mount of milk stored in the udder, that he is sure to get if he squeezes the teats. At least 75 per cent, of the milk that he will get, however, is secretod in the udder, as he milks. This secretion is controlled by the nervous systean of the cow. If the cow is frightened of her milker, or is abuiscd, she may hold back her milk altogether. This is the exception rather than the rule. There is good reason to believe, however, that practically all cows, while they do not hold their milk back altogether, will give a decreased flow. In the year, this may total a considerable amount. The daiTy fanner should handle his cows gently and insist that his sons and 'hired help do the same, because it pays, if for no other reason. FIXING LABELS ON FRUIT CASES. Trouble is often experienced by fruitgrowers through the display-labels peeling off fruit cases in sun or damp, owing to defective paste or pasting. The following recipe and directions have given satisfactory results: Take 81b flour and 2 oz powdered alum mixed (together to a thick paste with a little cold water. Add boiling water to the paste thus foaimed, constantly stirring all the time until the quantity totals about, 4 gallons. The chief essentials are the boiling water and the con-

st.ant stirring w;hilc this is being adiicd. If found too thick after cooling, small quantities can be further diluted by addition of n little more water. Apply paste to end of case, then place label, pressing it on firmly with a dry wide

brush. If the label is damped with water beforehand and applied in this condition, it is found to adhere tighte.r. This, of course, makes considerably more w,ork, and it is dou'Dtful if tho extra trouble is justified. —Horticulture Division. SQUASHES AND PUMPKINS AS FEED. It is reported by tho Colorado Experiment Station that same local stockmen fatten hogs exclusively on squashes. The gains are economical and a good favoured meat results. However, the fat may have an undesirable yellow colour. The Vermont Experiment- Station found that two fljiid 'One-half ton.s of numpkins were equal to one ton of good corn silage for feeding dairy cows. For practical purposes .s an ashes may bo considered equal to pumpkins. Many feeders prefer to use these j vegetables in connection with «i grain ration. For hogs, corn or corn meal would give satisfactory results. Three parts of grain and four parts of pumpkins by weight is suggested to be fed. These vegetables .may be considered as succulent feed and valuable for feeding dairy cows during the early fall after the cows come off the pasture and before the silage is Tcadv for use. The secd.s are very rich in protein and fat, and therefore useful in supplying nutriment, but should not be overfed as they may cause digestive disturbances the same as overfeeding any rich feed would: 30 or 40 pounds of pumpkins or squashes daily would be am pie. PINK EYE. Kerosene is an easily obtu'.nable and simple remedy for this disease, from which wcaners are most likely

to suffer this good season. Tho oye should be examined for seed, as pink eye blinds the sheep temporarily, and if seed is present on tho country the blind or partly blind sheep are likely to pick up seed or other foreign mat-

ter. Wash the eye out with kerosene, or with a solution of bluestone, which is also highly recommended. This solution is made by dissolving two teaspoonfuls of powdered bluestone in 1 pint of water, which has been previously Doiled. Hold the eye open and pour into the eye, or use a syringe. It will allay the inflammation, and cut away the scum that forms over the eye. It is equally useful for the treatment of sheep affected with grass seed after the seed is removd, or sheep flyblown about the face. Pink eye is infectious, and sheep affected should be removed from the mob into a small hospital paddock in which the sheep cannot get far away from water. They must be seen to daily, and the blind sheep taken to water. Bad cases should receive the bluestone treatment, but for lightly affected sheep kerosene will suffice. RABBIT INVASION. "Millions of rabbits are being bred (one might almost think being actually farmed)," write farmers from the Moawhango, "upon the pastoral lease country at Waionui Crown Land. . . Country that used to carry 25,000 sheep now carries none. No stops are being taken to cope with the rabbits, and the petitioners as adjoining owners, have been put to expenditure amounting to £3000 a year to protect their own properties. Complaint is made that the pastoral lands are the subject of speculation, while the rabbits go on multiplying to the danger and detriment of adjoining properties. The Land Board is asked to exercise its statutory power to compel its tenants to light the rabbit pest. DESTRUCTIVE WILD PIGS. Wild pigs are very numerous this year in some of the back-block districts, and are very destructive to lambs and fencing. A settler near Pipiriki informed the "Wanganui Chronicle" recently that he has shot nearly 300 pigs in the last three months. SHORTHORN COMPETITION. The shipment of Shorthorn cattle from the United States to South America is becoming more a menace (recently remarked London "Field"). Tt is assuming dimensions that make it impossible to regard the competition with indifference. The monopoly of tho. United Kingdom in this lucrative market has ended. The breed? that compete with us are our own, but that fact does not appreciably alter the case, as it affects British breeders. It is important testimony to the value and adaptability of our stock that the breeders in the United States can compete with us in supplying the South American market, and the indirect effect is not to be despised, but it will tell seriously against us if we allow ourselves to be ousted from the Argentine by our North American friends in this trade.

ARGENTINA'S CATTLE HERDS. A writer in the "Breeders' Gazette" (Chicago, U.S.A.), giving his impressions of Argentina as a cattle country, says, inter alia: — "The best herds and flocks of the British have been drawn on freely, and, for the most part, judiciously, and at enormous prices. Here may be found in great abundance the most famous and highly-prized blood lines in the Shorthorn breed. I feel that it would be safe to say that not in all the British Isles could be found half so many direct and unmixed descendants of the old Cruickshank herd, which was finally I dispersed, as are now in Argentina. Duggan Bros.' purebred herd, numbering some 400 head, all descended direct ly" from the one-half of his famous herd, which was taken over by Nelson Bros, and shipped to Argentina. This herd and other herds have been steadily enriched by the blood of many of the

famous prize-winners at the great I British shows, including the Royal. It is by no means uncommon to see the best of such winners in the representative herds of this country, and not infrequently the winners themselves. The natural increase of these herds, male : s well as female, has been kept almost, entirely in Argentina, and has h( , pn « 0 widely distributed that we now see a, country not only scrub-free, hut stocked, so far as the lands are utilised, by a superior beef type of Shorthorn." Cattle of this breed predominate largely in Argentina to the extent of SO per cent., probably more, according to the best information obtainable.

"It must be noted, however, that the Hereford is coming into popularity in some quarters, and the AberdeenAngus breed is not without sturdy adherents. These great herds of purebred cattle are being handled under the most natural conditions, living all the year round in the open, with few exceptions."