AGRICULTURE ON" THE CONTINENT. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

North Otago Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2081, 3 January 1879, Page 4 (Supplement)

AGRICULTURE ON" THE CONTINENT. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Paris. Anglo-norman horses. The favorite race of Anglo-Norman horses art) not so much bred as reared and trained in the vast and rich plains of Oaen. Itwould bo an error to conclude that the whole of the province of Normandy is dedicated to this industry. The rearers of Caen purchase the colts when 18 or 24 months old, wherever they can find them posessing certain forms, approaching what is knoTii especially as the Asiatic, or English type—forehead broad andstraight. The place of birth, or the maternal origin is of secondary importance. The colts — or males — are reared with the view of becoming stations, and tho.se not occupied by the govern mental breeliug studs are cistrated, an I sold a3 sa Idle, carnage, or draught horses. In the otner parts of Normandy, as in France generally, and perhaps in the greater number of countries the colt is allowed in tine seasons to feed in natural meadows, and roam to a certain extent free. Not so in the region of Oaen ; here the laud is very rich and highly cultivated, and the colts, to the number of 100 in line, are " tethered" while graziu,' ; a rope with a aeriea of knots is attached to a peg in the soil, «md the auimals c m thus graze a tixed band of artificial ineulow. As the baud is fed dmvn, a fresh knot is let out, or the peg changed. The colts commence this treatment in spring as the pasture is advanced, and continue while the grass lasts ; the system of culture being adapted to the amusement In winter they pas 3 into the stables, and are fed on dry forage Since aome| years and improvement has taketi place in tiie mode of feeding the \ouug animals, that of giving them daily, otto utths rate of four quarts a day, cvu«

numeii in a nose-ba?. This gives them firi), go, and staying power, for the trotting tests they will luve to submit to be foro the government purchasers. This test necessitates the training of the coUs to trotting, and hence each breeder has a ourse 1| mile* long where the animals are daily exercised, the riders bein« the stable boy or the owner's son. By this plan of of rearing, the horses acquire solidity of limb and muscle, if they do not gain in general corporeal elegance. There is a difference as high as tw i-thir la between the price obtumtd for au entire i colt and one when cut.

0 LANDERS. I No cure it is believed exists lor plunders : | what is liM certain is the contagion" nature |of the terrible disease. In Germany, it is viewed a« infectiou-* and in consequently treated as a pest, viz., the affected auinial is killed, and those suspected put in quarantine, for the early stajje of the rnalariy is the most dangerous. The known cases of spontaneous glanders are very rare. The disease was once very prevalent |in the French cavalry and in Havana. The colonel ol a regiment and the veterinary surgeon arc held personally responsible if glanders spread, ai they are empowered to sacrifice the horses.

DISEASED PORK. There are rumours that ail is not quite right with regard to the quality of meat allowed to he sold in Pans : the inspectors are not unfaithful, hue incompetent, a fjooil deal of meanly pork is presumed to pass, which is strange, at the disease is easily recognised on the dead animal. The butchers deceive the purchaser hy successively slicins away the vesicles, but the malady can be readily detected, if a lean portion of the animal (the shoulder for example) be cut, when the vesicles will he visible. In France pork foims the sole meat diet of one half the population, and many persons knowingly eat the diseased flesh, asserting that if well cooked, which it should be in ever}' instance, the worms and their verms wil he destroyed, and that onions and a good bottle of wive will do the rest.

MEAT. The average price of butchers' meat in Paris is 16 sous ptr pound, and despite all the unused supplies in La Plata and Australia that an official asserted could be transported lrom Sydney to Marseilles in three week*. Sifter Anne's see nothing coming. The I'ellier process seems to have broken down since his beef packet, the Trigotifiqxte. is moored in the Seine, and exhibition visitors invited to pay half a franc t<» witness what she failed to do — «upply citizens with plain joints fresh from L'» Plata. French railway engineers and farmers corroborate them, a^ert that ntvvies execute one-third more woik when fed on a imat instead of a vegetable soup diet, and the vital statistics of the manufacturing cooties ol LiMie and Rouen attest that in proportion to the consumption of meat, the health of the population increases and the number of hirtha also.

FORAGE AND VINES. The Chamber of Commerce of Marseilles has onlenl that the minufaeturers of oil in th it city, do stamp their tra<le mark on the cakes issu'n;; from their factories ; the farmers will thus have a guarantee much needed. M. Goff»rr, the originator of the plan of conserving green foraire — above all maizj — in trenches has invited foreign agriculturists to visii his farm, huco-ne his guest* tor theday, and witnessthecomplete wot king of the system ; he places a special train at his own expense, at the service of those who wisn to accept his invitation. Following in the wake of this idea, M. Fi'icon will do th-j same at the close of Octobtr, to «how the flol >o liny; process (if his vineyard for the destruction of the phyll >Xfra, the luxuriancy of \m vines, an<l the next to dm;>peirince of those of his m-i^hbors, who having eyes decline to use them.

MAIZE. The preservation of green maize has taken such an extension in Belgium, that the farmers have more forage than their stock can consume. For the benefit of those farmers who have not adopted this revolution in agriculture, they have no occasion to hesitate. The system presents no difficulties : cut the maize when is has just ceased to flower and commences to form the grain. When sown broadcast the yield is less heavy hut more tender, and can be trenched without preliminary chopping, though this process saves a great deal of trouble at feeding time : when cultivated in drills the yield is superior, but the stalks are thicker and harder, and here the cutting machine will tell ; in any case the fermentation will soften the stems and impart to them a vinous sugiry flavor quite appetising. A uranary, an old shed will do as well as a trench for magazining the preen forage, provided the air he excluded as well as wet. When in Y. furrows or trenchts, the stuff nhouid be well trodden down, covered with straw, heath or leaves, &c, and then with two feet of mould, keening a close eye during a fortnight to stop fis^ures. About 31' >*>. of salt to the ton of forage is addedsome mix straw, but this rather checks uniformity of fermentation; alittleeuttingsofgra-s or clover aftermath will not be bad. The trenching is not affected by wet or dry weather ; if the stuff has not to be carted far, it need not bo made up into sheaves ; in the contrary case, the binding will prove a convenience.

SCIENTIFIC FARMING. Farmers are commencing to comprehend that if science has done much for them their own intelligent observation of the soil and its vegetation can do more. Perhups one of the greatest benefits Suit nee has conferred on the agriculturist is, compelling him to observe, and teaching him how to think. There are numerous questions in farming that science cannot answer, and many co U|>lexities tbut she cannot reconcile. Fur example the subject of manures. That from ttie tarm yard no longer suffices lor the want* of the moil, even when is has Iven enriched by feeding stock on oil cake. We cannot propose sptcia! manures like pilln, and prescribe as sufficient ior wheat, another for the vine, and a different one (or beef, for tlie m mure to be employed depends often on the outurcand «tate of the soil than of the crop to produce. Again, the chemictl analysis of the soil does not always suffice to indicate the fertiliser to employ, as the relationship between the feitility and the composition of arable land is still ot^ciire, and we are ignorant also of rlieinfliiencesof its physical constitution. But we are perfectly sure of the chemical value of the salts ot ammonia, p itiisli, the nitrates, and the phosphates. Here again, the employment of these salts alone or studiously combined docs uot sum :e, 'and the sune observation applies to m mures of organic origin, as oil cukes, animal relu».\ The per C'litiue of azite, phos* phone, acid ,Vc., in a fertilizer, is only an indicator, not a measure of its utility. Ntro^en will not produce the same effect when presented in the form of a nitrate as of »u tmiuouUoal nit i 10 pr wutol aaote

in the latter, is not the equivalent of 10 per cent of nzote in horn ; nor when horn is applied in the form of tiny morsels, doe? it produce the same efficicy as when in * pulverised condition. The grand object otiL'ht to he to apply a mnnure in a state most ea«ilv soluble in water, and no more rapidly likely to he absorbed by root*, olnen in? how the noil check* or favors the action ol the fertiliser. In the animal economy it is wi«e and rational to vary the fond, it is equtily gool to vary the aliments which form the diet of crops. F Tin yard manure is of all others the best, because it contains precisely a larger variety of ingredients.

FARM SCHOOLS. Two happy results characteristic of the fnrin schools not only of France hut of .Belgium : their bnlnuce sheett indicate not a valued hut an actual cash profit, and the number of pupils trained follow instead of as hitherto leaving agricultural pursuits.

JERSEY. A French agriculturist who has just visited Jersey states that the rent per acre in that island, is ns much as 480 ires. ; that a cow yields from 15 to 22 quarts of milk daily, or 10 to I4lbs. of butter per week ; a two jear old heifer sell s from 1000 frcs. to 2500fr5., that the food of cows varies, as butter or milk is the ol ject, and the animals are fed every two hours. A Jersey cow produces about GOOfrcs. a year ; the breed is pure ; no foreign stock is allowed to he imported under a penalty of 25,000 frcs., and amelioration is nffected by judicious home selection*. An acre of early potatoes will produce a money value of 4,800 ires. In April the grape crop sent to London, yields from 12 to 25 frcs. per lb , and the eucalyptus flourishes as in Australia or Algeria.

BEET. The beet harvest haa commenced, and tlie yield promise* to be satMfaciory. At an Exhibition conference on sugar manufacturing, the meeting resolved that the government should reduce imports The Agricultural Exhibitors at the World's Pair nppear to be contented at the results they have achieved ; the specialities of all count! ies have been liberally medalled. We wait now for the practical, commercial, frui's.

is a good plan to keep fowls where s"inetiling el« i<< kept, free of lice, as it mixes the manure, and does not let it get foul ■• heneries are apt to do. Always have plenty of ventilation. We have kept poultry twenty yean, and 1 do not know we have ever lost a single fowl with the gapes, nnd it is very rare that we lose one with disease of any kind. We never shut our hen* up, l>ut let them run at large oo huh and low lnnd hoth. We generally keep from 100 to 125, including 6 or 8 cock*, and unmet imes pet 80 fresh eggi a day, and average 60 or 70 a day for months. Two or three years ago our egg*, in the month of M irch, amounted to 40 dollars, at the highest retail price, and our hens lay more or less the year round, instend of standing about on one leg with their enmhs frozen in winter. Perhaps some •vill think we spend a great deal of time and pains with them ; but we are well repaid.