Notes.

North Otago Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2157, 2 April 1879, Page 7 (Supplement)

Notes.

RedDurhams. — The so-called Durhams, or Shorthorn*, properly npcakinig are generally red, red and white in patches, roan, or white. The favorite color is a roan, which is a mixture of rod and white hairs, closely set together. That a Shorthorn is entirely red is not to be taken as an indication that there is Devon blood in the animal. A distinguishing mark of a Devon is the long, spreading horns; while a Shorthorn has short, neatly-curved horn*. Red Shorthorns have a richer, purer red than the Devon. Milk from a Heifer. — Ttis not only not impossible, but easy, to bring a heifer, that has not yet had a calf, or that has not even been bred to a bull, into milk. All that is necessary is to excite the lacteal organs by permitting a calf to suck, or by the action of milking with the hands or fingers. We have seen two virgin heifers taking their place among the cows in a dairy, to be milked twice a day, and one of them gave 4 quarts a day at 14 months of age. Value of Eggs. — As a hen may be expected to lay about 12 dozen of eggs, weighing 18 pounds, and to consume 60 pounds of corn in the year, it follows that for each pound of eggs, 3jt pounds of corn are used. There is no other animal product afforded io cheaply. Five pounds of corn costs now about C cents, and a dozen eggs, which are the product of that quantity of corn, are worth on an average during the year 20 cents. A brood of 10 chicks may be brought to a weight of 2 lbs. each upon a bushel of mixed corn and wheat, so that 20 lbs. of live weight can be produced from 60 lbs. of grain. There is then no more profitable farm stock than poultry. Best Cows for Milk and Butter. — There is no question that the best cows for farm use, for milk and butter, are grade Jerseys. Cows of this kind that will make 300 pounds of the. choicest butter in a year, can be procured from parties who make a business of breeding them, and they cost but one-third or one-half as much as prize Jerseys. Dip for Scabby Sheep.— "H. A." Smith Co., Kansas, recommends a dip made of 7 pounds each of lime, and flowers of sulphur, boiled in 60 gallons of water, as a cure for scab in sheep. Treatment for Scratches in a Horse. — " Scratches" i* in reality a disease of the blood, and if the discharge at the heels is stopped without removing the disease itself, the effusion gathers in other parts of the body, and may result in '• stocking" of the legs, or dropsical swellings, elsewhere. It would be well to use some laxative physic at first with the best and most nutritious food — for instance, a pint of raw linseed-oil two or three times, with one day intervening betwoen the doses, and follow this with half an ounce of hyposulphite of soda, given daily for some weeks in the feed. Wash the legs with warm water and soap, then dress with a solution of 10 grains of eavbulio acid iv one tablespoonful of water, and finally brush it over with a large feather, dipped In glycerine. Green Manuring.—- Ploughing in green crops is a good way to begin in renovating a run down farm, but more than that is needed. It is difficult at first to get a heavy crop to plough under, and a light crop does little good. It is best to use some artificial fertiliser, suoli as Peruvian guano, or the prepared chemical manures, to help the first crop. When land will produce a fair burden of clorer. and that is ploughed in, a very good beginning is made ; but that must be followed by a rogular course of manuring and cropping, else the benefit will be lost again. Artificial Fertilising. — We do not doubt that a farm may be very easily carried on with but little live stock and grain sold yearly to pay expenses, by a system of chemical fertilising, with an occasional green crop plowed in. But the most profitable branch of agriculture is raising live stock, either for meat or dairy purposes, growing grain to feed them, adding tome purchased foods, and using some artificial fertiliseri to help out what is made on the farm j while the poorest business is growing grairiTor sale only. Different fertilisers are compounded by the dealers to suit the needs of various crops. Can Potatoes be Raised Perpetually on

the same Soil ?— There ia no roaspn why potatoes should not be grown year after year upon the same soil, if proper fertilisers are supplied. But there is no necessity to do this. Potatoes may be grown once every four years, by making a rotation of grass and clover, potatoes on sod, and wheat, rye, or other small grain or perhaps a crop of peas, or oats, intervening. On 100 acres there may then be 20 to 25 acres of potatoes yielding Ll.OOO each year, which is a handsome money income. Potatoes take from the soil chiefly potash and limn, and if the waste and vines are returned, there is little exhaustion. An Imperfect Teat. — When two teats are grown together, it is probable that one duct is common in the two, in which case an operation to separate them would be unsuccessful. By inserting a probe in each tent, if there is but one duct, the probes will come together. If there are two milk ducts, the teats may be cut asunder by a skilled veterinary surgeon. Large Cows. — It is difficult to raise rich butter cows of a large size. If it pays to breed Urge oxen for draft, it wonld be best to select good cows of large frame. Perhaps the Hereford cow, crossed with a Shorthorn bull of a milking family, would be the best combination to secure both butter and beef. Why Wheat Lodges.— The stalks that grow rank and thick are succulent, and when the tops are loaded with water, after heavy rains, they are easily laid flat by the wind, if not by their own weight. They have no power to raise themselves, and the crop is "lodged." In this condition the grain does not mature. This happens in soils that are rich in organic matter, and are deficient in lime. A liberal dressing of lime will remedy the] defect. In sandy soils, the application of a few bushels of salt per acre has the same effect as lime upon clay soils. Thin sowing, as for instance only one bushel per acre, tends to case a ■tiff growth of stalk, and prevent lodging. Manure for Potatoes. — We know of crops of 150 bushels of potatoes per acre, being produced on an application of 400 lbs. of the Stockbridge potato manure, anJ 300 and 400 bushels from larger amounts of the fertiliser. The parties dealing in the " Stockbridge Manures," are reliable. Some hold that better potatoes can be produced with such fertilisers than with barn-yard manure ; but it depends quite as much on the soil and method of using, as on the manure ; this is too much of a question for discussion here. Whether corn or potatoes would pay the best with good manure and cultivation, depends on seed, soil, and the farmer ; then, other things being equal, there would probably be little difference in the ultimate results. Medium-Sized Fowls. — As • rule, the midium-sized fowls of a bred are better than the very large ones, for laying or for table use. Quality and symmetry usually go together ; that is, the bird possessing the shape and style of its breed in the highest degree, is the nearest perfect in other particulars, and is of medium size. In the Asiatic breeds of fowls, the specimen which stands a trifle above the average height, is, in the majority of coses, the best in color and symmetry, and utility. Ploughing under Clover for Wheat. — The beneficial effectjof ploughing in clover for wheat, is due to the mass of readily decomposable vegetable matter, rich in nitrogen, and which in decaying has an important chemical effect on the soil. The soil is not re-seeded by ploughing in the crop. The growth is cut, and the second crop ploughed in, or both crops harvested and the stubble turned under ; then reseeded in the usual manner. It is a paying practice. Is Ploughing Injurious ? — Ploughing is the only practical mechanical means we now possess for preparing the soil for crops. As a rule, the more the soil is ploughed and worked, the more fertile it becomes. There need be no fear that exposing the soil to the sun by frequent ploughing will in jurej ure it. On the contrary, soil is injured by being baked in the sun, when it lies unploughed and unworked. Spayed Heifers. — Heifers are usually spayed after having their first calf. Heifer calves are more difficult to operate upon than young bulls. It is necessary that the ovaries of the young animal be fully developed before the operation is performed. Protecting Seed against " wire-worms," mice, and other vermin. — " R. W. D.," Flint, Mich., writes that the following method of treating seeds is tent him from England, and he wishes to have it tried in this country and reported upon. It has long been in use in England, as we see it frequently mentioned in the journals. It consists in the use of Red Lead, in the proportion of half a pound to a bushel of seed grain, peas, or other seed. The seed is first moistened with water, and the dry Red Lead sprinkled over it, stirring to secure an even coating. Spread the seed to dry, and then sow. An Agricultural Journal in Japan. — Ja-

pan is a constant wonder. Having thut itself out from the world so tfng, it^would teem to bare devoted this seclusion to preparing itself to accept the best that other countries had to offer, whenever intercourse should be opened. To be sure, it has made some mistakes — but very few. It started an Agricultural College, which some of our older States and other count rift find a great puzzle and do not known what to do with it, now that they have it. But the Japanese are shrewd enough to distinguish the ornamental from the useful, and in starting an Agricultural Journal, are evidently getting upon the right track. This journal a handsomely illustrated title page, which, us it is their custom to begin their books " hind side before," is at what we should consider the end of the work. It ha«, besides the cover, 20 pages of teachings which we have no doubt are excellent ; including an illustrated article ou the grapevine. Wo wish our Japanese fellow laborer much succes. Percheron and " Percheron-Norraan" Horses. — The true Percheron horse is not a large-boned, long-legged, loosely built horse, but many of the half-bred so-called Normans are. There hate been many trashy coarse mis-shapen horses imported into this country as Perchetons, wbich hare brought discredit on the race, and an effort is now making to let these down easy by calling them •• Percheron-Nor-mans," a name which signifies only that they are not Percherons. In selecting a horse for breeding, one shonld not be misled by the large size and great bone. Compactness of frame, fine bone,, well knit joints, a dear, bright, intelligent eye, broad forehead, a short round barrel, good chest, and good temper, should be looked to before monstrous size. Scurry in Poultry.— "A. C," St. Mary's River, Ga., sends the following account of a fatal disease affecting fowls in this locality, which he calls " warts :" " The warts begin to show themselres with warm weather— (here, our climate is nine months summer, and three of spring), generally about the head and neck, working towards the mouth and around the bill. They resemble the human 'smallpox.' The pustules are filled with yellowcolored matter. If the warts get into the mouth, the bird is choked, as the tongue and throat swell up, as in diphtheria. As remedies, sulphur, gas-tar, kerosene, etc., have been tried in turn, and failed. The birds, m well as chicks, are attacked. Sometimes the whole body is affected, when the feathers fall off. Turkeys, likewise, hare the disease, but ' water-fowl,' suoh as geese and ducks, in the same yard, are pefectly free from it."— The disease is [ 6curvy. It is, fortunately, rare, because, when it attacks a flock, it generally destroys the whole, unless measures are taken to stop it. These are, to administer to each bird ten grains of sulphur and one grain of calomel, every alternate day ; and to apply to the diseased parts an ointment, made of one ounce of sweet oil, mixed with one-third of « i ounce each of sulphur and tumeric. ihe disease is in the blood, and is not warts, by any means. To prevent its spreading, give chopped fresh vegetables and boiled oatmeal mush to the other fowls ; and put in the drinking water enough Aromatic Sulphuric Acid (tilixir oi,Vitriol) to nrake it decidely sour to the taste. Also, separate the sick birds from the well. The Pip in Poultry.— Poultry are sometimes troubled with a disease known at ' ' jpip. " This is inflammation of the tongue and mouth, with the growth of a horny scale on the point of the tongue, which prevents the fowls fiom feeding. Give tach fowl a pinch of powdered chlorate of potash, dropping it into the throat and upon the tongue, and remove the scale with the point of a penknife. To g«t Land under Grass quickly. — After a wet piece of land has been underdrained, it may be best seeded by ploughing and sowing with oats rather thinly. Oati succeed well upon cold moist ground, and upon a tod, and if there art no more than 2 bushels of seed per acre used, the grass seed will take very well with this crop. A mixture of 4 quarts of timothy, a bushel of red-top, and a bushel of bluegrass per acre, would be preferable. Diuresis in a Heifer.— Diuresis, or excessive secretion of urine, may be anything that will unduly stimulate the kidneys. Musty hay, smutty corn-fodder, mouldy meal, bran or other food, or acrid weeds in the hay, all have this effect. The remedy is to seek out and avoid the cause and to give muciloginous drinks, such as oat-meal or linseed-gruel, with a teaspoonful of powdered Peruvian bark, and as much powdered sulphate of iron, daily. Value of Potash.— The cost of potash varies with the form in -which it is sold. Sulphate of potash is higher in cost tbau the muriate, but still the sulphate is considered cheaper for root crops and fruits, on account of its action on the development of starch and sugar ; while the muriate is just as good for grosses and grains. Unbleached wood ashes are worth, comparatively, 15- to 20 ctfc per bushel.