COUNTRY CHIT-CHAT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4482, 25 March 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

COUNTRY CHIT-CHAT.

! IWBJTTIEK 70£ TE£ " wififflT iAr-'tlJe Christcfeai«H ; annual heLji oi the 3rd inst.,-on the grounds of the .Agricultural and Pastoral Association, I observe th< following results Attendance limited, few entries, bidding the reverse of brisk; sis imported Lincoln' ewes, bred by Mr. - H; Mackinder, Langton; Grange,; -Lincolnshire; sold.to Mr. Coe'for twenty guineas each, and thirty-five 'Lincoln-Leicester ewes,■» by Solo mon and Bandy, out of ewe 3 ired by Mr. Tolmie and Mt* 03airdj of Auckland, to Mr. Conway for fix - each. Messrs. Matson and Co., sold five .ewe lambs,' owned and bred by MrJD. Maydwell, to Mr. Conway at £2 each. . They also offer-ad a number of ewes bred by Mr. J. T; Matson, the whole of which were jiiaced at fair rates. The lots comprised one Lincoln-Leicester lamb, sold for three guineas each to Mr.. Conway ; sixteen two-tooth Down ewes for one guinea each,to Mr. Wilkin; six two-tooth LincolnLeicesters, faritwo guineas each to Mr. Perham; -seven Xjincol 11-Leicesters for'lss 9d each, to Mr. "Maurice Jones ; two Leicester, ewes for ,10s each,.tO-Mr. W. Jeffrey; eight Lincoln-Leicester ewes for 17s/.6d each,; to

Mr. W.-Tefirey;-and forty-one Leicester ewes ' for 17s Gd each to Mr. Dowding; the last four lots being l culls. A number of well- [ bred two'tooth'Leicesters belonging to Mr." , Matson,' were.passed in at sixteen guineas and ten guine&3- each. ■ Mr. Mitchell. offered * a numbecof Romney Marsh .ewes and lambs, and sold a'few of them.-at £1 each. " After ! the ewe-fair, Mr. Matson succeeded in placing '. two more -of Mr. Lysaght's imported Lincoln rams, • one for fifty-five guineas, to' Mr. Gherkin, Tai Tapu, and another for fortyeight guineas l to Mr. Nutt, of the same dis- ' 'Messrs. ' Matson ■ and Co. .. also, disposed by -auction -of two Leicester rams, - ' owned 'by Messrs. il>igby and' Hebden, -to Mr. Lefievre, for three guineas each.•' ■•• •< In 1874, «n. enormous crop, of mangold was' produced by tfche aid of sewage irrigation on ■ - Lord Warwick's farm, but last season produced even :more startling and prodigious , figures, for il (observe by ..one of the home papers, that at the Birmingham Cattle-Show,'' roots were exhibited;from a crop weighing ■ ninety-seven .tons -per -acre. This I should, think is the heaviest root crop ever recorded.. 'It-is well /for settlers sto know that' a Blightly -decayed : shingle rbof may be temporarily preserved.fromifurther.decay by a good coat of -thick lime-wash. 1 A - second coat of stall thicker lime-wash, in which fine sand ,is kept/stirred, will--act as a further preservative, 'but the - latter ■ application should be renewed- every-summer. Painting does not help to preserve a roof, unless done on both sides,-the .moisture which penetrates beneath them lis (kept there, from, escaping by the coat of,paint on-the outside, and -the rot -.very rapidly. Lime is a good preservative for shingles, but crude -petroleum^;is the ;best. ' The shingles, : first thoroughly dried; may be dipped into it, -or.it -may rbe put on after they are laid. . The value of .dynamite-in- clearing land has been, I believe, favourably shown in a recent clearing of a tract of lland in - Ireland for agricultural purposes. The land was so covered with boulders as:to-be.useless.on account of the cost -of removing them, until dynamite was tried. Charges of two ounces in a six-iueh hole shattered dmmense sunken boulders, so -that they could be removed with ease.and theipieces usedin building walls without-dressing. Loose boulders were broken -up by placing charges of dynamite upon them .and covering these with other boulders. The explosion broke both the boulders into fragments fit for building stone. This -process ;might be tried on some of our scoria Sand. ■ The foot and mouth disease still continues to prevail ill almost .-all -the.oounties in .Great Britain. The loss is greatest amongst-dairy cattle, though store stock;are also affected. The superior condition of fat cattle appears to resist ths disease better others;— The Agricultural Gazette, :in;a leading article on the disease, remarks " that quackery enjjoys a splendid opportunity of shining in .-ihe 'treatment of the disease, ibeeause, if :the .•medicine used is not actively injurious, the .animal is almost certain to recover, and . the •doctor gets the credit of a cure which nature has effected. In his examination before the select committee of the -House <of Commons in ;1873, Professer Simonds stated that in the outbreak of foot and .mouth disease which, occurred in 1840, the .disease was more fatal than it has been in any subse- ; quent outbreak, and he considered that. - fatality to have been due to .the" measures"! - whichi .were at that time generally adopted! to curcthe disease. We do not now go to the length of bleeding, blistering and purg- 1 ing, .by way of cure, but short of these heroic -measu res, we allow as mueh -mi - • chievous interference as possible, quite re- 1 gardless of the fact that the malady belongs to a class which is distinguished by certain ' phenomena following each other in" regular- 1 order, and not to be deranged with impunity. J The rules -for the proper treatment of foot 1 and mouth disease are few and simple, and 1 in all ordinary cases sufficient to guide the • farmer in the management of the sick 1 animals. Exceptionally, severe attacks should suggest the propriety of calling in 1 the aid of an experienced veterinary surgeon ; • medical treatment of the amateur order is certain to do more harm than good in the 1 affection. The essential things to be done 1 are—first, to keep the affected animals from, i wandering about, and so injuring their feet, ' which cannot bear the pressure ; next, to ] supply nutritious food in a convenient form, 1 that the sick animals may have no difficulty i in collecting it; lastly, a system o£ good 1 nursing, including all watchful attention to ] the animals* comfort, is indispensable. Cases ] which do not progress favorably under this * system require the attention of a competent i veterinarian. Such cases 3 however, will be few and far betweeu, if proper care be taken 1 the commencement of an outbreak." 1