FARM NOTES FROM ENGLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9230, 19 June 1893, Page 3

FARM NOTES FROM ENGLAND.

[BY OUR ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL CORRESPON DENT. J London, April 15. SHOULD WOOL BE WASHED? In the Royal Agricultural Sociofcy'a Journal there is a short article by Mr. J. E. Hargreaves, an experienced wool salesman, who answers tho question in fcho negative. He says that unwashed British wool finds a readier market to-day than washed wool, jusb as it does in the colonies. He has I obtained the views of a great many farmers who have tested the comparative results of selling their wool washed or unwashed, and all but one are in favour of doing without washing. The manufacturers are bound to wash thoir wool after they get it, whatever farmers may have done to it, and they prefer to have it unwashed. They onlycontend that the dirty breech-locks should Dot be rollod up in the fleeces. A DEXTER COW'S MILK RECORD. A correspondent sends me tho following wonderful record of a little Dexter cow : — In Mr. Martin Sutton's Kidmore Grange Herd there is at the present time a cow, Red Rose, ;vhose record, I think, is almost unparalleled ; she calved the last week in March, 180*2, and her milk was weighed (*s every cow's in the herd is) morning and overling as soon as taken from her, commencing from the first of April; and from that day to the Urst of April j inst. she gave 4 tons 9cwt 3qrs and '2l)lb, averaging nearly 30 gallons per day for tho whole year. Rod Rose was shown ab tho meeting of tho R.A.S.E. at Warwick last year ami took the Ist prize in her class. Her udder was at that time so beautifully shaped and so near tho ground that 1 heard the remark made, " How do you get tho pail under her?" I have no means on the farm of weighing this little cow; but she does nob stand much higher than a large donkey, and I believe her live weight would not exceed 9ewt, so that within the year »he has given ten times tho weight of her body in milk. - SOME FIELD EXPERIMENTS. j Three aots of field experiments as carried out by the Bath ana West of England Agricultural Society in 1802 are described in the new number of the society's journal, | just issued. The first set was intended to show the effects on a corn crop of manures used upon a preceding crop of mangolds. The results aro given only in general terms. They show that whereas the artificial manure plots gave on an average a ton and a-half more mangolds per acre than the plots which received farmyard manure, in the succeeding corn crop the results were altogether contrary, for the dung plots gavo five bushels per aero on an average more than the artificial manure plots, 'Ji bushels per acre more barley, and bushels per acre more oats. The next set oi experiments were intended to show what artificial manures can be used with advantage in improving tho herbage of old pastures. This was a very poor trial, because only four different dressings wero used, namely, ljcwt of bonomeal per acre on one plot, scwt of basic cinder on a second, 1 i cwt of dissolved bones on a third, and oue ton of limo on a fourth plot. There was also a tost plot at each station to which no manure was given. At present the results are hardly beginning to show, but on tho whole it is said there is some reason to expect that the basic slag is producing the best herbage. It is altogether premature, however, to give any opinion, because one of the bone manures was only applied in January. The third experiment was intended to decide the question whether or not tho addition of salt to nitrate of soda for wheat or barley was of advantage. In the case of wheat, duplicate plots were dressed with 1,-Jcwt of soda, and two other plots with the same and 3cwt of salb added. There were '23 different stations in nine counties, and tho average results were as f jilows :— Wheat. Manures per llenl com. Tail com. Straw. .tore. bns. Hi. bat. lb. tons cwt. lh. None .. .. ;J3 21 -1 10 1 4 tf! lksl nitrite of soda .. .. 37 li 2 10 1 ? 40 llcwt nitrate of"! soda -37 23 2 37 I 7 47 3cwt salt J In the case of barley, 3cwt of superphosphate and of nitrate of soda were tried against the same quantities of these two manures with llcwt of salt added, with the following results : — Baklkv. Head corn. Tail corn. Straw, litis, lb. l)ti. lb. tons cwt. lb. None .. .. 39 31 2 41 1 I IS 3cwt snperphos- \ .icS'S™. „r ■« »' ' ' ' > '- 6 soda ) 3cwt snperphos-^ ph ate I liewt nitrate of >47 20 325 1 8 52 nod* I 3cwt salt ) Of courso there were groat variations in results on tho different farms, the salt having done a great deal of good in some cases and none at all" in others. Tho average, it will be seen, is much more in favour of its use for barley than of its application for wheat. But it was found that in most cases the salt improved tho quality of the grain, and stiffened the straw. CREAM-RAISING SYSTEMS. Among tho contents of the publication just referred to is an article giving the results of a comparison between the results of the cream separator, tho Jersey creamer, and the cream-scalding system in respect of the quantity and quality of butter produced. This was made by the Cornish l.'ounty Council. Twenty gallons of milk were dealt with on each day for two days by the separator and Jersey creamer, and 10 gallons by tho cream scalding system ; and two trials were made. On the first occasion the following results i were obtained : — lti. m. 1. Butter from separator, Ist day ... 9 lr.J 2nd,, .. M II lii 2. ~ „ Jersey creamer, Ist day ~ 8 4j 2nd,,.. ..8 4 3, „ „ 'Scalding system, Ist day ..8 3 2nd ~ ..7 I">J * Doubling the quantities to allow for only half as much milk being used. With respect to quality, the butter from the separator w.-us reported as fine and the best of tho three lots, while that from the creamer was of fair quality, but turned strong after being kept three days, and the butter from the scalding system was not of good quality, but did not deteriorate by keeping. These samples wero sent for analysis, with the following results 1. 2. 3. Water .. „ .. ~ l't-S 13\3n ir.-« Eat 88'S B'S'iw 80'« Curd .. .. .. .. U-3 070 1-3 Salt.. .. - .. .. 0-14 0-03 2-3 100 04 IOU'UO 1000 Tho results of the second trials wore as follows :— lb. 07.. 1. Butter from separator, Ist day ..8 2 2nd ~ ~ .. 7 15 2. „ ~ Jetsey creamer, Ist day .. .. 0 O '111 „ .. .. C 4 3. ~ ~ 'Scalding system, Ist day _ C"6 1 2nd „ ..7 0 ' Doubling the quantities, to allow for half as much milk being used. The analyses gave these results : — l. 2. 3. Water 1390 12*60 It CO Fat 80-50 80-70 87-30 Curd 0-32 8-34 037 Suit .. .. „ .. 0-23 0-50 0-M 100-05 100-04 Oil "J3 None of those samples of butter were reported as of good quality. It will be seen that in both tests the quantity of buttor made from the cream obtainod from tho separator was much larger than that ob tained by either of the other mothods. It is strange that the proportion of curds in the butter made from scalded cream should have been so small in the second trial, as it is usually much greater than in butter obtained by the other systems.