ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13029, 21 November 1905, Page 8

ON THE LAND.

':.„''. FRUIT AND- EGGS. ; A Sussisx poultry-breeder, in Farm Life, says:—The connection between the common I or garden apple and the hen's egg (which | is to oof ten uncommon) may not at first bo apparent; but I have noticed that during the period between the moult and the;recommencement of laying there are generally plenty of windfalls in the orchard and garden, and for some; years I have found a better use for these than leaving them for the scavengoring of the wasps. All this otherwise waste product, tho bruised, broken, and partially,, wasp-eaten fruit, is collected - and boiled tho fruit and liquor is mixed in with the meal and fed to the fowls. In the result I have found that I can practically depend upon a considerably increased egg yield, coincident with the introduction of apples into the diet. It would, of course, be '.'. .unscientific-'■ to claim Hint apples a.lono would constitute, a good egg-forming' food— wo must bo scientific in /these days, when poultrykeepers nil possess a table of the constituents of foods. Lest your list does not include an analysis of apples you may be interested to learn that, as regards fleshforming properties, these are so comparatively infinitesimal, that it would require about two and a-half pounds of apples to equal those present/ in tho contents of one egg. ! You will sec, therefore, that the fruit alone .would not produce many eggs in proportion to. its bulk. Tho value of.the fruit, therefore, appears to lie, not in material nourishment, but in useful vegetable salts. - These' being of great medicinal value act upon the system at a time when it has experienced considerable strain in tho renewal of 1 feathers, and promote, that healthy , condition which quickly responds to the. j other and mora particularly egg-forming | food, <which is included- in the feeding. This seems to mo to bo the theory of the thing—but not wishing to introduce the apple of discord 1 will not claim - infallibility for it—anyway, I have found with my hens that good health and eggs invariably follow; upon apple feeding; and I do not think you will regret using your damaged fruit in the same way. -./'■

. ROSCOMMON sheep. Six Roscommon sheep, with some crossbred lambs, were on exhibition at the Palmerston North show last week, and attracted great attention.. The sheep are the property of Mr. John Davies, of Koputaroa, who brought 14 of the breed from Ireland. _ , The animals on exhibition, especially the rams, were of extraordinary size, wtib very large bone and a 14-months" fleece of fine wool about Bin long. They have broad, wellset shoulders, long, level well-covered backs, wide loins, and finely-sprung ribs. It may' not mature quite so rapidly as some of the more /modern breeds, but its mutton is said to bo far and away the most toothsome that finds its way to the table,' and in that way fully compensates for. its later maturity. As a commercial sheep it established its reputation at the block' test competition at Balls Bridge a few years ago, the butchers present admitting: freely that the waste consequent on the dressing of a Roscommon carcase was infinitesimal. The Roscommon breeders . make a great point of suitability of the sheep for crossing purposes, especially for the colonies, and that is a phase of theirusefulness that Mr. Davies is already testing. Last season ho crossed; the Roscommon lambs with Lincoln and Romney ewes, and; also with halfbred Lincolns, for the purpose of ascertaining how the breeds will nick. The results of the lambing were 128 per cent, with the Romneys, and 98 per cent, with the Lincolns. A'couple of the lambs, which are two and a-half months old, were on exhibition at the show, and their length of body was generally commented upon. They had also quite, a good coat of wool. The sizes of the Roscommon particularly adapts it for flat country, and Mr. Davies is satisfied he has found in them something exactly fitted to the •conditions of his own district. The Chicago f American Sheepbreeder of October, 1903, states that ; Roscommon, sheep be- \ come very large and heavy, especially when ' fed and kept on limestone lands. Some animals recently exhibited weighed as high as 268 ib, and dressed lambs at ten months old have tipped tho scale at/ 1281b.; The mutton is delicious and flavour excellent. Another attractive feature is the even mixing of the leant and fat. ; which * is a great advantage from the butchers' standpoint. ?As to wool, it is white, bright, and lustrous, and an expert from the Bradford Wool House, when giving evidence before the Government Department Commit ;oc on sheep-dipping in London recently, gave his opinion that the wool of th-} Roscommon sheep was the best in the whole of Groat Britain. This is s a bold claim that should lead progressive breeders throughout the'colony to inquire more closely into the virtues of the breed. The animals are extremely hardy,> even in -northern latitudes. At the block test competitions at the Dublin Winter Show; the Roscommon mutton easily proved the best of several entries, the meat being splendidly grained, evenly mixed with fat'and lean. Three owes were sold to a Dublin butcher, and they dressed respectively 2061b, 1981b. and one of them, a ewe hogget, dressed 1761b. ,' : . . A NEW FORAGE PLANT. ■ ' It is claimed by those who are anxious to encourage the cultivation of. prickly cqmfrey that 62 tons of it ; can be grown to the statute acre. Comfrey is grown from roots or sets. The land should be prepared as •for cabbages, and well tilled. It should be well manured before the _ sots arc planted, and , the manure ' dug into the ground as deeply as possible. Space should be allowed between the rows to allow of cultivation with spade or horse implement. Prickly comfrey will give one crop the first year it, is planted, and throe crops every year afterwards. If well manured each year the first;'! crop may como in early in tho spring. Comfrey can be planted at any time.during the year except in hard frost, and is said; to succeed on all soils except chalk.' It; does well on limestone, and particularly, well on peaty 'soil., Caro should be taken that the true Caucasian variety, which has a purple flower, is planted, and .not;; tho native variety, which has a yellow flower. The -sets are. planted in rows thirty inches' apart each way; and each plant should produce a total weight of at least one-'stone in a season in three or more cuttings. , , .. ; . : ' A; BUTTER-MAKING PATENT. \ A committee of tho Franklin Institute of Philadelphia has just made public its report on, the Taylor process of butter-making. It is recommended that Mr. Taylor receive the John Scott medal and premium in recognition of the value of his invention. In this new process sweet cream is poured into shallow pans, the bottoms of which are covered with absorbent pads. These pads are composed of heavy white blotting-paper, supported on Turkish towelling, or some similar material, and absorb from the cream nearly all of its constituents except the fat. The cream fat remains as a layer on tho surface of the pads, and after several hours' standing it may be rolled off. In this condition the product contains rather too much water and milk protoids; on this account, and because of the absorbonco of salt, it does not keep well. If, however, the separated butter-fat bo worked and salted in the samu way as the ordinary churned product the result is a fine grade of butter. Tho process has the advantage of cheapness, since the pads may bo used over and over again, lasting, it is said, for six months of daily use.' Tho labour of churning is avoided, and on account of the use of fresh cream instead of that which lias stood to ripen for several days the finished product keeps better than butter made in the ordinary way. The process has been patented in' "the United States, Canada, England, France, and Germany.