ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13486, 13 May 1907, Page 8

ON THE LAND.

COOLING MILK. Investigations which have been carriea on by Dr. Cameron, Medical Officer of Health for Leeds, into tho question of milk contamination in that city, show a rctnEirfe able disparity between coaled milk f TOm ■ perfectly healthy cvgrthmhuk„, an d tho r)lti ;„ commercial article. In sample, of tho tor mer he found when now 16,000 gorm's to a-c-übio ! centimetre in Samples ~1" new m j| k taken from shop., and railway station Kk • found 145.C00. When the milk in each ,««y was just over a day old it v. a, discovered - that, whereas 111 the cooled milk tho germ* had only increased to 224,000. in the case of tfro ordinary mill; !r , number reached 10,000,000 per cubic centimetre. hi regard ' to tuberculous mil 10. Dr. Cameron reported that a system of carefully inspect * all cows in tho city at frequent. intents had practically stamped out the disease ai'nuna tho animals, but that did not apply to tlw much larger quantities of milk corning fro m ' country farms. Tuberculous milk midoubt. ' edly came from that source, and until the ' ■' municipalities - had power to inspect farm, outside their boundaries, it, Wild bo #1. most impossible, ho' said, to cheek the evil." " ■

LINSEED FLAX. Considerable attention is now being given in . Australia to-, the cultivation of linseed flax. Mr. liobilliard, of the Victorian Agri- > cultural Department, who has charge of the flax-growing branch of the agricultural industry, says that the departmental expert is advising the farmers that their object should bo to grow for both seed and : fibre, and it is pointed out that if they do this they will be able to get about double rot-urns from their land. "A good flax crop," says Mr. Kobilliard, "will produce 9c\yt or lOcwt of seed per aero, tho value being £15 per ton, and Scwt or 6cwt of fibre,' worth from £40 to £45 per lon, and ? it is claimed that even though the cost of ' ' labour is considerable tho net returns are ' excellent.." An additional impetus is expected to be given to tho flax industry at an early date by the introduction from America of a plant that will make it possible * > to convert the stems into fibre suitable for ~ rough cordage and binder twine without put. ' 1 k ting it through tho process of retting. BvVVthis means a double benefit is expected to • accrue to the farmer, for not only will an increased demand for flax spring into exist- ; - : ence, but it will be possible to manufacture > "c binder twine locally 1 at a very much' lower i cost than that at which it can be produced- 'W at present. . ':. ;v; .... ■' A POTATO MANURE. : ' 4 The Midland Agricultural and Dairy Col- . lego issues- a bulletin dealing with field " !r | trials in tho manuring' of potatoes during '' tho year. These trials aro in a sense a eon-, , s v'i tinuation of tho previous year's, tho object, being to .test tho doubtful points which have arisen in, former experience. Tho season. •- lias not been; an. ideal one for the potato, ' I there being such prolonged drought in sum- |f| | mer, and consequently when tho rain camo "' a good deal of second growth. A dressing vrS which in the previous year had been found most effective, apart, of course, from farm-, '. . yard - manure,'was 'licwt sulphate' of - am* • • monia, 4owt superphosphate, and liewt sub ! phato of potash. , ;i Tho most profitable -source of 1 nitrogen ]j' was sulphato of ammonia, of phosphate, , •' superphosphate, and of potash, sulphate of , potash. The trials last year were specifically .designed to find out the most profit-. .. J .:. able quantity *of Biilphato of ammonia to ; , " ! apply, tho most suitable amount of super- . phosphate, and what quantity of potash ' ; would yield the be?t : profit. . Briefly speak- r" ing, it was found that using sulphate of ammonia in addition to phosphates and potash, lewt of sulphato of ammonia in, this / mixture gave the- best 'yield., -Of V super- ;- phosphate -4cwt was most profitable, < anil of sulphate of potash 2cwt. Taken as a whole, tho results of tho two years' experiments indicate i; where farmyard manure alone is applied to tho potato crop dress- ' ings up .to 20 tons per aero may bo profitable. Artificials are not so good alone or 'so"* profitable as when used - jointly with > ■ dung. It has paid better to use nitrogen as sulphato of ammonia than as nitrate of-::-j----soda. Dissolved bones do not give rucli j good results*.'as when 8 all -(eqfuynteiit rjitim- . tity. of phosphoric acid is applied as super-/. '• phosphate.: , Potash .in , sulphate of potash ' , has a more beneficial action than either ' muriate or. kainit. Tho most profitable. ar-. .;. tificial dressing to accompany farmyard manure is lewt sulphate, of ammonia', 4ewt v : superphosphate, ■l£cwt sulphato of potash. ,

SUFFOLK V. CLYDESDALE. Mr. ■ .Toll Moir, / writing from .; Sydney, /'■:/'! New South' Wales*, says:—" Regarding the m above, while ftillv appreciating the facili- .j ties . offered ;by the ' Auckland \Vkeklv 1 News for discussion, I think -it; is somewhat 'peculiar that. we 'are deprived of the means • of tracing' the ? antecedents :of .the . pro- . Suffolk: advocates. None ;of them: seem ..to / 'care to. sign their, own names, and I think v// that such is necessary when such : a danger . in threat 'tho , draught stock 'industry of New Zealand. i \ . • ■ . - ■ "Your , latest / correspondent, Ancient - ,:; Farmer.' ! tells us that Belgian horses are ? only used in V Britain at light work. Surely it is riot neeer»sarv to inform tho New cn -, ; ; *;•' land people Mat/ there 'are heavy and light; ■,/ horses in Belgium, aft- in Britain. I ooulcl givo " many "' instance's of - Belgian horses ... being worked' 'on 7 Aberdeenshire farms, -/.-. and ,• also iii!■.' oity lorries, hut ajs one ease f can" bo corroborated in ; New Zealand, tliero •is little, need to encroach. on your / spaced The ease I refer to is at. Fin^ask. near . Oldmeldnim. Aberdeenshire, they' . wore owned by Mr. Maokie. Ho had six/head i ; of them, blacks and -dappled / browns, - powerful enough for any .work, and this can lie corroborated by Mr. Jamof? • :-.'/; Grant, of Hawera, who was on the near-by » farm of Conteus. and who was one of the v,; { crackif not the ploughmen; of. Aberdeenshire, at his time. So much; for » ; - 'Ancient Farmer.' ' ' - \ ' ' " Again, he mentions that the Clydesdales are van horses. Well, if any of your \ '*: readers were to stand in the Broomielaw, at Glasgow, he would see. a hundred horse# '.. in as many minutes, with nothing less than. two tons behind each, and ho would come /, to a" different conclusion. J I think it is § •/; generally admitted that- the ' draught*! 'in /' tlie Scotch . cities arc the hardest-worked horses in Britain. A soft, porous round bone, with its attendant gummy joints and ;• / straight pasterns, has no charms for tho. ... Glasgow carter, nor for the farmer who has' / to turn over li acres with a single-furrow /•-/, plough, in t the short winter day. /'£■ " I am sure tho Clydesdale world will be . * obliged to ' Ancient Farmer' for the information. re the ' breeding of their horses. >$£ Laurence Drew did, much for the Scotch Cjg draught, but : little for tho Clydesdale, and I have never heard of him being accredited with putting' hair on their legs by the in- ; traduction of English - blood. /.Darnley, an/J exceedingly well-feathered horse, had-no Shire blood in him, neither had IJroomficld / ;. Champion, and certainly the Lawpits filly. ; had none, and the Clydesdales of the present day are inbred to these fountainheade : u and landmarks.;, ..There ._ were Clydesdalehorses in Scotland—pretty well all over it-— fifty years before ; Laurence Drew, Davie Riddell, and Hugh Crawford introduced the * Shiro mares to mate with the Clydesdale . stallions. Over ; his assertion, in this respect, your correspondent might have more I appropriately.-signed the riom de plume, - K 'Ancient Mariner.* ' V . /. "We hear that the Suffolk is not a street >'■ horse, but a farm horse. Well, if they are not horses, are they fit to breed :, street horses?' Are -.'the New "Zealand far* mors going to breed hordes for farm worfc-/ exclusively or for the best market? I fancy ■ the New Zealand farmers know, their • own $£;■. business best, and I have never met one'. ■ who would exchange the lively, spirited, ?«": intelligent, tvue-actioned Clydesdale for tho. Suffolk,'even for farm" work. I am nop i : vf# l t afraid to sign my name or to assert that / j | I have, in days of health, had as many | draught' horses through my hands as most gig I people, and for all purposes. , >; I

A GOOD COW. > -0 The erratic Jersey cow Blossom 111., which Jf|: won the milk test at the Sydney Royal Show;.;.'*' last year, shows s good record, which covers v. the performance of the cow as i milk and butter yiekier for & period mi 52 weeks, from April 11, 1906, and shows that during that time she produced nearly 8451b of . butter, which, at 9d a lb. gives a return : of || £31 13s 9d. ' It is interesting also to now , * that her highest tost was 8, and her 4.6, or an average of a little over : s.l:; for the whole, period. At the Sydney Hoys' yji Show in 1805 she made 23ilb butter i ;for3|| the week, and at the Berry Show this *e*r, she made 21iib commercial butler during ; *|||| similar period. *• Vi- ' v ■ lil