ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13494, 22 May 1907, Page 4

ON THE LAND.

BOYS ON THE FARM.

A.v Australian writer says:—The question of interesting tho young men on the farm is probably more important now than at any other period in the history of the country. A considerable agricultural expansion is going on, which certainly cannot continue to maintain satisfactory progress unless tho great bulk of the splendid material that is growing up on the farms is made full use of." This can best be done by interesting the boys in the work of the farm, and in this connection the parents can do much. To tho average highspirited and intelligent young man there is little attraction in farm life if ho is compelled to follow it without remuneration of any other kind than the bare satisfaction of his personal needs. But if he were early interested in the farm as a business proposition, and if his compensation were made dependent upon his own efforts, he would without doubt have a greater interest in the farm and its problems, and would experience the satisfaction which results from tho successful solution of '"these, problems. Too frequently tho boy's colt turns out to be "dad's" horse when it arrives at a marketable age, much to the disgust of the young fellow, who probably took a special pride in feeding and training the animal As with the boys, so it is with the girls who rear pet lambs or weakling pigs, or who take an interest in poultry, and want something for themselves out of the iudusiry. The young people on the farm are not mere machines for tho accomplishment of the .vork; they are reasoning beings, and, if given a personal and' immediate interest in the business, they will take a pride in their work, and be more amenable to their parents' desires in its management. " ECONOMICAL MILK PRODUCTION. When a man goes into any business he should choose the appliances best suited to his purpose. If we arc to produce milk economically (says a writer in the American Agriculturist) first we must choose an animal capable of producing milk and producing it cheaply. We should not expect to produce the best and cheapest milk by taking an animal that has bean taught by long selection and feeding to produce something other than milk, but rather one that has been bred and fed with the one idea oi' turning' food into milk. Even the best dairymen do not apprecito what a remarkable animal they have in the dairy cow. As an example of what a cow will produce if she is bred right I will instance the record of Queen Pietertie Mercedes. This cow weighed before dropping her caff 16001b, and in thirty days after, calving produced 19831b of milk, or 3831b more milk than her own weight. That, according to Professor Atwater, is equal to 4711b of bone-free flesh. You will see by this what a peculiar organisation such an animal must have. Having secured the right kind of cow we must give her the best possible care. The cow should bo so circumstanced that she will expend the smallest amount of food possible in the maintenance of her own existence. We want a cow to eat all she can assimilate and put it in the milk pail. This is accomplished, first by giving food that is adapted to the production of milk. One cannot give her a ration that would fatten a beef animal and expect her 'to produce the maximum amount of milk. The- ration must be properly balanced, having in view the production of milk. It should' contain a certain amount oi protein and a cortain amount of carbo-hy-drates. It must be palatable to assist digestion. Thousands of farmers expect their cows to make butter on nothing but straw. While plenty of roughage is necessary there must be plenty of concentrated food 10 go with 'it. Succulent food, which is so much more easily digested than "dry food, is also required. : * The chemist says when we cure hay' we take nothing out of it but water. But everyone knows the difference between Seating a rich juicy: apple arid* the *TBame' apple I after, being dried. i. There is something 1 lost: besides: water j the chemist cannot measure it, but the cow-and the man can. I do not know of any better succulent food than silage. r * Something that is often neglected in the dairy stable is regular watering. A cow giving any considerable quantity of milk drinks 751b •to ,1251b of water daily. It is impossible for her to take all that at one time, and it is not possible for her to give J the maximum amount of milk unless she has that amount of water, as water constitutes 87 per cent, of the milk produced. DANISH DAIRY- CATTLE. | When one roads- that in Denmark, ! through careful selection of sires, .by weed- ! ing out inferior cattle, the average production of milk per cow has been raised to 70001b per year, we not unnaturally ask: ;By what means has this been done ? In ; Denmark there are a great number of milk ! record associations, and each farmer knows ■ the milk-production 'of every cow in his byres. The Danish farmer is a business i man. Ho wants his cows to bo paying ! guests. The cow which does not pay its way; he has no use for, and gets rid of it, and the cow which pays is encouraged, by every means in his power, to pay more. He has reduced dairying to a fine art, and "it is instructive to see by the records of milktesting societies how rapidly the process of elimination of inferior milkers has increased the average yield over the country. Within five years the average increase reported by' all societies was 9321b of milk per cow, or, in other words, 431b of butter, or, to translate again into the most appreciated terms of all, the increase in value was about £2 per cow. In ( one Danish herd in 1900 the average milk yield was 71501b, or about 700 gallons; but in 1903 it had reached 88471b, or about 824 gallons per cow. The most productive cows are found on the farms ofthe small peasants, who naturally take the care'which ownership implies of their own animals. . BREVITIES. Great Britain's herds now, for the first time, exceed 7,000,000 head. Nearly all, if not all, the small cereals . are greatly improved as pigs' feed by soaking. ' •■ Weeds tend to rob the soil of its plant food, and they also smother the useful crops, and thereby greatly reduce the yield. The following are good plants to grow in the garden for honey production: — Salvias (sage) in varieties. Wisteria, lupins, crocus, thyme, and other herbs; mignonette, sunflowers. Nearly all kinds of simple varieties of garden flowers for the production of pollen. Some sheep could be profitably kept on nearly every farm. They not only serve to keep the pastures free from weeds, but they _ also prove excellent scavengers for cleaning up the stubbie fields after harvest. If well cored for they yield a handsome profit on the investment. There'is no greater purifier than light, and a place that it always dark invariably proves damp and impure. Every poultryhouse should contain a window, which is better if it is made to open and shut, so that during warm weather it can remain open ail night. The window should be not less than 18in or 2ft square, in order to afford plenty of lightBeets and mangel-wurtzels are excellent for poultry. Sugar-beets are said not to be relished so well by fowls, for some reason, as mangels. Apples are good for variety occasionally. Potatoes, turnips, and other vegetables are good, but should be cooked. A plentiful supply of some of these will mean , improved health in the flock, increased vigour, more eggs, and better chicks next year.