ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13454, 3 June 1907, Page 8

ON THE LAND.

THE FARM MOTOR.

V.N English farmer, dealing with the quo*- j ion of oil motor verso's farm horses, gives j ,ome figures regarding the comparative-] !Osfc of the two. Ho says regarding the] >ros and cons, of the .motor and horse*: — I File motor of which I am a user was made s-iUi Iho intention, that it would do : the] leavy work of a farm, and thus cut down; :he ; number of horses employed. The ither minor accomplishments are thrown in] is something more than you pay for. The j Jhly argument open to mc is, will horse; md steam perform the same work at the ! >ame price as the motor will, or arc they noro expensive, and is it advantageous to he farmer to reduce his number of horses n favour of the motor? Let us take a "arm of 550 acres light, two-horse land, Blowing 50 acres for permanent pasture; :he remainder will be farmed on tho fourlourso shift, as is usual in England. After harvest, ive have 125 acres to plough for wheat, 125 acres for barley, 125 acres for roots, 125 acres t'.« cross-plough, at least 100 acres to, clean;. this means about 600 acres in all. I find from the experience of raluators thev generally allow 9s to 10s for one ploughing with two horses—that is, equal to a bill of £300. If this work ivat done by the motor it would plough five acres per day—l2o days in the nine following months after harvest. This would leave about 150 days for other work, such as threshing, grinding, etc. Now, to plough one acre costs me in fuel—for petrol Is lOd, lubricating oil 6d, in all 2s 4d; men's time, Is: 3s 4d: on 600 acres, £100, leaving a balance to meet other expenses to the amount of £200. However, I think rou may consider this sum a clear gain over horso-power, and a substantial gain, which no business man should despise. . I have shown no profit on anything but ploughing. I will place the profit of the remainder of the year against depreciation. We biro an engine to thresh and cut chaff at 12s 6d per day, coal costs 7s, carting water Is 6d—2ls per day. The motoi costr 12s for fuel and attention, a clear profit of 9s per day for 70 days£3l 10s. This leaves 60 more days for grinding, cutting wood, etc., or ploughing a little for your neighbour; however, we are quite content with £20 profit for this lot. Again, we have our hay cut cheap, harvest cut quick and cheap, so I think your readers will see plenty of surplus to pay for repairs, leaving 75 per cent, on £300 as a handsome dividend for the investment, "quite a gold mine." Now, I think it quite practicable to do away with all the horses that do ploughing on a 550-acro farm, and keep, say, three or four for carting, because you will see that the motor will be busy elsewhere with larger and more important work than dragging one or two tons at a time. I am sure that. I have proved, from my foregoing remarks, that the- motor is a .step in advance, and a little bit " forrarder". than steam or horses to the tune of £200 a year in the trousers pocket of Farmer John. •

FEEDING TIIF COW; In the feed lies the profit. If the cow can eat only enough to decently support herself, then she cannot be profitable. If she is of the kind , that supports herself in too much luxury—" puts it all on her back," as they say of some people—she cannot be profitable,. for her products: for the dairy must be out of proportion, to feed consumed. It will not even things up for this cow for her feeder to shorten her rations with tho hope of lengthening the profit, for «ho will simply assert her rule of priority, take her own share out first. and return the balance, if any, to hei owner. There has never yet been fount a feeding skill so cunning that it conk change the individual tendencies of th« cow, and in this caso what cannot bo cure* should not be endured. The solution o that cow problem is to get the other kirn of a cow. And the other kind is of tha strain of dairy animals that have th< : ability of not only consuming largely Vc ; the food of production, but ot making th produce out of it as well. ,;:' .." (

-,'■ Now, this cow, while bred and directed in special", perhaps artificial lines, has never been taught that her first law is self-pre-servation; ; that to do the work of her master she must take care jof herself; so to her, also, the food of support is necessary, and it is quite impossible : that she shajl show a profit from this basic feed. If the profit is absent the evidence is present that there is a lack of feed or proper care. : , , ;-£y ■;'■ \ '•' ' "■'■. ; ..-"-.,, ■;':,,--. . I In this ca'so the trouble is not 'in "the cow but in the owner of her, and the cure for such -; an ownerwell, now, how shall we prescribe for such a > case? We:'may very minuately diagnose it,', but all these Syears haven't we insinuate*! the foolishness of preaching around him?. Perhaps the I preaching and teaching have been so bad 'that ! there was' not even the food of thought support in it for him. . Then, perhaps be has not heard of it. ' 1

CARROTS AS A FIELD CROP. % A good crop of carrots is always an acceptable field, crop. They are most useful in more 'ways than one. There is always a brisk demand for them at a higher price than any other root that is grown on the farm, and as stock food:' in health or sickness thero is none 'better. .For sickly animals, and those '■'disposed to' reject other foods, carrots are always : an;: excellent change. There is never a cry of too many, but a {shortage is often very much -felt. The. crop ' is not one I would "advise on heavy, stiff land. The roots must penetrate and develop into clean specimens, and when forked and twisted they are not good, neither are the roots' that are perforated with worms, and precautions must be taken to prohibit their depredations. • A sandy soil is best for carrot-growing, and those with such would <do well to devote a few acres to them, both : for home use and selling. Early in April is the best | time to sow the seed. The soil must be deeply cultivated,' and no long manure should be used. , Short "material is admissible, but if the. soil is in good heart this too should be left out. Useful fertilisers are ' 4cwt of'" superphosphates, 2cwt'of ikainifc, and Sewt of soot per acre, all sown I broadcast and deeply harrowed in. • All | should be drilled in rows about 2Qiu apart and 2iu deep. They should be drilled as i thin as possible,. and if the- seeds cling together, as sometimes is the case, rub them | apart before putting in the- drill. After | sowing, and when the surface is dry, it i should be rolled firmly., i They can bo j hand or horse hoed when a few inches ■high, and must be thinned out to Gin apart ! before they become crowded..:

j CUT FODDER. * : I Where horses have their fodder given to . j them in the form of chaff or finely-cut i mixtures, they j are r usually found much ; j more liable to suffer from colic and other : intestinal disorders than when the hay is i fed in its natural condition. When this < short, chaffed fodder is given. there is a < tendency on eh© part of the horse to '■ 1 bolt its food, or at all events to consume it without first subjecting it to proper mastication. The consequence of this is imperfect digestion which often leads to internal complications, one of the most common of which is colic. Where horses which arc fed on chops of this kind show special •' liability to colic attacks, good' results are often obtained by feeding the hay given - to the animals iu its long" or natural condition. ' CARE OF HORSES. 7 " You never see a broken-winded horse in Norway," said a horse doctor. " That is because the horses are allowed drink while they eat—the same as mankind. Our horses, lot them be ever so thirsty; must : still eat their dry fodder, their, dry hay and oats and corn, with nothing to wash them down. But in Norway every horse has a bucket 'of water beside his manger, and as [ ho eats he drinks also. It is interesting to see how the Norwegian horses relish their j water with their meals. : Now they sip .-i ! little from, the bucket, now they eat a. •mouthful, then another sip, then* another mouthful— like rational human beings." The foregoing, says the Rider and Driver. . ; is good " horse sense" in many respects. ', ; Too frequently the horse is deprived of , i water, especially when lie comes in warm ' ; and thirsty after a long and dusty drive. > Many stablemen act on the long-established ; I theory that a horse must not have a drink t after a rido or, drive until he has thoroughly ' : cooled out. It is true that it would not lie ' - wise to permit the animal to drink too ■ much, and especially of ice-cold water; but a reasonable drink" of aired wafer is not . only enjoyable but beneficial. As to the j infrequent supply of water causing the ' I broken-windedness of a horse, we are not • prepared to say. It is, of course, a well- ' known fact that when a horse has tho " heaves," or sis "broken-winded," he ' should bo given, water in frequent small • . quantities rather than a large quantity, at j , once. .' - ■ I

MAKING BUTTER AND cIIeST The National Dairy Associate ,a Island* have the following „.;.;. ; *-* I! rence to the qw«ion of m «. to i- * . * V* butter-making in their annual r* vZ "ll*" issued:-The high price, rutin* RH , during the las, two , m , l m * ft c ' T' ,, filing of unrest awl diMati*fa C tiorT« *' ' "' I milk suppliers to the butter factorial »£? .{is quite natural, for supplier, to'tT* factories have been getting 1, to 1, W?' . :tb tor butter-fat. as against 9Jd U > *<*.■»* t by the butter factories. Many bahw T^' tories in the North bland have now tur Z {to cbecse-making. and many rm r& ? j strongly urged to do so. The*portion .'''"' ' difficult one. to deal with. f or on? " " foretell what cheese will be i n th °J Q * e *° that are coming. Factories have W«** J * I , commended by » m to erect" dun* «■- , jplants and factories, and turn to blS ** , j butter-making as appears advisable. - The idea of duplicate plants, a m » i lp ' ..'■' ;• lory making cheese one yea r aßct £',?" another to eaten the market vlif \ ■ gerous and speculative in the light 0 { «.»■' I • past history. We have in past vear* k«*! ft , cheese dull of sale at *d to 4id "fob ,«?" ' t J6d f.ob. as the season adv.ncS%2fe 3 i have known cheese outputs eairorl* h«,»i, , at bd to 5M not rcili* 4d ~„ ft & l , the season. One. result of "the du»li«.! ?'. , i plant system, it is to lie feared, will w i . loss in quality and reputation of both'ntZ f 1 ; ducts. We can never maintain our ration ¥ , or bind up a sound and permanent ion such shifty lines. ; * ue Some writers, advocating turning i ro , Mbutter to cheese, have said that Au»t«JU -' 1 .could not make cheese, and that Siberia ' and. other countries could not. Tfaij j, f. ;i ; from being the case. As' to Australia our > own Government expert, Mr. James Saw-," lately visited Victorian cheese factories* ; and found they make excellent cheese i}' | '" though not the kind for export. But ne ij I 1 convinced they could, if they wished to I • do so, as their milk supply comes to tho j •factory in a better' condition than to mutit ' J I •New Zealand factories, ' I 3 The United States* export of cheese to I the United Kingdom used to be over 52,000 I r tons; it is now only about 10,000, Labour 1 s difficulties and low price* made the United" f States farmers eschew dairying; but higher ? *■"'■ s prices in prospect and the advent of tho 5 milking machine are now causing them to r take again to dairying, and their export v" t may be heavy. 3 A London merchant says:—" Cheese m»» ; be in heavy supply and cheap next year, for 1 Canada is opening up quickly and increasing her make of cheese. This, added to an ' average make in England, will keep prices e moderate. This year two factors have made in favour of cheese—the unusually small ' quantity made in this country, and the j American meat scare, and notwithstanding., these no importer will mako money." " In dealing with this question of cheese 3 versus butter-making, speaking dogmatically is unwise, but high prices stimulate produc--3 lion, and taking all we can sco ahead into ; consideration, it is at least not improbable that cheese may bo in heavy snpply soon,: 9 and the cheese market collapses under such ' 5 circumstances, as is well known to those: s who have been in the trade for soma years past. It would seem wiser that for a year at least butter factories -should stick,to

their butter-making, and maintain the good nam© and good trade wo already havo in 7 tho British market. It seems at least probt able that the feeling in favour of cheese-, f making as against butter-making now mi j f manifest in Taranaki is the same in the United ' States and other countries, and 1 there is danger of over-supply. Having 0 built up such-'an'-excellent reputation for. r high-class butter in New Zealand at many o factories, it seems a pity to change hur- . riedly to cheese-niuking before we are more . certain as to the trend of the cheese , j 0 market. ' ■•■■'' . .- . ■ „ ■ __- . "~~~. """.. . i

PHOSPHATE OF LIME. This substance is known under severs! names-as mono-calcium phosphate or one- ' . lime phosphate, acid: phosphate, superphosphate. The process of treating rock, ! phosphate, or bones with sulphuric acid is, as stated, for the purpose of converting the tri calcium phosphate in these materials hue the soluble mono-calcium phosphate. By this process the sulphuric acid combine* ;■ with two parts of lime, forming sulphate of lime or gypsum; the water of the acid taking tho place of the lime which has -, been removed. This gives a compound)' which contains one part of lime and two parts of water, in combination with tb© one part of phosphoric acid which was contained in tho tri-caloium phosphate. This,, substance is very solbe tin. water, and readily diffuses in the soil. ... . u In making this material the whole, ot m insoluble phosphate is not acted upon, tor to render all of it soluble, would require the addition of an excess of sulphuric acid which would prove injurious to plant life. The tri-calcium phosphate which remains - after the treatment with acid when left in. . contact with a comparatively large amount of soluble phosphate causes a reversion-of some •of , the soluble material, which gives more or less of the other form of phosphate, called "reverted" or "gone-back" phosphate. The quantity of soluble phosphate- present in acid ■ phosphate varies somewhat, but it should contain from 13 to 16 per cent., tho amount depending chiefly upon the materials from which it has been ' made. Acid phosphate carries a considerable, quantity "of gypsum;; each 100 pounds • containing usually ;between 50 and 60 pounds. This material has some value as .! li - an 'indirect fertilising material, and its presence in the phosphate should not be neglected, especialy by those who often think it necessary to use gypsum in making different fertiliser mixtures, or in making com-plete.-fertilisers, 'which contain acid phosphate. ■': Tho soluble phosphate, I being very ■' : -~k: : - soluble, and therefore, readily diffused it» v. the soil, is tho most valuable form'of phos- - , phate for plant food. Although it is easily _ dissolved by the soil water, it is hot leached out as several constituents of the soil, sucii < Sas humus, lime, iron, and aluminium compounds, have the power of fixing and re- ": taining it for the use of plants. ■ . ■

CURING • MEAT. A famous and excellent recipe for caring meat appeared in one of our exchanges, ; : and is as fellows:—To olio gallon of water add one and one-half pounds of salt, onehalf pound of sugar, one-half ounce of potash. This gives the ratio; in it the pickle can be increased to any quantity desired. The ingredient* named are to bo boiled together until the dirt rises to the top and is skimmed off. Then turn into a vessel what has thus 'been prepared and; let it cool. -When cold pour it over the beef or pork. The meat must lie well covered with the pickle, and should not be put down for at least two days after killing, during whieh time it ought to bo lightly sprinkled with saltpetre; this removes ail the surface blood, leaving the meat fresh and clean. The boiling of the pickle is sometimes omitted, but it should be re*: mombered that the boiling is a purifying process, throwing off the dirt always found in salt and sugar. This recipe has only to bo tried to prove its- superiority over the common way of curing • meat. The meat cured by this process is unsurpassed for sweetness, delicacy of flavour, and freshness of colour.

, TRUE TO ITS KIND. Everybody knows that when a scion is inserted in a tree the fruit which it produce: is that of the scion and' not of the- stock. There have always teen some who believed, on general;principles,- that the stock had somo influence on the -fruit, even if it could, not be perceived. An imperceptible influence is hardly worth inquiring into, but some study has been given by competent observers, whoso conclusion is that the root systems of some stocks were better purveyors 'of nutriment than others, so that scions grafted into them might produce moro or larger fruit than when "•rafted into other stocks with which*. equally good unions were made. But the curiosity of, modern investigators is insatiable, ami some people have been trying to find out how it is (hat a quince root, for example, will produce a pear, or an almond root a plum? Some have thought it was the loaves which did the trick, which was a rather I natural theory, because the sap is digested and the nutriment assimilated in- the leaves. To determine this point, says an exchange, scions of the yellow transparent apple were inserted into branches of the wild crab. After fruit spurs were formed all leaves were removed ' from the graft and 3°"° allowed to form during the season, so tha« all of the sap was elaborated by the wild crab. At the same time another scion ot the same yellow transparent tree was inserted into a twig of the same brans*',; and allowed to form its own leaves. B°«j of these grafts bore fruit this season, ana the general verdict is that no difference cither in size, colour, or flavour can be eftooted. In both instance; the fruit ,).* clearly yellow transparent. This experiment would seem to indicate that if »jaKft| no ' difference from whence the sap comes [the fruit will remain true. to its kuid. ;I