ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13866, 28 September 1908, Page 8

ON THE LAND.

THE JERSEY COW. A JJ3USET bulletin makes somo extraordinary claims for the Jersey cow. It assorts that a man who owns 20 good cows of that breed can afford to put in a dairy plant, of'tho best improved machinery, and employ a skilled dairyman in order to secure uniformly the best butter that can bo made from . cow's milk. The output, the bulletin claims, from .such a dairy, can be pub'on the market at, a price above the market rate sufficient to cover all extra expenses, to say nothing of the increased value added to tho calves from such a herd. From a pure cash point ot view, says the bulletin, it is good business to givo the Jersey cows the best that, can bo.bought—the best food, the best -quarters, tho best machinery and implements, and the very best possible management. A Jersey dairy equipped along tlu-so lines can 'command tho lop of tho market, and more, tho year round. ■ ' ■ FODDER FOB ENSILAGE. The best ensilage, Dr. Cherry, Victorian Government dairying instructor, writes, is mado from plants with a solid stem, as maize, sorghum, and amber cano, while with these crops there is tho further great advantage that the whole of tho stem, it the material is chaffed, becomes so soft and succulent that none is wasted by the animals. Considering also the total yield per acre, there is no question that where a crop is specially grown for the silo one of theso should lie chosen. The hollow stem -of tho cereals contains air, and this increases the loss by fermentation, even when chaffed; but in snito of this defect there is no better way of utilising a crop of rye or barley grown for fodder which has become over-ripe to be relished by tho cows. If other methods of securing green fodder are available, oats, wheat, and the mixed grasses and clovers aro better made into hay. Cabbage, rape, and roots cannot be preserved as silage. In tho north the abundant spring growth of trefoil, barley grass, and self-sown cereals should be made into silage, because in most cases this is tho best way to secure succulent food in the long, dry summer. The trailing saltbush, also, when chaffed, makes excellent silage. A mixture of peas, tares, beans, or clover, with maize or the cereals, greatly increases the food value of the silage, and, according to Canadian experiments, 1 acre of sunflowers with two of tick beans and four of maize makes a very satisfactory balanced ration for the dairy cow. Ensilage should contain 75 to 80 per cent, of water; that is, most crops should bo siloed when the flowers are all out and tbe grain well formed. An exception occurs in clover, trefoil, and lucerne, which should be cut when in full bloom, and allowed to wilt ono day before filling into the silo. Generally speaking, the crop is ready for tho silo a littlo'earlier than it. is for hay. Maturity is very, important in tho case of maize and similar crops which mature rapidly after the cobs are well formed. Immature maize contains littlo nutriment. A word may bo said about stack ensilage. I do not recommend it for general adoption, on account of the amount of waste due to the imperfect exclusion of the air. This is shown, by the fact that stack silage has always lost tho peculiar aroma of chaffed silage, indicating the extent to which fermentation has progressed. In a year, however, when there is abundance of fodder it is very jmuch better to make a stack of some kind rather than bo without succu lent food in tho dry weather. Tho main points about the stack aro that it should be circular and as high as possible. Settlement will reduce the height by about onehalf. The stack requires to bo weighted, and this is best done by placing a thickness of two or three feet of earth on top of it. A convenient plan is to surround it with a circle of saplings to keep the walls upright. If the binder has been used to cut tho crop tho bands should bo cut and tho sheaves spread out as the stack is being built.

A NEW GRASS. OurPaparoa correspondent writes: havo had tho opportunity of inspecting tho new winter grass, Phalaris 'commutata, which Mr. Underwood lias tested in every way. Ho has it growing on every variety of soil, good and poor, heavy and light, by. seed sown broadcast, by transplanting from the seed bed, and by dividing tho roots. It is a free grower on tilled land, covering the ground in ono season, when planted 2ft apart, tho distance recommended. It also seems to bo doing very well under" the shade of trees.- ; ' '-» Some of the grass, by the crock-side, was further subjected to tho test of the severe frosts of the past winter, when ice |in thick lay upon tho ground. Notwithstanding this the plants, put out six months ago, have shown continuous and extraordinary growth. It is worthy of note that the grass does not spread from the roots like twitch grass, but by stooling, the plants increasing as much as 50-fold in the above-mentioned time. In March the leaves wore cut 3ft 6in in longth, and gin wide. To crown all, it is succulent and sweet, and tho stock are very fond of it. \ l THE VALUE OF MANURE. Tho composition and value of a ton of average stable manure, including tho straw used for bedding, is shown in the following, prepared by the American Agricultural Department:— 13231b;, nitrogen, 1231b, at Hi cents, 2.23d015.; phosphoric acid, -6£lb, at 6 cents, .39d01.; potash, .13^1b,' at 6 cents, '.81dol.: total value, 3.43d015.

Manures Mary greatly according to ago of animal and richness of food. Practically all the fertilising value of tho food of, a mature animal is found in the manure, sineo tho waste just about equals the repair, and littlo is lost by tho burning in the body except carbon and hydrogen, which aro plentiful anyway. Manures from different kinds .of animals also vary much, as-is shown by tho following: — One Ton Horso Manure: Water, 14201b; nitrogen, 10.21b, at'• 17k cents, 1.79d015.; phosphoric acid, 4.21b, at 6 cents, .25d01.; potash, 10.61b, at 6 cents, .64d01.: total, 2.68c10i5. One Ton Cow Manuro: Water, 17051b; nitrogen, 7.61b, at-17£ cents, 1.33d015. j phosphorio acid, 3.21b, at 6 cents, .19dol.; potash, 7.21b, at 6 conte, .43doL: total, 1.95d015. Ono Ton Hog Manure: Water, 13861b; nitrogen, 11.61b at 17£ cents 2.03d015.; phosphoric acid, 161b, at 6 cents, ,96d01.; potash, 21b, at 6 cents, .12dol.: total, 3.lldofs. Ono Ton Hon Manuro (fresh): Water," 11801b; nitrpgon, <-dlb, at 17i cents, 4.90d015.; phosphorio acid, 19.81b, at 6 cents, 1.19d015.; potash, 6.41b, at 6 cents, .38dol.: total 6.47d015. s Ono Ton Dried Hen Manuro: Water, 1491 ; nitrogen, ■'. 36.41b, at 17i cents, 6.37d01a.; phosphorio acid, 44.21b, at 6 cents, 2.65d015.; potash, 22.21b, at 6 cents, 1.33d015. r total, 10.33d015.,