ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14392, 10 June 1910, Page 8

ON THE LAND.

' TRANSMITTING QUx\LITIES. ; Transmission of qualities is not by sex as many suppose. The cow does not transmit female characteristics alone c and the bull male characteristics, but the male will transmit qualities of the race to which he bolongs, often shape of udder, milking qualities, etc. A bull from a big milking family may transmit them to his daughters when their dam is a poor milker. A pure-bred sire in a pure-bred herd must be used with more knowledge and skill; a pure-bred sire will generally be prepotent and transmit his valuable qualities; ;• the great trouble with registered herds is that they have cost the owner so much money to acquire them that ho must raise everything born, and not all of them will be worth raising. To handle pure-bred stock a man must have money, brains, and backbone in order to succeed- The advanced registries will soon weed'v out the non-producing families. Heifer calves if well built and strong should be raised, what they will be cannot be definitely told until they come into milk. Do not switch from one breed to another; the breed you take is not half fts important as sticking to it. It is as much mixed breeding to breed registered animals of two families as other cross breeds. They have not been bred along the same line, and tho intermingling of such different blood does not work out good. \

APPLICATION OF NITROLIf. This new fertiliser was tried last year in Franc© extensively, and from a careful examination of the results obtained it is said to be clearly established that it should not bo applied as a top-dressing, because its action has a burning effect on• the younnr leaves, causing them to go red. It has been proved that the host method of application to arable land is to plough or harrow the' nitrolim under the soil either in the. autumn or winter. ' With meadows and pastures, on the other hand, excellent results have been obtained from a top-dressing of nitrolim towards the end of winter. This favourable effect may be partly attributed to the large percentage of lime in the- material. - # -> " . In general, the results obtained in France show that the fertilising value of nitrolim is about equivalent; to that of other well-known nitrogenous fertilisers. In some cases its effect has been inferior, in other cases better. This may be dependont on the character of the soil. On this point more experiments are necessary to enable experts to form a definite' conclusion; but so far, according to the" report,; nitrolim is appropriate for good clay and loam soils, but does not appear to act well on soils of a light, sandy, or peaty nature.

THE FARMER'S INTELLIGENCE. The time has'quite gone by when the' farmer could be regarded as less intelligent than the city man; it is possible, in some things, he is not as smart as. the man about town, but it is an open question if in ordinarily fair competition and given a chance, he would not hold 1 his own in "any contest of wits. The man on the land, to-day has to know many things the city man has no need to and docs not know. ; He -must,, in view of the complicated machinery he employs in his work,,;be" something of an engineer ; he must be a carpenter, a smith, a farrier, at" least something of a' veterinary

he' should be, and in ; many cases is able to use the theodolite to take levels, s*nd make dams > and? tanks in places • where the ? water will run into'; them and stay there when it is in ; he must know mere of general ;»business than any specialist in the city, for he is :,- & dealer Tin all ■ kinds of live and dead goods; he is usualy a wide and critical reader, a close student of politics, and generally; well-informed ' all round. >.' 1 SOIL EXHAUSTION. - In the course of a recent bulletin Pro-, 1 feasor Milton Whitney, chief of the Bureau of Soils of the United States, ; says : The soil is the one .indestructible, immutable asset the nation, possesses.) It is the one resource that cannot be exhausted; that cannot be used up. The general conception of the exhaustion of soil is that the crop removes plant food and that unless we return some considerable portion of plant food to , the soil it becomes'incapable of longer pro- . ducing adequate ' crops. Tho fact that the lands of Europe have been occupied for a thousand years or more has not made a noticeable reduction of the plant food elements as compared with the new soil of other countries. From historical evidence it appears that on old soils of the old countries which have been under cultivation for a thousand years the yields within the last century have actually increased, as shown, not only by general statistics gathered by the States, but by the statistics of individual farms which have been continually under the management, and in possession of the same families. This shows that, so far from wearing out, those soils have been steadily increasing in productivity within the period of which wo have statistical records. This increase is due to better methods of cultivation, more systematic rotation of crops, more care in the selection of seed, increase of live stock, and, in later years, to the introduction of commercial fertilisers. .

THE AYRSHIRE. „ The Ayrshire breed is one of,. tho - most highly developed of the dairy types we possess. Like others, in the matter of change it has passed through many vicissitudes, and fashion has probably had as large" an influence in moulding the modern animal as anything. In the Ayrshire, as we find it to-day, it is probably correct to say that we have the ideal typo of a dairy ebw. It is not a largo breed, but it is built like a wedge, which by many is supposed to exemplify the highest type of a. dairy animal. The most beautiful feature of the modern Ayrshire is tho milk vessel, which is very long and square, as distinct, from the pendulous type ,of udder which one finds in other breeds. Thjg teats are too small, and there we think Ayrshire men have made a mistake. There have been exterior influences at work in the moulding of the Ayrshire at one time or another; probably the Shorthorn and Dutch cattle being used, but that is many, many years ago. If we could secure the present typo of Ayrshire, with good 4in teats, wo would then have wellnigh a porfect dairy animal. •

PICKING THE LAYERS. Early maturity is a good guide. Some pullets will turn into lay at. five months, others from the same hatching will hang back up to six or seven months. Knock the latter on the head, or sell to the butcher. The early birds aro not only the first to begin, but they nearly always lay longest and laj the most eggs. These early pullets are smaller than those that mature later, but the beginner may stake his last shilling on the fact that tho smaller birds will lay the most eggs. As proof it may be said that the winning hens in v v tho laying competitions where the scores have been high have invariably been on the small side. The same guide is good for cockerels. The cockerel who comes right out of tho mob, crows first, and keeps it up persistently, is the one to use as a breeder. He tells you plainly that ho is the bird; he arrives first. It is a good plan to mark and keep tho precocious pullets, and in the second year, when they are well set, mate them to a rcachy precocious 12-months' cockerel, Yfh:, comes right out of tho mob; it is out of a mating like this that the big lajcrs come.

BREVITIES. |s Liberal feeding is necessary to liboral production. . ■ •■ <.. Nothing adds to the quality of milk and cream, liko cleanliness in the dairy. The cow which gives tho most milk will not always make the most butter. ~ ~ ; Low ceilings in stables, byres, ,cattleshods,;i etc., aro fruitful sources of ill-health. In lung affections of all animals, plenty of fresh air should bo allowed, tho body being kept warm. ■_ ' ■■ ■; Tho remedies for sourness are thorough cultivation of tho soil, turning it and exposing it to tho air. Early maturity is possible only when the animal is kept steadily progressing from the time of its birth. Tho value of the agricultural products ol the United States has increased by over £200,000,000 since 1903. Co-operation amongst adjoining holders would do much in the direction of keeping down tho weed nests. Not much use crying "Back to the land" if we have not enough men to work the land when we get back to it. Food, water, air, light, and exercise are necessary to maintain all our domesticated animals in health and usefulness. Seventy-five thousand acres under wheat in West Australia last season gave a return of a million and a-quarter bushels. More horse losses as the consequence of feeding mouldy hay. How many warnings are needed to impress tho farmer? Sheep aro often forced with medicine much faster than they can fairly swallow it, and choked or injured in this way. , Dairving takes the least fertility out of the soil of any method of agriculture. ■ Then why should not more farmers be following the wise path?