ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14926, 26 February 1912, Page 3

ON THE LAND.

THE CALIFORNIAN QUAIL. BY COCKY. A m.ct'per, not fully considered by acclimitisation societies when considering the- introduction of new birds or animals into tho Dominion is the changed habits or increased fecundity of the importations •when I placed in new surroundings. It is a recognised fact by naturalists that en the introduction of a species the | general tendency is for that species to inJ crease at a rate abnormal in its natural habitat; but this fact is fully explained by easily-understood natural laws. Into tjlo workings of these laws I do not now \ propose- to enter, but Tefer my readers to | the fecundity of practically all introduced (birds, as well as of rabbits, stoats, etc. These creatures have increased at a rate J which is incredible to those who know them only in their natural home. The subject of my article is no exception to the general rule. Nests of 15 to 20 eggs are not rare, and have been found containing as many as 27, piled into a pyramid. In their own country I am credibly informed that a nest of a dozen eggs is uncommon, while eight to ten is ■ the average. Not only are the clutches large, but in this country, with a favourable season, two broods are frequently reared, and I have heard of three broods being hatched in an exceptional season. The quail is essentially a feeder on seeds and leaves, and of the many I have dissected few have been noticed whose crops contained insects. The bird seems partial to clovers of all kinds, and will eat both seeds and leaves; but when these are not available it will eat all kinds of grass seeds, and even furze seeds and leaves. Introduced as a game bird, it has become, in some- parts of the North, the worst bird pest against which farmers have to contend. All kinds of garden seeds and plants suffer from its depredations, aud it is impossible to grow peas, beans, turnips, etc., even close to houses, unless protected till a fair height by netting. Even patches of turnips up to an acre or more in extent have this last year been completely stripped of seed. The birds are so wary that though often seen in convoys of a hundred or more it is difficult to get close enough to shoot them, and where cover is at all thick even to pick them up after being shot. t Needless to say, farmers do not observe a "close'' season where these pests are concerned, but for the above reason shooting does little to diminish their numbers, and poisoning is now being seriously considered. No doubt "sportsmen" (?) will be up in arms at this proposal, but farmers are driven to it in self-protection. A short time ago I heard that the Northern Wairoa people were anxious to get this bird into their district, where, luckily, it is scarce. Let them take the advice of one who has observed its spread for 20 years and seriously pause before committing themselves and posterity to infinite loss and annoyance, for the sake of a few so-called " sports." If this should meet the eye of a Northern Wairoa resident I trust he will do all in his power to block any proposal in the direction of importing this pest into his district ; Z. The, editor has my permission to give my name to any who think I have laboured the case against the bird, and I feel sure I can bring overwhelming evidence to prove and amplify my statements. What the sparrow is to graingrowing districts the Californian quail is to districts being broken into grass and to gardens. Clover seed at 2s to 3s 6d per lb is too expensive feed for birds, and at,quail will easily eat a dessertspoonful of it per day. IMPOVERISHMENT OF GRASS. In gathering their hay' crops farmers should carefully observe the character of the grasses, as they afford a guide for the proper treatment of the field with fertilisers. Th 0 improvement of the land is .more to bo seen in the character of the herbage than in the weight of the crop. Weeds of all descriptions increase, and the good grasses and clovers decrease in similar proportions. Mr. Hall, in describing grass land impoverished by continuous cropping without the application of fertilisers at Rothamsted, points out that the weeds constitute nearly one-half of the herbage, tho most prominent species among the grasses' being quaking grass so generally taken as a sign of poor land, and sheep s fescue; among leguminous plants, the bird's foot trefoil, the burnet, hawkbit, and black knapweed among the weeds. Such is the appearance of much of the pasture and meadow laud of the country wherever milch cows and flocks are habitually grazed, and the land sometimes hayed without anything being restored in the shape of artificial food ormanure. Such land requires occasional dressings of farmyard manure, and applications of phosphoric acid either as superphosphate or basic slag and potash. When' the farmyard manure is omitted it should also have a small dressing of nitrate of soda. EFFECTS OF POTASH. "' Potash is said to exercise benefit to plants in the following manner :— The woody, structure of the plant is better developed. 2. The fleshy part of the fruit is improved in flavour and texture. 3. The dissemination of starch through the structure of tho plant is favoured. 4. It makes the plant more resistant to attacks of disease. It is well known that full dressings of nitrogen, while promoting luxuriant growth, are apt to make plants more susceptible to attacks of disease, unless the nitrogen is supported by phosphoric acid, potash and lime. In this matter potash seems to bo especially important. The following remarks on the subject merit careful attention. _ Extract from Mr. Hall's book, "Fertilisers and Manures".: When in 1908 tho mangels on the barn fields were replaced by swedo turnips they grew with considerable vigour and remained perfectly healthy, except that on the potash starved plots the leaves in the autumn showed a ) flecked appearance, especially towards the margins, where a good deal of the leaf tissue held a yellow brown-papery look, which marked off tho whole plot very distinctly, especially after the first frosts had taken place. There is abundant experi mental evidence to show that potash makes the plant more resistant to the attacks of fungoid diseases. It has already been explained how susceptible tho use of nitrogenous v manures renders tho mangels in certain of the Rotherhamsted plots to the attacks of leaf spot fungus. Tho attack is, however, much less severe on tho plots receiving an abundant supply of potash. DOUBLE CREAM CHEESE. Take a small quantity of thick, slightly sour cream, and pour a thin layer of it into a huckaback or close-woven towel, which has been previously wrung out of water, and has been stretched across a wide-mouthed vessel. Let the cream stand for about 20 or 24 hours in a cool, draughty place to stiffen. When it cuts quite firm it- is ready to mould. To facilitate draining, the thickened cream can be reniovr I from the sides of the cloth with a silver or bone knife, when it has stood for 12 hours, but it should not be ' disturbed before that time. To mould the cheese, line small square frames with two pieces of muslin, or round frames, if preferred, with blotting paper, and press the cheese in with a knife. As the mould is filled the cheese should be removed, weighed, and put to drain on straw mats or on blotting paper. One frame is sufficient for many cheeses. A cream cheese frame can be purchased at a dairy utensil shop for a few pence, or it can be made at home out of strips of cardboard. To make a quarter-pound frame for cream cheese, take two strips of cardboard |-inch deep and 2 inches long, and two strips 2-inch deep and 3 inches long. Join them together at the ends to form an oblong. No bottom is required, but ono may be added for convenience. Mus- 1 lin is always used with square frames, I and blotting paper with round frames. j

BIRD'S FOOT TREFOIL. ,/ " This plant, eays an Adelaide paper, belongs to the leguminose order,, and deserves more attention than lias hitherto been given to it by our agriculturists. The plant is much esteemed in Switzerland. • Bird's foot trefoil thrives on almost any kind of soil; dry land, though poor, and at high elevations, suits it remarkably well, and on such land it is claimed to be more productive than any other leguminous plant. It is a tap-rooted perennial herb, with a short stock, which sends up branches trom 6in to 2ft high. Tho leaves of these branches enable ono at once to distinguish it from all other leguminous plants— are five leaflets per leal', three leaflets together at the apex of the leaf, and two leaflets together at tho base of the leaf. The growth, therefore, is no trefoil at all, for there aro five leaflets per leaf, not three as in a genuine trefoil. Special branches from the leafy shoots bear umbels of yellow flowers, and each , umbel of flowers when ripe becomes a thing like a bird's foot, composed of s number of cylindrical pods containing the seeds. The plant is at its best in the second year of growth. It shoots at the same time as red clover. Opinion of the value of bird's foot trefoil is liable to be wrong, if one judges by outward appearances only, because, though stock refuse to eat the plant in full probably for the reason that the yellow pigment in the flower is very disagreeableif an examination is made beforo the flowering stage is reached, it will be found that the fodder has been freely taken. On soils which refuse to bear red clover, bird's foot trefoil is worth a trial. One precaution, however, must be taken—be sure that the seed is from Lotus corniculatus, and not from the worthless Lotus ulginosus or marsh bird's foot trefoil. Only large, shining, brown seeds are genuine ; the small olive seeds belong to the marsh trefoil. The rate of seeding is about onethird less than for red clover. The appropriate function of bird's foot trefoil is to form permanent leguminous herbage in grass mixtures on soils that refuse red clover, and for this purpose one or two pound of the trefoil may be incorporated in the seed mixture for an acre. MAKING STACK ENSILAGE. . One advantage of stack ensilage over the silo is that the supply may be built up ; at any convenient spot contiguous to where it is grown or where it can most conveniently be fed. As compared with the stationary silo of any description, this means a considerable saving of time and labour.' The grass requires to be cut in a succulent stage, just when it is coming into flower ; oats, rye, and other cereals as soon as they shoot into ear, and none of them should, . be allowed subsequently to be wilted in ' the sun, but carted as soon as possible after being cut. It will settle down three feet in four. The site for the stack should be level, and at some distance from the . ■' dairy, or where the odour of curing could not. contaminate the milk. Cutting and i stacking can be carried on in all weathers, and only enough to handle immediately is cut daily. The nearer a stack is kept to a square on the foundation the easier will . it be , built, and the least waste result. Instead of keeping up the centre as »in "; ordinary stack-building, the object should be to manage so that when Bettled the sides will be level with the centre. " The , outside all round should therefore be built higher than tho centre of the stack, . .in a stack 24ft square experience has shown . that about 3ft in depth daily will be the approximate amount green fodder necessary. But this amount will; depend on the condition of vhe, material added, the whole secret of making acceptable . ensilage being to apply sufficient weight when the required temperature has been reached, to exclude the air. If large pile of greem fodder has been placed sufficiently de?p it. will heat until it may. go on.fire if the air is not excluded from the heating mass, and this is I attained when the temperature rises as high as required by the weight, of the additional green fodder. In the- extent to which th v temperature is allowed will depend tin character of the,ensilage . , made. For sweet, green ensilage the temperature must not be allowed to rise more than 130deg to 140deg before ■ addition! 1 pressure is supplied; for sweet brown ensilage the temperature may i rise high ' enough to scald pigs— 16*0 deg. Should it rise higher than that, the silage will be black and burnt, and ho use for feeding , purposes. To control the temperature a • galvanised iron pipe is built into the stack, and down this a self-registering . ther- , mometer may be lowered. : • i■■;■■■< \ , As it is desirable to build the stack like ■ / the walls of a bouse all round, and get , as much as possible on one foundation, the stack may be carried up as high as arrange- > meuts can be convenietly made for hoist- ■ ing both the last of the grass and when it is finished, the weighting material to finish off with. Although the fodder may . • be forked 9ft or 10ft without great diffi- 1 ' culty, the consolidated finish will be much than that, and the material used for weighting higher still. It is therefore , advisable, seeing that we cannot command the American fan blast, to have some sorb , of a derrick for hoisting the material on to the stack, and there should be no difficulty about that. The control of the tempera- r ture is the essential feature which makes for success or failure. If time.is not "given :.■•■;.;,:■ to allow the temperature to rise to 120deg, * "'.• the product will be sour ensilage, which, although quite wholesome, is not regarded with favour by dairymen, Too much put on at once prevents fermentation, continuing, and it is the arrest ,of the ferment- . ing process at the proper period which' , turns out the desired article. But there is ? little difficulty in allowing the temperature to rise far enough before piling on a new layer. After all the material has been dealt with and layer after layer" has been added, the top layer is levelled out carefully, having been carefully built to avoid unequal settlement, and covered with a platform of rough-sawn timber, which has been lightly nailed together and surrounded by close boards, making a frame 18m deep. This makes a close floor, which will hold soil in quantity, and all that is needed may be secured from a trench dug round the stack. It is really only the top layer that needs weighting at all. BREVITIES. Expedition in harvesting is essential as a protection against damage by storm. The complete harvester is a boon to the farmer, because its easo in manipulation, simplicity of construction, and ability to do creditable, work in damp weather, spells efficiency and speed. The stripper, to some farmers, is more economical than tho harvester, because it saves the cocky chaff; but on dewy morn- , ings or evenings, or in damp weather, it ; cannot be taken through the crop 80 soon . as the harvester. !,•■ '<' Soils have some effect upon milk. In the Wensleydale district of Yorkshire, . where soil is chiefly composed of limestone, , tho milk is rather sweeter ; than 'f. that |j : yielded from cows where "the - soil>is of a; < , clayey nature. Milk from heavy clay soils is more acid, and suitable for hard pressed , cheese, such as cheddar cheese. ':: ', ""■^V'''' r '. :.-,''<'' >.' :'■';"• H ,■■.'■. It is generally considered that sulphur'., is of little value as a fertilising ageM, and '. no farmer would think of buying : ! i for application to Ins fields, but, according to h experiments made by an agricultural institution in America, the prevalent ideas on the subject are wrong. ' " , In a ton of ordinary farmyard manure there is as much nitrogen, phosphate,] and •*- - potash as in 12s or 15s worth of artificial » manure, and if a ton of dung is not usu- - ally valued at even half this- figure it a chiefly because a largo part of tno "»•.. substances mentioned never becomes * Ta . able, or is lost before the crops can m*x* use of it. ■ (> . , t On testing whey at the time oJ^J the curd, it will be §^ f^ < ™«wJ lower.perc^^f^^^^^ KL m TMS A* She.fact that W: C ::, liberatedfrom the caseinby th* £fonTf•thTrotet°"tK lime salts to,wTf an aJi»line nature neutralisa thft acid in the wß'ey % - •':.."'.^ : ' ; . : ■'■■!.'■'■' •'■■ ■-. ' ■ - : ■■■'■■'{ ■■• ■ :J' :^: Wx'^iM