ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17254, 2 September 1919, Page 11

ON THE LAND.

AUSTRAWAN PB3DUOXS,

Many inquiries are mads, says an iuetralian paper, as to the reason why the Commonwealtbb, with its export markets so seriously affected during the •war, has not suffered mart. The ?ea6oft—eo frequently given—is that though wool, wheat, meat, and dairy produce could not be shipped, it was paid for by the Imperial Government. Of eoure, tiie money was needed for the war finance of Australia, and that was even more than an Imperial master ; but producers hare had the benefit of a great part of it; and the Urban industrialists have likewise benefited. From the middle of 1916 to the end of 1918 the Imperial Government paid to Australia £135,000,000 for produce. Tho sura was mode up thus; W-joI, £75,000,000 wheat, £37,000,000*; meat, £17,000,000 dairy produce £6,000,000. i

CONTAGIOUS ABORTION. Contagious abortion in cattle is A germ disease which causes the d>sath of unborn calves and occasions annual losses of mil lions of pounds. The contagion is spread at the time of breeding or waay pass from animal to animal by means of contaminated feed and water. The germs are present in large numbers in tho aborted fetus and its membranes, wherefore places fouled by an aborting cow »hou'.cl be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. Through burning, hurrying, or disinfection of infective material, great progress can be wade toward the control of the disease. A cow that has aborted isfaou'.d be removed immediately from among the healthy animals and given appropriate treatment, which includes tho irrigation cf uterus with suitable disinfectants. After abortion, breeding should, be suspended until it \a evident that the vaginal discharge has ceased. Aborting cows are likely to become immune eventually, so if they are profitable animals they should not be slaughtered but should be retained in "the herd.

BROOM CORN. -

Broom corn is grown both as a fodder plant and for broom fibre. It will grow wherever rriawe will thrive, but stands dry conditions better. Sanely loams and rich river flats suit it best. 2. The. need can bo obtained from seedsmen advertising in our columns, and is usually cheap. 5. Yen do not state the purpose for which you propose to grow it. The land should be ploughed and well worked through the winter to kill weeds ami keep the soil friable. Rolling before drilling is advisable. The seed should not be sown till danger of frosts is past, which will be from October to December. It ie usually i'own in drills three, feet apart, and seeds :ieven inches to eight inches in the rows, mt rather more thickly if for fodder; no deeper than two inches. Light seed should be noatcd off, and fed to fowls. Seed may bo pickled with bhiegtone. Ma teesowers or P'anet, Jr., seisd-scnvers answers ■well. As wen as tho plants are from four inches vo.six inches high the g-ournl should be harrowed, awl if thickly sown crosa-harrowed. The crop should be ctsi treated with a horse-hoc till sis feet high. The harvesting should commence when the seed begins to harden, and the crop is usually converted into ensilage. If fed oB care should be shown, as with all sorghums poisoning may iccur if immature crops are fed off. Ths stalks are more easily handled than mai'.e. ,At this stage, if required for fibre, the stalks will have the green tinge so desirable. Great care is repaired in curing the fibre. The seed is thrashed off by passing the stalks through spiked rollers; but the seed must be thoroughly dry before sowing again. It makes good feed. The process of manufacturing brooms from the fibre is not intricate, but requires "experience in selection and handling.

ROADS AND TIRES. A*, the Agricultural Conference in Maryborough the Hou. A. J. Thynue. M.L.C., read a most interesting paper on " Queensland Gauntry Roads. During the discussion which followed, Mr. Atkinson, of Dander said-: " The question of roadmafcing and good roads is a very big one. and the difficulty our shire councils have to encounter is the fact that they have so many roads to attend to. Our shire council, ie in a pretty wealthy district, and has been very sympathetic to the farmer. ... As for road-making generally there is no doubt that a lot -r! money is wasted for want of a little morn. Farmers would help themselves if they adopted the broad tire. lam by trrda a wheelwrisvt and eoachbuilder. and can say that the general introduction of broad ( tires will do a3 much as anything to scive the bad road difficulty. The br,«d tire is the verv best that you fa i put or iarm lands, and when I started far.niiig the first (hint; I did was to build a dfiy with four-inch tires. I wanted flve-i.jcb, but there was a difficulty in getting them. It is the lightest dray in Try part of the district, yet I con guaranty to take on it a bigger load to the railway with one horse than any other rapti on this countryside. The local .ik ioritie& could do much to encourage the we of broad tires. If there were a tax put on all new three-inch tires we should soon get wider ones. When the wheelwright firm I was in first went to Kughende& we found the thrre-inch tire was the standard, and we said to the woolmen : 'Go in for wider ; res." When wo left there we had instituted the six-inch tire the greatest road-maker ever introduced on to the blacksoil plains." ,

RECORDING PEDIGREES. I have often wondered (writes J.G. in Live Stock Journal) what is the meaning 01" this difference in the mode of recording yedigree in horses and COW 3, and have not hit upon what would seem a reasonable explanation until now. After my initiation into the breeding of horses, and after much study of pedigrees and visiting j of ttiids and shows, I managed to formu- • 'ate some general statome "ts. I found i ".ha; when male lines descended from a celebrated stallion came to an end it was the result of continued outcrossing, and i. order to maintain such a line a. certain degree of breeding between nearly-related families was essential. Since taking up i the study of breeding in catt"e I find that j the line of a. celebrated cow w perpetuated bv i series of outirosse?, generation by j generation, is the custom, that the 1 use of related sires is apt to produce male j and not heifer calves. Why all this? Inbreeding undoubtedly leads to the iniieute of quality in all direction.". This i.-- a most desirable acquisition to the male ii every species, not excluding man. On the other hand, outcrossing leads to robustness in all directions, size, constitution, »tc. This is not only desirable, but essential to the female in order to produce the best, healthiest, and strongest offspring, whether male or female. Now, in horses, courage and other qualities are what man wants atii seeks at "very opportunity to develop, and the courageous-" r'.aio is generally -ery highly prized. V-hereas in cows ilia strong, robust, sound ' on» litution ones are those sought after, because they, and w»ey only, produce good 'dh'.'B, are" able to rear them, and do rnu( ; i more in th* way of giving milk for hum; .. food. In the case of ihe horse the < I'iracteristics of the male are roost desiiabis, but those of the female in the cattle. Thus it is no doubt that in cattle a good cow is selected, a good daughter it tv pfld for, and so on. To obtain a go*, i daughter with matronly qualities, ; -.vhii Ii are not synonymous with feminine j qualities, it is essentia) to secure robust- j ness of frame and of constitution and ; the breeders' practice to attain such an j end is to geek an unrelated bull generation I afU..- generation. Thus he obtains the ' essentials for a matronly cow, and ericas the development of excessive femininity, '!'■•> retain type or a uniform shape all the breeder needs be careful about ie to, select. fcss bull from related families, and ho will then secure continuity in type in addition to matronly characteristic* that attracted his attention in th« firs* cow, selected.