ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18297, 13 January 1923, Page 16

ON THE LAND.

- . CLEANING MILK .UTENSILS. , , The''-.United States Department of Agricultural in their Farmers' Bulletin, No. V; 502j l : says:—"A3 utensils , which. come in ' Oontacfc "with milk should be made of r v durable,!* smooth, non-absorbent material. . Wooden .utensils are hard to sterilise, and therefore are/not used in the, hast" equipped dairies. Badly battered or rusty ware is? object!enable, as\it is hard/, to , /dean//and contact with iron may injure . the flavour of milk and milk products. Avoid »all utensils having complicated - parts, crevices* or inaccessible places which . are hard to clean properly. A pail or can /.may be- clean to the eye and .yet may : v carry numberless bacteria which ? ;; will .- hasten, the souring of milk, cause bad ; flavour in butter or cheese, or spread con:t6gion.fj'Milk utensils should be rinsed in cold waiter immediately after they have been used and before the milk has had : time toJ. dry upon them, then washed thoroughly in hot water to which soda or some washing powder has been added. Brushes are preferable to cloths for washing dairy utensils, as they are more easily kept and do better work. After 'washing, tho utensils must be rinsed and sterilised. ' Y FEEDING DURING MILKING:? ."Many; farmers advocate feeding dur- ■ ing milking, which is generally done in '~". the old' countries during stabling time. However, - experience teaches us that it is not;,strictly necessary to feed during milking-in order to obtain higher milk yields. Experience suggests that where machine'milking is applied, feeding daring milking often keeps the cows, more easy and quiet. A few years ago it was announced in -.some Old Country papers ; M that by pressing the hand as high us possible on the udder and then squeezing the milk out rather hard, would increase the milk yield. After roost of the milk had been squeezed out, the quarters wore rubbed rather rough in imitation of the sucking calf. This method, though giving a. little more - milk, has the 'objection that time is lost and also the quality of the milk does not become improved by it, so that it does hot deserve recommendation where hygienic* milk has to be obtained. In > many sections of Switzerland, South Germany, i and West France the milking is not done- by full-hand milking, but the thumb 1 is bent and pressed down the length"* of the teat, with two or three fingers opposite the thumb. One has to get accustomed to' this method of milking. If properly done there is no : objection to this" method ; from any.' . standpoint. ,

'-'f ■'<:,- A GRADE COW. A grade Friesian cow, Queen of Crocus ; Valley,:-'in-Minnesota, says ■ the «Chicago :■'•■ ''Breeders' Gazette," holds : what is be- '■■'■■ lieved Off, be world's record for j grade cow on official V test. She was offi- ; cially tested under the roles of the Frie;sia -Advanced Registry Association, and ho seven days made 30.51b. of butter, ft \ 24 41b. * Jiat, and 692,211b. milk, thus mak- '■■'.■' 'teen days she made 60.01b. ?.. of butter,- * ft 24 41b fat, and 692,211b. milk. In fouring a /iO-lb. record for two consecutive ■ : . weeks, ft Her highest, day's milk was 103.9 v lb. Her" record wjis made under adverse v' cirropiaßtstnces, as ; she had one teat injrireii', Before freshening, and. had to ,oe ■ i milled : - with a milk tube during the entirVperiod while on test. Her record A wild have undoubtedly been still greater. but for''this accident. /Sheis 3six-year-old ; cow, and a splendid individual. She was -■'•.. sired by Edenwold '■ Lowell Coiahthaihow owned and in service at the University , Earn. . '." ' * _____ ■■■■■■■■■■ ■"-. ;'..'*, -,; .;.* .v. .- .:. _ . ...-■■■ v: v ■ •.-■-.■■•".-■.«#...'.■■■.■■• LMEWATER FOR BLOAT. An • Avonshire breeder reported recently the loss of some pure bred heifers on lucerne through bloating. While this j ,' : ;- trouble; preventable, and the precau-1 tions to;t|se have often ; been given here , i : it will occasionally happen -stock :'i ■' Wander anaiget; at Tank feed before, they' -' * can be stopped. There* are number 6$ nimple, yet.,eflicaoious, remedies,"., and-one ■?.'■■'■: of the simplest is r a' drench with lime-. , ; 'tniiXT. One pound of lime slaked C with •■■ ft- five,gallons of water should be sufficient -and~ihe limewater should be hot-; '■■-tied off ready for use. If the cow shows signs of -bloating, slightly warm the lime- . -.waterland*give a,quart as a drench. As a preventative of bloating, each cow may be given a.pintof limewater twice* week. ~.'".' Other' 1 remedies r recommended are , four j '.;-.'-- table spoonfuls hypo-sulphite of: soda die-'! ft '■> solved -in water, or 'two table spoonfuls; '< kero°2rfe to one pint of milk. In severe! 'cases '*he only remedy is puncturing the : '. rumen. - % RATIONS FOB PIGS. ■ r Oh a well-balanced ration, about one of ft.'albuminoids' to four and a half of carbo..hydrates, a. growing fattening pig from ' '.'. the twelfth to; the twenty-fourth week of] " its life, should- give about lib. of ; increase ] from each 3ilb. to 41b. of meal consumed. 1 So declares Mr. W. M, Tod in an article I appearing in the Live Stock. Journal An,-:. ; nail for-1922 upon the subject of "Mixing Rations with ,'Brainsi" " When running at ;good grass . during , the first'--seven or , eight weeks of: this period sitae - less meal than this is necessary; or if they are fod- ' deredwith greenstugrin the yards the same ft '~ economy ;in meal isi produced. One im-. '■■ portant point: must be remembered, however, .continues Mr. Tod/and that is that pigs* beingpfed for profit should never . be frvenvas' much' meal fas they will eat. f jBo led, a-rlarge proportion of the food passes through them undigested and is •::> ..wasted.' As a general rule, the proper ;,-. quantity of a properly.balanced: food that '.'; 'produces ithe most economical results is ' about !fllb!, for each four weeks of their age. This may be exceeded by |Ib. a pig, not more; that' is, a 16-week pig ; may get • %lb.. "..will look for more, - and the-pfoper. plan is -then to offer it a few pounds of greenstuff,- which it will eat till satisfied. The i greenstuff aids '..■■-'ft digestion and keeps the pigs,; healthy, ft-,-:' When at grass, of course, they help them- •- selves.-... ..'■'.■■ ''-■,- »

'preserving butter. : For i table .use,: preserved: butler should ; >. :nbt: be \ made too salt, only salt: enough to : ; ensure % its ; keeping. :* fallow only fa ' half-ounce to a pound of butter, but this ' is rather little if the butterihas to be kept for any considerable time. A" great deal, however, depends upon the quality of the; butter, and the way it has been made. ;'< L The buttermilk must be carefully drawn off, and the butter well washed and worked. It' is better to brine it if it is soft Half brining and dry. salting are sometimes .adopted. In this cas6, the brine is made rather weak, or not more than half the usual strength ,21b. salt • to 1 gallon of water. If the butter is •>• worked. -in,.this_weak brine it may be est " Wide - for a day and then dry-salted. ' Brining may be done with salt less pure end fine than for dry salting. Salt can • be better incorporated with the batter by brining, as each grain receives its due share of the salt. The same uniformity is not'so easily obtained by means of dry -.-.■'- sail Brining, naturally takes a little; longer because the butter , is usually left from two or three to several hours to soak in the brin'el"lh dry salting, about Joe. of good dairy salt is added to every pound of butter. -filii is/ perhaps, the best .plan to divide the required salt into two parte, and use one rpart first in lightly sprinkling the butter, just after tt is taken from the chum, and, worked a little. ; Then the rest of ■ the 1 :' salt' is added; and mixed thoroughly again. Set the butter aside till next day, and cover it with a'piece of muslin. Work it again the following day, taking care to have the butter as. ' ."dry as-possible. •'... . l _ i ' ; A sound-jar : is required, to contain the salt butter. Any chipped or cracked yessol , is quite upßui£able. The jar must be perfectly oleiiri and dry, having been washed, scalded, and rinsed. - It . should : bo quite cold when the butter is packed, Press- the butter evenly and. firmly down: ; putting; in a large spoonful at a time.. Don't fill the jar quite. fulL Leave a' ..;' margin of about |in, ; ; ' " 7 Place! a little bit of/clean muslin v. over > ':_,. the butter, and then a good layer of salt. - • The top, may be covered With butter paper. Butter intended for salting should'; be churned from comparatively fresh .cream, ~ ',-»-;; : -'"' : ' *' -• - '-■'"■■" ■', '' l "■.' i'

EARLY BREEDING. Some, years ago America- realised the importance of (having, data upon this subject, and by arranging experiments and approaching livestock, -breeders set out to /secure reliable evidence, The Missouri 1 experiment' station gent • a J . lß *>** unestions to 1000 leading breeders m: the United- States^and; Great Britain, tor, the purpose of ascertaining the -; observations of intelligent , breeders on« the question of earlv breeding. The; data secured from- these" questionnaires are too voluminous to report in detail,: but in general the majority of breeders .believed that very early breeding , was narnuul. lfce evil results supposed to follow, early breeding could easily be ; classified^ as ■'-'* influences injurious to the young mother and influences injurious to the Of the replies received, 306 breeders believe that very early,: breeding: would result hi causing young mothers to _t>e stunted and undersized, It was specifically stated by 18 breeders that the si;:o. of the ■■mother.:; was not permanently diminished, but usually females that were bred at an early age required _a; longer, time to mature. In the list .15 breeders were positive in stating that very young mothers developed into bettor breeders. Thirty-five breeders\ insisted that no evil results of any kind followed very early breeding., Five out of the total number called attention to the risk to the life of the young mother as the "most important evil following very early matins. According to the ppinion of 200 breeders the offspring of tho very young mothers would be smaller, undersized and weaker. Seventy-seven breed-, ers were positive that no evil effects to the offspring followed the breeding, of very young mothers. . That , offspring would, be smaller but not weaker was claimed by 17.breeders. It seemed to be the observation of ten breeders that the offspring of very young mothers matured more slowly. Three breeders in the entire list mentioned specifically the fact that the offspring of young mothers are generally smaller at birth. It is inter-" esting to. note that.none of the breeders held that early "breeding diminished to any extent the breeding powers of the mother. ■:.'•-' :■ ' w ■" '-..•/-' .'", For hearlv ten years Professor Mumford,, of Missouri University, has been breeding voung sows at the earliest possible opportunity. The offspring of there early matins have been used for the next generation, and this been used now for ten generations. The young sows have become pregnant at from four to six months of age. Careful records have been kept of the original eight of the mothers, and . measurements of their growth have been carefully recorded. It has been taught that, the period of gestation, particularly in sows carrying a large number of young -in utero, was an exhausting . period and , that _a ; pregnant animal must be. more generously fed. FERTILITY INHERITED. ; Fertility, like all other characteristics, is inherited. It is .'a well-known fact that within the various breeds of sheep there are ; flocks which are notoriously prolific, also that daughters of sows which have given large, litters are usually the mothers of large families themselves. The same relation between the fertility of mothers and that of their progeny has been found; in mares— even in man, though the latter is influenced by many other .factors. If prolificacy may be inherited from the female parent, it may also be inherited from ";-the male ? the mass of evidence points to the fact that fertility is a characteristic that is inherited from both pa ents. It is not suggested that the mate parent : has any considerable influence on the size of the litter have seen that nominally that is decided by the female-—but that ha does influence the individuals: of the; litter for good or : evil as regards- fertility when the time comes for them to reproduce. For: instance, ? a twin ram lamb may 'be said '■■', to carry sthe/ factor / for fertility, whether .the ewe he is mated with ■■ (when he reaches maturity); has one or more ;lambs is no concern of his, but one of her ewe " lambs is 'more ■'• likely to produce twins or triplets than she would have been had her fatherbeen a single lamb. To' say that a ram is a good 'getter" is merely to assert that he is physically unimpaired/but to say that he is a twin is I to predict that his offspring will tend to |be prolific. -This, : fact : has K been very; i clearly demonstrated in the v, o Leicester I breed -of ,sheep; it was at one time-the i custom in. this breed to use only rams that were born singly, it being found that they were generally s bigger, ; and > more '.vigorous than twins; bv- this - method. "of. breeding .the fertility of the; breed:?"- was greatly reduced, and they are not so prolific as s are;some/other.breeds in which rams have not been rejected simply on the score of being a twin.' , ''■>■'';>.//: ■* ;. v . .- ,' -.•"-■ ■ — '/■ THE , DAIRY BULL. ;■'/ Professor 0/ H. Eckles, an authority on dairy' cattle in the, United States, sets down the rules which he has worked out in; his; more than 30 * years' experience in. ' handling dairy breeding Istcck. _ , - . '" ■■' :The bull is old enough for light service by the time he vis a year old, |some even younger/, The young; bull should not' be allowed to: run with the herd- This re- | suits in the bull wearing ; himself out, ; | and, furthermore, ft makes impossible the | keeping of records of when, the cows are due ■ to. freshen. By the time the bull is a year old, a ring should be put in life nose, and :.it is generally also advisable to dehorn him about the same time. The . most; common, mistake ; made with in e mature bull is to ; shut him up, without sufficient exercise and* {jo get him too/fat. To»keep the breeding qualities of a bull in good condition ,do not allow*him to *«n with the cows when young, and make certain he takes plenty of exercise when grown. Don't underfeed the bull when young or keep him too fat when mature. Don't use him too heavily before he is well: grown. Don't/ abuse him. Treat him firmly, / but kindly. Don't tease him , or allow children ;to play v*th =; him when young. This is a certain way to make a mean bull. Don't let him get the upper hand at any time. Let him understand who is?the boss. Don't let him realise his; enormous strength. Keep fences good, and ties strong, lest he "find out how easily he can break them.

MILK FEVER. V; The symptoms are those of fever generally, as ,': - indicated by ';'■ the thermometer pen feathering, . arching the back, loss . of appetite, high-coloured urine, passed' -with a groan, as if scalding in its course, loss of milk, rheumy, eyes, and dry muzzle. Without being able to give any of the statistics beloved of the bureaucrat (for pigeon-holing), a life's experience leads me to think that fewer cases of metritis occur where the time-honoured cleansing drink has been, given. Temperature will bo reduced by a suitable. aperient. Tfaa purgative should not be feared because the cow seems prostrate. The one thing to be remembered in the choice of a drench is the need of cordials with it. ; To pour into the patient a lot of cold salts alono is not desirable, but if an. ounce of ginger, an ounce of pimento, : or aniseeds or mustard, and particularly a dram of ; powdered nux vomica is added, the muscular layer of the stomach and' intestine 13 enabled ito contract better, and griping is prevented. With such cordials an ounce of aloes may be given' with excelceilent > results. . After tha aperient ha 3 acted it is well to give a quarter of aii ounce of salicylate of., sodium night and morning, and if the urine is passed with evident ' scalding .an ounce or two of bicarbonate of potash should be added each day to the. drinking water or food. The syringing of the uterus with . large volumes of warm water with a simple anti- : septic :•' relievas pain and; helps to carry I away offending material. .-For this the permanganate of potash is recommended, now that glycerine' for dilution of . carbolio acid -is unobtainable. The mistake nearly always ,made by beginners is in ''• using this substance much too strong. Two grains to the ounce, or a scruple in half a pint, is a strength often • recommended in books, but experience- teaches us that we get better results from V a i solution "of half that quantity. Many . memßranes v are; irriated and made sore, or,' at least, the desired' results'■'■ are not obtained, by waste of the permanganate. The cavities of the body arc very sensitive to chesaical substances, and especially . t'.tljose with'an-avidity Jor oxygeai