AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19217, 5 January 1926, Page 12

AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

The main function of green manures is to supply the soil with decomposable organic matter. Daring tho past few yeurs the importation of frozen meat to the Continent has been steadily increasing. Cheese is a food second to none and cheaper than any commodity (or group of them) of similar iood value. A working farm horse requires about 101b. of oats per day, besides chaff or hay—about 351b. to 401b. in all. The most common disease of calves and the one giving the most trouble in calfraiaing' is scours or diarrhoea. The .consistent grading of cream is a benefit financially to tho producer, the dealer, the manufacturer and the customer. There is nothing better as a base for roots and concentrates, whon fed to dairy cows and breeding sows, than some well matured clover hay. Ostrich feiathers have so lost their popularity that these birds are no.w . being killed in South Africa for their skins.and flesh. Of tho former light shoes arc being made. Maize should not be sown until after the middle of November in average disbut the land should be prepared meantime as should also the area for the ma?igold crop. Top-dressed areas remain green for a longer period than those that are unmanured, thus providing succulent feed for a longer period and diminishing the danger of fire. The mangold, thti garden beetroot, and the sugar beet are all derived from the same original wild plant, all having undergone years of re-selection by tho best-known plant graders. In Denmark, where the co-operative system has been brought tc a high state of perfection, it is customary to have each cow's pedigree and milk and butterfat record hung in its byre. A complete manure for maize should contain soluble phosphate, potash, and nitrogen. The land should bo deeply ploughed, and worked to a fine tilth. This is most important if a good crop » to be assured. Exports of cheese from the United States during tho first half of 1925 were more than three times Chose of the corresponding period in 1924. While exports of butter were slightly larger, imports declined to less than one-third. Keep a record of the heifer's production by having her tested, as a heifer's test is her life's test. Sho will not materially improve in tho percentage of fat in afterlife, provided that when the tost was taken she was in normal health and sufficiently fed. It is not well enough known that practically all plants require for their maintenance about a dozen different kinds of • plant food. These are found in the soil and air_ and water. They include iron, magnesia, sulphur, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus and some others. Maize is a summer crop of the first importance on the dairy farm, because practically no other summer forage crop is capable of producing such a heavy yield of green feed per acre, and this at a time when it is needed most. A succession of sowing may be made, as the plant is ready for cutting in about twelve weeks. " What is wrong with our farmers of to-day that they cannot get properly into the pork industry?" asked Mr. S. Bowman, of Dunedin, when speaking to members of the herd testing association. "The farmers of Denmark are into it," he added, " ana they are reaping enormous benefit." Regularity in feeding must be the watchword of the successful calf-rearer. It makes all the difference in tho world to the calves' health, condition, and gain in weight if fed at regular hours and if given warm milk at night, cold milk in the morning, or sour milk one day and sweet Inilk the next, Farmers have found that feed for horses costs practically nothing, while the fuel and upkeep of a tractor are expensive items. Horses, moreover, can work at all seasons and on all kinds of land, whereas tractors cannot. Tractors have thus been scrapped on many prairie farms and horses again put into service. Joint-ill is a disease of foals which has caused a heavy mortality. Horse lovers always dread the appearance of- this trouble. Absolute cleanliness about the box stalls and the treating of the navel of the new-born colt with a disinfectant are preventive measures which have been used with varying results. The classification of soils into their superficial, chemical and physical fcvpes is the result, within the last century oniv, of the work of the £eologist, the chemist and the physicist. A soil survey for the information of the farmer cannot be undertaken without a knowledge of, and a reference to, tha discoverios of men who had no practical end in view, but i only the craving to know.