AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20385, 14 October 1929, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

Stockmen should pay attention to the general condition of individual cows, and during any abnormal period the milk should either be tested or withheld temporarily from the bulk.

Inefficient milking can, and often does, affect the quality of the milk. _ The operation should be carried out quickly, quietly and thoroughly, and in all cases tho cow should be treated with every, consideration.

To repeat once more, water' glass one part, boiled water 10 parts, is the best preservative for eggs, the eggs being covered by at least two inches of the liquid. Never try to keep a'stale egg. —.Rural New Yorker. ;

At the annual meeting of the Hawera Poultry Society tho following officers -were elected Patron, Mr. H. G. Dickie, M.P.; president, Mr. E. Galvin; vice-presidents, Messrs. D. Stewart, L. O. Hooker, B. C. Bennett, C. H. Barker, J. R. Corrigan, R. F. Page, J. B. Wilson.

Some years ago [Ayrshire bulls, to the number of 16, wero exported from England to India for the purpose of a crossing with the native cows, and a result of this first cross, as heifers, under Government test, gave almost three times as much milk as their dams.

The value of sulphur as a fertiliser for legume crops has long been recognised in America, and increased yields of 50 to 100 per cent, are accepted as a matter of course in Lake County, Oregon, when sulphur is applied to lucerne at 1001b. per acre. Efforts aro being directed toward wider uso of the fertiliser on lucerne, led clover and other legumes.

Perhaps the most insidious parasite amonc English sheep is the stomach worm. Its principal sympton is an appearance of dullness and lack of thrift, normally accompanied by scouring. iho skin is pale and bloodless and some animals affected may cough. Lambs that die wiU bo found to possess worms in the foe stomach carying in length from fm. to lin Examination should be made immediately on the death of the animal,Live Stock Journal.

Most pig breeders recognise the fact that a good sow is essential to successful breeding, even in the case of commercial or general utility pigs; but too often the sam'o amount of care is not bestowed on the matter of selection of a boar. Ihis is certainly not as it should be if the pig breeder is to follow progressive lines and steadily seek for improvement. One may obtain a very good typo of pig occasionally, even though a casual cross; but the chances are ten to one against it. Well bred pigs owo their merits not to one or two judicious matmgs, but to a =teadily followed plan for breeding for a number of generations on ccrta.n wel defined lines. In this way only can the herd be standardised. The good pointy of well bred stock are fixed or determined through judicious breeding on the right lines.

It is doubtful whether, under average farm conditions, it will be found profitable or agreeable to milk cows three times a dav, says an overseas paper. With Cpws capable of producing 401b. or more of inilk a day, it is possible to increase their production from 10 to 15 per cent, by milking three times a day. With cows of lower production the increase duo to tho third milking is very slight. It is seldom that all cows in the herd would approach this limit of 401b., and it would be inconvenient to. attempt to divide the ordinary herd into two groups, one of which is milked twice a day and the other three times. An investigation conducted at Cornell University, in America, some years ago, indicated that for an _ year, with cows of an average> production, there was Poetically.no m crease in the milk production when tM cows wero milked three simes> day* ■