Farm and Garden.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 214, 16 October 1875, Page 22

Farm and Garden.

The s.s. Napier on her last trip to Foxton took up the pure-bred bull Duke of Ancaster, lately purchased by Mr. Dalrymple from Messrs. Bethune and Hunter, of this city. The Duke of Ancaster was brought out in the William Fruing for Messrs. Bethune and Hunter, and the enterprise of these gentlemen -will, it is seen, have a good effect in improving the stock of this province. A pure-bred Clydesdale was imported by the Taupo on Sunday, of which the following are the particulars : —President is a powerfullybuilt dappled-grey stallion, seventeen hands high, and four years old. He was bred by Mr. Nimmo, of Taieri Plain, Otago, and has been purchased by Messrs. Douglas and Co., of Oroua, Manawatu. Salt your hay, says the California Farmer. If haymakers will take a little more pains and cure it better they would realize from 20 to 25 per cent, more. in price than they do in the general average. If haymakers will cut their hay and throw it into larger heaps than usual, at the evening of the first day it is cut down, mingling a good sp. inkling of Liverpool salt through each heap, and on the second day double these heaps, they would find their hay cured well, with a bright fresh green look. Hay cured thus will be ready to go into stack or bale on the third day, and if a little more salt is thrown into each bale so much the better. When thus cured and baled this hay can be left on the field in large double or quadruple rows, piled high, and it will be sweet and bring the highest price whenever taken to market.

Perhaps one of the most important problems solved in our days (says Mr. J. Pottie), through the indefatigable energies of leading minds, is that which refers to the restorative powers of different feeds ; in other words, it is pretty generally known that sheep fed on certain highly nutritive kinds of food drop a manure on the grass which impregnates the soil with a new strength, saving completely the use of manure as a stimulant to the soils and as a top-dressing. This great fact may seem at first sight of less importance to us than it really is ; for I do not think that our farmers are inclined to the manure system of cultivation ; nevertheless it cannot be too often repeated that good feed given to a farm flock of sheep may so enrich your fields by the sheep droppings that the yield is increased one-third. A good many farmers have lately come to see that Leicesters or Lincolns yield a profitable return, apart altogether from their disposition to enrich the soil, and hence a fair number of intelligent men keep small flocks of sheep a 3 a paying investment, handling them in the right market and at the right time of year ; not only then may our farms be highly improved, but our stations also. I knew some fanners who adopted part of the idea—rented a poor farm, bought sheep to improve it, and fed them only on what they picked up from the grass of the poor farm. But you see this is simply robbing Peter to pay Paul. Sheep so used must be provided with some form of nutritious material, some concentrated form of food, such as maize meal, sugar mill refuse, oil cake, or, better still, a compound food. It’s astonishing what good a balanced form of food does, and how a very small quantity answers all purposes. As an example, some ploughmen will swallow a loaf for dinner,,but if this has not been prepared without salt, half a loaf will do, although less nutritious. Again, if it has been sweetened with sugar about one-third, it becomes as nutritious as the whole. You know that the meat companies concentrate the strength of an ox into a single 2-lb. pot. So it is with your sheep feed ; it’s

good to butter their bread, but it’s of no use giving butter alone—it’s unnecessary. Sheep, then, may not only be fattened, but the ground well top-dressed by a slight adjustment of their feed ; and top-dressing ground means increasing its carrying capabilities, and the extent of this will depend on your disposition to have it done. This fact has been put not only by the great farmers of Britain, but you observe the same happy disposition among the farmers of the United States of America. There agriculturists are continually keeping these facts forward, and one by one we drop down to them.

OVER-BRED STOCK

Regarding “ over-bred and over-fed stock,” the Saturday Review says : —“ Doubts begin to be expressed pretty freely as to whether high breeding has not already been cultivated to excess. It appears to be admitted on all hands that shorthorn cattle, for instance, have decreased in size, while it seems also certain that the fecundity of these highly-bred animals is not so great as it was, for it is said that certain tribes have become celebrated for the barrenness of their females, while at the same time a delicacy of constitution has been developed which unfits them for ‘ roughing it,’ and requires luxurious arrangements to preserve them in health. As in our racehorses, we have, according to some authorities, sacrificed stoutness of constitution and capacity of endurance over long courses for the sake of obtaining high speed over a short distance, so in our cattle the desire for fineness of bone and rapid development of meat has brought into fashion animals which have lost many of the valuable properties of their ancestors. Such breeds cannot exist when subjected to the rough weather which prevails on the exposed hillsides and moors so valuable as breeding grounds and nurseries for stock ; and perhaps it is for this reason that Ireland, which is prolific in cattle reared without shelter, failed to send us anything which can obtain a place in our exhibitions. Without doubt Ireland possesses first-class cattle ; but these are bred, sheltered, and fed under the same conditions as those to be seen at Islington. And the consumers have something to say also in the matter, as there is beef and beef. They prefer, and justly prefer, the meat of the Devon or the Scot whose young days are spent in cropping the scanty herbage of the moor or mountain, because the meat has more flavor than that of the rapiclly-forced stall-fed ox, who has been crammed with corn and linseed-cake from its calf-hood. So that even if it be true, as the breeders of the delicate animal contend, that their meat can be produced more economically, because more rapidly, than that of other races, let them remember that in losing stamina they restrict the area upon which the beast can be reared, and that we want flavor in our meat even if we have to pay a high price for it.”

FATTENING AND MILKING. (From the Practical Farmer.) Dr. Kuhn, of Germany, making experiments upon the food of cows, with reference to its effect upon the composition of the milk, found that an increase of fatty or albuminous matter produced an increase in the yield of milk, along with bodily condition, up to certain maximum ; but that when this maximum is reached increase in the yield of milk stopped, while improvement of bodily vigor went on. This is in accordance with the experience of every observing farmer. The only exception that can be made to the above rule is in regard to the maximum of the milk yield ; that is, that the maximum point is not the same in all cows. Some cows the moment you increase the quantity or quality of the food commence to take on flesh, or, as the doctor expresses it, improve in bodily condition. These cows are not valuable for dairy purposes, and of this class are most of the Durham and Devon cows. There is another class that as soon as the food is increased respond at the pail and churn, and it is a long time before you can get them to fatten up. This class are the valuable ones for the dairy, and this is the principal difference in breeds of cattle for dairy purposes. It is a common remark among farmers, when speaking of a cow noted as a good milker, that “ she is the hardest cow to fatten I ever saw.” We never saw a good milker fat ; and for this reason we spoke in a late number that the cow should be regarded simply as a machine to convert corn, hay, &c., into butter and cheese ; but, as Dr. Kuhn has proved, there is, no doubt, a point at which the product will be fat instead of butter and cheese. We advise fanners to experiment a little, and see how much they can make their cows eat without gaining in flesh. We believe such an experiment would prove profitable. A FARM SMITHY. The blacksmith’s account represents so considerable an item in the annual expenditure upon farms that it is surprising farmers do not more frequently try to do some of the work themselves. In an interesting article upon this subject the American Agriculturist points out the economy of time as well as money which might result from a farmer laying out a few pounds in providing himself with a blacksmith’s shop on a small scale. It may consist, says the paper referred to, “ of a portable forge, an anvil, a vice, and the usual hammers, tongs, &c., which form the kit of tools. With these a handy farmer may make a bolt, or a nut, or mend a chain, or do any of those small repairs which are needed upon a farm. Now that machinery is coming into such extensive use, the means of repairing any trifling break or replacing a lost bolt or nut must of necessity be at hand. To have a mower, a reaper, or a threshing-machine break dowu when the hurry of work is at the greatest, may frequently occasion a loss equal to a large portion of the cost of the appliances for making an immediate repair at home. We have known a farmer in such a case to mount a horse and ride several miles to get a bolt made that could

have been made at home in ten minutes if the means were ready ; meanwhile a dozen men and eight or ten horses were idle for half a day. The same will apply to the country mills, both saw and grist mills, which are often disabled for half a day or more by some trifling mishap, the real cost of which is nothing as compared to the indirect damage from delay. Some years ago portable forges were introduced , chiefly for army use, but they were found of sucli great value that they were speedily adopted by mining explorers, railway engineers, lumberers in the backwoods, and others who needed light work done at a moment’s notice, and have also found their way into farm workshops. At least having found their value in all the first mentioned cases, the writer found one indispensable in his farm workshop, and certainly saved its cost in one year’s use. Within the past year or two great improvements have been made in these forges ; a rotary fan, instead of a bellows, has been affixed to them, and in this form they are now made by the Empire Forge Company, of Troy, N.Y. There is one of small size, very convenient for farm use, or for light mechanical work. It is of such obvious value to the farmer that we apprehend it is because the implements as well as low cost arc not widely known, that almost every farm workshop has not one. The forge is made very light but strong, witli wrought iron legs, and can be readily lifted and carried from place to place. It weighs 90 pounds. The blast is supplied by a geared rotary blower, and a welding heat can be got up in a very short time. There are no belts or leather to become hardened, cracked, and useless by exposure. It may be carried into the field along with the reaper, or into the quarry, or the clearing, where drills have to be sharpened, and may be left out of doors without injury. The wearing parts are made of bronze, and have not required replacing after many years of work. The blast of these forges is strong enough to burn either charcoal, or anthracite, or bituminous coal, as may be convenient to procure. The other large furniture of the shop should be an anvil and a vice. These are as indispensable as the forge, and are useful for much work that does not need a fire. The vice to be preferred is the ‘ parallel leg’ vice, which always takes a firm square grip, whether the object held is large or small. It can be fastened to the work-bench by bolts. The anvils used should be chosen for their solidity and the excellence of the face. Upon this latter greatly depends the ease with which work may be done upon it, as a light hammer will do as much work upon a good anvil as a heavier one upon a poor one. These anvils are from lOlbs. weight up to 901bs. for light work, and from 100 to SOOlbs. for heavy work.”

PLANTOLOGY. The Gardeners' Chronicle has recently been devoting attention to the superstitions and mythology attached to plant life. Cut your thistles before St. John, You will have two instead of one. The St. John's Wort by which name hypericum in general and 11. perforatum in particular are generally known naturally occurs to one’s mind in connection with Midsummer Day, and this association of the plant is both general and widespread. In England, indeed, it is chiefly by its name that this connection is recalled ; but it was formerly the custom, as Pennant states to have been the case in his time in Wales, to stick it over the doors on Midsummer Eve, with a view, no doubt, of arresting the power of witches, to whom it was supposed to be especially obnoxious. Mr. Conway traces its use throughout Europe on this day. “ In Sweden and Norway,” he says, “ it is the central plant of the midsom-mas-gvastar, the bouquet gathered on St. John’s Eve, and hung up as an antidote to witches. In the Tyrol it was thought that if a traveller has it in his shoes he will never get weary. On the Lower Rhine it is placed in -wreaths on the roofs as a general protection. Its sap is esteemed of especial potency—it being the elf’s or the Baptist’s blood—and is sometimes mixed with beer. In Wales St. John’s Wort is sometimes made into tea which produces a certain exhilaration. In France we may often see the harvesters having their hats decorated with it. It is held sacred by many in the Levant, where it is a current superstition that the plague is sure to leave a city on St. John’s Day.” The supposed power of the plant is manifested in one of its old names, “ fuga dtemonum,” as also in the distich— Trefoil, Vervain, John’s Wort, Dill, Hinder witches of their will. The curiously perforated appearance of the leaves when held up to the light, to which the St. John’s Wort owes its specific name, perforatum, is accounted for by the malice of the devil, who in his anxiety to injure the plant, pierced its foliage with a needle ! In Norway the connection of St. John with Baldur, to which we have already referred, becomes very apparent, as the red markings of the root arc known both as “Baklur’s blood” and the “ blood of St. John.” The rythmical version of a German legend relating to this plant, which originally appeared in “ Blackwood’s Magazine,” has been so often quoted that we need not do more than refer to it here. Another plant of ancient association with Midsummer’s Day is the orpine (Sedum Telephium). As long ago as 1578, Lyte, in his translation of Dodoens, tells us that “the people of the countrey delight rnuche to set it in pots and shelles on Midsummer Eve, or upon timber, slattes, or trenches, daubed with clay, and so to set or hang it up in their houses, whereas it remayneth greone a long season, and groweth.” The plant was commonly called Midsummer Men ; and a writer in the Connoisseur refers to it by this name, and refers to the love divination which was practised with it. “ I stuck up two Midsummer Men, one for myself and one for him. Now, if his had died away, we should have never come together, but I assure you his blowed and turned to mine.” In connection with this, it may be mentioned that a ring, apparently of the fifteenth century, which was found near Cawood, in Yorkshire, at the beginning of the

present century, had for its device two orpine plants turned towards each other and joined by a true lover s knot. Mugworth (Artemisia vulgaris) was another plant dedicated to St. John ; a girdle was made of it, called Cingulum Sanctis Joanuis, which was supposed to be endowed with various properties, and the plant was hung before doors upon St. John’s Eve. The most curious point connected with it, however, was the virtue attached to a certain marvellous “ coal,” which was found on this day only under the roots of the mugwort and plantain. The virtues of this coal were both numerous and varied, and the coal itself would take rank as a serious rival to many of the quack nostrums of the present day. Lupton, who appears to have believed in it, tells us in his “Notable Things” that “it is certainly and constantly affirmed that on Midsummer Eve there is found under the root of mugwort a coal which saves or keeps them safe from the plague, carbuncle, lightening, the quartan ague, and from burning, that bear the same about them and Thomas Hill, in 1650, adds to this list of ills which are prevented by the magic coal, and says that it is only to bo found upon Midsummer Eve, “ just at noon.” The romance of the affair is, however, rather removed by a writer in 1676, who says that “ they are not coals, but old acid roots, consisting of much volatile salt, and are almost always to be found under the mugwort ; so that it is only a certain superstition that those old dead roots ought to be pulled up on the eve of John the Baptist, about 12 at night.” Both Lupton and Hill also mention the plantain “ coal,” but it would appear that its use in his day' was of less practical importance, albeit more romantic, than had formerly been the case. He says that at 12 o’clock on Midsummer Day in 1694, while accidentally walking in the pasture behind Montague House (where the British Museum now stands, he saw there “ about two or three and twenty young women, most of them well habited, on their knees, very busie, as if they had been weeding. I could not presently learn what the matter was ; at last a young man told me that they were looking for a coal under the root of a plaintain to put under their heads that night, and they should dream who would be their husbands. It was to be found that day and hour.” The decorations of churches and houses on Midsummer Day with boughs of birch and beech, and with various other plants, was in former times very general. Stow, in his “ Survey of London,” says that “ on the vigil of St. John Baptist every man’s door” was “ shadowed with green birch, long fennel, St. John’s Wort, orpine, white lilies, and such like,” and “garnished upon with garlands of beautiful flowers.” Disbursements for birch occur in many churchwardens’ accounts of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, often associated with broom ; and it was probably at this season that Coles, riding through Little Brickliill, in Buckinghamshire, noticed that “ every signe-post in the towne almost -was bedecked with green birch.” A few of the European plant associations of Midsummer Day may fitly conclude this notice. In many parts of Germany the liazelrod used for divniing pui’poses has to be cut on the midnight before St. John’s Day. Elderberries gathered on St. John’s night are essential to the safety of the Styrian who would stand in the centre of a magic circle on Twelfth Night. “The Bohemian poacher,” says Mr. Conway, “thinks he can make himself shotproof for twenty-four hours by finding on St. John’s Day pine cones on the top of a tree, creeping around them, taking them home, and eating a single kernel on each day that he wishes to be invulnerable. In East Prussia there is a superstition concerning dogwood, that its sap, absorbed in a handkerchief on St.|John’s Night, will fulfil its wishes.” In the same district wreaths of camomile are gathered on Midsummer Day, and hung up in houses as a preservative against storms. Even in Iceland we find a midsummer superstition ; it is supposed that the meadow-sweet (Spinea Ulmaria) taken on this day and placed in water, will discover, at any rate, the sex of a thief ; if it sink the thief is a man, if it swim a woman.