Farm and Garden.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 360, 4 January 1879, Page 21

Farm and Garden.

During the month of August Lv-t the number of public sales of pedigree shorthorn cattle in the United Kingdom was greater, and the average prices realised smaller than those of any previous months for many years past. The following are the principal sales during the month :—Kuightley Hall herd, 32 cows and heifers; average, £49 13s. 10d.; highest (Kirklevington Lady 3rd,) 203 guineas ; lowest, heifer fifteen months, 15 guineas. Mr. J. Downiug's, Ashfield (Ireland) herd, 33 cows and 2 bulls; average, £B4 4s. 2d.; highest cow (Farewell 3rd), 350 guineas; lowest heifer, 18 guineas. Kings Fort sale (Ireland), 50 cows and 9 bulls ; average, £33 13s. 5d.; highest Kosabelle (cow), 110 guineas ; lowest, ] 0 guineas. Grenaby sale (Isle of Man), 68 cows aud 13 bulls ; average. £4l 4s. Bd.; highest, Princess of Mona 2nd, 190 guineas; loweßt. 13£ guineas—irrespective of calves. Mr. Gordon's (of Cluny) sale, 108 animals—2l bulla and 87 cows and heifers ; average, £29 Is. 7d. Australian buyers were represented at several of the sales, and we understand several of the Knightly Hall herd were purchased for the Australian colonieß. The Artichoke. —As to the value of the artichoke as food for swino and sheep and milch- co tvs, it is probably not superior to any other root or tuher that swine, s-heep and cows eat with the same relish—say in the case of cows and sheep, parsnips and cur>ts—but it is so much hardier, so much more cheaply and easily grown, that in dry or hot climates where the summers are of that character, a hundred bushels of artichokes can be raised with leas labor and expense than ten bushels of any one of the other cattle-feeding roots or tubers. Indeed, five summers in t«n, it is quite out of tho question to make a crop of turnips, man* gels, carrots, or parsnips in many of the States of the South and West ; but the artichoke* " being native here, and to tho manor born," seems comparatively indifferent to climate and is as sure a crop as grass, wheat or Indian corn. As for the of the red and white, there is very little d ffc;renc». Experience, however, gained in 1877, shows the white to be more vigorous aod producing the largest jieid. From our pre.-eut information, we say that if our readers raise or own cows, swine or sheep, and are located in a situ it ion or on a soil where many or all of the ordinary root cr< ps are apt to fail, or are raised with great difficulty, we confidently recommend to them the Jerusalem artichoke as a paying aud profitable crop, and especially where Indian corn has been a nearly exclusive food used for fattening purposes.— Home and Farm.

Eggs the Whole Ykab.—Get a breed of poultry that are nou-setters, i For my part, I like the white-crested black Polands the best. They do not fly over a fence that ia three feet high. I have had them over four years, and I do not remember that one was ever inside my barn. Five or six years ago I bad Leghorns and Hainburgs, and they w.uld sneak in my barn every day, scratch around the hay, and mike nests in cue straw. But this is not the case with my wbite-cre-ted black Polish. They are always coutented with their i.ests. I have no trouble to hunt eggs in the grass and in the barn, like some of my neighbors must if they do not want to lose half their eggs. I always get my chicks hatched iu March and April. Then they will commeuccj to lay iu August and September aud then keep on lajingall winter. This year I did raise ninety Polish clucks, and I lost only four, aud those by accident. I have found out that I can get my Polands to weigh as follows when I raise them early : C »cks, s|lbs., and the hens, lbs. They are of a very tame disposition. I have some chafe will eac out of my hand They are a delicately fltvored table-fowl. In the year 187? my flock of tventy-five hens did lay 4575 tggs, or 183 eggs per hen. lam a young far trier who believes" in pure-bred poultry. — D. iV. Kerns in Cincinnati Times. Table Fowls —There is considerable difference iu the m-rita of the different breeds of fowls for the ta ! .le, although taste has much to do in determining which are the best ; and, while breed has something to do with it, the a"e has a great claim, tor some are better at certain ages than at others. The young immaiure aud slow growing Brahma, for instance, is not deirable until it has nearly gained its urowib, and even then it in far better when a year old, when fattened up quickly. And, in tact, a year old bird of any br. ed we prefer to chicken, no matter how it is cooked, though many have a weakness for broilers iu thefshape of young chicks. Young Leghorns, which feather up more quickly than do the Asiatics, and mature more rapidly, make the best broilers, and many a nice one have we helped to dissect after it had come from the bauds of a skillful cook, although but few persons seem to know it, much of the table merits of a fowl or chick depends upon the way it is fattened, and on what.it ia fed, too, in a great measure. To make a bird tender and juicy, it must be fattened quickly. The food which gives it tie best flavor is undoubtedly a grain food partaking largely of corn in some of its different forms, the amount and manner of feeding depending upon circumstances. — American Poul~ try Journal. Injection of Milk.—Dr. Gaillard Thomas?, of New York, finds that injection of milk into a vein will revive patients likely to die after an operation, or in collapse from cholera, and other critical conditions. The quantity injected may be as much as eight ounces ; but it must be milk which on the instant has been drawn from the cow. Bh od is preferable to milk for transfusion, but fails of success should a touch of air or a pmt of lymph pays in during the opeiation. Hence Dr. Thomas remarks :—-'if milk answers not as good, but nearly as good a i urpo.se as blood under these circumstances, its use will create a new era in this most interesting depait.ment of medicine;" and he predicts for •' intravenous lac-teal injection, a brilliant and useful future."— Chamber'& Journal.

Baked i'ooD fob Horses.—The cooking o£ food for horses is of very recent origin, and, of course will not come into cornnion use except in countries where grain and forage is scarce and high, and in war time, when transportion of food for cavalry, artillery, and ambulance horses form an important item in war management. Dixring the recent war in Turkey, baked food, after a severe trial on a large proportion of the horses belonging to the army of occupation, is admitted to be a success. The " biscuit for horses," or as has been also called, the "oat comfit," consists of 30 parts of oat flour, 40 parts of detrinated pea meal, 30 parts of rye flour, and 10 parts linseed meal, or 40 parts of oat flour, 40 parts of detrinated pea meal, 20 parts of rye flour, and 10 parts linseed meal ; or 40 parts of oat flour, or 20 parts of wheat flour, 20 parts of corn •meal, 20 parts of rye flour, 16 parts of grated bread, and 10 parts of linseed meal ; or finally other analogous mixtures. As a result of minute experiments it is stated that four pounds of these mixtures well cooked, possess a nutritive value equal to a larger ration of oats of about three times the weight. So the Prussian administration of the army of occupation, taking the results observed by the cavalry officers and the veterinary surgeons as a basis, admits that pounds of oat comfits are worth 12 pounds of oats. Experiments also demonstrated that horses fed on 12 pounds of oats did not support the fatigue to which they were submitted so well as those that received SJ,- pounds of comfits. A result so brilliant, and one so favorable to the rapid movement of cavalry could not remain ignored by other great military powers. A ration is, as has already been stated, about pounds ; it comprises from 20 to 30 biscuits of from 4 to 5 inches in diameter, by four-tenths of an inch in thicknss. These biscuits, strung on wire, can be suspended to the saddle without danger of breakage, and a horse can thus easily carry nourishment enough to last him four or five days. They are given, either wet or dry, after having been broken up, at the rate of seven in the morning, twelve at noon, and seven in the evening. THE SHEEP ACT, 1878. [Friday's Gazette contains proclamations of the divisions of the colony into districts for the purposes of the . New Sheep Act. The following are the boundaries in full of the subdivisions in the Wellington District : —The Wellington District shall comprise the following subdivisions :—The Wanganui subdivision—Comprising the counties of Patea, and so much of the Wanganui County as is not included in the Napier Sheep District.—The Rangitikei subdivision—Comprising the county of Rangitikei, and so much of the Manawatu County as is north of the Manawatu Piver. The Wellington subdivision—Comprising the county of Hutt, and so much of the Manawatu county as lies south of the Manawatu Piver, together with the islands of ELapiti, Mana, and Somes. The North Wairarapa subdivision—Comprising so much of the counties of Wairarapa Bast and Wairarapa West as is bounded towards the north-east by a line from the summit of the Tararua Range to the source of the Pnamahanga Piver ; thence by the Puamahanga Piver to the junction with the Taueru River ; thence up the Taueru Hiver and Kourarau Creek to its intersection with the southern boundary of section No. 41, Tupurpuru Block; thence by the southern boundaries of sections 41, 57, 58, 59, 60, 86, 85, and 79, to the Wainuioru Hiver ; thence down the Wainuioru and Patea rivers to the sea. The South Wairarapa subdivision—Comprising so much of the counties of Wairarapa East and Wairarapa West as are not included in the North Wairarapa subdivisions. RAISING TURKEYS. Twenty-five years ago almost every lai'ge farmer living not too near to neighbors, was in the habit of keeping turkeys. They were a great help in the way of destroying crickets, grasshoppers, and other injurious insects which prey upon the crops of the garden and field. They usually roosted on trees near the farm buildings, and after the first few weeks from hatching, gave very little trouble to the feeder and afforded a good bunch of bank notes for paying off debts which might come due about Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year. Of late years, however, the profits from' turkey raising have been much diminished by a disease which attacks the birds at all ages, from the time they are as large as quails°till they are fully grown. The symptoms are dullness, pale skin on the face and down the neck, and inclination to sit on the ground or to lag behind when feeding with the flock in the fields, and a yellowish watery discharge from the bowels. The birds usually live but a few days after these symptoms are observed. They lose their appetites and grow rapidly weaker, till they are found dead on their usual haunts. If they are opened, the liver will be found very much enlarged, and with numerons tubercales scattered over the surface. It seems to be purely a disease of the liver, as the other organs in most cases present a normal appearance. We have lost three fine flocks in years past by this disease, without knowing any cure or preventive, and many others in various parts of New England, have had a similar experience, and have consequently abandoned the raising of these choice birds. Charcoal and sulphur, we believe have been recommended to be mixed with the food, but by the time the disease shows itself it is not an easy matter to administer medicines in this way as the birds have little or no appetite. While looking at some fine, large and healthy-looking turkeys at the Vermont State fair, and discussing methods of raising with Mr. Charles Morse of Plainfield, he stated that he had been very successful in treating this disease, by giving red pepper, cinnamon, and rhubarb, in the form of pills, which can be easily given to the fowls, whether they have an appetite or not. The rhubarb is physicing in its effect on the bowels, while the pepper and cinnamon warm up the birds, and stimulate action in the digestive organs. We have

had no experience with this treatment, but give it wholly on the authority of Mr. Morse. Since turkeys have become so scarce upon our New England farms, grasshoppers and crickets have increased to an alarming extent in many localities. Whole fields of grass are sometimes eaten by grasshoppers, especially the second crops of clover, of which they are particularly fond.-— Neio England Farmer. BRITISH BTOUK YARDS. On Monday I visited the great live stock market of London, known as the Metropolitan Market. It is situated in Islington, and is a well-planned and well-kept business place. The yard has long rows of open pens in which the cattle stand, tied by the neck to the crossbars. This leaves the beast enough liberty to admit of the buyer judging of him. Every pen has room for 100 head. The sheep-pens are always open, and hold in the aggregate 50,000 head. The pens for calves are raised above the level of the yards, and are sheltered with roofs, the sides being open. There is room, yet again, for 1900 swine. These animals remain under shelter. Pour thousand head of horned cattle have room at one time, together with the other numbers given. The ally-ways, pens, and causeways are floored with granite blocks. There are four hotels, one on every corner of the space occupied by the market. The hotel, the Black Bull, kept by the widow Davis, appears the favorite. Islington Market is most easy of access. Tramways, omnibuses, and railways lead to it from all directions. A strong palisade of wrought-iron work surrounds these yards, the entrances to which are wide and handsomely ornamented with bulls' heads. In the centre of this enclosure is a building for bank and market officers, also a telegraph and post-office. The sanitary laws are rigidly enforced. The market is swept out and flushed every day after business hours. On Friday there is a market for horses, ponies, and donkeys ; also for miscellaneous articles, where those who will can buy anything from a pin to a steam plough. Close to the live-stock yards is what Britains call a Eairage, where weary beasts are rested, and where herds and flocks are collected to await market days. The Lairege is sheltered and subdivided, and provender can be had at fair rates. In compliance with a recent Act of Parliament, spacious slaughter-houses have been erected adjoining the live-stock yards. The animals are slaughtered in the most merciful manner, one blow from the pointed end of a pole-axe stuns the beast, the butcher then inserts the point of the lance into the pith (anatomically speaking severs the spinal cord),.then one gash severs the great blood vessels of the throat. The blood flows freely ; there is no pain, no discoloration, death having been instantaneous. The herds from the Continent of Europe are landed at Deptford on the Thames. Then, after passing through quarantine, are slaughtered, and the carcases forwarded to the Metropolitan Meat Market.— -London Letter to New Yorh Times. ANIMAL AILMENTS. VERMIN ON CANARIES. Apply a drop of oil of aniseed under each wing daily. Observe scrupulous cleanliness of the cage, without which no cure will succeed or be permanent. CURB. The proper treatment for curb is, after the fever and inflammation have subsided, to apply about an ounce of the following blister ; Take of finely powdered cantharides, iodine, and red iodide of Mercury, of each one drachm ; euphorbium, twenty grains ; palm oil or lard, two ounces and a half. Mix, and rub in with the fingers for three minutes. CATARRH IN SHEEP. There are many so called remedies for catarrh in sheep ; but good nursing, warm quarters, and nutritious food, with the administration of from -Joz. to 1 oz. of sulphate of magnesia to each patient and a dose of nitrate of potash of from \ to 1 dr. daily, for three or four days, may be said to be all that is required for the ordinary form of this disease. CATARRHAL EEVER IN A HORSE. The treatment of catarrhal fever is a very simple affair, rarely requiring anything beyond ordinary good nursing—a laxative diet, freedom from work, suitable clothing, etc. Sometimes, however, from various causes these cases become complicated with bronchitis, pleuritis, pneumonia, etc., and require for their successful treatment the curative remedies generally used in such cases; WOLF TEETH. Let the wolf teeth alone. Keep the horse indoors in a well ventilated, darkened stall. Change diet to sloppy food, and use the following medicines : One ounce each of powdered iron and camphor, eight ounces powdered ginger and four ounces of linseed meal ; mix, and divide into eight parts. Of this take one part morning and evening, mix it with a little treacle and smear it upon the roof of the tongue. DETECTION OFDIS E ASE.—DIGESTIVE SYSTEMS OE CATTLE AND SHEEP. No special skill is required for the detection of the disorder—hoven, or tympanitis. The fact of the existence of a swelling on the left side of the flank especially, and the resonance which is elicited by percussion, afford sufficient evidence of the nature of the disease. But it may happen that hoven is a mere symptom of systematic derangement, and then the discovery of the exact cause, which is the really important point, is difficult. In most cases, however, if not in all, the distension of the rumen with gas is a matter which requires immediate attention, and the stock-owner cannot be wrong in dealing with that phase of the disease by the use of the remedies which we suggested, while he seeks for professional assistance, which might arrive too late if the animal were left without any treatment meanwhile.

Diseases of other compartments of the stomach are far more obscure in their indications than the derangement of the rumen to which we have referred ; and they are, besides so mixed up with other diseases, that even the

practical observer finds the problem submitted to him by no means easy of solution. The stomach which is most commonly implicated in different diseases of a febrile nature is the third, or maniplus, the folds of which are often congested in patches, while the ingesta between them are hard and dry. The congested state is found in cattle plague or pleuro-pneumonia, and constantly in the affection which is known in different parts of the kingdom under the various name 3 of " dryingU P>" '' grass staggers," or ""fardel-bound." A new train of symptoms will be recognised when the third stomach is effected, whether the disease be centred in that organ or not. No alarming signs of illness are present in the first instance ; the herdsman may notice that one or two animals are dull and inclined to separate themselves from the rest, their coats are unthrifty, and occasionally diarrhoea occurs, but only in a very slight extent. The experienced stockman however knows that this inclination is illusory, and commonly expresses an opinion that " the animal is bound forwards," meaning thereby that some obstruction exists in the anterior part of the digestive canal. In different districts special remedies are in favor to meet this condition of things ; generally some oleaginous purgative oil or butter is prescribed, under the impression that such agents have a peculiar power over the functions of the third stomach. Whether the effect of medicine is that of removing any obstructing mass from the third stomach is of no particular consequence ; the obstruction is simply one of results of the febrile state, and the attainment of a free passage through the canal does not go far towards the cure of the disease ; nevertheless, it is the chief thing which is aimed at. Among cattle and sheep intestinal disorders are infrequent, at least if we except diarrhoea, which is common enough, and does not require any skill for its detection. A considerable extent of skill and experience is necessary, before the questions of the cause of the disorder, and the best means of dealing with the emergency, can be satisfactorily decided. Diarrhoea occurs in its most serious form always among young animals; and immediately on receiving the intelligence from the shepherd or herdsman that a number of lambs or calves are affected with scour, the owner, as a rule, proceeds to direct the administration of a remedy, which he obtains from the chemist or the cow doctor, or perhaps has already at hand. Remedies are of course required ; but the really important business of the farmer is that of seeking for the cause of the disease. It will be a fair assumption to start with that something in the food or water is at fault. Certain localities are known as " scouring lands," and the effect is looked for as a matter of course under particular conditions of season. But numerous outbreaks of diarrhoea occur from causes which are purely accidental and occasional, and it is essential that these be found out, in order that they may be removed. Among cattle a peculiar form of diarrhoea is found, accruing from long-continued derangement of the digestive organs, especially of the liver. This disease has been described by Youatt under the name of chronic dysentery or "rot," and it may be recognised by the symptoms of general emaciation, unthrifty skin, irregalar appetite, yellowness of the membrane of the eye, and frequent diarrhoea, the evacuations being very liquid, either light or very dark in color, and often ejected with much force. This last peculiarity is so marked, that animals suffering from chronic diarrhoea are commonly described as "hitters" in some parts of the country. There will be no difficulty in distinguishing cases of ordinary diarrhoea among cattle and sheep from the more serious form of the disease, which is only of occasional occurrence, and is usually the result of continued exposure to hardship and rough living. —Field.