THE FARM.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 658, 3 October 1884, Page 11

THE FARM.

ABORTION OF EWES[The following report by Professor Axe was

read last Wednesday at the meeting of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society :—] October, 2, 1883.

Dear Sxe, —In reply to yours to hand on September 30, I beg to say that my inquiry into the question of abortion in ewes is not yet completed. In order to render the investigation as thorough as possible, I have, for some time, been endeavouring to obtain information from veterinary surgeons and shepherds in different localities as to the prevalence of abortion in various parts of the country other than Lincolnshire. I need hardly say that my inquiries have not met with that promptness of reply which I could wish, but I hope, shortly, to be in full possession of the information I desire to obtain. For the present information of your Council, I may sav that, so far as I am now capable of forming an opinion of the origin of the disease, two factors appears to me to have been specially concerned—viz , long-continued exposure to wet, and the exclusive or too freuse of roots as an article of food. The firstnamed cause appears not only to have operated directly by lowering the temperature of the body, and suppressing the function of the skin as an eliminating organ, but indirectly also (1) by exciting arid maintaining a painful ulceration of the feet (foot-rot), and extensive inflammations of the skin of the legs and belly, thus entailing acute and protracted suffering and weakness : (2) by rendering the soil so deep, heavy, and slippery, that ewes advanced in pregnancy have suffered great fatigue and constitutional disturbance, while the well-nigh water-logged condition of the land has compelled them to occupy the standing posture for long periods together ; and by thus depriving them ol rest, has led in numerous instances to a state of exhaustion altogether inconsistent with the retention and maturation of the foetus.

The mortality and loss has undoubtedly in all cases been seriously aggravated by the influence of the discharges from the sick on the more healthy portion of the flock, and in some outbreaks there ha 3 been reason to suspect that such accidental causes as overdriving and fright have played an active part in producing the mishap. As the breeding season is now commencing it may be advantageous to the members of your Society if, pending a detailed report of my investigation, I briefly point out what I consider desirable for the better management of the ewe flock in relation to the subject in question. In this connection it is important to remark that the practice of winter feeding, more or less general in this country, condemns the breeding ewes to subsist exclusively on roots during the most trying months of the year, and over a period when the demands of pregnancy call for a liberal and sustaining diet ; nor ia it in this alone that the worst feature of our winter feeding consists. The custom of restricting the diet of the ewe to the filth-laden “shells,” or residue of roots, left after the folding of hogs, is even still more to bo condemned, not only as a fruitful cause of abortion, but of other diseases even more serious and fatal. As a matter of precaution, then, I would say, for the immediate guidance of your Society, that while, as a matter of expediency, it may be allowable to continue to fold ewes after hogs, as is generally practised, it is, at the same time, indispensable to the health and vigour of the flock that a fair amount of fresh roots be also given, as well as wholesome dry f od, in quantities according to the nature ot he season. From the time ewes are place t n turnips to the time when they lamb down, I am of opinion that wholesome dry food is imperatively demanded, and that disregard of this rule of diet exposes both parent and progeny to many fatal disorders. I would also advise that salt be kept constantly in the fold, so as to be accessible at all times. When the lair is bad, the flock should be removed to higher and drier ground. The practice adopted by many of our best sheep-farmers, of changing the fold for the open pasture once or twice a week, cannot be too highly estimated as a means of maintaining a health condition of body, and warding off disease. Where foot-rot prevails, the affected animals should be withdrawn from the fold as soon as observed, and placed on dry clean litter, and receive such other treatment and attention as the nature of the case may indicate. In my next report I hope to lay before your Society all the more important facts which I have accumulated in the course of my inquiry.—l am, yours faithfully, J. Wobtley Axe, S. Upton, Esq. Professor of Pathology, &c. FEEDING THE SILK-WORM. M. J. Gr. HAMMACKThere are three kinds cf silk worms : Annuals, Bivoltines, and Trivoltines. The Annuals produce but one brood a year, Bivoltines two broods, and Trivoltines three. After considerable experience we are satisfied, that the last two breeds cannot be raised as profitably as the pure Annuals. Annuals' eggs will not hatch prematurely, but the hatching cannot be deferred for any length of time, after the trees are in leaf, except by using ice, in which case the vitality of the eggs is more or less injured. It is necessary, in any climate, to watch the advance of the mulberry tree in the spring. The following are some of the terms used in silk culture : grain is silk-worm eggs ; the cocoonery is a {house where the worms are raised ; moulting is the time at which the worms change their skins. Chrysalis is the form assumed by the worm inside the cocoon. Floss silk is loose silk that envelops the cocoon, and is carded and spun like cotton. The cocoon is the silken covering with which the worm surrounds itself before passing into the chrysalis state. Raw silk is silk that is reeled from cocoons. The ages are periods between two moults ; greeu-cocoons is a name frequently applied to fresh or unchoked cocoons. Pierced cocoons are those that the - moth is allowed to perforate, and are sold for waste silk. Choked cocoons are those stifled, or have the chrysalis killed, by steam or in the hot sun. Litter is the accumulation where the worms lay, of dried and partly consumed leaves, and offal of the worms themselves.

Gathering the leaves.—lf the trees are desired for standards, at two years old, they may be stripped of their leaves. _ The leaves must not be gathered before sunrise or after sunset, when dew or fog makes them damp.. They should be gathered before nine o’clock in the morning for the day’3 feed,, and before seven o’clock in the evening for the morning’s feed.

If leaves are dusty, they should be wiped wi»h J a dry clotb. In case of threatened rain, leaves j may be gathered two days ahead, and kept in a cool place. If it sbould become uece-sity to gather leaves in the rain, spread them out on the iSbor in the shade in an airy place, or dry them' by shaking in a sheet. Give to the young worms the best, tender leaves, after the second moult. After the last moult, give to the worms the thickest and best leaves the trees produce Silk-Worms should be fed during the day and night, from the hatching to the spinning time. Give them all they can eat, at regular hours. Worms matured in twenty-five or thirty days will produce more silk, and of a finer quality, than those fed forty dayp, and the short-lived worms are less liable to disease. Worms will never leave the feeding shelves if properly fed. The worms should receive light mealp, first, at six in the morning ; second, at eight ; third, at ten ; noon, two o'clock, four, six, eight, and ten. In very warm weather, an extra feed should be given at midnight. On cool days the worm will consume less food than in warm ones. Tbe young silk-worms should have one single layer of chopped leaves for their meals, and if these become dry, feed again in half an hour.— American Agriculturist. RAISING SEEDS. We are asked why we do not encourage people to raise their owe seeds, instead of buying them every year. Seed-raising is an art, and requires more care than the average farmer can afford to give to it. Seedsmen have their seeds raised by meu who make a business of it, who grow but one variety of a kind, and avoid all,'chance of “mixing” or crossing. <ine who has a gardeD can hardly be persuaded to select his first ripened tomatoes or Lima beans for seed ; he wishes these for the table. Unless a vegetable can be kept up to its best condition it will deteriorate. Take tomatoes for example ; the plants should be raised expressly for seed. As soon as they come int i bearing, every plant that does not have fruit quite up to the best of its kind in form and productiveness, is to be pulled up, and all malformed fruits on those that are left, are cut away. Then only the earliest clusters are allowed to ripen, those which set late are cut off, and the whole strength of the plant directed to ripening the first fruit that is set. Take squashes for another example, and it is the same with melons, cucumbers, and all of the family. Few who have gardens content themselves with single variety of squash. There are few plants so likely to mix, through the agency of bees. We know of a case in which the Hubbard Squash had been grown in the same garden with other squashes for several years, and the seed was yearly saved and planted. At the time we saw the squashes, they were mostly yellow, and instead of the pointed end, so characteristic of the Hubbard, many of them had the broad, flat, blossom end belonging to other kinds ; indeed there was not a typical Hubbard in the lot. If seeds are to be raised, that should be the leading object for which the plants are grown. It is poor economy to sow seeds of doubtful purity, iD order to avoid a small outlay for those of good quality.—American Agriculturist. KEEPING HAMS~THROUGH THE SUMMER. It is somewhat difficult to guard hams from flies through the summer, however well cured and smoked. The smoke-house, if well made, preserves them, and this is the more common place of deposit with those who smoke their own hams. But multitudes have on hand a season’s supply of bams and shoulders. They keep much better in a dry atmosphere. If sugar-cured hams are purchased, the cloth that covers them is a sufficient protection against insects. If the hams are home-cured, they can be covered with cloth at small expense, or even with a bag of thick paper tied tight at the top, around tbe string by which they are suspended. If hung in a dry, cool place, they will not mould, and will always be on hand for the staple of a hearty meal, in any emergency of the family. Farmers generally make their own meat, and cure it, and, with a good recipe for curing, secure better hams than they can purchase, and at less cost. It pays to keep the larder well stocked with the best. PULLING STUMPS Stumps are far more easily extracted after soaking rains have left the ground loose and y eliding, than after tbe packing and baking of a season of drouth. For small stumps, ■ especially on ground too wet and soft to admit the use of teams, a simple and effective arrangement may be used. A strong axle, say six inches Bquare, is fitted to any stout pair of wheels, as those of a truck, to which a triangular lever is firmly bolted. It projects sixteen inches behind and sixteen feet in front, and i 3 made of tough hard-wood, the pieces six inches square. To the end piece, which is ' mortised and securely bolted to the others, a chain with two Btout hasps is attached. In using it, a broad plank is placed under each wheel to prevent sinking into the earth, and the wheels are blocked. The hooks are grappled into a root, and when raised as far as possible by depressing the lever it is blocked and a new hitch taken lower down. Two men can move the implement from stump to stump. The leverage would be nearly twelve to one, giving three thousand six hundred pounds power if the men weighed one hundred and fifty pounds each, and could both put their weight upon the extreme end of the lever —a power that would start small stumps.

A GOOD WORD FOR THE PARSNIP. The parsnip is far from being popularized, though much older than the potato. It is a prime cattle food, good for beef and milk, and greedily eaten by swine. Potatoes are everywhere ; they will grow about as plenty as corn and wheat. But the parsnip is the exception rather than the rule, even upon the farmer’s table. A small patch is raised, of a bushel or two, if raised at all, to be dug in the early spring for a change of diet. It is a wholesome and appetizing vegetable, and could be used to advantage for half the year. SHOULDER PADS. Mr. H. C. Blackwood, Washougal, W.T., writes us as follows :: I have found a collarpad made of new, undressed sheep-skin, to be the best preventive of and remedy for sore shoulders in horses. Cut out two pieces about tbe shape of, and somewhat larger than the faces of the collar. Fasten one edge in the groove opposite the bame groove, with the

wool next to the collar. The skin seems to have some healing propeities. This pad is quickly and easily made, and is much better than most' of the pads sold by the harness makers. One set will last an entire season. I have used these pads a great deal in threshing, which work is very liable to gall the shoulders of horses, and have found them superior to all other kinds.—American Agriculturist.

CIDER-MAKING WITHOUT A PRESS—DIFFUSION. The method of extracting sugar from the beet root by dissolving it out with water, or diffusion, as it is called, has been applied to cider making in some districts of France. As the method is very simple and is practicable on a small scale, some of our readers may wish to made a trial of it. A cask or keg of any convenient size has a false bottom in which are numerous holes, and is raised a few inches above the real bottom. Theapples are ground, and packed in the cask on the false bottom, first placing a coarse cloth over it. At the top of the apples is a follower. Water is poured in sufficient to cover the oprlee, and the whole allowed to stand for twenty four or thirty-six hours. At the end of the proper time the liquid is drawn off through a spigot, in the cask near the bottom. Water is again added, allowed to stand and drawn off ; this is repeated once more, making in ail, three diffusions. The resulting liquids are mixed together and treated like new cider made iu the usual way. If not rich enough sugar may be added. By this method cider may be made without expense for press or mill, as the latter, though convenient, is not necessary, as the apples may be brought to a pulp by pounding them in a barrel or strong tight box. This process leaves the pomace in better condition than that from the press, whether to feed to the pigs or to add to the manure heap. TOBACCO STEMS FOR CURRANT WORMS. Mr. A. P. Kinney, Jamaica Plains, Mass., writes us as follows : “ In 1881 I came to this place, and found twenty-eight large currant bushes, that were in a very bad condition on account of the currant worms. Tbe neighbors said that for eight years the fruit amounted to nothing, the leaves being destroyed every year. In the spring of 1882, tobacco stems were applied as a mulch, at the rate of ten pounds to each bush, and a haudful scattered through the branches. The foliage was not troubled by the worms. In 1883 only five pounds of tobacco stems were used per bush, and the leaves were not destroyed. This year I shall use only half the last amount, and believe it will be sufficient. ” —Any currant grower who can readily get tobacco stems, should try this remedy for currant worms.—American Agriculturist. RYE FOR HAY. Mr. “A. G. \Y.,” Manchester, Tenn., writes us : You ask for experience in using rye for hay. I cut it in bloom. The heads even then are sweeter than the straw, and horses will pick it over for the former and waste the later unless cut. When cut and fed to cows giving milk I find it equal to the beet Timothy hay, and with me either makes more milk than clover hay.—Rve is better to seed down with than oats, I believe, otherwise oats would be preferable, as nothing else makes so good hay as oats cut just as the most forward heads are in bloom. I have tried both.—For a sowed crop to make hay Hungarian grass is next to oats. american Agriculturist,, GROWING HOUSE PLANTS IN MOSS. In some of the Swiss villages, nearly all the inhabitants are engaged in watch-making. They work in large rooms, which, being, abundantly lighted, and well warmed, allow tbe workmen to cultivate plants, that, ou account or the uncertainty and rigor of the climate, can not be grown in the open air. The President of one of the local horticultural societies in Switzerland gives, in the “Revue Horticole, ” an account of the great success with which plants are cultivated in moss in these watch factories. One great advantage in the use of moss, is the readiness with which plants may be grouped in large vases and boxes. In France a “fertilized moss” is sold, but ordinary moss, with occasional application of liquid fertilizers, will answer as well. Ordinary sphagnum, or peat moss, such as is used by florists in packing, may be emp’oyed, but tbe writer prefers the moss which grows in sheets upon rocks, and around the trunks of trees at their base. Wire baskets lined with this moss are used, as are jardiuiers of metal, glazed pottery, etc., takiug care to provide sufficient drainage. The liquid fertilizer used on these house plants, should be without unpleasant odor; weak guano water, solutions of nitrate of soda, or sulphate of ammonia, may be employed, and very fine flour of bone may mixed with the moss.

PURE DRINKING WATER

This matter of pure water to drink, is vital,., vital, vital to the well-being of farmers. It may be all very well for the good of the race, for the puny, delicate, “ peaked ” children to die, but these are the ones that the mothers, at least, love best, and there is a vast deal of rending of hearts over the sickness and death of tbe delicate ones, young or old, which might: at least be postponed for many years, if they and we had pure water to drink. Wells near barnyards, or within two or three hundred, feet of them, sometimes contain the germs of disease and death. The old fashioned privy vault, fifty times more dangerous, is usually nearer the house and tbe well, and contrived, as if by the “arch-enemy,” as an unfailing source of malarial poison, of diphtheria, typhus and typhoid fevers, and the evils that follow in their train. There ought to be State laws forbidding the existence of the privy vaults, or even of cess-pools, except, perhaps, cemented cisterns, through which a regular flow of water is maintained. No system was ever devised equal to the Mosaio, (Duet, xxiii; 12, 13 and 14,) but that is particularly adapted to a nomadic people, although I have met wth it in Louisana and Kentucky, and know it is the rule in Texas, where the abomination alluded to has never existed, except to a very limited, degree.— American Pares.