THE FARM.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 780, 11 February 1887, Page 18

THE FARM.

HORSE BREEDING IN THIS DISTRICT. Written for the New Zealand Mail by * Seed Drill.’ It is yery annoying for a resident to continually hear ths remark from visitors, ‘ What bad horses you have here ; ’ and in some oases they are right; but I can’t help feeling that in many ways both owners and horses are under a great disadvantage. Appearances, to anyone bnt a judge of horse-flsso, is the main point, and here we find the disadvantage. A horse here has, as a rule, work to a greater or lesß extent while in harness, except for short distances ; in very few parts of the (own can a vehicle be said to be running itself. He is either ascending ov descending a hiil, aud in either case is working. In towns less favored than this, where the land would only cover an area rolled out in a level, the horse leldom tightens his traces after once g-tring a start ; bnt whete the land is so al undant that stueking had to be resorted ts, he baa a hard time of it. and cm hardly be expected to look the ‘ pink of perfec’iou ’ seen in other towns. His condition is also effected by the scarcity of feed and bedding, and the naturally increased price, he having to make up the difference in price by work, in order that his master may make a living sufficient to supply his more expensive wants. The light horses have few admirers, and theit owners little encouragement in turning them out well, owing to the want of that class of people here, whom one finds in other parts, as buyers of good horses for carriage and riding purposes ; and until some outlets are made for people to drivo, one can hardly expect to see we 1 turned-out carriages. With regard to draughts, the district being almost purely pastoral, the only market, viz, for town use, is limited to a small demand, and that is chiefly Ailed by importations from Canterbury, Wairarapa, and West Coast. Bat to return to the point of breeding, there is something wrong both in hacks and draughts. Tho former, as a rale, are too pmall and weedy ; the latter too light, stoopy, or wanting in hone. The question is, Where doe 3 the fault lie ? I think this is to be auf-wered by the mares. Mare 3 really fit t) breed from are hardly to be found in either class. With hacks, the brood mare is generally picked because she is a favori'.e of the owner. She has been a hard working, honest mare, and, possibly, stood a lot of work : but is she the class of mare to breed from? As a rule she is not. Whyte Melville sava the best horse is ‘ a small one, an old one, and a well bred one ;’ and seldom will you find any other beat him at any work, either for endurance, pace (or cleverness, if hunting). But this is not the cliss to brrel from ;it is more the class to get. Most carriage horses at Home are got from those weeded out as unfit for hunters. In many cates they are bred by a thoroughbred horse, put to tbe farmer’s trap mare—the sire giving blood and the dam s'z“, etc., so that from the quality, ► ize, aud breed of the mare, tbe progeny is influenced, and turns out a light or weightcarrying hunter, or el=e suitable for harness work.

We, unfortunately, haven’t a market for hunters, but we have for cavalry, both here and in India, and for the class of horse so got, Sydney is a market where a good payable price can almost always be obtained ; and in any case a payable price can be realised here, either for cab, express, or private use, and always an outside chance (if pace is there) of getting a steeplechase horse, which weight, at any rate, won’t hurt very much. The encouragement of galloping spiders at race meetings, of course, has a tendency to discourage the breeding of a class of herse suitable to carry weight. With regard to draught hor.-es, the pastoral nature of the country districts not allowing the plough to do its work, of necessity thins the number of draught mares down to the limited area of cultivation ; bnt here we can confine our remarks on draught mares. I know the district well, and I can safely say that this side of the Wairarapa and Otaki, there are not more than six really first class draught mares fit to give a good stallion fair play. _ It is hardly fair, as is usually the case, to say a horse has not left good stock here when he is mated with a second class mare, and how any farmer can be foolish enough to allow an inferior mare to breed, it is hard to realise. A good mare will cost, say. ten pounds more than an inferior beast. B >th mated to the same horse, nnder the same conditions, will have offspring at three-year-old with LlO difference in value. This means LlO a year, and if that won’t pay wtat will ? A first class horse brings his value in all markets, and in bad or good times. A second class seldom gets a high price, generally low, aad is often unsaleable. If you breed at all do so from a good mare, and when in her prime. THE HORSE AFTER DRIVING. Some farmers, after driving their teams in the slush and mud in winter, think if they dash a few pails of water over the horses’ limbs upon returning, before putting the team in the stable, they have left the poor brutes in the best possible condition vntil morning. Tbe fact ig it would be far better to turn the animals in the stable and leave them, mud and all, until it was fully dry. There wou'd be far le; ; s danger of scratches, mud-fevers, and grease than by the plan of washing. If the legs are washed they should be then rubbed until quite dry—ao easy task. If left only partially dry the moßt serious consequences are likely to ensue. Wheu a team is left with the hair imperfectly dried a chill i» almost sure to ensae. It is not unlikely the animals, especially if exhausted, will be found ihe next morning stiff and with the limbs swollen, since the exhaustion of tbe system prevents healthy reaction at the extremities. The best plan is to wash tbe limbs with worm water and then loosely

bandage them with strips of fltnnel. Thea* may be tsn feet in length by three inches wide and rolled tightly. Commence at the fetlocks and bandage loosely, lapping one edge over the other, and making a half-turn fold of the bandage wheu joints are passed to prevent tbe slipping of the bandage. In the morniog tbe limbs will generally be found all right for cleaning. If this plan is not adopted it is altogether better to let the team stand muddy aa to tbe limbs until morning, when tbe dry mud may be eerily cleaned away, and with very little danger of injury to the team if the stable is warm, not subject to draughts, and a liberal amount of bedding is given. PERIODS OF GESTATION. . Professor G. F. Brown in the Veterinarian gives so.ne useful information on the above subject. He submits the following periods aud gives useful information afterwards.

„ rabbit 28 to 30 30 'I hese periods va>y with individuals and with breeds ; w,th the sex of the offspring, the age of the dam, and her strength and condition. It also varies because of the length of tbe season of heat, for this may continue several days, aud impregnation may occur some time after service, when the ovule passes through the Fallopian tube. This pas-age requires four to five days in the cow and sheep, and eight to ten days in tho dog. Some animals always carry their young for an abnormal period, either shorter or longer, and this habit becomes characteristic with them. The Dutch cows are said to be more regular, and to keep closer to the average period of 280 days than other breeds. A mare served by a thoroughbred horse will go longer with foal than ono served by a cold blooded horse, and a mare goes longer with a mule colt than with a horse colt; but precisely what this difference amounts to is not yet sufficiently established. The average period of gestation in tbe mare is 340 days. Recorded periods in 284 cases mentioned by Fleming in his Veterinary Obstetrics, give 307 days for tbe shortest, and 894 days for the longest period—a mean of 346 davg. In 25 cases noted at tbe stud at Pin, in France, the shortest time was 323 days, and the longest 367 days, the mean being 343 days. Baumeister states that the periods of pure-bred Persian mares were 338 days for mare foals end 343 for horse foris; iu pure bred Arabs they were 337 and 339 days for female and male colts respectively ; in Orloff mares the average period was 341 J days, and in halfbred English mares it was 339£ daya. The majority oi foals are born from the 340th to the 350th day ; liviug foals are rarely born from the 300th to the 301st day, but frequently from the 350th to the 365th day, After the latter period a live birth ia rare. It has been generally the case that the periods of gestation are shortened by the more favorable physical conditions prevailing in high bred studs, where the keeping and the vigor are of the highest character. The period of the ass is always somewhat longer than that of the mare. In cows the periods vary quite as much as in mares. Jn a French agrioul ural school, of 10S2 observations, 15 periods were less than 241 days ; 52 from 241 to 270 days ; 119 from 271 to 280; 250 from 281 to 280 ;70 from v9O to 300; au<l 32 longer than 301 daysj; 544 periods were from 271 to 300 days. The average is 283 days. The shortest known period is 210 days, and tbe longest 353. The average period of the Swiss cows is known to be 280 Jr days—that of bull calves being 283 days, and of cow calves 278 dais. In 764 observations made by Earl Spencer with highbred shorthorns, no live calf was produced before the 220th, or after the 313th day, and all born before the 242nd day died in the attempt to rear them. The average time was 284 days. The majority of the calves drooped after the 290th day were bulls.

GERMS AND GERM DISEASES. Dr Maofarlane, of Edinburgh, lecturing on * Germs and Germ Diseases,’ before the Kirkcaldy Naturalist Society, referred to Jenner’a discovery of 1796, and the important results which followed it, saying that its full and true value had not been understood or appreciated until within the last twenty years, when the microscope had brought to light the existence of minute orgmisma or germs, hitherto unknown. A germ he defined as a Jiving body, whose life history can only be followed out by the higher powers of our microscopes, and which requires for its nourishment a certain amount of organic food. Plants are the great manufacturers of organic food, animals its great consumers ; but, as chlorophyll, or the green coloring matter of plants, is the manufactory where they elaborate the inorganic substances which they derive from the earth and the carbonic acid with which the atmosphere supplies them into organic matter, it follows that fungi and colorless parasites are dependent, as animals arc, on the work of others for their nourishment. The lecturer div.ded fungi into five groups, giving as examples (1) toadstools, (2) the salmon and the potatoe fungus, (3) the preserve fungus, (4) the yeast fungus, and (5) disease germs. The fifth group is called schizorriyeetes, tho germs of which it is composed being propagated by division. It has been disputed whether they belong to the vegetable kingdom at all, and Dr Macfarlane gave as reasons for believing that they do so, (1) the structure of their cell walls, which are composed of cellulose ; (2) their mode of increase ; and (3) their parasitism, which is of a different nature from that of the tape worm and other animal parasites. Having thus treated of the nature of germs, the lecturer next proceeded to speak of their form, and of the difficulties in tho way of their classification, and then of their habitat or abode. Some livo in brackish or sea water, and some in stagnant pools, while others take to drain pipes, living on the waste there. Some live on decaying animals and plants, some on tbe external surfaces of animals, and others deep in their tissues. Tb* effects produced by germs was the next point taken up. These are very varied, and.according to them, germs may be divided into threa

classes :—l, Chromogenus, or oolor-producing. such as the blue or grey mould which grows on preserves, and the grt en or yellow mould often seen on decaying substances ; 2, Zymogenus, or ferment-producing, of which class yeast fungus is an example ; and 3, Pathogenous, or disease-producing. Of the latter°Df Macfarlane specially noticed two kinds, that which causes wool-sorters’ disease, and that which is the active agent in phthisis or consumption. The former is very rapid in its effects, producing death in from thirty to forty hours. The wool-sorter contracts the disease from the wool of the sheep, whence the bacillus enters into his blood through a scratch or cut in his finger. The bacillus which produces consumption has no effect so long as evoiy part of the lung is in action, but when it finds a small pait through which theair is not constantly passing it effects a lodgment there, and increases end spreads throughout the lungs to the liver and other parts. Quoting the old adage, 1 Set a thief to catch a thief,’ he gave a description of the way in •which their effects may be resisted by inoculation. The germs, after being cultivated, still produce the same disease, but of a very mild type, and, though powerless to destroy, take awav that which is conducive to their nourishment, so that when the active germs come they find nothing on which to feed, and ore consequently harmless.

SWINE FEVER AND ITS STARTING POINTS. Corn damaged with salt water, or heated and then mildewed, is found to bo a very fruitful source of danger. It gets the animals into a low, feverish way through eating it ; and then the doubly noxious vapors from the manure bespeak actual fever as a probable result. Of course such food has to be made the best of, and the safest plan to do so would seem to be to feed it in a large, open space, and to give the pigs a chance to run ODt part of their time ; and during this ehauge into pure air give them a change also of pure food and clean water. Under these conditions, with the daily opportunity of rlghtiDg themselves, it is astonishing what they can stand in the way of uninviting food and impure surroundinga. JSven in common single sties, bad drainage and imperfect ventilation are very dangerous thiugs. I will give the details of a case that came nnder my notice a few years ago. I mention it because there were three cases of fever originated in the sty at intervals ; they didnot alloccur during the same occupation ; the last ease was since the appointment of County Inspectors, and immediate slaughter •was ordered. The farm has sinco changed hands, and the present occupier has moved the sties. Still a description of them may give some idea of what we lay our.-elves open to by disregarding sanitary precautions in ihe very simplest of our sties and stockyards. It was a double sty of the plainest description ; the house part was a lean-to against the end of a barn, and facing south-west, covered with bine slate, the ends closely walled up and not the slightest ventilation ; the outside yard was closely fenced, with open paled doors. An underground drain starting near a stable and taking the runnings from the cattle yard as well ran through the open yards of the sties with a grating in the centre of eoch, and emptied some distance down away from the sties. The consequence was an unfailing supply of foul air from this common sewage op through the gratings ; then a hot sun and a slight current of ait through the paled doors nave the pigs in the close houses the full benefit daring their afternoon ntip. The chances are that if these animals could have had a three hours’ ran in a meadow or large open yard daily they would have passed through the danger without fever ; when they have sound lungs and are otherwise healthy, it is only a continuance of foul airthat seems to overcome them. The sty itself os I have descr bed, is one of the most common that could be found, and without these drawbacks would have been fairly healthy. Amongst the many thousands of stieß in the country that would hate general features almost identical with this one, it would be interesting to know how many have tho same disadvantages. I notice tlr's case in the hope that any source of danger of the same kind may be recognised. Alterat : ons made at the instigation of’ an Inspector would never go on so pleasantly as when tho owner and occupier have the sole arrangement. And yet there .seems an unaccoiu table discrepancy between this treatment of fever and that in the case of a human heing suffering from the same dis> ease. In the one case we do everything possible to cure the patient, and condemn everything doubtful in the way of closets, drainage, and ventilation ; in the other, we condemn the animal to immediate slaughter, and allow the suitability of the sties for receiving other occupants to remain almo«t unquestioned.— Hssee Humer&y, Shippon. Abingdon.

TWINE-BINDER TRIALS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Messrs Harrold Brothers, the agents for Howard's Royal Prize Twinebinder, gave a successful exhibition trial of this machine on September 29 at Mr H. Klopper's farm, Hope Valley, B.A. ; the Buckeye Light Folding Binder tried at Cross Keys on October 7 ; the Hornsby and the W. A. Wood, run by the Australasian Implement Co, at Magill on October 8 ; the MeCormick at Payneham on October 11 *, and at Laura on October 14, the McCormick, Osborne, and Johnston twinebinders competed and came out in the order in which they are mentioned. But the event of the month has been a grand competitive trial under the auspices of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of South Australia, at West Toebarton, on October 14. This contest had been arrunged at the request of the implement judges at the September show, who were Messrs W, Smith of O Halloran’Hill, Adam Adamson, Collegetown ; and G. W. Shudbolz, Gillies Plains. The crop was a poor one, about three quarters of a ton to the acre, the straw thin and spindly, and the best of it about 15 inches high. It was divided into 2 acre portions, and eacli machine had to complete its work in 3 hours. The machines compel ed on almost equal terms, as all parts of the crop were unfavorable to good work. Time was not taken into account by the jndges, bnt the Hornsby completed its work in 1 hr 40 min, Howard in 1 hr 55 min, McCormick in 2 hrs 7 min ll , Osborne in 2 hrs 2) mins. The Johnston Continental Har-

vester did not reach the ground. Messrs .T. Gh Ramsay and Co competed, with the 1886 Aultman Miller Buckeye, withdrawing the 1885 Buckeye. Tho Esterly, entered by D. and W. Murray, met with an acoident to the grain wheel, which prevented it entering tho field, and the Wal’er A. Wood broke the sprocket wheel of its binder after going round twice. The following is the scale of points set forth and awarded by the judges. :

The silver medal of the society, therefore falls to the Hornsby ‘ Royal first prize light string-binding harvester, entered by the agents, the Australasian Implement Company ; and their bronze medal falls to the Aultman Miller ‘Buckeye’ light string binding harvester, entered by the ogeuts, Messrs J. G. Ramsay and Co.

A trial of Self Delivery Sweeprake reapers was held at the same time, for przss of £3 and 'j6l. The first was awarded to Messrs J. Colton and Co's * Oabome ’ Automatic Sweepla'te reaper, the secoud to Messrs D, and W. Murray, for the Advance ‘Buckeye’ Automatic Sweeprake Reaper. The jnd.es requested the Hornsby and the Esterley to run two rounds on other pieces of land, and are of opinion that the Esterley would have equalled the work of the prize machine if it had been placed on the last named block of land. r i ha five string-binder tested at Thebarton met again, in competition, at Giwler, on October 16, under the auspices of the Gawler Agricultural Society. As before, each machine had two acres to cut, but the crop was heavier; oats, 2 feet high, and about 25 cwt to the acre. The times were—Hornsby. 1 hr 22£ min ; Buckeye, 1 hr 24J min ; McCor-m-ck, 1 hr 27 min ; Howard, 1 hr 37 min ; Osborne, 2hr 6 min. The total points obta'nable were 650. and were awarded as follows : Hornsby, 564 ; Buckeye, 538 ; McCormick, 535 ; Howard, 497 5 ; Osborne 415. The Hornsby therefore took the silver medal. Many on the field thought the Buckeye, for lightness of construction and ease of management, excelled all on the ground, and ought to have had the prize. There was also a competition between side delivery mowers, for which the Johnstone, Howard, Osborne, and Wo"d machines entered. The first prize was awarded to the Johnstone, bnt the judge i state that all the machines made good work, and it was difficult to decide between the Johnstone and the Wood?. —Anatralasian Ironmonger.

A RABBIT EXTERMINATOR. Several months ago we (Auckland Star) mentioned the fact that a gentleman of some means had arrived here from London with the object of patenting and working a novel invention for the wholesale trapping of rabbits with a view to their exportation to the English market. Since then the gentleman in quostion—Mr George Williams, of Wal-lace-street, Ponsonbf —has been diligently at work, and not only has he completed the models of his rabbit exterminator and patented it, but he has also evolved two other inventions of great economic value, which will be heard of in due course. For the present, however, he intends to devote himself mainly to the capture and profitable utilisation of bnnny, whose fecundity has been so remarkable in the South Island, that a short time since a writer in a Dunedin paper gravely proposed that an entire county in Ot^go—Wabatipu, we believe —should be enclosed and given over entirelv, for a specified period, to the rabbit, in the hope that when he had entirely denuded the lands of their existing vegetation a plague of famine might sweep him out of existence. Mr Williams relies upon no such quixotic or questionable method of coping with the difficulty, Oa the contrary, he has elaborated a portable apparatus, inexpensive in character and easily worked, by means of which ho is prepared to guarantee his ability in a single night to trap and carry off at least 90 percent of the rabbits to be found upon any area of ground a mile square. Inequalities of surface or other natural difficulties of position offer no impediment to bis operations. He can work either upon mounta T n or plain. At present the chief a2ent in keeping down our superabundant rabbit papulation is poison—chiefly phosphorus, for which Ihe Governmert annually make a large out'ay, and (he rabbit is only valued for his pelt, and of these some nine millions were exported from the colony last year. Mr Williams, however, discards all toxological aid, and by means of rabbitproof wire fences and self acting traps, which will capture a million rabbits as easy as a score, he will carry out his campaign. These fence", too, will not bo in the way of sheep or cattle, for they are so arranged as to be lowered or hoisted at will out of the wav of domestic animals. The inventor now awaits a convenient opportunity of exhibiting under official supervision, the thorough efficacy of his plan, and meanwhile be is negotiating with the Governments of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, for its introduction to those colonies. During the recent visit of the Colonial Secretary (Hon. P. Buckley) to Auckland he visited Mr Williams’ residency and was roost favorably impreseed with the ingenuity, serviceability, and great worth of the invention. The public trial of the invention will most probably be made in the province of Wellington. Mr Williams’ second invention is a kind of auxiliary to the foregoing. It is a light and portable freezing apparatus mounted on wheels, and its purpose is to receive and keep sweet and fresh tho bodies of the captured rabits until they ore delivered over to frozen meat agencies, which will undertake their conveyance to the English market. Here, it is expected, they will meet with a ready sale,

as there is always a large and unsatisfied demand for rabbits in London, the usual retail price for them being from 6d to 8d per lb. Invention No 3 will he a regular godsend to tradesmen in general and to produce merchants in particular. It is nothing more nor less than an improved rattrap, whioh once set and baited, will continue operations for u day, a week, or a month. The exploring rat out ide sees nothing to rouse h’’s suspicion", but everything invites him to venture further, and when he has ventured he is suddenly and inevitably caught, while the trap presents the same innocent front to the next arrival. Once trapped escape is impossible, and Whiskerandoe has no torture to endure. With this trap Mr Williams is prepared to undertake commissions for ridding any establishment of its rat population and to provide the means of keeping it down to low-water mark.

FARMERS SHOULD EXPERIMENT. No information is so valuable as that derived from practical experience, and it is very impori ant to possess a knowledge of the capacities of all the different soils on the farm. There is no better mode of doing this than by testing separate plots by tho use of a variety of fertilisers and the growing of different cropp. If farmers will consider that the soils demand special kinds of food in order to produce certain crops, our system of farming would be greatly modified. As no two farms are alike in quality of composition, and as oven every square fool of soil vnries iu some degree from that adjoining, chemical analysis is of no assistance in the matter, and tho safest mode, therefore, is to use seeds and special fertilisers, giving careful cultivation and carefully noting the results. Too much should not be expected in a single season, as droughts and dampness may prove obstacles in the way. Careful and well-conducted experiments should be made, and once con elusion is reached the farmer will know more about his farm and business than can be taught him by the ablest scientist. As the experiments conduoted will cost but a trifle, the possibility of thoroughly understanding the nature of the soil and the proper crops to grow thereon is within tho power of all, and he who does not avail himself of the privilege of experiment will make many mistakes.

It is advisable not only to know just what the soil requires for a certain crop, but also to discover that which may be in excess. Potash, for instance, may bo plentiful in rich loamy soils, and good crops of clover may be grown on such; but with ; 's abundance of potash, should the soil be deficient in some other element, such as phosphoric acid, the crop of corn or wheat f< llowing the clover may not be a satisfactory one. This is often the case, and the farmer is left to solve the problem of failure to secure good results on apparently rich land. By using separately potash, superphosphate and nitrogen in some form, and on several kinds of crops, the farmer can easily find out what is lacking, and he need not appropriate over one acre for a large number of experiments. It is economical to use only the necessary amount of fert.iiiz w. It is expensive to purchase thab which the rod does not require. Tho value of an experiment consists in enabling tho farmer to dispense with those materials ontering into the composition of fertilizers that are to him valueless or unnecessary. If hie soil be deficient in the phosphates, yet abounding in potash, experi ment will inform him that he should invest more largely in the phosphates than in other ingredients, and save the cost of those not needed. This will enable him to produce the largest crops at least expense, as well as to avoid the loss of fertility of the soil which really is the wealth of the farm.—Pliladelphia Reoord.

In the mare Days. 300 to 400 Average. 340 ,, cow 220 to 320 280 ,, sheep and goat 143 to 156 350 .1 P'g 104 to 127 120 » dog 55 to 70 63 „ cat 50 to 64 55

Scale of Point s=650 Hornsby Buckeye McCormick Osborne Howard Durabilily, 30 .. 30 20 30 20 25 Ease of adjustment, 40 35 35 35 35 35 Accesa to bearings for oil25 25 25 25 25 Facility for repairs, 50 .. 40 40 40 40 40 Ease of management, 50 45 45 45 45 45 Cutting—Clos’ness, cl'anness, and evenness of cut, 200 .. 100 190 120 150 120 Certainty of binding, 50 4> 40 40 30 40 Security of knot tied, 50 Uniformity in size of 50 60 50 50 50 sheaf, 50 60 45 60 40 40 Tightness of sheaf, 50 50 30 60 30 35 Dolivery of sheaf, 50 . „ 50 20 60 35 35 Total points .. CIO 540 635 600 490