THE FARM.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 934, 24 January 1890, Page 18

THE FARM.

Vicuna wool. Vicuna is a term with which the. trade has only begun to be acquainted, but it is a subject worthy of profound attention. In an interesting report on the native wools of South America, Consul Baker adverts at soine.length to this variety. In view of the increasing use and popularity of this wool, any information is welcome. We gather from the report of Consul Baker that It is of a very fast colour and greatly appreciated on account of its touch. He says that it gives a fleece more valuable than that of any other animal in the world, ‘ more estimable than the fur of. the Canadian bear, the fleece of the brevis del Calmouks, or the Syrian goat ’ The wool is finer than that of Cachemire, or of the goat of Bucharia. Perhaps its only defect is its colour, no other colour than dyeing it black having as yet been discovered in Europe, although the Indians of Peru manage to give, it most brilliant colours. One inconvenience in regard to this wool is that it is more or less mixed with hair, hut this could be readily obviated if the animal was properly domesticated and bred. Xt has the property of being felted and fulled in a very remarkable degree, according to the report. Until now it appears that the exports of vicuna wool were not very heavy, and a large proporti n of the clip is used in the country. The natives, with but crude appliances, are extraordinarily skilful in its manufacture, producing shawls, rugs and cloth which, ‘ aside from the striking arrangement of its colours, is is far superior in closeness of texture to the best woollens of commerce.’ The best of these fabrics are made in Catamarea and some of the upper provinces of the Argentine Republic, but not in quantities to meet the demand The native snawls are impervious to water, and yet are light and fine ; and they readily command exorbitant prices, ranging from one hundred dollars to fiye hundredidol ars gold, thus quite rivalling the .camels’ hair shajvis. The. Consul thinks that as regards the domestication of these animals and the refining and improving .of their ffee.ces by a proper system of breeding, there is ijo question. So far as the llama and alpaca ape concerned, the ease with which they.are jofii.esti.eat.ed is historical. When the Spanish invaders compered the country, they found both of these animals in the service of the natives, either employed as beasts of burden or carefully attended under the direction of shepherds for the fleeces which they furnished. They are still to be seen domesticated in flocks through Peru, Bolivia, and some of the Andes provinces of the Argentine Republic, cared for and housed like the European variety of sheep. No particular pains have been taken to domesticate the guanaco and the vicuna, but the' efforts of thg early Jesuits in this line proy.e the easy' success with which it can be done. The ancient Peruyians do not seem to have'tamed them, bqt, although they roamed in a wild state, it wss not permitted tc km them, except under .certain .conditions In the season, however, the great flocks which *-■» be found in the mountain passes were were xx. ' ■o&cefudly captured, sheared, and surrounded, ■ '^ tr -ee_aga{n, Now, however, then allowed to go - ‘"-tlllo RcpubfiC a^O ii appears that in the rapidly in Patagonia these animals are x, n * B killed, and are likely to become extinct. . would be a serious loss, and should be prevented by their importation, into this country and their domestication by us. The similarity of climate would seem to favonr us, and it is to be hoped that there are many growers here who will embrace this opportunity of encouraging the production in our country of the finest fleeces in the world. THE WOOL TRADE OF INDIA. Allen’s Indian mail contains the following information respecting the wool trade of India : —‘ It is difficult with the imperfect and incomplete statistics which we have of the live stock of the country, t 6 estimate, even approximately, wliat the total- wool production of India really is. It is, however, much greater than is pupularly supposed. Assuming that India contains some 30.000,000 sheep, and allowing the average yield of wool for each animal to be 21b (both of which estimates are well within the mark), we hive a total production of 60,000,00'dbs. The term ‘ wool ’ in India, however, is sometimes made to include the fleece of’ goats and c-mels as well as 3heep, and if a further margin of i.O per cent be allowed for this, we have a total of 72,000,000 lbs. It may be generally known that in ISB3-S4. the years in which the fall in the price of wool created such distress in many parts of our colonies, a scheme was actually set on foot in Australia to establish woollen mills in India, which were to be entirely supported by Australian capital, and were as well to

manufacture cloth exclusively of Australian wool. Their object was to utilise the cheap labour of this country, and at the same time to find a new outlet for the colonial produce. The idea may have been started for purposes or pure simulation. but however this may he, subscriptions were actually raised ir Victoria, and the scheme only fe'l through when, after making inquiries in India, the projectors discovered that the woollen mills already established in in this country had secured much of the market for goods of I'luropoan make, and also became aware that the amount of wool grown in India inself was by no means small, and if not so fine, as their own profile 0 , had the advantage of being decidedly cheaper and quite good enough for ordinary demands. Being apparently disappointed that the scheme was not likely to prove a success, the Victorians allowed the matter to drop, and happily for the colonies the price of their woo l very shortly rose in value. The import: trade into India proper across tlv frontier forms an appreciable item in the trade. Afghanistan, Rebictii-tan, and Thibet have coniirihuted 104 million pounds, valued at nearly 16 lacs during the last three years, out of which Sind imports about SO per cent, most of which is for shipment fr. in Kurrachee. 'Tim contribution from r l hihet is not very large. The development of the trade in Trans-Himalavan wool, lias, it is well known, been the subject of much recant inquiry, as it has realised a far better prica than the ordinary country produce. The trade, though apparently capable of expansion, is at present insignificant-, and it 'wifi probably remain so until the restrictions imposed upon traffic at the frontier by the Thihe’an officials are removed, and a steady demand is ensured. The effoi ts made to develop it have not met with success, and the late political complications on the frontier have caused its collapse durng the past year in the direction of Sikkim. The arrivals of other forei.-n wools in India have bee* l steadily increasing during the last four or five years, having risen from about 7 millions in 1884-85 to over 12 millions in ISS7-BS, and the increase is likely to continue. EFFECT OF OILS UPON WOOL. It is claimed by many, that ns : de from any difference in cost, mineral oils have certain advantages ovor animal and vegetable oils, as Inbricanis for wool. It is, however, admitted that so far ne the objection to mineral oils being valid, that they have no body, the fact is undeniable that for the finest cylinder and valve oil, the finest machinery and spindle oils, the finest hot neck and crank pin greases—and, in short, most lubricants, for machinery, heavy and light, fast running or slow, are now made from the product of oil wells. By a simple process of reduction, the body of a mineral oil can be made of almost any thickness, and on this account the substance fills at least two of the essential requisites, a sufficient degree of fluidity to secure thorough distribution, and in the second place it possesses body enough to prevent running when the stock remains in bulk. WOOL PRODUCTION OF SOUTHERN RUSSIA. The British Oonsul-General at Odessa, in the last report on the trade of his district, referring to the wool production, says that there are two principal kinds of wool produced, merino and dronskoi, and, in less quantities, zigai and malitch. The merino sheep was introduced from Spain in 1803, and was found to thrive in a climate where, though there are extremes of heat and cold, the atmosphere is generally dry. It is to be met with in the governments of Taurida, Kelson, Ekaterinoslav, and to a less extent in Bessarabia. The Molokanis, a religious sect. who were 'banished from Northern and Central Russia to the Taurida, and thence migrated to the plains on the Kuban river and to the Caucasus, have devoted themselves most assiduously to the rearing of these sheep, and have succeeded in improving the breed, the wool of which is louger in staple and better adapted for combing purposes than the ordinary merino. Fleeces in grease will weigh from lllbs to 141bs, while the common merino fleece will seldom exceed Dibs, and is frequently much lighter. The wool is exported to England in grease, the manufacturers preferring to wash it by their own processes. The donskoi wool is the growth of sheep found, as the name implies, near the river Don. The zigai is a native wool of finer quality than the preceding, whjile the maiitch is an inferior .staple found, jn the Crijmea. Bradford still takes a jlarge .quantity of South Russian merino wool, but sjn'ce the enormous development ojf sheep breeding on the La Plata,- and in Australia, tfle wool trade of South Russia \h : as dipainislied in importance. ’ ’ TROTTXN& CARTHORSES. (The Fjeld.) In Marshall’s ‘Rural Economy of Norfolk,' in which will be found many curious peculiarities characteristic of a country which has always had much to distinguish it from other portions of the island, he mentions —as specially deserving of notice—the decility, activity, and spirit of the horse engaged in jfjirm work. He mentions (he was himself a sopth-county hut resident in Norfolk for a year qr two as agent jfor an estate!) the pnrprise'which fte feltf at Beeing the gyaffitity of which was habitually ploughed in a flay by 6 pair oi these' Nojrfol{k horses ; £$ the common practice of the county jp always trotting back with the empty cart when ft load of corn, hay, or pquck had b.e.op •*elivored; and at the success with which '-aa of three, and even fonr ? out at the teax-_ ' - ; ««a te quiekfin OF moderate length, were tr*... *' s ~ud<ll_e of the reed, their speed—to take the -*-ber assistor to turn out of it—with no tut... w ance tc guide them than was furnished uy the voice of the driver. That this admiration of Marshall’s, at the end of last century and the beginning of this, was well deserved, there is ample independent evidence to prove. The horses are described as wholecoloured, rather undersized (not much above 15.2), but extraordinary hard and mettlesome. And Marshall maintains, not that the horses were distinct from what he had seen in other countries (there was not in those days the mania for asserting twenty distinct pure breeds of every kind of farm stock), but that the type which prevailed npon the tender and mixed lands, was one with very real merits, which had been developed by established local usaecs, and which were well worth preserving. Those were times when good roads were rare ; and when, even iu the richest towns, to move heavy wains over the boulder-stone pavlug was the work of giants. Norfolk, with its light soil and abundance of gathered stones, knew already the worth of the practice, which was spread afterwards throughout the country by the teaching of Macadam ; and it had already produced, and was proud of ‘ the trotting carthorses,’ some

of whose performances the local newspapers still preserve on record. In the London Ev-ening Post, 1739 to 1740, will be found instances of reiharkable races performed in harness by trotting carthorses. Earl Beaconsfielri has fixed the phrase ‘A good deal has happened since then,' and among them is that the streets of the chief cities are now paved with wood or asphalte ; that railways and the increasing wealth of the country have called into existence tramways and ‘ omnibus ’ carriages which shall be capable of seating twenty*four passengers ; and time becomes every year ol greater import. In fact, there has grown up, not a call for a new type of horse, but a very strong revival in the demand for an old one. We are now seeking horses which shall be strong enough to move and Btarb frequently heavy vehicles, and yet active enough besides to keep those vehicles moving at something faster than the walking pace of an active man. This type is precisely what nine horsekeepers out of ten wanted a hundred years ago ; when the family carriage was liable to stick fast in the ruts of some bye rosd ; and when the farmer took with him to market such impedime'ta as himself, weighing 2cwt, his wife and a few trifles, such as a sack of apples or potatoes for a friend, a bushel or bo of oats for himself, a side or two of bacon, with the week's produce from the good wife's dairy. All these had to be carried on one pair of wheels six or eight miles to the nearest town ; at a rate which was not so fast as to pass the squire's coach, but quite good enough to play a respectable seoond ; and to keep Jehu, in his wig, on his mettle up to be doing his level best, so as to escape chaff when he encountered the tenant up the church lane on Sundays, Those were the days for developing light, active carthorses ; and they were once to be had freely in England, for Marshall and others saw them. Farm horses could then do doable work, that of the road as well as that on the land. Now—so says a famous trainer, who has recently been letting in day* light upon the condition of London ’bus horses —there is a lamentable lack of teams of thiß character. There are horses enough fit to drag a hansom oab. The weeds of the racing stables are enough to provide for these. There are plenty ot dray horse 3, because the heaviest vans are being rapidly supplanted in towns by lighter carriages which will effect delivery in quicker time. But of light, active horses, able to trot with a load five or six miles an hour, there are but few of English breeding. This is the opinion of an experienced trainer as to the ’bus horse of the period in London. First, he says, 11,000 foreigners, are imported each season ; at a rate which would pay for the breeding of better homebred ones, * They have largo heads, big feet, with long hair on their legs to their hocks and knees, and are too heavy to carry themselves comfortably over any distance.’ Although the weather was fine, the load not excessive (for many passengers got down to walk, ‘because they were in a hurry ’} and the horses in good plight, they sweated profusely ; and ‘ were wholly Unable to draw any carriage at a faster pace than three miles an hour.’ Now wo venture to think this report of a most competent observer to be evidence worth quoting in support of views which have been frequently put forward in these columns as to the action of bur county agricultural societies, and of. R.A.S.E. as worst offender of all. upon the breeding of agricultural horses. A division and, sub-division of the horses which. serve thp. gentry is insisted on. There are ' classes for hackneys and harness horses, others for park horses, others light, and yet others for heavy weight hvjnteys. Very excellent practice ! But is the character of horses required for the hard work of life less varied ? Agricultural horses have one set of classes; and the judges to award the honours in these are chosen from the breeders of the heaviest type of dray horses ; and all those of the smaller (but certainly not less useful or less wanted) type of which we are speaking are utterly crushed, out. We have gone the round of the agricultural shows pretty freely! for the last twenty years | and have never yet seen a liopa‘fide farm-horse, of the light, active type just spoken of, rewarded writh. a prize. The money all gops to the big brewer's sort. * In several counties (Gloucestershire is one)

the lop,al agricultural societies are putting on record that ‘ the farmers don’t take much interest in our shows.’ Why should they? The horses they want most to work their farms with are most persistently snubbed. When the metropolis contributed many thousands of pounds, and the Royal bounty several hundreds of ponnds to provide prizes at the Exhibition of the National Society to encourage agriculture, how large a proportion of the added fund was appropriated te the horses which really do tfil the land and, drag the tram, and ‘lfcqta carriages ?/ fipw tfie providing ai&lijfohs 1 V’for'an'V district Is, very bbst (.beQ.ause it fa'A want which' very few occupiers can provide for t&a does, not breed qbqige, qqq ?¥• iwo'*-- * afy.e%£ " -Asm p-cfifcpjrai aqqisiy ■ . .-J.cn any agriStallions te- ’■ . render. How many *** * _ oegetting genuine agricultural i,„ocir have all the societies in England introduced or supported 1 Perhaps now that ’bus proprietors are also calling out, and the working population of the towns are demand ing horses suited to carry them to their workshops, or home after work is done, there will be a diversion of some little part of the energy of our societies to encourage the breeding of trotting carthorses. It is quite time that there should be, if the societies are to be in touch with the tenantry or the times.

LAMBING IN THE COLONIES. The ewes receive no attention w^ a t;ever, but it is usual to prevent * ra fg<j upon the runs as much »3 P during tho lambing season^ Y/nen the lambs begin to graze, it is often the case that a pasture of the most unsuitable kind has been provided. It should be remembered that the digestive organs of lambs are tender ; therefore coarse and overeaten pasture would cause indigestion, scour, etc, which are also caused by the richness of the milk of the ewes, and from being put Upon any unsuitable pasture. For soour it

is necessary to ohange their food and give Quibell’a Lamb Food, a little Chalky dr flowers of sulphur. WEANING LAMBS. This requires caution and .care. It ia best to place the ewes and lani'bs together in a pasture which ia suitable for the lambs —an old grass pasture or second crop of .mown clover, for if they be placed ou a rich pasture they will have scour, as will be the case if put upon over-eaten seeds. The ewes should be taken away from the lambs and removed to some distance, entirely out of hearing, and put upon a poor upland pasture, so that the milk may gradually dry away. It is desirable to examine the ewes about the Eecond day after they have been removed from the lambs, and any who have swollen udders should have a little milk drawn out, and again upon the third day. A thorough examination should take place on the fifth day. It is a very good plan to put a few barren ewes or wethers into the field with the lambs, after they are weaned, to teach the lambs to select their food. DIPPING LAMBS. The lambs should be dipped with the ewes, before they are weaned, as they do not suffer so much, and they more quickly forget their dipping than, if it ba left until after they should be weaned. SHELTER POP. EWES AND LAMBS IN FIELDS AND EXPOSED PLACES. A simple, convenient and valuable shelter for hoth ewos and lambs is made by covering hurdles with straw, brushwood, rushes or other available material and fixing them in the form of a cross in suitable places. The ewes and lambs will readily find them and seek the shelter. In this position they shelter the animals in severe weather, from whichever quarter the wind may be blowing. Or little houses may be erected by covering in some similar manner. Warmth and dry atmosphere are more important to the merino than good food. It should be remembered that the lamb for the first few weeks depends entirely upon the mother for supply of food ; it ia therefore important in cultivated lands, where it is possible, that the ewes should be cared for and proper shelter be provided for them, that they may have artificial food to promote iocrease of milk and strength.

ENSILAGE IN GIPPSLAHBMr F. J. Little of Straford has made a trial of ensilage, and like all who, have tried the new system, fie. is delighted. He says in a local pap.er, that the. ensilage is readily eaten b.y milking cows and working horses, - and be gives the following account of his methods : —‘ The silo is simply a pit dug in a dry place on a rising piece of ground, and the eneilage is pressed with some of the earth taken out in making the pit, the measurement of which is SOft long, 12ft wide, and 9ft Gin de;p, and cost of sinki.- g £0 (by weekly labour at 20s per week and found), or about Is per cubic yard. After removing about 2ft 6in of surface soil, all the remainder had to bo picked, being clay. The maize crop cqnvested into ensilage was sown broadcast, and intended to be fed in a green state to milking cows in summer, but i during Febuarv 1 found that I would have ;a surplus of a few acres, in, the. shape of ensilage. Wheu the pit was finished I placed a largo, chaffpiitter. on th.e edge, of it, bo that the, chaff maize would fie delivered ; straigh t in withou,t any hai.idifegx and with the laid of- an engine, beg&r. operations. I ex- ! pected to. fill the pit in two or at the most i three days, nut found the ioading aad cart- ' ing from the Hold heavier than I anticipated, and with 13 hands it took rather more than five days. The cut*ing was, however, easily effeetd with a Lennon’s reaper, snd I found that putting it off in sheaves greatly facilitated loading on to the drays. When the „ ensilage was raised 2ft above the edge of the pit, which was temporarily boarded round for that purpose, I removed the chaff-cutter, put in a layer of straw and covered in wi.th bark, and pressed ip with Sffc to 4ft of earth, forming q bridge to turn th,e rain. I have now used, about 45 tons of it, and find scarcely any waste. Somd* of the maize had . been sown thick, consequently the stalks were very fine ‘ T this I thought would be best for ensilage, but I found that coarser maize ' with good-sized oobs was equal, if not superior, to, it, and contained quite sufficient moisture.’

EXTRAORDINARY PACTSFrom America comes the astounding information of large areas of farm lands being abandoned, and that not in the south, wherq ao exhaustive Bystem of agriculture hasj. impoverished the land, but in Vermont, on which we have been accustomed to, look' as one of the. most fertile o£t;he United States,, A yyjrifcar in 'ttief' American Architect uqalias tj&e following remarks, on this. qpb|eqt j—c, Mr Valentine, a state qfj&pai**" ' , other officiate hh a fell ia ~ A Wlt £ looking o,v.ey tha .-V* 1 ’" ..-mington and laqufitqfi Is* * -*«*/ o£ West River, contiguous farms, of perhaps 100 each, all fenced, and with dwelling houses and barns in at least tolerable condition, without a single inhabitant.’ A little further on they knew there were 15 more also deserted. The writer states ,In Wyndham County alone there are 40,000 acres of land once cultivated, and now deserted. In the whole state the number of abandoned farms, complete with houses, fences, barns, and. outbuildings, must bo several thousands, and yet Vermont is one of the pleasantest, healthiest, most fertile,

and most civilised Btates in the Union. It seems that this abandonment of rural properties is not due to the . soi 1 . * exhausted by reckless M * Btook * farming or ov t century has rather enriched than -' Qauated the / oiL In the3 o years ~ orn isso to 1880 the increase of. , ermont state was only 5 per cent, while In the Bame period the population of the United States was more than doubled. The cause of this abandonment of the Vermont farms appears to be the crowding of the young people into largs towns, while a few of the more adventurous have gone out West. This circumstanoe is noticed by a writer in the American Agriculturist. He seems unable to give a reason for the exodus, for in referring tc the state he says : —‘ Our climate is bracing and healthful; no blizzards, hurricanes or prairie fires come near us ; the soil lies on limestone foundation, is well drained,

yields the sweetest and most nutritiou gt&sses, &hd with good cultivation abundant Grops of cereals.’

Commenting on the above, ‘ Bruno ’ in the Australasian, says :—For a long time past visitors to Vermont have noticed the distaste the young people have for a rural life, hub it is only of late that the land has been left without any occupants. When Messrs M’Farland Bros., of Baruga, imported the first lot of Vermont merinos to Australia, I made some inquiries for them as to tbo character of the country and mode of life in Vermont. Mr Thos M’Farfand mentioned as a thing that struck him forcibly during his tour among the Vermont sheep farms that he scarcely met with a young man on the way. It is a curious circumstance that while farms in almost every part of England are almost going begging for tenants, and the value of the land is lower than has been known for very many years, while agriculture in fertile France is in an extremely depressed condition, aud, as we see, in one of the finest of tho United States farms are being abandoned by the hundred, yet in Australia arable land realises higher prices than ever, and rents are readily p*id for unimproved land that would be considered high in the old country for farms fenced and sub-divided, with every convenience in the way of builings, and within easy reach by rail of the metropolis.