THE FARM.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 937, 14 February 1890, Page 19

THE FARM.

SURFACE CULTIVATION. The last experiment of the Nebraska Experimental Station has attracted considerable attention in America and Europe, and the results ard of special importance in Australia, where the rainfall is limited and the evaporation great. Nebraska Is a rather dry state, although the rainfall i 3 sonridwha!; greater than in our inland areas. A crop of wheat was taken as an experiment to show the effeot of cultivation upon the soil. A portion was once ploughed, and It yielded 16 bushels per acre. The next portion was ploughed once and harrowed once ; this plot yielded bushels per acre. The third plot Was ploughed twice and harrowed once, yielding 21 biishelo per acre, and the fourth avas ploughed twice and harrowed twice. The last result was 23 J bushels per acre. Thesi results tell unmistakably in favour of thorough cultivation, and as such they confirm the experience of many practical fanners in these colonies, but I venture to state that in such a dry climate as that of say the great Murray Valley what may be called * surface cultivation ’ ia of more importance than the turning over of the soil as in ploughing. Thorough cultivation has a well-known general effect upon soil under ordinary agricultural circumstances ; stirface stirring performs a special function in a dry climate. With a wheat or other grain crop, except the drill and horse hoe is used, it is impossible to show fully the advantages of surface cultivation, aud the drill and hoe were not used in the Nebraska experiment. —-The Leader. A VALUABLE RAM. A writer in the Melbourne Leader says : —‘ While on a visit to Barooga last week I was shown the return of a ram’s fleece which was scoured and valued by experts iu Melbourne. The return was 111 b of scoured wool, which was valued by three experts, acting independently, at the following rate : —6lb of fleeced wool at Is 8d per lb, and 51b of pieces at Is 3£d per lb, making a total of 16s 5Jd for the whole fleece. One expert made the pieces a few farthings less, but the difference was scarcely worth noticing. This ram, named The Lion, carried off the champion prize at Deniliquin last year. The return was obtained purely for the information of the proprietors of the stud. A big weight of fleece is often illusory, but a big money return is a sterling fact. WHAT IT COSTS. The Melbourne Leader says :—Extraordinary damage has been caused by rust in this season's wheat, crop, and unfortunately both South Australia and New South Waies are heavy sufferers from the same cause. It is estimated that in South Australia the loss to the farmers amounts to at least £1,000,000, In Victoria between £500,000 and £600,000 and in New South W ales nearly £500,000. The subject was considered of such vast importance that during the sittings of the Australasian Association for the advancement of Science a meeting of scientists from the three colonies was held and the desirability of holding a conference on the subject later on in the year was discussed. Ultimately it was decided to leave any future action to be taken in the hands of the South Australian representatives. The Minister of Lands has also seen the necessity of taking some action, and he ban accordingly requested the secretary of the Australasian Association to furnish him with the names of two experts from each colony, one being a scientific and the other a practical farmer, who would be willing to attend a conference to be held in Melbourne as early as possible, for the purpose of considering the steps necessary to be taken to combat the ravages caused by rust and other pests in the wheat field. RUSTPROOF WHEAT. WILL IT STAND. The Victorian wheat crop having again suffered enormously from the ravages of red rust, should set intelligent farmers thinking whether a rust-proof grain cannot be found to replace the varieties which, of otherwise high merit, are powerless to resist thiß fell destroyer. Our South Australian neighbours claim to have discovered such a wheat in Ward’s Prolific, which was first grown by Mr James Ward of Nelsbaby, near Port Pirie, some seven or eight years ago. The seed had been distributed by Dr Schomburgh, director of the Adelaide botanic gardens, and only a few plants were found clean among much that was covered with rust. Mr Ward carefully selected this wheat, and from this small beginning the Prolific has spread, until it promises to become universal on land that is prone to incur rust. After repeated trials it has been found absolutely proof against the attack of rust. In the immediate vicinity is grown some of the finest wheat in the world, Velvet Pearl of last year, taking prizes at the local shows with 67g to the bushel. Steinwedel and purple straw are also largely grown, but this year, of the late sown crops, will not average 4 bushels to the acre, and in many places, where the promise was exceedingly good when the crop came into ear, will not pay for the reaping. The Prolific, however, has stood this crucial test, and when grown under precisely similar circumstances co the varieties named has yielded 14 bushels to the acre, a high rate for the districts in which It grown. Iu grain, Ward’s Prolific is plump and medium short, growing on a white clean straw, with little flag. The ears are square and well sot, and of dark golden, almost bronze, colour. ISome few samples have also been grown in north-west Victoria by old South Australian residents,

with so far satisfactory results'. »t"ThQ Aus. tralasiaL’. A COMPARISONThe United States is nearly twenty times; the size of France, but France is only second to it in wheat production. She produced an average of 285,862,800 bushels of wheat annually from 1875 to ISSS, against 450,410,460 bushels in the United States., The total potato crop of France averages nearly twice as much as the United States crop. More than one-fourth of the area infarm and garden crops in France is devoted to wheat and other cereals, which are beiug grown extensively in many sections where vineyards have been unprofitable. Indeed, only about five million acres are now devoted to gropes. There has been a gradual increase in the yield per acre, all over France, during the last century. This is ascribed to the organised efforts of the Government and of the farmers to better their condition, by a system of agricultural colleges, schools and experiment stations. In thud encouraging agriculture France spends #8,000,000 annually, while the United States do not spend half as much for this purpose. Here# are some interesting comparisons of average annual acreages and yield in bushels. (The? acreages and total yields are given in thousands of thus, France averaged annually 17,111,000 acres of wheat that produced an' average of 285,760,000 bushels, etc.). A DISCOVERY INDEED IF ! A new process of preserving milk in its' liquid form, the discovery of Wm. Getteus, a farmer of Rylstone, near Mudgee, was tLe subject of a trial on 17th January, at Sydney. A large number of iuvitations had been sent out, but only a few gentlemen attended. Letters were read from Mr W. A, Dixon, F.C.S., analytical chemist ; Dr Helm 3, as well a 3 from the manager of the Mortgage, Guarantee and Mercantile Corporation cf New South Wales, Limited, testifying to the excellent quality of the milk opened by them after keeping it one month at the suggestion of Mr Gettens. Mr Dixon wrote to the effect that he had found tho milk to be genuine, of good quality, and after placing sfc in an open vessel for 48 hours, fouud ife quite fresh and good. Dr Helms sent a. message of similar purport, and the other letters Were equally satisfactory. Several tins of milk treated to remain fresh for one month were opened before the company—the explanation being given that it had only been in the' tins for one week—and found to be perfectly fresh and sweet. Other tins treated by theinventor’s processtoiascforone week and kept, as an exceptional test, for one mouth, were found, as Mr Gettens expected them to be, of no value. At the same time the milk was hardly sour, the bulk having turned into whey, the result of the journey over rough country, and subsequently by train from Mudgee to Sydney. Mr Gettens informed those present that by variation of the process he would preserve the milk to remain fresh for almost any period. SUGGESTIVE. The disease of foot-rot, which appeared in Riverina this year in many instances for the first time since the country has been stocked with sheep, has been an unwelcome attendant upon the fine season. In many cases the disease has proved extremely refractory, all the well-known remedies having failed to effect a cure. Arsenic, which in the old shepherding days in the Western district we used to regard as an infallible cure, has been tried on several occasions, and the sheep so treated had the disease even worse than those who were not treated at all. This disease has been attracting considerable attention in the Old Country of late, and some interesting letters on the subject have appeared in the papers devoted to live stock husbandry. ‘ M.R.G. V.S.,’ writing in the Marklane Express, states his conviction thatr the disease is of parasitic origin. He says ; —* The very history of the disease itself points in this direction. It is contagious, all breeds become affected, no kinds of soil are exempt, and the successful treatment of cutting away all diseased portions of hoof and applications of powerful escharotics, which are germicides, all tend to show that the disease is parasitic.’ In Australia it has been found that a heavy rush of grass in spring or autumn is conducive to an outbreak of the disease, and that sheep are more likely to suffer from foot-rot on rich volcanic soil than on poorer land. Since the sheep have been crazed in paddocks tnis disease has not given the flockmaster much trouble, save in districts where there is rich soil and a moist climate. Under these conditions merino sheep are certain to be attacked by foot-rot. —The Australasian. THE HOMESTEADS OF ENGLAND. THE ROYAL FARMS AT WINDSOR* Agricultural Gazette. 111. The Shaw Homestead is, as befits its site, one of the best in the country. The commands givea by the late Prince Consort when the buildings were designed showed an accurate appreciation of that which architects have not always succeeded in accomplishing in the erection of a good homestead, and they are well worth quoting, as showing the principles on which farm buildings should be planned. The exact words were that ‘plain and substantial buildings should be so arranged that each description of stock might be kept and tended apart from the other, bui table aapeots being given to the several parts, and the arrangement being contrived so as to ensure the economical performance of all labour to be done within them.’ There were probably no architects in those days who were competent to carry out these very sensible and clear instructions, and the result was that serious defects were committed in .the cramped and confined arrangements of the threshing barn and granary and in the long carriage of food and air aw to the various cattle sheds. In spite of the correct theory which had been formed by the master mind the practical defects of cii-3 homestead were eo considerable that they had to be corrected at considerable expense. Tue homestead, including Mr Tait r s huuso, ia now all that can be de-

sired. It abrade close to the high road heading from the Long Walk to Old Windsor, buried amid trees which, in May, when they are covered with rich foliage, conceal fcuem from most parts of the road. We have uow entered the domain of the Home Park, and, after pausing long enough to inspect the Shorthorn herd and Clydesdale studs in their respective stalls, byres, and boxes, or in the surrounding paddocks, we directed our steps towards the Castle, for the purpose of Teaching the Dairy Homestead. This liea immediately beyond Frogmore. It was completed in 1555, and a nobler range of buildings of this class has never been erected. * Tho principle features, ’ says Mr Morton, ‘are a magnificent cowhouse for the accommodation of the cows and a large manure house, to which, for the preservation of its fertilising ingredients, the soiled litter from this cowhouse is daily moved. For other stock there is ample provision in calves’ houses, yards with sheds, and pigsties.’ The cattle at this farm are pure Jerseys and Shorthorns of the common breed. The Royal Dairy standing near this homestead was planned under the general instructions that while an ornamental dairy was desired, no beauty of ornament would compensate for want of everyday usefulness. Coolness in summer and moderate warmth in winter have been provided by a sun-tight roof and by shelter outside, as well as by double windows ; ample ventilation and a plentiful supply of water were also secured. The walls were built hollow, the floor is covered with glazed tiles, having the appearance of a Turkey carpet. The table and shelves are of marble. The roof is supported by six handsome glazed pillars. The ornaments, fountains, heraldic bearings, and inscriptions of this delightful dairy are ali in good taste, and 240 gallons of milk are set daily here in pans of white ware. The homestead of the Flemish Farm is admirable, consisting of a covered yard aud all necessary sheds, buildings, and machinery for the shelter of cattle and the preparation of their food. 4.8 the site of tho homestead happens to be elevated. Mr Turnbull, the architect of the buildings, formed the ingenious idea of making his bricks and ballast of the clay on the very spot where the homestead stands, so as to make a desirable reduction in the elevation, and at the same time to provide ballast sufficient to cover the site a foot deep, and by that means to correct the dampness of the stiff clay. The Devon and Hereford herds are kept here. I have now to mention a few leading points connected with the several herds. The excellence of all the herds is acknowledged by all breeders. Twenty-seven years ago the Prince Consort desired, that the prize tickets which had been already won should be nailed up in the principle sheds occupied by each herd, and the enormous number of these honourable records at the present time indicate a high degree of excellence and success. The Devons were perhaps at one time furthest advanced as prize-winners, and the Jerseys furthest behind, but thi3 was solely on account of special pains taken with the former ; and so much ha 3 been done in recent years in the acquisition of high-class Jerseys and apparently with much success—that further triumphs in showyards may be looked for. Already the championship at tho Show of the British Dairy Farmers' Association has fallen to this herd. The cows of the herd number twenty, and they are lodged in winter, till the sheltered pastures of the Home Park are available for them day and night, about the second week in May, in the great cowhouse of the Dairy Farm, which holds besides thirty Shorthorns. Superior Shorthorns were kept at Windsor by George the Third, before the existence of herd-boobs, and the king paid C. Collin £4O a year for three years for the use of a bull named Windsor, whose mother was considered the founder of the reputation of the breed. In an account of the Royal herds, which appeared in the Live Stock Journal in 1886, the modern origin of the herd in 1856 is described as having dated from the purchase of ‘two lovely heifers—Cold Cream and Alix.’ At present you will not get far in any chat with Mr Tait on the groups aud families of his Shorthorns without being lauded in Cold Cream. 1 counted in one house at the Shaw Farm (formerly the sheep-house) a dozen pedigree eow3 with their calves. The great array of prize tickets nailed up in the covered yard of the Flemish Farm reminds us that the story of the two herds here would prove a lengthened one. The Herefords, consisting of a herd of twenty cows, are more numerous now than the Devons, which formerly numbered 100 herd, cVefly maintained at that time at the Norfolk Farm, which has since been laid down in grass and added to the Great Park. Ir. will be remembered that the bull Lord Wilton is a name to conjure with among the Hereford*, and his blood abounds hero. Trojan the most distinguished bull now in u-r. Tiie Devon buil now employed is Baron Golsoncott, a bull of fine North Devon cimtactor. This herd is the oldest of all the herds as they now exufc, and dating, as it Oi<"9, from the fountain head of the best stock among early Devons, its career has been distinguished down to the present time. Almost as soon asth'S column is published the l eader will probably have au opportunity o! seeing animals from each of the Royal herd -, o-i '.v 11 as homes from the Clydesdale et-id in the show-yard at Windsor, v-ith pigs of the white Wicd-or breed. He will find them a numerous and interesting exhibition, Mich :>n ooe breede.r only in tbe United Kingdom could place ia the arena. Little space is left for any reference to the ordinary farming. A point of interest is that Mr Tait crosses H 1 refolds and Shornherns largely, and sells the produce fat at eighteen months old at the Shaw Farm. Be is a great believer in the protit of early maturity, A Hereford bull is kept for the purpose here indicated, and the mothers are the non pedigreed Shoi thorns of the dairy. All the half-hred youngsters show the sire in their faces. They do not evoke very much enthusiasm, perhaps, after one has spent a day on the Royal farms, but any ordinary farmer who owned suehjhalf-breds as these—so heavy-fleshed, so handsome, and so

excfellenfc in quality—would calk of them in his sleep. What is to prevent it ? Twenty to thirty pounds would buy tbe bull, and good Shorthorn heifer-calves are often a drug in Staffordshire at a guinea each. That would be a cheap start. Other cattle are fattened, and more manure made in connection with the annual fat-stock sale, which is mainly made up of purchased stock, I should like to mention a three-year-old Hereford fattening for the show of the Smithfield Club, weighing 130 stone, and very level. Another two-year old, training for the same purpose, is almost as neat and small-boned as a Devon, and the dimple in its back—if a defect may be named—would not hold more than a pint—‘certainly not a quart,’ said Mr Tait, taking the criticism in good part. With regard to tho well-paid labourers of tbe Royal farms, it was the Prince Consort s desire that every labouring man on the Royal farms should be comfortably housed within a mile of his work. This has been carried out by the erection of blocks of large and roomy cottages, each containing two, sometimes three, apartments below and three bedrooms above, and all supplied with good and useful gardens. EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON WOOL. The theory is that a cold climate produces a finer fleece. But it is probable that the food has more to do with it than the climate itself. Youatt admits that to a certain extent a warm temperature makes wool coarser, but he says that pasture has a far greater influence on the fineness of the fleece. The staple of the wool, like every other part cf the sheep, must increase in length or in bulk when the animal has a superabundance of nutriment; and on the other hand, the secretion which forms the wool must de crease, like every other, when sufficient nourishment is not afforded. When little cold has been experienced in the winter, and vegetation has been scarcely checked, the sheep yield an abundant crop of wool, but the fleece is perceptibly coarser as well as heavier. When frost has been revere, and the ground covered with snow—if the flock has been fairly supplied with nutriment, although the fleece may have lost alittle weight, it will have acquired a superior degree of fineness and a proportionate increase of value. Should, however, the sheep have been neglected and starved during the prolongation of cold weather, the fleece as well as the carcase is thinner ; and although it may have preserved its smallness of filament, it has lost in weight aud strength and usefulness. These are selfevident facts, and need not be enforced by any laboured argument. Temperature and oasture have influence on the firmness of the fibre, and one which the farmer should never disregard ; but be may, in a great measure, counteract this influence by careful management and selection in breeding. A better illustration of thi3 cannot be found than the fact that the Merino has been transplanted to every latitude on the temperate zone, and some beyond it—to Sweden in the north and Australia in the south—and ha 3 retained its tendency to produce wool exclusively, and wool of nearly equal fineness and value. Experience has shown that when horses are clipped in wiuter they thrive better on the same or Jess food than when not clipped. This fact has been investigated by Professor Fred Smith, of England, who finds horses’ sweat rich in albumen, so much so that it will take six ounces of oats to furnish the albumen fouud in one pint of sweat. He adds : ‘I do not know how much sweat a horse with a long coat loses with laborious work, but we may state as a practical rule that clipping must be equivalent tj at least an extra pound of grain per day.’