JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1291, 26 November 1896, Page 6

JOTTINGS.

In the branding of cattle the system in the United States and Canada is a wiser one than ours. It is illegal in America to brand cattle, save on the neck, with ear marks ; but in Australia the practice is to deeply mark the animals on the most valuable parts of the hide. This system not only destroys that portion of the hide that has been seared by the branding iron, but weakens the whole side where the marks have been placed. Consequently, the value of the hides are materially lowered in value, as they aie unfit for making high class leather, and, at the most, only rank as second rate products. In the European markets they are at a great disadvantage as compared with American hides, with which they have to compete. Were it not for our own faulty system of branding and carelessness in flaying, Australian hides, according to the opinion of leather experts, would be quite equal to those obtained in other parts of the world. Many practical graziers are of pinion that it would be sufficient to brand cattle only upon the necks and cheeks, and some , affirm that ear tags could be used with advantage. If this change in the system is practicable, and their appears no reason why it is not, the sooner it is adopted the better.

The Goulbum Advertiser is responsible for the following :—Some funny stories are told about judging at agricultural shows. Wethers have been taken as ewes, Lincolns have been passed as Leicesters, and so on. It was, however, left for a judge at one of the Goulburn Valley shows this year —(No ; we did not say the National) —to discover that Koraney Marsh and Lincolns were one and the &ame kind of sheep. An exhibitor, whose Lincolns are very successful prize-takers, took a number of them to the show in question, and having an odd ewe which had not been entered for competition, he took it along with the others, thinking he might have an opportunity of disposing of it. There was a vacant pen close to where the Eomney Marsh sheep were penned, and into this the Lincoln ewe was placed. Nothing more was thought of the matter until the judging was over, when much to his surprise the exhibitor found that his Lincoln ewe had gained first prize as the best Romney Marsh ewe in the yard. It is needless to add that that judge's decisions were faulted all through his class.

It often occurs that troublesome stumps have to bo removed, often at the expense of a good deal of time and money. To dig and chop them out is a tedious process, and to use a stump puller is not always practicable, and in any event costly, besides leaving large holes to fill and grade over. The English and French have commenced using a method, not only cheap, but exceedingly simple and effective. The only appliances necessary are a shovel, a little dry kindling and a sheetiron cylinder large enough to slip down over the larger stumps, the top cone shaped and terminating in a collar in which one or more lengths of six or seven-inch common stovepipe may be fitted. A hole is dug between the roots on one side of the stump and partially under it, large enough to start a fire with the kindlings. After the fire is once fairly started the iron cylinder is alipped over the stump, the stovepipe is added and the whole arrangement acts as a stove, burning the stump out completely.

It has been shown by experiments by Professor Roberts of the Cornell, New York Station, says the Neiv York Times, that the feeding of grain to cows on pastures is not only profitable while the feeding is going on, but the effect is quite apparent the next year. This is reasonable, for improvement by good feeding of animals is the basis on which the most successful breeders have built up their finest stoek of all kinds, and this improvement we know becomes permanent as long as the methods by which it was started are persevered in. Indeed, we do not know how far it may be carried. It has been shown that a cow by perseverance in high feeding has been brought up to a product of over ICOO pounds of butter within a year, or an average of 3 pounds a day. And this has been the result merely of the ability to digest and turn to good use the enormous quantity of rich food the cow has been educated to dispose of. In fact, how do any of us know the final result of the beginning of this high feeding ? This depends, we may be sure, on the cow and its natural ability thus to dispose profitably of food, but this ability can never be ascertained until it has been discovered by experiment and practical work.

English farmers have become convinced of the value of lucerne during the dry summers which have prevailed since 1890. In the past summer particularly its drought-resisting capabilities have been well tested. One farmer fed a field of lucerne quite bare in May, and a month, afterwards it yielded a heavy cutting of green fodder. There was no rain during that period, and while the lucerne plants grew rapidly, the surrounding meadows were brown and bare. This is but a repetition of Australian experience extending over many years.

Experience at the Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, experiment farm with tagosaste, or " true lucerne," is worth noting. Seeds were sown in April, 1895, in drills 4ft apart. When the plants were about

' 6in or Sin high they were thinned out to 4ft, thus bringing them 4ft apart each way. In eight months the plants were touching, and at twelve months they were from 10ft to 12ft high. The plants left to seed were just coming into flower in August—that is, about sixteen months from the time of sowing. In his report on the experiments the manager says: Although tagosaste is a very strong growing plant, the foliage is thin and light, and the yield per acre is not anything like what one would expect. It is a most valuable plant in times of drought, but I would not recommed it to be grown on a large scale as a forage plant. This plot of tagosaste served to show what a mistake it is not to pay more attention to our own native fodder plants, as next to it was a plot -of "Old Man'' saltbush (Atriplex nummularia, Linn), sown at the same time, which yielded nearly twice as much fodder. I also noticed that the cattle preferred the saltbush, and I certainly believe that it is more nutritious.

The Agricultural Department of New South Wales intends to crop an area on the Wollongbar experimental farm with the ramie or rhea plant (says the S. D. Telegraph). Owing to the discovery of a process for separating the fibre from the resin and bark, this plant has gained high commercial value. The invention, which is the work of a Mr Gomess, an English chemist, residing in India, is the result of a series of experiments prompted and stimulated by a reward of 50,000 rupees offered by the Indian Government. Mr Guthrie,'the chemist to the Agricultural Department, has prepared some samples on the Gomess process, and has turned out a beautifully white and lustrous material, closely resembling silk. It is believed that, if the experiments at Wollongbar are a success, an industry may be established which will transcend in importance even the cultivation and preparation of \he jute fibre.

Another short sermon for farmers : —A farmer is a business man who should manage his business on the same safe methods. After counting every expense, charging the farm with due interest on the capital invested, and allowing a sum for the depreciation of the stock, and charging himself with everything drawn from the remainder is the profit, and the deficiency 13 the loss. The idea is to make a simple' personal affair of it, as if the farm were a person and the farmer another, doing business together. The matter is then reduced to a simple form which is easily understood and free from all the complications of the ordinary methods of keeping accounts that are suggested for the use of farmers. I should like to know how many farmers do keep general accounts.

The present demand for mohair (says the Americin Agriculturist), is rather different in character from that of last winter, but while not so active, _ the market possesses certain characteristics of strength. The remarkably high prices ruling some months ago are yet there is a steady business on the basis of about 40 to 45 cents per lb for Cape Colony and Turkish mohair in Boston and New York, with the price in London much the same. Manufacturers are not disposed to purchase beyond immediate requirements. An opinion prevails to some extent in the trade that the recent dullness in mohair is a move on the part of manufacturers to secure needed supplies at inside figures. Those working along this line would, of course, make the most of a possible change in fashions, which might have its influence on the demand for fabrics into which mohair so largely enters. English spinners have the past season been urging upon producers the necessity of permitting the hair to grow to a good length, many of them insisting upon seven inches before shearing, in order to get best results at market.

Cleanliness materially promotes the wellbeing of all classes of farm animals, though too often in this part of the world there is grat carelessness in this respect. Though all classes of stock suffer more or less from the lack of proper attention, yet pigs, as a rule, are the worst treated animals, though they, if anything/require greater care. It is essential to thethriftiness of these animals that they should have clean skins, as this condition has an important bearing upon the activity of the internal organs. Experience has proved that food is more profitably consumed by pigs kept clean than those that are neglected. Recent experiments in Denmark have given some interesting results. Six pigs of equal weight were fed upon a uniform diet for seven weeks, three of them being washed daily and brushed, while the others were left to themselves. As a result of this treatment it was found : that each of the cleaned pigs gave an | average of 301 b more in weight than the others. The report detailing the experiment also states that much depends upon the housing of pigs and that the styes should be thoroughly comfortable, otherwise the animals will not thrive to perfection. When the styes are exposed and cold in winter there is waste of food in keeping up the animal heat. On the other hand, when the heat is great there is a liability to blood disturbance that may cause serious results. The temperature recommended in the report is one between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Furthermore, we learn from the report that on a farm in Denmark, where a large number ■ of pigs are always kept, aa& the, aaim.als

are washed daily, that not a single case of disease has occurred for several years, though sickness has been prevalent in the neighbourhood.