THE PRACTICAL DAIRY FARMER

New Zealand Mail, 8 February 1900, Page 5

THE PRACTICAL DAIRY FARMER

Bacon pigs are worth 3d per lb, but y curers right shy of pigs over 1451 b in & weight. Warm weather in prospect will c not improve matt-el’s, and pig-feeders r will this year feel the want of up-tc- } date bacon factories able to cure u: ili r F» weathers, which we should have.-- s ts “Otago Witness.” v n it *■ * - * r■ ! a The great need rc-r cows—in regard i, to feed —is protein (that part of the r 10 digestible nutrients which goes to the s ;e formation of lean meat, ligaments, c ;s casein, or curd, of milk, etc.). This e..«- c •S sential element is found in great pi”>- s : portion in bran. It is, too, cue of the c !: e safest feeds available, and is relished by L th. 6 cotv. i :tt ■ * * y ' A month or two of large yield m fresh lactation, or under high feed, and s ■S a rapid dwindling after that, and early i, “.going dry” does not make a profitable t s " cow. It is the cow that yields a large 18 average of rich milk and whose year's re work shows a large margin over her 0 “keeping.” and who can be expected , a (barring accident) to do this every lye^r,. e . that -fiie dairyman must look to fer 18 business success. r e-*** * • » g A The Chief Dairy Instructor (Mr J. A. t '-? £ Ruddick) has returned to Wellington a IS from a visit to the West Coast and t >e Taranaki dairy factories. He reports f that the dairy industry continues to t expand, and that he found the fac- a tories in capital order. s The south* Wairarapa stock inspector f tells of an excellent method adojited j. a . by a Wairarapa dairy farmer for fortify- ( !W mg shim-nuik for calves. The fanner t ie in question writes: —“I always give s I e them their mother’s milk for _ three days; after that skim-milk with a a piece of fat the size of an egg melted f in it night and morning. The, mutton- t fat used would sell for perhaps Id per v at pound, and is a substitute for butter- s fat worth at least Bd.” The inspector s sa y S; —Calves raised on dairy-farms, 1 n- however, generally present a very t lie wretched appearance. More attent.on 3 a to winter feeding is simply imperai.>ve. a it, Its absence accounts to a very large ex- 1

nt for the poor prices ruling for cattle g South Yv airarapa. Animals half- d awed for three or four months of the t?av cannot retain a healthy coiistitu- c on or gain their full development. u .*-*** V The new cure for milk fever in cows, u town by he name of “Schmidt’s treat- “ ©nt,;’ is said by the. Veterinary’ Record a ► -have given satisfactory results, and a lis paper reports at length an inter- n ■ting case which came under the notice a : R. G. Saunders, M.R.C.V.S. The h ibjec-t was .an old cow (14 years old), ii id the case appears to have been a b ssperato one—respirations accelerated v 2), pulse small and frequent (76), tern- r erature down as low as BS.3deg. The s .'port as to the treatment goes on to 1 iv :—“We immediately milked her dry r nd (after washing the udder with soap t ad warm water, followed by a 2 oor r ?nt. lysol solution) I proceeded to in- n :ct t ,vo drachms of potassium iodide' i issolv :d ill a pint of boiled water at the 3 cdy temperature, a, quarter into each 1 eat. It was injected with an Arnold 1 lilk fever syringe, and air was ad- t fitted at the same time. Tlie udder s as aft-c-iwards liand nibbed to equally 1 istribute the solution throughout the i land. I did not consider it safe to 1 rench hc-r. Wc kept her as mucii as ) ossicle on her sternum cr chest during ] lie day by means of sacks of straw. A j uantity of hard fieces was removed, 1 alt cnemata were given at intervals, ‘ nd the urine removed, there being a i irge amount on first passing the eath- 1 ■ter. The pulse beats remained the ' ame In frequency, although they be-. ; ame weaker A’ Mr Saunders says that his is the first case with such a low emperature he has known to recover, nd he attributes this to the treatment, vhich lie has foimd to work well m nauy other cases. This cow took ill on 1 Fi'idiy, and was in a fair way to,yards recovery on the following Monlay. Milk fever has, I know, given a leal of trouble to many this seacon. uici it still takes the best vets, all they can do to cope with it. I therefore iope '•.Schmidt’s treatment’’ will be Found a specific, even if if. was “made in Germany.”—^“Leader.”•ir * . r- * A can of dirty milk will spoil t? e contents of numerous other cans if they are ..lumped into the same vat. The effect ct bad associates is very evident when milk and dirt are mixed, and the result as siiown by the quality of butter, is something to be avoided. if a dairy type cow is crossed with a beef type -bull it- is well known that her owner is breeding for beef and fifty per cent, of that- offspring must naturally tend toward the sire. We do not advocate that it will cut down in fis dairy tendency fifty per cent, because all cows are supposed to give some niilK; some more, some less. The merits of the case rest here. If the dam has been bied for butter for generations and sire for beef the same period, with same devotion toward each type, the sire is naturally most prepotent and casts at least twenty-five per cent, more of his type than the dam can possibly transmit. Thus but a few generations of such breeding is necessary to ruin a herd of dairy cows; yet the progeny resulting from sucli unwise mating does not come anywhere as near establishing a. perfect beef animal as it lias in ruining th© dairy type.—“ Hoard’s Dairyman.” * * * * The power of service of a good dairy cow.will .be indicated by certain external points. Slie should have a large, long udder, of elastic, fine quality; a mellow, movable skin covered with soft, silky hair; a long, large barrel, hooped with flat ribs, broad and wide apart: a broad loin, spreading out into broad, long hind quarters; an open twist, with rather thin hips, and a lean neck of' symmetrical length, carrying a clean cut, fine face, with prominent eyes. A cow with these points, has ability to serve a man well if she gets a fair chance. That her calves may have powers equal to or rather better than her own, care should be exercised in their breeding. The best blood of the breed adapted to the farmer’s purpose, should be used' to enlarge, and not tc lessen, the working capacity to be transmitted to her calves,., The Gear Company, so long and favourably known throughout New Zealand and abroad for the high and uniform excellence of its tinned meat and other delicacies, has now completed arrangements for manufacturing on a large scale extract of meat. The advantage to householders and others of being able to obtain this most useful and nutritious article (made solely from grassfed cattle which have been passed by the Government Veterinary Inspector, and guaranteed absolutely pure) at one shilling per jar is certain to be promptly recognised and to create a great demand. The Judges at the recent Auckland Exhibition referred to the Gear Extract" 1 of Meat in the following terms: —“Very superior, and likely to speedily displace the imported article.” General knowledge is a great and useful thing, but it is possible to attain too much. There are many things which would be better unsaid, and there are many learned which, for our personal comfort, would be better left unlearned. Long ago I made up my mind tliat milking cows was one of these. If you happen to be around when the servant has gone to her sister’s wedding, and the only boy who can milk has

gone off for a seven hours’ swim; the distracted householder is sure to vurn to you and say "Oh, you can milk a cow, -of course!’’ In my callow days lused to graciously assent, ajud while wearing a stiff '-shirt and my 'best tie. I used to tug the lacteal fluid from “Bluey” or “Lady Jane.” Now I take all risks of the Hereafter boldly, and answer “No!” Or course it is highly necessary that a great many people should milk cows, since milking ' machines upset the nerves of the animals., It is also requisite that-all milkers sh.Yuld be capable and properly trailed, otherwise a lot of milk will be lost, and many highly strung yielders will be spoiled. The better the oow the more likely she is to be of a nervous temperament-, and the more she is apt to he affected by a change in handling, milking, or surroundings. If the new milker lucks experience it usually results in a permanent shrinkage of the milk yield and early drying off c.f the oow. But it is necessary that the bovs should learn to milk if they are to remain 021 the farm, and therefore they should bo set to learn upon such cows as will naturally dry off soon. Do not give them - heifers with their first calf, as the lieifer should be kept in milk as long as possible to get her 111 the habit of toying milk 10 or 11 mentis in ike 3 ear. Do not give them har-cl milkers or kickers, or.the uneasy ones, which never; stand still. That is too much like giving them dull licet and scythes or other , tools to work with, that no man would , consider fit to use for a day’s work. It is calculated to disgust them with the . business anu drive them to seek- other occupations as soon as they sire at liberty to leave home. When it is not practicable to give them ojich- a cow, • allow them to partly milk her and then . let some experienced milker finish he job, who will be sure to obtain, the last drop.—“’‘Sylvan” in “Sydney Mail:’’ POINTS OX PIGS. Summarised conclusions. come to byMr W. A. Henry c-n this subject, as.ite result ot his own observations, are thus put:—“Our experiments show that young pigs make as good gains when fed through, t-hc dam lor a’given .quantity of feed a-s after weaning when on. the same feed. There ,is no danger from heavy feeding with young pigs provided always that they are given the".' right kind of feet and sufficient- exer-;' else. Let the feet consist of milk, middlings, barley and wheat, ail ground to--1 gethar with some maize. ■ The fatter . • may be ground to meal or fed soaked.. r Feeders must never forget that, when ■ pigs are hctwiiy fed they must have an_. : abundance of exercise. If it is summer 5 let them run in a pasture ; if whiter! 2 they must be turned out into the yard, / anti if very fat must- be driven about i for exorcise. ' Pigs which die of ‘thumps': : do so because of exoossive fat. Pens - are an excellent feed for pigs of all - ages. Sow the common field varieties ■ at the rate of 2 bushels per acre, opvcr--1 ing Them about 4in deep. When the s peas are planted sow three pecks c-f oats - per acre and harrow these in. The oats i will help support the peas when the 1 peas are two-thirds grown in the pod. f Pigs will do their own harvesting, and s the pea vines and oa.-t- straw give much 2 Eamirc to the field. Peas should yricid. - from 15 to 25 bushels per acre, _• and the- - pigs will eat from 21b to 31b' daily. -Ih pig management care should be taken■ .to give the pigs feed which has bulk or } volume. It will not do to feed grow- - ing pigs a-nd breeding stock with maize ~ only, which is well enough for fatten-; 1 . ing hogs. Use middlings, milk) ground . barley, swill, etc. For shouts- : and ■ I . breeding stock cook potatoes, - beets -or other roots, and add some chaffed hay . bo give the mixture volume. To this i mixture add some maize, meal, mid- [' filings, bran or other meals. • With one 1 feed a day of such a mixture as this 1 the stomachs of shoats and breeding j stock are kept well filled with feed : without getting too much nourishment. 3 Pigs kept on concentrated feed have 1 a small digestive tract, and do not make j good breeders, nor do they fatten as 5 well. Some underground oats may be . fed to breeding stock. Scatter the j grains thinly over the floor or clean 3 piece of ground, and let the sow pick them up. This helps to give exercise. For young pigs oats are an excellent ■ feed, but they should be ground. Some l oats and bran are always in order for 1 breeding stock to give volume to the • feed as well as to furnish them 'with - nourishing food. The main rules to be 2 followed in successful pig management > are:—Give the animals a variety of ; feed, 'not using much maize until bone- - and muscle have been formed. For - breeding stock use coarse feeds. Heavy ■ feeding, may be practised on young hogs , and with fattening animals. All pigs » except when fattening should have an - abundance of exercise. If this cannot :■ be given the feed should be materially ; reduced.” i ; r - --- - - ’