FARM TOPICS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1676, 13 April 1904, Page 62

FARM TOPICS.

Many people, associating rice with the Chinaman as his staff of life, were recently surprised to heal* of fields of maize and millet in the vicinity of Peking. For thousands of years rice hasi predominated as an article of food in the Celestial! Em-

pire, and it is the first of the five sorts of grain which the Emperors, for the last 2800 years, once every year, have sown ih\ the soil with great ceremony. However, wheat .aind millet are also included

in the list. In the north of China, where wheat, millet and maize are consumed, the population ar© mostly vegetarians. The flesh of the sheep., the pig, of ducks ..and fowls, is eaten at Peking and the * surrounding country, but it is more a luxury of well-to-do people than an article of’ diet for the poorer classes.

While all animal skins and hides contain considerable quantities of fat, this is prieisent in greater abundance in sheep pelts Than in any other shin, and it is of serious concern to the tanner to remove as much of it as. possible. The removal of this fat is advantageously done., says the “Ghemische Revue/’ not on hen raw hide, but after the wool lias been

removed. The hide-fat is in many paifio- '. ulars analogous to r/wool-fat, consisting mainly of chniestterines.;.The fat, which is sometimes presentbin- of 10 •per cent, and over, is. generally removed by heat and hydraulic pressure in \:he presence of water. As this process does not entirely remove all the fat, the extraction process has.supplaniea tb: former where largy amoauvs -- pe-. . » io

be handled. On the application of obis process the de-wooled skins aire thrown, wet into the extraction apparatus, which is a tin-lined revolving drum, wherein the fat is .extracted by means of benzine and methyl-alcohoil. The. extraction is completed in from 1 to 14 hours. The pelts are removed and pressed. The extraction menstruum can be recovered at a loss of about 30 per cent. Turney’s patent apparatus permits of the recovering of practically all of the benzine and alcohol. 'The fats are of a more or less dark colour, and are utilised in the soap and candle industry.

At -a meeting of tenants on the Irisli estate of Dari Fitzwilfiam at Shellelagh, in County Wicklow, for the purpose of reconsidering the terms to be submitted to the 'landlord for -the purchase of their holdings, it was decided to adhere to their original offer of twenty-three years’ purchase of all holdings over .£25 valuation, and 214 years' purchase of all nold ings under <£2s valuation, the sporting rights to be reserved, and all rents to be graded to the amount fixed for 'the second judicial term under the Tand Act of 1881. Earl Fitzwilliam’s demand was equivalent to 244- years’ purchase.

The demonstration of an Ivel motor, given at Alcester, England, in the presence of a number of Warwickshire farmers, is said to have been a complete success. It ploughed a double furrow through hard frost-bound land, in which eight horses could only plough one furrow. The motor then left the farm and entered ;he farm-yard gates, behind winch it cut chaff and thrashed corn at a single operation. As the initial cost of an Ivel motor is <£3oo, the Midland fanners’ associations are considering the question of forming clubs to purchase them.

Speaking on the future of agriculture, Mr. F. D. uohurn, secretary of the Kansas Board of Agriculture,, said:—.Undoubtedly the opportunities for the right cort of men in agriculture as a permanent vocation were never more attractive than now, in spice of "over-production,” "competition/'' "robber freight tariffs,” ‘’combines,” r; tli.e Rothschild's,” "Wall Street,’" "the octopus,” and other stock affrightnnents, each in its way quite dreadful to contemplate, but seldom deadly at short range. The area of production henceforth can widen only slowly, while population here and elsewhere will go on increasing in an .enlarging ratio; their appetites vvi l * abide with them and their tastes, more highly cultivated, will demand products of a higher grade.

A goat dairy is the latest p lare of St. Louis physicians to provide milk for infants. A corporation has already been formed, with a capital stock of 150,000d01., part of the money being already,subscribed. The dairy company will not deliver milk, but goats. The goats will be rented, the customer can keep her just as long as he wants, and milk her when he pleases. The dairy company will riirnish food for the goat, and the customer must see that the goat eats nothing else. This is the plan. The physicians interested state that the plan solves the proposition of pure, fresh milk, of a kind that will agree with baby. A prominent western goat breeder has been authorised to make an extended trip through Europe, and bring back a selected herd of gnats.

That the reproductive powers of stallions are influenced to a considerable extent by the care and attention received during the periods between stud seasons no horsmen will deny. The common practice of giving stallions neither work nor exercise after the .season ends until the fresh season commences is irrational and harmful. In order that a stallion

may do his best in the stud, as regards the number and physical condition of his progeny j it is necessary that his muscular, digestive andi respiratory systems be not allowed to become weak at any tune, and in order to keep these organs in good condition, it is necessary that time and care be given during the eight or ten months of the year that he is not required for stud purposes.

Whereas imports of fresh milk into Itue United Kingdom were in 1901 as high as 14,618 cwt, they dropped in 1902 to 13,305 cwt, and in 1903 to 909Ocwt. In the five weeks ended 30th January the imports ■“f fresh milk were only 189 cwt, compared with 3910 wt in the corresponding weeks of last year. Of cream the quantities ware 514 against 4650 wt; of preserved milk, 551 against 204 cwt; and of condensed milk, 69,552 against 84,823 c wt.

At the Board of Agriculture recently, Lord Onslow received a deputation from the Federation of Grocers’ Associations of the United Kingdom, headed by Sir Ernest Flower, who said they desired to press the urgent necessity for the re-intro-duction of the Sale of Butter Bill.—a mear sure, directed against "milk-blended butter.” Lord Onslow said he wa:s .entirely in accord with the deputation. Parliament should do something for the protection of the working classes, b> whom it was very difficult to show what exactly this butter was. He hoped the bill would be brought into Parliament in the course of the next few days.

The proposed adoption of drastic tion to check disease (especially tuberculosis) in dairy cattle in the United Kingdom has led to expressions of bitter aiscontent from cow-keepers ail over tne country. The measure which has excited most opposition is that which provides tor compensation only n a slaughtered animal is found on .examination to be free from disease. Where*an animal is proved to be suffering irom tuberculosis the owner receives only the value of the carcass. The British Dairy Fanners’ Association has taken up the matter and has appointed a special committee to consider -aid report upon all the Bills before Parliament relating to tuberculosis.

At the annual meeting of the Cheshire Milk Producers’ Association the Earl of Crewe commented on the friction which has arisen between certain local authorities and the country milk producers. They all admitted, he thought, that .thei Pea ten authorities of cities were bound to exercise the utmost vigilance in seeing -hat the milk supplied' to the inhabitants was of good quality, and in particular that it was the kind of milk that could reot spread disease. But lie thought it '-as impossible in every case to congratulate 'these authorities -either on the tact or the knowledge with which they had attempted to carry out these duties. The association would have an opportunity of considering ill committee some proposals which the Manchester Corporation desired to embody in .their next Parliamentary Bill with ifgard to the sale of tuberculous milk. The committee endeavoured unsuccessfully during the past yea*. to get the Corporation to assent to the principle of compensation, and it seemed to him to be a matter of ordinary fairness that if an •animal was condemned to be" slaughtered in the public interest, those who issued the command should compensate the owner of the animal. The committee would not cease to press' inis point upon the attention of the and, if necessary, on the attention of Parliament.

The Wyoming experiment station has made some experiments chat demonstrate the value of alfalfa hay as a horse feed (says a Government report). In discussing the subject of alfalfa for horses, the California station says, in effect, that in regions where it is the staple crop the quantity of protein that can be supplied in green and cured alfalfa is so great that much less grain is required than when the coarse fodder consists of cereal nays only. For the Pacific coast, where cereal hays replace so largely those from meadow grasses, the station recommends a ration of alfalfa hay with wheat hay or barley hay or grain. In a recent discussion of horse feeding under local conditions the Louisiana, station has pointed out the value of eowpea vine hay.

A large number of analyses give milk the following composition:—Water, 874 per cent.; butter fat, 34; album enoids, 3|; milk sugar and mineral water, 54. Of course, the butter fat varies in individual samples all the way from 24 to 7 per cent.

It seems likely (says the "Farmers’ Review”) that in the not distant future we will have to welcome the goat to the number of our dairy animals. The goat was lor/' been an important factor in the dairying in foreign countries', but has never attained such distinction in this country. About the only place in which the goat has ever received any distinction of this kind in the United States is in some of the popreir portions; of the large cities, where the nanny goat may bo seen here and there trying to pick a living from among the piles of rubbish and tomato cams on the vacant lots. We understand that the United States department of Agriculture is about to lend an agent to Europe to study the milk goat there, and. the method's: of earing for it and! handling its .milk. As all know, some of the ' most famed of •the foreign cheese is made thorn the milk of the goat The milk and cheese-making industry Ti some of our European, countries hangs largely on the milk-giving powers of the goat.

The aeration of milk (says the ‘'•Tarmers’ Review”) is not a new thing, for it ha® ilways taken place where milk has be,em exposed to air. The only new thing about it has been the exposure of milk under conditions that would prevent anything but pure air coming in contact with the milk. It is of no value to aerate milk in air that contains as many bad odours as does the milk, and it is worse than

useless to expose the milk for aerating purposes in air that carries foul odours. There ana many locations in which Jt is impDS'Sibla to aerate milk. Some of our barnyards are kept in such a condition that they can be smelled at a long distance, and the same is true of some of our hog-yards, wallows, and pens. Dairy cows milked in such a locality produce their milk under the worst conditions possible. The odours get into the milk at he time the milk is drawn, and the air outside is not pure enough to warrant a a attempt at aeration. It is patent to every man that has had to work on the larni that in the summer time men cannot aerate milk because they cannot be induced to carry the milk a long distance from the barn to put it througii the aerating process. In the winter there is some difference in favour of pure milk, as the barnyaras and wallows are under snow or frozen up. But it is certain that if a man intends to make a business of aerating his milk h& will have to place his barns, yards, and pastures adjacent in a creamy condition. * * * To produce- a pound of butter on the Argentine ranehe, ten English, quarts or about 251 bof milk are required. The cows in the dairies are a cross between the shorthorn and the "crioiia,” the naifwild native animal, and those yield about 54 quarts a day, remaining in milk for about 210 days in the year. Three cows with their calves require about eight *vn/i one-third acres of pasture, In r>uenos Ayres many of the small dairy-owners drive their cows about the street and milk them at the doors of their customers. Other owners do not take their cows out, but keep them in prominent places in the city, and milk them to order, so that their patrons can see what they are gerting. London is said to use about 160,(KM) gallons of milk per day. Up to. 1860 ail tire milk used in the city was produced within a few miles of the place where it was consumed, but iu that year a great cattle plague visited the metropolis, and carried off so many cows that the consumers rad to draw their milk supply from a disiamo. Now milk is brought in from a distance of 150 miles. The production of this milk takes the labour of 30,000. persons, while the drivers of milk-carts in London number 2000. The milk for London’s breakfast is drawn the .night before, and • eminences to arrive in London by 2 a.m. Within the next tw\> hours the bulk if the milk arrives at its destination, but some gets in os late as 8 a.m. The Londoners claim that. their milk is the cleanest in the world/on account of the rigid rules relative to the'milk trade. * * * Writing on the subject of gambling in wheat, the "Agricultural World” says: “At the present time millions of quarters of wheat are bought and sold which havg no existence at all except on paper. They are dealt in for a rise or fall in trice on pure speculation; and the buyjr or seller, who neither have nor expect to have any actual produce vtob.-'.’ed to them, vie with each other in the ingenuity with which they seek to ‘rig the lmvrke/ tor their own ends. If it be true that as much as four times the actual crop or the world is thus dealt in, no wjmier * hat natural causes affect the price but little. While the unsuspecting lariner lei wve-s that he is getting an honest price, if a low one, he is really the sport and \ictim of a never-ending series of gambling ti a.mactions. It is said that this system invariably tends to a reduction of prices, and that it is the farmer who eventually has to pay the cost of these gambling transactions.” ***** The most profitable and satisfactory farming is stock farming. The farmer shouiu raise forage crops and the ave stock to eat all of it. Ke may with profit, and it ne has the necessary knowledge and ambition, .he will gradually develop into a live stock breeder, with a specialty, or several specialties. This, with a reputation for integrity, insures the highest igricultural success. Professor Panunel, of the lowa Experiment station, says: —"In the long run the farmer will make the most money who devotes nis fields to the growing of forage crops to feed stock, making use of all the raw products at home, thereby .saving not only much of the cost of transportation, but maintaining the fertility of the soil. Experience of the past few months has shown 'that the men who stuck to feeding and were not tempted by high prices to sell their corn have •made the most money. Anything that will enhance the productive capacity of our soils for the production of forage conditions will help the farmer.” 4* a * A publication, "The Dutch Consulate Reports,” January 28, 1904, just to haul, together with all current papeis and jouruals published in Holland, contains a. fud translation of the yearly report of Mr. ft. Crowe; dairy expert, on the export of" perishable products. The report is translated by Mr. Louis Keens, secretary of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce. Ct is remarked that some of the markets now open to Victorian products are Dutch possessions, so it would appear that the Netherlands ambassadors believe in keep* ing their people posted in all matters of interest concerning their welfare. a » * * » Bv way of celebrating the maiden voyage of the Aberdeen liner Marathon to Brisbane, a luncheon was held aboard. A. large number were present, including many gentlemen of high standing in politics and commerce. Mr. Denham (Minister of Agriculture), in proposing the toast of success to the Aberdeen line, referred to the prospects of the export trade, which lie considered excellent. He felt certain that in a few years Queensland would be exporting £500,000 worth of butter. He considered that Queensland could do a great deal also in poultry. He proposed to shortly introduce an egg-lay-ing competition at the Cat to 11 College, in order to bring the industry, before toe public. Referring to the mail service, he hoped! when the present contract terminated the Vancouver mail service would not be renewed, as £IO,OOO was too much to pay, when they had a weeiriv service vie Adelaide.