FARMING FACTS AND FANCIES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1775, 14 March 1906, Page 58

FARMING FACTS AND FANCIES

(Compiled by "Gleaneb.”)

[lteme of interest to our country readers will be welcome. Communications to be addressed ' .to "Gleaner," ‘‘.New Zealand Mail,” Wellington.] Nornianby Co-Operative Dairy Company have received the satisfactory intelligence that the butter sent Home by the Kurnara realised splendid prices, a large portion 120 s and the balance 118 s. * '•.«» • Experiments now being made with the grass tree land of Heytesbury Forest, Victoria, are showing most encouraging results (says tihe “Sydney Mornipoc HWald'”). Up till recently this land was regarded as useless, but it now promises to be one of the most valuable assets of the State. Some months ago a typical patch of 20 acres was taken in hand by the Agricultural Department, and with*the object of seeing if it could be made to grow anything. The Director of Agriculture (Dr. Cherry) and engineer to tlhe department (Mr Kenyon) returned recently from an inspection of the plot, and Dr. Cherry, referring to it, said:—“Altogether the general appearance fully bears out the high opinion that I had formed previously of the capabilities of the grass tree country. It forms the greater part of 200,000 acres of Crown lands at Heytesbury, and that is where we are ultimately going to grow beet for all the sugar required in Australia.”

Mr James Boddie, Eltham* writing to the local “News” on the excessive loss of calves in that district from blackleg, says: “To my mind the aspect of the case which i 6 most serious is the fact that all this great loss lias occurred in what was formerly an entirely clean district. Prior to this year no case of blackleg has been known of east of the railway line in this district. Now, through the blundering or negligence of seme officials of the Department there is scarcely a farm but where there have been from two to ten cases, so that settlers have not only sustained serious loss through the death of their beet calves, but have had the dread disease brought on to their land, so that it, is impossible to estimate, what loss farmers may sustain in years to come. That someone has blundered there is no question, in so far as the work of inoculation went on with no bad results until a certain parcel of vaccine came to be used, when the mortality at once rose from less than 1 pea* cent, to in some cases 50 per cent, in individual herds, reaching as high as 60 for one day’s inoculation of a few hundred.animals. The aggregate far the district, treated with this particular mixture, must run into several hundreds.”

The question of how to tell the age of cattle from the'feeffTTs often tlie subject oi 1 conversation among dairy farmers. The following is a recent opinion by Dr. Smead, a well-known American expert:—“At the end of its first year every ox should have eight incisors. Soon after that, in growthy breeds or early maturing breeds, the centre pair get very loose (please note that at all times these • teeth are mobile —loose); but these centre ones become more so than others, and at from fourteen to twenty months they are pushed out and replaced by permanent ones. When two years old it is the same with the next pair, and by the time the animal is three years of age it has six fully developed teeth, as a rule, with the fourth pair loosening. If a heifer was three years old last spring it would!' he nothing strange for the foiitih pair to have already shed and to have been replaced by the last pair. It must be kept in min that all animals do not shed their teeth alike. No one can for a positive certainty tell the agie of horses, cattle, or sheep by the teeth. Their shedding is in general as stated, subject to variations!” The recent wool sale was characterised by its steady progress throughout (says the “Timaru Herald”). Sometimes the buyers find it necessary to let off extra steam at these sales, and having sharpened tlieir wits by long practice at the game, there are often some good jokes flying about; Nobody made any jokes and there was only, one “incident.” A lot of locks was. offered, and one buyer bid Id per lb. It was .knocked down as fast as the auctioneer could manage it, and the unfortunate buyer '.suddenly saw that ho had let himself in, for in this case the “wool” is not wool. He begged to have it put up again, and to show his good faith offered 2s (kl for the bale. It vas mostly dirt, ho said. The auctioneer relented, and started the sale again, when the despised rubbish was snapped up by another buyer who offered 4s for the.lot. and got it. Everyone looked 1 inquiringly at him, to see if any reason was apparent for his intrepidity. “I’ve got ra, garden,” he explained. ' ! - •

For a cheap, effective wash for lice on pigs, the following is recommended by an exchange;t—“Two bars common

laundry soap, sharped finely and dissolved in gallon of water. Add two gallons kerosene and mix thoroughly. If you liavo no spray pump apply with an old brorm. Three or four applications to pigs and styes on alternate days should destroy pest.” People owning a pig suffering from a cough are advised: “to rake the animal on his hind feet, and as he squeals pour half a cupful of pine tar down his throat, being careful not to choke him.” Whether effective or not, this remedy if applied to a big pig should afford a certain amount of entertainment. As for the kerosene emulsion, the cauition previously given in this journal should be borne m mind. Kerosene in any form is a dangerous application to living animals.

Canadian thistles have become very numerous in some parte of Clinton district, particularly so on certain portions of the Pomahaka, and it is the opinion of a good many settlers there that it is only a question of a few years when they will have to clear out for pastures new, unless some antidote to the weed is forthcoming. ft. * In one year a sheep, the property of a Tipperary farmer, has given birth to no fewer than seven lambs —four in Mar oh last and three in the closing days of the year. « & * At Auckland Dairy Conference Mr A. Busok said the Danes believed in technical education, and their agricultural education was far in advance of that of any other country. In Denmark the system known as hegelunds was generally adopted. This' had increased the milking capacity about o.llb of buitterfat per cow. If they took the number of dairy cows in New Zealand to be 500,000, and based an estimate on figures similar to those adopted by a Canadian professor, this increase in milk yield of o.llb per cow would mean seme £625,000 per annum, or an addition of 80 per cent, to the present export from New Zealand. He advocated breeding of only first-class animals, which had nearly doubled the supply of milk in some herds in Denmark. In 1898 he estimated that the Auckland province alono was losing over £200,000 per annum in some 60,000 cows, through not breeding and feeding properly. He adv’sed dairy factories to combine and appoint a special officer to pay the factories surprise visits. It was the duty of dairy associations to give demonstrations at suitable farms where every description of dairy work was carried cut to perfection.

The Amrit Mahal cattle were the wonderful draught animals that dragged the artillery of Hyder Ali in his campaigns with the English, and afterwards that of General Wellesley (the great Duke) during the Mahratta war. The unexpected celerity of Hyder’s movement on Bednor and his good fortune in saving his guns after his disastrous defeat by Sir Eyre Goote at Porto Novo were entirely due to the staunchness and activity of his gun bullocks, which moved his batteries at . a quicker pace even than the march of his infantry.

Fourteen months ago the. Government invited persons to compete for the bonus offered for the best and most economical means of eradicating the Californian thistle. A pieoe_ of land in North Otago was set aside for the purpose and commissioners were appointed to watch and report upon the experiments. These commissioners have now forwarded their report to the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, in which they state that the competitors were unable to eradicate the thistle, and they do not deem it advisable to recommend payment, in whole or in part, to any one of them. In many cases the main roots were destroyed, but the branch roots never lost their vitality. What has become of “Lixall,” “Weedbane,” and! all the other infallible eradications ? # * *

The question of flavohr in potatoes, says the. “Garden,” seems to be difficult to decide. Those who prefer a “floury” sort describe the old yellow flesh varieties as “soapy” and “insipid,” while those who like only the latter go so far as to say that “floury” varieties have no flavour at all, and doubtless would say the same of those considered by the National Potato Society as the best (flavoured. There is no doubt that an increase in bulk is accompanied by a loss of flavour, and for this reason we are sorry to see that almost all the newer varieties of potatoes are very large; some, indeed, are huge and useless for ordinary table purposes, on account of their size alone, to say nothing of their lack of flavour. ■ * * *»

The motive power for the milking machine used by a farming company in California is furnished by thoroughbred bulls which are exercised daily on a treadmill, thus keeping them in condition, and at the same time utilising their efforts by connecting the milking machines with the treadmill.

A Lincoln (Canterbury) farmer states that small birds in his district have never been more destructive than at present. “Blackbirds and thrushes have taken nearly all my cherries, and .a large proportion of mv nnosebetmes,”

he says, “buit I have had some kind of revenge by taking many birds. Under each gooseberry tree I made a mound of earth about Bin high and on top of the mound I set a rat-trap. The birds ascend the mound to look for the berries and are caught in the traps. I have caught hundreds of them in this way this season. The traps are cheap, and cam be bought by the dozen.”

A remarkable crop of onions is recorded by Mr Edward Ding, who writes to tho “Poverty Bay Herald” : —“1 have just harvested my crop of straw-coloured Spanish onions. I gathered three tons of fine onions off the eighth part of an acre; that is, 24 tons to tho acre. I manured the land very heavy with stable manure. The onions are a long-keeping sort.”

The call is now for early maturity. Whether it is poultry or mutton, beef or pork, the consumer wants it tender. If possible, too, he likes it matured and full flavoured and firm. So tlie aim is to place on the market lamb of a few montilis with the weight of a sheep, forced chicken with the proportions of the aged bird, pig that is stuffed, and raced past 1001 b when he is but a baby. Producers -who study the demand are making feeding a fine art. The careless practice of letting animals exist on anything until they were wanted to realise and then attempting to force thenii rapidly to a prime state is dying out. The tendency now is to feed well from the start, and keep the sucker, the lamb, tho calf., or the chicken always moving. The result is a better price and a quicker turnover that amply compensate for the additional feed. And the public gets a supply that suggests flesh rather than hide.

The Blenheim egg-laying competition for hens has aroused a spirit of emulation in tihe ducks of the province. It is reported that a half-bred Pekin duck at tho Croixe'les Island laid 200 eggs between May of last year and January of this year. In the latter month tho duck’s owner (Mr Keller) transferred his proprietorship to Miss Keller. Afiei the change of ownership tho duck laid two more egg,s (probably as a guarantee of good faith), and then became a nonproducer for four days. Feeling refreshed and rejuvenated after her holiday, the half-bred Pekin went into action once more, and at latest advices sbo was again piling up eggs with a strict attention to duty that promises to outvie the performances of each Leghorn. Wyandotte, or what nor now doing her individual best in the Blenheim test pens

Enormous quantities of Japanese millet are grown in America, where' it is known as the “Billion dollar grass.” It grows very rapidly to a height of six to eight feet, and in fairly good ground yields ten to twelve tons per acre of green fodder, which, when Cured, makes excellent hay. It can be cut before flowering, and will start again rapidly and yield a second crop. It has great drought-resisting qualities, thus making it a valuable forage plant for autumn use, when feed is generally short. It is rich in milk-producing qualities, and yields very heavy crops. It produces, when ripe, a large, loose seed-head, valuable for chickens or fowls generally. Sow 81b to 101 b per acre in drills 3ft apart; or 151 b per acre broadcast.

The “Marlborough Express” lias been informed of an abnormal wool clip in the Awatere for the present season. Mr Edmund Parsons shore, from the Jordan and Camden flocks—about GOOD sheep—an average fleece of 101 b 10 ozs. This must be regarded as very satisfactory to the fortunate owner.

An American who was outclassed by a kicking mare recently sought advice from an. expert. Ho wrote: —'“After a beating there is no trouble in harnessing her. But I don’t want an animal 1 have to whip every time I want to harness it. Will this young mare, if bred, be likely to produce kickers? Shall I keep cn as I am doing, or breed her, or ‘swap’ her for a ‘yaller dog ?’ ” The expert replied in characteristic American style: .“I am willing to admit that there are about ten mean men where there is one mean horse, most horses being mlade mean by mean men; but occasionally there is a bona kicked’ in horses; but to offset it there are scores of men of that sort. You seem to be the owner of such a beast. The best I can advice you will be to try breeding her. While I am not an advocate of breeding vicious mares, I will chance it with her, as in some respects she seems kind. She may produce offspring that are kind, and probably will. If she will not breed (unless you have some enemy that deserves just such a beast) I think I would shoot her. I would not have a horse that one has to whip continually in order to use. Neither would I wish to let some brute of a man have her to maul.

The other day a sow, belonging to Mil H. Wakel'in, of W'hangarei, was seen to rush, foaming at the mouth, into the deepest part of the creek at the foot of the paddock, and; deliberately drown itself. An attempt Was made to rescue the animal, but it was impossible to get

within reach. The body was carried oM by the tide. A litter of 10 only a week old, are bewailing the losi of their mother. The cause of th® strange act is unknown.

Whatever helps to make an animal more comfortable aids in making it more profitable. Pigs suffer more from heat than any other animal, more particularly if fat, and it is nothing unusual for pigs to die during a hot spell. When pigs are at liberty in the hot weather, if there is water or mud available, they will nearly always be found in it during the day. It is an excellent arrangement to provide a hath or wallowing place for them, and the small cost of doing so in most cases will be amply repaid.

Those interested in the question of the eradication of the Californian thistle will read with interest the following extract on the subject from the report of the Agricultural Department, page 125: Mr It. H. Hunter-Weston, Cottesbrpok, Middlemarch, has turned this weed to jirofit by stacking for silage. The results liavo been so satisfactory that he has kindly placed the facts at my disposal for the information of others. The land, rich river-bed deposit, was covered with Californian thistle, 4ft or sft high. The land was ploughed, where possible to do so, in winter, well cultivated in spring, and sown down with a little grass seed and 101 b of oowgrass to the acre. The crop of thistles was enormous, which at the proper season was turned into ensilage by stacking in the usual way. Second year, thistles only a poor crop, the oowgrass having, if anything, the mastery. Third year, thistles practically a complete failure, and cowgrafiß luxurious. Last season he wintered ninety head of cattle for five months on ensilage made fronn thistles and oowgrass. The cost of manufacturing same was £27 10s. This included cutting, carting, stacking, and all labour, including horse-work, at full rates. The wintering of ninety head of cattlo for five months at Is 6d per v eels would amount to about £135. The dawgrass has so thoroughly subdued the thistles that, while the land remains unplouglied, the difficulty has been overcome. It is intended to harrow and surface sow the ground should the oowgrass show signs of dying out. Fanners similarly situated would do well to give Mr Hu liter-West oil’s method a thorough trial.”

Farmers in choosing manures are often soared off the article containing a large proportion of valuable constituents by the high price asked for it. They prefer the cheaper article, <rven though they must use more of it to get a satisfactory result. Under any circumstances this is bad policy, as it entails unnecessary handling of a great weight of matter with nothing in it profitable to -the land. And when Hie manure lias to he carried long distances by rail or sea the expense of cheap stuff must he apparent on the least reasoning. Poor manures cost just the same to carry as manures of higher concentration, and it is easy for those who buy the former to pay carriage on two tons when one ton of better class would have been of equal benefit to the soil. Ihe uoirt is worth attention. 1 * * * *

As showing what can he made off a small holding, the “Standard” quotes as an instance, the case of a small farmer who, a little over two years ago, took over 140 acres of land near Hastings. When lie went on the section he had £2OO, the proceeds of the sale of his former property, to pay for a house, and the erection of fenoing. Having no money left, he obtained a small mob of sheep from an accommodating friend ou a prommissory note, and sold them at a substantial profit, with which he kept on buying, in each case increasing his capital. This farmer has now 700 sheep free, and £2OO to his credit in the bank, while he lias naid off £BO in interest on the original capital value of his land, besides greatly improving his property.

Commenting upon the subject of the improvement of milk by giving a judicious amount of oats to cattle, a Dutch paper recommends adding tlb or 31b of this grain to the ration for each animal when the milk is watery. The paper states that this would be accepted with a certain amount of hesitation had it not been proved in a definite manner, by numerous experiments, that a supplementary ration of a little oats would have a very favourable influence, not only upon the amount of fatty matter but also upon the taste of milk and the butter made therefrom: moreover, there would be an increase in production of milk and butter in consequence.

The heifer intended from the first for the market is a much improved animal by staying. She develops earlier and reaches fat •with less trouble. Then spaying may be used to advantage by weeding out the unprofitable, cows from milking herds. In fact, it en . courages the culling. Many cows condemned by their owner’s as out of nhee »n the herd are often carelessly allowed to breed and come into the hME ,! after year. .They goon t aWn„ "Z place of superior cattle on +h« -no I ™ e and often hy the same carelessnessS

heifer calves are allowed to escape early death and in their turn show up among the milkers. The man who spays all duffers on principle at once terminates the breeding life of such animals, and in the course of time sends them along to the butcher, and if lie wishes devotes the money to the purchase of the good returner of milk profits. Then old coavs are improved -by spaying,. They will often after the operation go on milking for a very long spell, when they can be more easily converted to beef than they would othen'Avise have been. So that both by the man breeding for beef and tho man breeding for milk the practice judiciously followed, lias much to lecomniend it .

There have recently been numerous deaths among the cattle in the SouthWest of Scotland, and after much investigation the cause has been traced to .Asiatic beans which, fed in bulk, are said to be poisonous. m • # Excessive com petition among milkvendors is sometimes blamed for a supp]v of poor quality. For instance, some of Sydney’s leading suppliers have two prices, and are not abo\ r e selling to one householder at 4d a Quart and the lady next door at 3d. This makes careful consumers sceptical as to the quality, and they declare that two prices must mean tivo qualities. To guard against fraud and loav quality it lias been suggested that municipal laboratories should be eota-bl l1 * I ''''' 1 • Avbove the public could have a sample of milk tested at a nominal charge, say, Gd. Adelaide has taken the lead of the Australasian colonies in this direction, although Ui© information to hand does not say Avhat is charged fot analyses. It is poifffced out that if people could get milk tested at any time for a small fee, a dishonest dairyman would be always in danger of detection, and the tendency of the trado would be to have the tests registered as high as possible.

A singular cattle bolt took pk-ce the other day at Alexandra. While being driven across tho bridge a herd of six cattle made off for the river. Arriving at tho water’s edge, they plunged into the sAvift stream. Luckily, four of the animals SAvam ashore, but- onp was drowned. The other drifted doivn and became entangled in the Moa dredge, and finally found itself in the avcll hole. The dredge master was Avorking aboard at tho time, and he Avas surprised to find a bullock bobbing up and doAvn in the Aveli hole. W r ith the assistance of some onlookers, .the animal was lifted out of the Avater " with block and tackle and safely deposited on board the dredge, from Avliioh it Avas taken ashore after spending the night in its uoav and someAvhat strange abode. ♦ * * More attention' should bo 'paid to geese-breeding, as they can bo reared very cheaply in districts Avhere there is a good grass supply, and are then very profitable; but they should be penned ip for a fortnight and lat toned before sending to the market-. The same applies to ducks. It- is a false economy to send thin poultry to the markets, as they* fetch poor prices.

The scene was an “Auld Kirk” in a country parish near Edinburgh and the principal object of interest an old fai • mer avlio attracted the attention of the •whole congregation by producing a note-book and pencil at the beginning of the sermon. What ho Avanted Avith a report of the discourse Avas a problem none of his neighbours could solve. But alas and alack! for the minister’s direams of being immortalised by having a verbatim report of hjs sermon. After writing earnestly for some time the old man gave a satisfied nod, and, in a perfectly audible voice, remarked —“Dod, but I’ve jest eneugh neeps to dae the yoAves till Marti mas!”

On an average it costs in the United States about £2O an aero to plant an orchard and car© for it up to five years of age. This estimate does not include tho cost of the land nor residence and outbuildings- It is based on an average of 100 trees per acre, the trees to cost about sixpence each, labour four shillings a day, foreman eight shillings, man and team tAvelve • shillings a day. Peaches and plums and some of the .early-hearing pears would he coming into bearing at the end of five years, tut apples and later-hearing pears would not be fruiting.