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New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12199, 25 July 1925, Page 19

Incubatlata are very successful in their methods. HINTS CONCERNING TEMPERA. TURE As the feeding of stoek birds could no* be altered in time to affect incubator results tins year, the incubatist can at least make, the best use of other data, snob as temperature, moderate cooling, and disinfection of the incubator. Greater care should he taken to see that no undue rise in temperature takes place. Anything over 104 do(frees, if long continued, is likely to be attended with poor result*. At the risk of reiteration one feels bound tg mention the fact, that thermometers must be correct. Cooling must be on moderate lines in all rooms below do degrees. In a room with a temperatnrp of 60 degrees it will take a good machine between 9Q and OQ minutes to retain temperature after the eggs have been turned, in which case the time taken to turn’the eggs is sufficient. WASHING A MACHINE NOT v DISINFECTION Washing out the incubator is not disinfection, unless *, disinfectant of known strength i« used; The writer has often referred to Professor A. P. Ghattock’s experiment, where twq trays under the moat identical oondi* tions that science could install were used, but one fray hatched better than the other. To check thin, the tray* were changed from one machine to the other for the next batph, bnt here again.. the tray which gave the poorer hatch still gave a poorer hatch by, about 15 per cent, than -the one for which it was exchanged. TTiiai brought to light the thought Ahat the trey was to blame. Both tray* had been brush, ed. For a conclusive tee* another hatch was tried, and, the treys were disinfected. This tithe ', the batching results were ini agreement, shewing that the adverse factor had disappear, ed. Whatever disinfectant is used it should be of such strength that'it is fatal to bacterial life. All these three factors which 'have been . discussed do hot coyer the wh.pl e of the subject, bnt they are' three which come within the scope of the incubatist at onoe, and if they onlylead to 10 per : cent, or IS per cent, improvement they are well worth fob. . lowing as the cost in achieving is negligible. r •

EXTRA FEED FOR THE MALES The vigour of the male has a lot tci do with the fertility and hatchability of the eggs that are set this spring. Vigour depends on feed, as well, as on natural constitutional strength'. We plan to have for breeding males ini excellent flesh when we turn them into the flock in the spring. Lots of hard grain in their winter ration .insured good flesh, Hcrw-to keep the males in good condition far 'the long breeding season ml three to four months has always, been a problem. The gocdmaleia a gal* lant bird, and is apt to neglect hw op* portunities to get grainwjix directing the to.-the 2 place where the grain fell thickest. ' . , - 1

No amount of:dty jnash will make on for the lack of hard grain, asthe'dry mash’ makes 'ejg&et rather'than flesh: ft has long been a practice .on commercial fprms and bife breeding establish, ments to,change the,males' In the middle of the season'of to have ,two lots of males using them week about. Last season we took a chance and used the same birds throughout the, season. lii the latter part of October, when natural conditions were most favouranle to good hatches, .fertility and per-, i centage hatch both fell appreciably. •In our two pens of hreeding females we have installed special hoppers for the male birds. These hoppers consist of nothing more than d small box,' a couple of Inches wide and deep, tacked to the wall just high enough that the males can help: themselves to the grain, hut the hens cannot' reach, it! Just about the box' we have nailed a hoard to prevent the hens flying into, it, leaving a three inch .space through which the males can feed. This is*a much simpler system than changing the males and less expensive.. It may not be necessary where’ the jfloek is small, and on free range that affords’a lot of feed for the picking. Everyone with’ a flocks of 100 hens or tnore would find the hopper worth, while. \ . FARM SCHOOLS MOMENT A GROWING SUCCESS ' PRACTICE AND THEORY (Written for the “Times” by.“Avrp"j ; ( The farmer of to-day is dependent upon the markets of the world for his existence, and the fiercer the competition in those markets, the greater the necessity for the ladoption of the very latest methods on the farm in order that all waste may be eliminated, and tho productivity of thd land increased. The necessity for the adoption of scientific principles is generally recognised by,, the majority of modern: farmers, many of;whom have, been trained in the secondary schools of , the Dominion, hut their difficulty is to know- what to adopt and what, to: reject .from the mass of ideas which are put forward for their consideration. Anything which tends to increase production of reduce the host of growing various comniodities, assists, not only the farmer, but, the Dominion as a whple, with the result that scientific farming is valuable hot only .from the individ'iialistic viewpoint, but also froiri the national aspeot. The Government has long since realised its dpties in the matter, and has placed at the disposal of the farming coipmunity a department staffed with officers.trained in the various branches /of farmings and trained along the. mgst modern scientific meth- : ods. New Zealand has to: compete with ■ all the countries of the world in the sale of her produce, and for that reason it is hecessary to see that she competes on the most favourable terms. 1 The Governments of countries such as 1 Denmark > have for many years .-given ! every encouragement to the advancement of scientific farming, and althppgh. it ’is pnly of comparatively recent years that farmers in New Zealand 1 have realised the advantages accruing ! through the adoption of methods such ' as are in. vogue in Denmark, we are 1 gradually building up a reputation, for < New Zealand produoe throughout the I world: ....!] One of the most valuable methods Rf j disseminating scientific knowledge ii I through the medium of the farm school, ] an institution which is annually grow- i ' n K more, useful and more popular in ) this country.. The sphere of service of ; the farm'school is practically unlimited, ,1 and tha service which has, been rend-.t efbd to the farming edmiiiunity through 11 the instruction given at the, various < schools held ; throughout, the Dominion 1 1 is very great! / One of, the main difficulties facing the .farmer is ’his isola- <i tion, and by moans of, farm schools l held at regular intervals the farmers t

can. be .brought together and ed in the latest methods applicable, w their particular class of farming. '■ One has only to study the syllabus of any of the farm schools which have, been- held during the past six months to realise the vast amount of compressed work and energy! which lice behind the brief week’s instruction gjVea>;% officers of the Agricultural Department and leading,breeders. Included amongst; the- staff, of Idle department are men' with special . qualifications in ’certaindirections. ' These men. cannqt possibly meet aIT the farmers of the .country and give them the valuable: advice which their training has plaeed at their disposal, but they can at least..visit various districts, and by,taking partgi% the farm, schoOla'ftbebe render useful service.

The farm school movement ,was first inaugurated as an. experiment, hut it has grown into a very , real necessity to the farmer, and year by year is ex* tending its sphere of usefulness. From the report of the Director-General of the. department tjiis year, it is apparent that he is keen on the farm School movement, and that if he had his way more of these valuable' instructional courses would be held: . .

Critics have at times contended that the programme of work at the differentfarm schools covers such a very wide field that It would 1 be impossible for the average farmer to assimilate a quarter of the material Contained in the lectures. These critics, however, forget one fact, and thaje a very important one. The lecturers are either departmental officers or breeders, and, therefore, thoroughly understand the capabilities of the farmen|. The lectures are given in such a-manner that they can be understood by all, and although giving the farmer a scientific training in the various branches of his work, they are not of such a complex nature that they cannot be readily understood. In other Word's, they are a happy, com-, bination of theopy &nd practice, easily understood and intensely useful. The farmer who attends a farm sfhool one year, nearly always returns, the following year, for he. realises the value of hearing the opinions of experts, 'even if he -is not prepared to go to the expense of adopting the methods which they recommend, and which may pcs- • sibly be more costly than those practised on his farm.

The adoption more or less generally of cream grading, hferd-testing, and the life have given farmers ample proof of the advantages of science in farm practice, and the farm schools are now one of the means adopted for satisfying the farmer’s demand for more scientificknowledge. It is obvious that as time goes on the necessity for science onthe (arm will become more and parent, and a natural development!ef the farm school idea may, therefore, be anticinated during the next few years. Whether these schools should; he concentrated in the centres or seat;’ tered widely throughout the‘Dominion | Is a question for the department, and. .one which can he answered only by the' results achieved. In some of the Dominions the train 'school idea haR been 'adopted as the method of training the farmer, ami the suggestion has often been made that l

j this idea should he adapted in New Zealand. It z3,how*ver,Tery questionable whether the tritif sbhool would perforin nearly, such a useful purposs ag the farm school in the sgricultursl centres; In the first-plapß, the railway lines of the Dominion iMVSk- untouched a very vast area <jf fertile country, and if fanners in thn wkiiity of the railway were the; oaly! ope*. to receive the benefits of instruction, there would the a great number Who Would never receive any benefits all/ The ideal oonbiaatiqs appears to he the farm school allied with Various experimental .plots which could ha carried on throughout the year. The results attained on the experimental plots during the year could then be fully disenssef-and elaborated upon at the farm school. Far too tittle experimental work is carried out in New Zealand, and there is a vast field untouched in this respect, where farmers can assist by testing the manures which give the best results for certain crops in different districts. The majority of the field officers of the Department of Agriculture carry out a number of experiments each year, but are seldom assisted by the farmers themselves. The mutual _ co-operation of th£ scientific-ally-trained officers of the, department and the members of the firming community is necessary in the'best interests of the farmers of the* Dominion, and this can best be brought about through the medium of farm schools and experimental research -wbrk. It is to be hoped that the future will eee a further development of the farm school idea, allied with its very valuable corollary, experimental research.'