FARM NOTES.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXI, Issue 2727, 5 December 1910, Page 3

FARM NOTES.

It is estimated that on account of the the shortage of feed for cows, last month's payments for milk by the Taieri and Peninsula Company will show a drop of something like .£IO,OOO as compared with the amount paid out last year. A century ago the merino wool washed in Estremadura, in Spain, was more highly esteemed than that washed elsewhere. The operation of washing the fleece was one of delightful simplicity, the wool being placed in troughs, through which a stream of warm water ran, and men trampled it until the dust and grease were entirely separated, when it was spread out to dry. The quantity of sand and dust was so great that the weight of a fleece diminished about three-filths in the washing. At that date the wool sold at 9d or 8d per pound, 251b weight being reduced to io!b by washing. Many farmers continue to raise cattle for market for beef purposes from stock that do not possess any blood of the best beef breeds, consequently they lack what is known as the beef type. It is

impossible to produce beet economically from cattle of the dairy type, or even from cattle that possess any considerable amount of this blood.

Pig-breeding in Hungary would, says Mr Drage, be considered a rather onesided, affair by an Essex farmer, the bacon pig being the only type. The great epidemic of ■ epizooty in 1895, which lasted almost three years, killed off almost a million and a half pigs, and nearly ten years later the industry had not recovered. The experiment of crossing with English pigs has proved successful —Berkshires and Yorkshire cross-breeds standing highest in favour. The production of clean milk is not a hardship. One dairyman had a bacteria count of 1,200,000 when sampled three hours after milking. Considerable time was spent in studying out a method of improvement which might be adopted at a small cost. Finally, some canvas ventilation was used, a few coats of white wash were applied, the milk was carefully cooled, and then the bacterial count of the milk came down to 100,000 per cubic centimeter at about ten shillings, and now the milk was declared good enough for anybody to drink. Many farmers allow pigs to run with their dams for ten or twelve weeks, which is possible where only one litter is produced per year. It is good practice to allow a few of the smaller pigs to remain with the sows,- when the larger ones are weaned, in order that the milk flow of the sows may be dried off gradually. If this is not convenient, the sows should be turned in with the pigs once a day for three or four days. This will obviate trouble with their udders.