Agricultural and Pastoral.

Otago Witness, Issue 877, 19 September 1868, Page 16

Agricultural and Pastoral.

Feeding Cows.— lt is a mistake that cows may be fed with anythUngi' Oil cake and similar compositions conduce to a kind of apparent fattening, which is rather a bloating of the fat cells than real fat. Garbage from a kitchen is no better than Blops from a 'brewery or still-house. They may be coerced, as it were, into eating Buch products, but it is unnatural food. Liquidity is not a quality to be Bought in their diet, nor should it ever He" warmed. Mir 'Wynans softens hay in a hot bath, -rolls it to latten the tubes into a soft mushy mass/on the theory it facili-tates-digestion, saves time in. chewing, and more' milk follows. He is mistaken in every point. There is neither economy, humanity, or morality in cooking food for animals designed in the constitution of things "for chewing the cad. Were careful investigations instituted, it is probable that it would be found that milk made from miscelluneouß food is of very little value ; and further, it is positively injurious to the human stomach, introducing elements wholly unsuitable, and the origin of cutaneous eruptions, nausea, diarrhoeas, and perhaps graver maladies. The fresher and more cleanly the cow's aliment, thericherwillbe her milk in those ingredients which give it universal reputation among all nations as appropriate human food. Grass, fresh or dried, is her natural pabulum. Cereals furnish Btaroh, but the coarse coverings oi grass seeds and gTain carry products into their Byßtems Indispensable to the perfection of their natures. Concentrated feed is not suitable for them. . Their internal organisms are the best mills for them, since the stimulus of distension is essential Sri their organic economy. A full abdomen is a sign of perfect health, made so by tneir ordinary habits of life. — Dr J. C. V. Smith, at the American institute Farmers' Club. h ' L Co-operativf 'Fauming. -^-jln North Easton, Massachusetts, wexlsave a farming company. We hire iMid and teams, buy manure, and employ faithful men to ■wo-k the crops. The^ent and outlays for eauh acre of land*' are divided into fifty shares at ldoj. or more per share. Each subscriber takes a sufficient number of shares to make up his family supplies of corn, small grain, and vegetables for one year. When the several crops have matured, the merchantable productions are divided into fifty parts and delivered 1 to the stockholders ; all straw and "unsound productions are sold for cash, which are also divided.— -Farmers 1 Chib. , ' HSownro Wheat.— lnthe vicinity of Bandolph, many farmers have made increased effort for several years, to sow only the largest, plumpest, and earliest ripened kernels of wheat, with the most satisfactory results—in one case there was 43 bushels per acre, of superior wheat on four acres. I fully believe that, by planting only the earliest ripened and W of all kinds of seed, not only as We crops as formerly can be raised, but there may be^ constant improvement.— Ibid. ij MttKnre- .Tubes thrust up the milk ducts, or hydraulic apparatus may be expeditious methods of milking, which may beguile a purchaser into the belief that he has a labor-saving, economicsl appliance ; but the human hand is the best machine ever' put in motion for milking c&ws, and least liable to produce injurious consequences. — Ibid. „;, There is only one certain, way of making money, and though slow, it is heaven appointed. It is in having a family on one's own land, and in makingj the soil produce as great a variety sfe its nature and the climate will permit. Manufactures, commerce, and the arts, which buildup cities, and which are of secondary importance, are to furnish the family with «uch adornments and conveniences as will make home attractive. Aside frpm thete, the family is to supply itself from its own allotment of the round globe, an abundance of healthful and choice food; and whatever surplus -they may have, is to be exchanged through commercial channels. To such a family, when a child is born, come riches from the soil, and skill, art, industry, and love contribute their" -.choicest gifts.— lbid. "" PIANTiKff Trees.— lt often happens that trees die because the farmer plants too de&p. In planting, if water is to be used, it should be poured into +he holes before the trees are set and dirt placed on ton, and not around them, immediately after planting, for then the groutid will pack.— lbid. y ■ Washing Sheep. — The proportions tue£ Of soft soap and soda, in washing tiheep, in hot water, where the water is Boft, are, a pound of the f orrrter and a pound of the latter to the hundred gallons. But where the water is hard, the ■proportion of soda must be increased. -~

Wool- washing. — The reason why wool ought to be thorougly cleaned or scoured on the sheep is, that it is then left in the best Btate for combing purposes. It can also be much more acurately sorted, lock from lock if necessary. Whereas, if the scouring process is carried out after shearing, the wool is much matted together, and more or less felted if fine in quality, so that it can neither be accurately sorted., nor combed, without great loss from breakage of- the fibre. — Jo.

Fruit Tress. — To sink holes in untrenched land for trees is simply to make so many reservoirs for water, which will lodge in them and naturally and speedily rot and destroy the roots. When the ground is trenched, provision must be made to secure drainage from the plot by pipes or their substitutes. Open aurface furrows or drains are not advisable in orchards. Where the land is naturally poor, manure will be best applied during time of trenching ; but at the time of planting, bones coarsely broken, or even unbroken, will afford abundance of food to the rootlets. The distance allowed between trees is generally not sufficient ; from fifteen feet for cherries to twenty feet for such as apples and peaches, will not be too much room. While they are young the intermediate spaces may be profitably occupied without any injury to the trees, but care must be taken not to crop too close to them. — Melbourne Economist.