FARM NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1032, 9 September 1871, Page 10

FARM NOTES.

HOW TO MEASUKE HAY STACKS. To the height of the eaves from the bottom of stack, in yards, add half the height from the eaves to top ; multiply the sum by the breadth, and the product of that by the length ; this will give the contents in cubic yards. The weight per yard varies according to the description of hay, the state in which it was got, and the length of time it has been stacked, some being u'st. or 841b. to the yard, and some old hay exceeding lOst. Allowance must be made for coarse strong hay, but by care and observation, an almost accurate estimate of the weight may be arrived at. FOREST TKEKS. For most kinds of forest trees, fall is the best time to transplant. But circumstances are variable, and it is best to practise accordingly. In heavy, clayey soils that are likely to " heave" in winter, we would not plant small trees in autumn; but in soils of an opposite character, it may be practised with the best results. No general rule can be given for all localities and species of trees, as such things need to be learned practically. The safest plan for a novice in such matters, is to purchase or otherwise obtain his trees in autumn, and heel them in carefully, and plant as early in spring as possible. COUCH, OR QUACK OKASS. A correspondent of an agricultural journal gives the following advice for getting rid of couch or quack grass, as it is sometimes called, in a cultivation paddock :—: — "My method is to properly enrich the soil, and the quack will die out of itself, or nearly so. Cover your field, or such portions as are covered with quack, with green manure, and plough under ; also give the field a top-dressing with manure and drag and plant your corn, cultivate and hoe well, and you will get a good crop of com, and nearly or quite destroy the quack grass. Plough again in the fall of the year ; top-dress the field again with green manure in the spring ; plant and hoe as before, and you will have obtained two good crops of corn, and my word for it you will not be troubled with quack grass on that field until from overtasking the field becomes again impoverished. " WHEAT GKOWIXN. Here is a hint on wheat growing. Speaking of the last harvest in South Australia, the Register says :—": — " So good was the past harvest, that instances are known where fanners then obtained sufficient wheat off their lands to pay for the purchase of the freehold. Surprise at this need not be great when it is considered that for many years sheep have been running over the ground, and not only enriched it, but prevented weeds from seeding, and thus, when the land was cultivated, nothing but what was sown grew. Many people who are this year putting seed into say 200 acres and more, purpose, as a step i\\ the right direction, having plenty of land, and after cropping three successive seasons, to plant in that portion of the farm some kind of pasture for a few years, and feed sheep there, whilst other portions of their holdings are also undergoing a similar process of rotation." SPANISH POULTRY. Certain Scotch poultry-breeders have been instituting a series of experiments to got at the comparative fecundity of ducks and hens of the Spanish brood, so as to determine from which the larger number of eggs can be obtained in the same time. For this purpose three hens and three ducks were selected, all hatched in the month of February, and each was supplied withsuitable food. In the following autumn the ducks laid 225 eggs, while the hens laid none. In the next February the laying season began again with the ducks, and continued uninterruptedly till August. They showed no inclination to set, but became very thin, although they afterwards fattened up somewhat. The total number of eggs laid by the hens amounted to 257, or 8(5 eggs each ; and 392, or 131 each, for the ducks. Although the eggs of the ducks were rather smaller than those of the hens, yet they proved to be decidedly superior in nutritive material, so that the superiority in productiveness apx iears t° l)el )e decidedly with the ducks. TOP-DRESSIXU CEREALS. Where the land is at all poor, and crops stand in need of some aid to carry them forward, now is the time to apply a topdressing. Such top-dressing may consist of bone-meal, a mixture of Maldon Island and Peruvian guano, mixed in the proportions of one-fifth of tho latter to four- fifths of the former, and given at the rate of two or three cwt. per acre. Animal guano, as sold by the manure manufacturers, applied at the above rate, wak.es an excellent top-dressing. Salt

as an application to cereal crops is sadly too much neglected. Used in conjunction with lime, or alone, it exercises an important influence on the future health of the crop. The application of salt causes an assimilation of a larger amount of silica in the plant, and this silica, which forms the hard shining outer covering of straw, acts as a proventitive of rust. It is well, therefore, to apply a top dressing of salt alone to crops that exhibit overluxuriance of growth, and of salt and lime mixed to such as are in a backward state and on poor land. DKAINIXCt WET PADDOCKS. Draining whole paddocks of land liable to suffer from wet is rather an expensive process. Soft places in winter become hard places to summer. Where tiles or stones are scarce and timber plentiful, drains made of wood answer admirably. Saplings of from (5 to 8 inches in diameter make an excellent drain. We have seen drains of this sort that have stood fifteen years and were still in capital working order. They were 3 feet G inches deep, and formed by two saplings placed in the bottom, and one on the top of the lower ones, forming a drain like the letter A. Where the timber is available, we would recommend this as a cheap and efficient form of drain. In draining springy places on slopes caused generally by a layer of clay cropping out to the surface, the drain should be cut in the line of steepest descent and not across the slope. It should also be borne in mind that it is just as necessary to ventilate drains as it is to put a vent peg into a cask, in addition to the tap, when it is intended to draw liquor off ; therefore, a square foot or so at the upper ends of drains should always be filled to the surface with small rubble stones. Drains thus ventilated, whilst they cany off water more readily in winter, increase the moisture of the soil in summer by the passage of air through them.

A CURE FOR PLEURO-PNEUMONIA.

To the Editor of flu- Tbnrx,

Sir — When on a visit to Ireland in October of last year I had the good fortune tr> make the acquaintance of the principal Inspector of Agricultural Schools under the Board of National Education, Ireland — Mr Thomas Baldwin.

When inspecting the model farm at GLisnevin I had the advantage of discussing with that gentleman several interesting agricultural subjects, among them the disease of pleuro-pneumonia in cattle. I have since received from him the following interesting communication, and as I have his permission to use it in any way I please, I venture to ask you to publish it in the Times.

It is a subject not only of great importance to agriculturists, but to the public as consumers ; for there is no doubt that more cattle have died in the last few years from pleuro-pneumonia than from rinderpest, and it is mainly to this cause that the present high price of meat may be traced. — I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Johx Beasley. Chapel Brompton, Northampton, Dec. 8, 1870. Contagious pleuro-pneumonia is propagated by a specific poison or confni/iinn, which is generated in the lungs and expired in the process of respiration. It has hitherto baffled all treatment. I have devised a mode of dealing with it which so far has been eminently successful, and as the principle on which it is based is simple and sound, and has met the approval of the eminent men to whom I have communicated it, I give you a concise account of the modus njuromH. 1 may premise that my great aim is to check the spread of the infection, but the means 1 take to carry out this object has a curative effect.

The following is the course to be pursued when the disease appears in the herd :—: —

First of all you isolate or remove the animal 'affected. Secondly, should the poison have been imbibed by oue or more from the animal in which the disease has first appeared, the great thing is to confine it to them, and this is the leading idea of the scheme, and it is accomplished by, thirdly, tying up the animals in a house. In my case the feeding troughs are placed round the cowhouse, and the animals face the wall ; on this Avail is fixed in front of each beast a square piece of coarse sacking ; the cloth is saturated three times a day with a solution of carbolic acid prepared as noted below. As the poison is eliminated from tha system it is destroyed by the carbolic acid, which experience has proved to be the best disinfectant. Fourthly, in this way the infection cannot reach an animal free from it when the herd is tied up. The herd on which 1 first operated was gradually melting away before 1 commenced this experiment ; only one fresh case has manifested itself, and that animal has recovered. As to the curative action of carbolic acid, 1 shall not say much, having no desire to intrude into the region of medical science. It is enough for me to say that the mogt eminent medical men now cause human patients puffer'

ling from certain forms of lung disease to imbibe carbolic acid ; this mode of treatment has been most successful, and from the jm^t mortnn appearances of the lungs in pleuro-pneumonia we should expect the imbibation of this acid would be equally efficacious in arresting the progress of the disease. To dissolve the carbolic acid of commerce it must be mixed with an alkaline substance. I use for the purpose lime, it is the cheapest and most easy obtained, but potash or soda would be better. The strenetfdi of the solution I employ is one part of carbolic acid to 50 of water."

To the Editor of the Times.

Sir — 1 can endorse every word Mr Bcasley has written in your impression of to-day abemt the treatment of pleuropneumonia with carbolic acid.

I have a large district under my superintendence as Inspector under the Cattle Diseases Contagion Act, and whenever I could I have induced stockowners to give it a trial. Ido not, of course, put this specific medicine forth as a "cure all," but I am quite sure that, if used in the early stages — and in these only is this or any treatment available — it will save a considerable percentage of animals attacked.

The dose I have been in the habit of prescribing is one dram of glacial carbolic acid to a pint of water, given to the animal three times a day ; but I may say that in all cases it should be given under the superintendence of a property-qualified professional man, as complications may arise which he only is capable of dealing with. Hoping the attention both of agriculturists and my professional brethren I may be drawn to this subject, I am, Sir, yours obediently, J. R. Dobson, M.R.O.V.S. Kettering, Northamptonshire, Dec. 10, 1870. With regard to agricultural prospects in the Oarnaru district, the local journal \\ rites as follows :—": — " We are thankful to be able to offer congratulations on the opportune downfall of rain. Immediately after the bulk of the crops had been got in (hiring very fine and favourable weather, and just as we were needing it, we have been visited with a most welcome rain. In fact, we can scarcely remember so favourable a season for our agricultural and pastoral friends, and we are led to hope that our Oamaru pres- j tige for the growth of cereals may once more be regained, and that the farmers will be both cheered and encouraged" and enabled in some measure to recover their past losses and disappointments. And although we well know that it must take patient endurance, perseverance, and economy to surmount the damages occasioned by two or three bad years, yet, with the improvements effected in machinery, increased facilities of communication, and the opening up of so many markets, we think that agricultural operations will be carried on with greater success and more remuneration than heretofore. Fanning stock of all descriptions is keeping its value, and, as far as we can judge, there will be no difficulty in obtaining a market for fat stock. The almost unexpected rise in the value of wool must also be very welcome to the runholders, and add greatly to the wealth of the colony. Altogether, we think that although the present dulness is apt to ' make us desponding, yet the prospect of a fine harvest should reassure all, and tend to make us hopeful of a much brighter future." We learn from the Southland Xews that an accident by the explosion of gunpowder occurred in a dwelling house in the rear of Spey street, Invercargill, on Saturday evening last, by which a man named John M 'Fall, a saddler, was severely burned about the face and arms. The accident resulted from the ignition of about half a pound of gun2>owder, which 31 ' Fall was drying over the tire. Fortunately, at the time of the explosion, Mr Sugar was in another part of the dwelling, and rushing to the scene of the report, found M'Fall with his clothing on fire. Mr Sugar succeeded very quickly in extinguishing the flames, and judiciously drenched the sufferer with oil, which was speedily procured. Some delay took place in obtaining the attendance of a medical man, but ultimately M'Fall was examined and attended to by Dr (irigor, and on Sunday he was removed to the hospital. His face and arms are much burned, but the sight is uninjured. jN"o damage was done to the building-