NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1880, 2 December 1887, Page 7

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

ctrhile the incidents of the show are fresh w in the memory ifc may prove Irregularities acceptable to the committee and Incon- of the association to point out ve niences at some irregularities which the Sho- occasioned considerable annoyance to visitors and exhibitors oi stock. On the first clay horsejL n -were to be seen riding around the show grounds, and very frequently indeed cattle ° ere [ n tercepted on their way to and from the rinP by these thoughtless but conspicuous riders. The nuisance, for such it was, proved very unfavourable comment from visitors, who recognise the necessity for the maintenance o£ order and discipline in show founds, and who fail to perceive the usefulness of equestrians on the first day— once the fat cattle are penned. On the second day the infliction and attendant risk were insufferable. Horses led, horses ridden, and horses in vehicles were everywhere in the throng. Near the rings, where the crowds ffer e assembled, vehicles and horses were continually passing, and frequently deliberately crossing valuable animals walked or trotted out by order of the judges. An exnresident of the society at first vainly attempted to stop the objectionable proceedings, and eventually succeeded in doing t0 but there is evidently the necessity for, and rigid adherence to> well-considered regulations prescribing certain limits in the Lands for vehicles and horses in saddle. Another matter which attracted much notice was the gross forwardness displayed in the ring by one or two individuals in charge of horses. These persons repeatedly led the horses from their places in the circle and approached the stewards seemingly with (he view to address some remarks to theru. Such conduct is subversive of order, and otherwise so extremely reprehensible that »he prompt removal of an offender from the ring will yet have to be resorted to, in order to sapporb the stewards in the discharge of very onerous duties. It is quito. certain tlv-it we arc not going to have a repetition of last sumThe Weather mer's drought; in fact, we and are getting quite too much tho Crops, rain for the crops upon lowlying lands, and the frequent heavy rains have hindered the farm work to stt ch an extent in some districts that large areas of land are awaiting the grass seeds and early turnips, and farmers have not yet begun to think of preparing land for the main crop of turnips. The winter wheat, and, for the matter of that, the spring wheat too, has had rather too much moisture lately, and is badly in want of a little more heat, or ire shall have much straw and flag and little grain. When once the wheat has advanced sufficiently to cover and shade the ground it can do very well with little moisture, and in good, deeply-tilled land it would do very (rell without any more rain from now till the ears begin to fill. But though the wheat may not require more rain, the oats, the the young grass, and the turnips would do badly without it, so thaG we cantiofc have leather to suit everything. go far, there is every indication of this being a groat year for grass and all Looking kinds of feed, and for tho Ahead. next few months a good many of us may have more grass than we require. Now is the time, then, to think of the wants of winter and to lay up our surplus feed in the form of hay, so that we may reduce the wide gulf between the abuudance of summer and the scarcity of winter. One can scarcely realise the bareness of the pastures in winter while walking almost knee -deep iv grass and clover. But I take it thao a farmer oan enjoy his evenings by the ii reside much mure while winter storms are raging without it he knows that his cattle have a crib of good hay before them instead of being compelled to wander about the bare and bleak fields in search of an occasional blade of grass. A moist season causes much more work than a dry one in the. matter of The Root weeding tho root crops. Crops. Myriads of weeds h[uing u[> .after each r:iin, more especially if tho land has been enriched willi farmyard manure, which, though a splendid fertiliser, always gives birth to a fearful lot of weeds. Mangels are doing well o\ crywhere, and if given a fair amount of attention will probably turn out M>mo heavy ciop.s. If fresh butter is lobe desired in winter, we must lay up a good store of swoet hay and juicy mangels for the milch cows ; and who does not long for plenty of fresh butter in July ? especially if Is 3d per lb cm be got for' it and sometimes more. A crop of mangels is often spoiled through not giving the plants room enough to expand and develop to their full relent. ll' large roots are desired, the thinning must be carefully done, and no overcrowding allowed. A. few weeks ago one of tlio Oia^an members. (Mr I. M.u;kru/.u') The a-sked tho (.Tjvunuieni it Canadian they could uui do someThistlo. thing to check tho rapid increase ot this lonnidable weed. The Hon. Mrllisloj) lop'icd that an inquiry would bo held, and if nca.nsa.ry the Uoveinmeut would legislate upon the subject, ft is difficult to see how legislation could be brought to bear on the matter. It would tordly do for the Government to make it compulsory for all farmers to destroy the thistles growing upon their land while the P^t— like the rabbits— is allowed to flourish at iil multiply on the adjacent Crown lands, a wl railway lines and reserves. In the early ( h} sof both the Canterbury and Ot ago sett k>- ! 'sits when the .spread of what is cal'ed 'Scotch thistle began to aluimlhe settlois, ■Ms were pulsed by the Provincial Councils 'nakinjr it compulsory, on pain of hc-.uy penalty, for every occupier of land to clear a 'tf destroy thu pest when found within his Wders. In Canterbury an inspector waa appointed to enforce the Thistle Act, but when 11 was found that dense clouds of thistle down and seed wore continually blowing "om the forests of thistles growing upon the frown lands on Banks' Peninsula, and sucdlnS'iU the rich plain below, it was deemed adto abolish thn penal clause of the * c t- It is to be hoped, therefore, that the Minister of Lands will cause all the reserves

I under the control of his department to be thoroughly cleared of the pest ere he proposes any drastic measures for it suppression on private holdings. The Broad Bay correspondent of the Witness gives a description of The Teazle. Mr Hewitt's experiment in the cultivation of this plant. This is certainly a step in the right direction, for there is no reason whatever why all the teazles required by the woollen factories should not be grown ill the Country instead of being brought from the other side of the world. X have before me a work on British agriculture which contains an article upon the cultivation and uses of the tfcazle plant, and can give a few hints therefrom for the benefit of those who may be disposed to follow Mr Hewitt's good example. The teazle, or teasel, is a biennial indigenous plant, and is cultivated in some of the counties in the South and West of England for the purpose of raising the nap on woollen cloth. It prefers a stiff tenacious soil, and is propagated by seed which is sown early in spring. About half a bushel of seed is required per acre sown broadcast, generally after one ploughing only, as much after culture is necessary. As soon as the plants show six leaves they are carefully thinned and all weeds cut out. At the first weeding and thinning double the number of plants required for a crop should be left, and next year these surplus plants are taken out and transplanted in another plot, the plants in both plots being not less than 15in apart every way. At the final thinning, and again in the following spring, the ground is dug up [ and well stirred and worked between the I plants ; the success of the crop depends j greatly upon this operation being attended Jto at the proper times. On account of the ' frequent digging and weeding, it is considered a very expensive crop, and also a very uncertain one, because of its liability to be checked by severe or late frosts. Inthisrespect our climate will probably suit it much better than the English winter. It is stated, too, that a week's wet or misty weather while the t plants are in blosaoni will often cause the greater part of them to rot and become usej less. The crop is Considered a fair one if it produces seven bales per acre — five of large teazles and two of small ones. A bale is supposed to contain about 20,000 teazles. One or two crops of teazles is supposed to be of great benefit Lo a poor, stiff soil, on account of the repeated stirring and working applied during their culture. But as the crop is very exhaustive, tho land will require «i good dose of manure before it is fit for another crop of any kind. Not knowing what price is given by the factories for the imported article, I cannot express an opinion as to the probable value of the locally-grown product, but it can surely be profitably produced here at a much lower figure than what it costs the importers, as that must, include the price obtained by the English farmers, with freight and other charges added. I cannot say if there is any duty upon the teazles, for they arc nob mentioned in the Customs Tariff; but if they arc, included under the head oC "dried vegetables 1 ," they come duty free, or, as one of thy articles not mentioned in the Tariff, they are admitted free of duty. A Home paper contains a report of a trial in which a farmer's son was Docking 1 prosecuted by the Hoyal Horses' Tails. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for cruelly illtreating and torturing two horses by docking their tails. The prosecution argued thai " the custom of the country " or a freak of fashion did not justify the pain the horses were put to; and that in docking a horse's tail they cut through some of the most sensitive nerves of the spinal cord, which is tho neat of all sensation ; the result was that a terrible shock was experienced, and frequently lockjaw and death ensued. This is a specimen of the absurd meddlesome interference that farmers are subjected to by the officers of the prevention ot cruelty societies. They of course mean well, and doubtless do much real good in saving dumb animals from unnuceshary and brutal illIrcatment, but Uicy do noi always know where to dvaw tho line between torturing of illusing a beast from sheer brutality, or from the infliction of pain by an operation that is necessary to the wcllbciiiK and usefulness of the animal. It appears that the defendant and another docked the tails of a number of hors>es on a certain farm, and two— a five-year-old and a young colt — had died from the effects of the operation, lockjaw having set in. Tho defendant said that he had docked the tails of horses nine years old, and also at four or five days old, and had never lost one before. The bench decided that docking, when properly performed, was useful, and as they were satisfied that there was no proof that the docking had been improperly or cruelly done, they dismissed thu case. [ may say that I hijlieve in the custom of docking horses tails, and consider it almost as necessary as docking lambs. Wnon my colts arc castrated at a year old I dock tho tails of both colts and iilfk's by removing the length of one joint from the terminal end. That I consider all that is necc-sary. and I do not hold with indiscriminately choppiug off halt" or threefourths of the tail, which is both cruel and unsightly, for the nearer the root of the tail thu greater the pain, I think, because the wound takes longer to heal. If the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals object to docking horses on the score of cruelty, why do they take no notice of docking lambs and terriers ? I have heard people say that car-marking sheep is both criu'l and unnecessary, but I never heard of a case of that kind being taken into court. It is the end of a horse's tail that, grows a thick mat of hair which, if not constantly attended to, becomes 'clotted and tangled, and so heavy with tho filth that it collects as to be a source of discomfort to the horse ; while a tail that, has the iirst joint removed grows just suiHcieut hair to enable it to ilick away the Hies, and is easily combed and looks light and eracet'ul. Some harness horses have a nasty trick of constantly trying to cat ''h the reh.s beneath the tail, and when caught they i^nerally play up and become very troublesome, if not boiling outright, while the driver is powerless to prr-vein itIf such horses ha\\: a loni^, undocked, and bushy tail it is very difficult to keep the reins out of their reach ; but minus the first

joint, with its long stiff locks, they are more amenable to discipline. Such is my opinion on' the matter ; let others speak for themselves. 4GKICOLA.