FARM NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 956, 16 May 1889, Page 7

FARM NOTES.

How to Choose a Heavy Dbausjht Horse.—A French veterinarian (M< IVlinot), in his book "Appreciation of the Horse,'* gives the following directions for the choicet of heavy draught horses: —" The choice of a heavy draught horse is a great deal easier than of a racehorse; yet it ia important to know how to distinguish the best, strongest, most enduring, those who will feed well, those that are fiery, and those that are slow* The draught horse derives his power from several causes—the development of those parts which constitute bulk, the energy of its muscular action, and the firmness and hardiness of its organs. The exterior characteristics cf a good heavy draught horse are a large, deep chest, straight shoulders a little inclined, 'fleshy, a thick body yet not' too much belly, straight loin, the hindquarters a little depressed, thick through the thighs, and a long perineum. The horse that has a long perineum prolonged down from the anus, and thick short muscles of the thighs is a very strong and good draught animal. The walk ot a heavy draught horse is immaterial. There are draught horses that aro quick, and there arc those that are slow. The light, quick horses are good for farm work where;the ground is light and even; the heavy, slow horses, with firm tread, are excellent for new, sticky ground, and on bad, uneven roads. A horse for drawing loads to be well formed ought to be high in front, having high and projecting withers, large chest, front legs strong and well spread' apart, back and loins straight, hindquarters a little depressed, muscular, short in the flank, large sinews. With such a shape a draught horse is solid and Able to resist all the knocks from uneven roads and weight which presses upon it when going down a hill. To be too fiery is a fa,ult in a horse drawing heavy loads on ah uneven road. In this case a strong and slowjhorse is better; it will resist fatigue more.and do more service." " The Automatic Cow."~Canon Bagot's automatic machine for supplying milk to street passengers is thus described:—"€)&■ dropping in a penny ifc allows a.knob to act ■which on being pressed down (Ist) release*-. a paper cup, which drops (from, a nest of cupß) on to a sholf, where (2nd) it receives from a tube half a joif, of milk, the same oppration beint; roj/v^ert each time is, being droppQU /.i. The milk Reservoir

♦consists of a cylinder containing any quantity from Bgal to 16gal, according to the demand. Inside this cylinder is a half pint measuring ohamber which is Ailed and discharged by a very simple valve arrangement each time the knob is pressed down. There will be two of these cylinders supplied With each machine, so that when one is removed for cleansing and refilling the second is put into its place. These cylinders contain all the parts touched by the milk* which is important, as they are thoroughly cleansed with the cylinder before re&lling."

A Simple Eemed* S-oe Warts.— A correspondent of the Cultivator finds that a pure article o£ hog's lard well rubbed in is a most excellent remedy for warts on horses, and will invariably effect a cure at first application. In a varied experience with horses, cattle, and mules, he has never known a wart -to withstand a seoond applies* tion. They generally commence sloughing off after the first application, and, to all appearances, without the slightest pain. The remedy is simple and may be worth tryieg.

Bating the Placenta.— lt is an accepted theory with dairy farmers that it is injurious to a cow to eat the placenta or " afterbirth," which is therefore generally removed out of. the animals reach. Farther, we have known cows that have eaten the placenta to be off their feed and out of sorts for a day or two, and have attributed these symptoms to indigestion caused by this unwholesome food. We find an American writer, however, arguing that this disgusting repast is healthful and beneficial to the cow ; and as this gentleman was chairman of a ! committee on milch oows, appointed by a local agricultural society in the State of Massachusetts in 1883, we may presume he is considered an authority on such matters. Thus he writes:— "lt is the cow's nature, in a wild state, to hide, or, as it is technically called, to • lay up ' her calf, until it is strong enough to follow her safely and easily ; and it is plainly desirable that this retreat should be a» .free as possible from all odours which might attract beasts of prey. To this end, the cow is taught by her instinct to eat not only the secundines or afterbirth, but also the excretions of her offspring, for several days after its birth. Now, whenever Nature or Providence ordains the instinctive performance of any function, it usually provides that the results shall be harmonious and beneficial, and it seems fair to presume that the eating of the placenta tends to the healthy regulation of the cow's system, and promotes and assists the secretion of milk for the calf. In practice, I allow all heifers and most cows to follow the promptings of their instincts ; but in the case of very large milkers I sometimes remove the placenta, because I regard their condition as entirely artificial and abnormal, and I carefully avoid, any indulgence which might add to the labour of the already overtasked system. I will say, however, that I never knew a cow in any way injured by eating the placenta; while, on the other hand, I have thought; that heifers especially are sensibly benefited by it."

Cow Leaking Her Milk.— When a cow leaks her milk it indicates weakness of the strictor muscles whish close the milk duct. Apply a strong decoction of tanbark or alum to the end of the teat when the milking is finished, and then put a little photographer's collodion ove rthe opening. This contracts as it dries and draws the muscles so as to close the orifice.

UAEB OF the Sow.— The period of gesta tion in a sow may be timed to a day, and one ,may reckon almost to the hour the date at which she will farrow, provided he knows the date of service ; hence the importance of knowing that. Having these dates, a successful .breeder will make all his arrangements to conform to the same, and be prepared to be'up all night if necessary. When the sow is ready to begin \ operations, , which usually occurs just after ' eating, go into her pen and remain there until the job i 3 finished. The reason a sow eats her young is, I think, this : she is in great pain and suffering badly at that 'time. The attention is concentrated upon giving birth to her young. The little fellows, as fast as they come, get up around her head and bother her very much. Her milk has not started freely, and does not until all the litter is born. The pigs try for food, and this only provokes the sow the more and causes her to snap, bite, and eat her young. The affection that she has for her young does not exhibit itself in the sow until after the milk has started, and all the pigs have helped themselves ; and it is very rarely after that that she will injure her young intentionally. Nature has so arranged it that food and affection both start in the sow at the same time. To obviate all this, as soon as the sow gives birth to a 1 pig, immediately take it away out of her sight and hearing. If it is a cold night or day, a basket or box is prepared for them near some fire, and they are put there as fast as they come. By the time the sow is done farrowing, got up and moved round a little, the pigs have become nearly dried and squealing for something to eat. I first give the sow a little warm, nourishing drink, clean up her pen, arrange her bed, get her to lie down by a little scratching, and then one by one I place her pigs at her teats, and in 10 minutes I have a happy, united, prosperous family. If a very cold time, I again take the pigs to a warm place, and continue to do so until two days old. If the weather is not severe, I leave the sow, having first fixed the pen so she cannot lie on them, and all goes well with no "luck" about it— simply by careful attention. — G. Q. Dow, in the Kural New Yorker. Pigs Eating Their Young.— Says the " Farmers' Gazette " : A very valuable sow ate her first litter of seven pigs, and her second of 11 pigs, picking them up as greedily as a wild wolf would have done, unmindful of their piercing squeals, and with a crunch or two putting them out of sight. When the sow was pregnant again, and in talking with some of the neighbours with regard to it, the owner was told that to give a sow a pound or two of old bacon about farrowing time would keep her from devouring her young. This was tried. The day before the sow .farrowed about two pounds of bacon were given to her, and as soon as the pigs were born several pounds more, probably three or four at different times during the day, and again the nexfc day. She had littered 11 pigs again ;. the nexfc time she had 13, and the last time 15. The precaution of feeding her more or less with bacon or fat meat was taken each time, and she never pted to molest hex pigs, onqe or twice

failing to eat a dead one when she had the opportunity; ■' ' < Destroying WiEtewoßMs.— ihe- Toronto Globe relates an interesting experiment that has been tried at the Cornell Experiment 1 Station Tlpon wireworms. These pests are the larvss of the well-knbwn click beetles, so named because df the "clicking," jerking noise mads by a movement of the "head when they are held up by one end. With a view to allure wireworms by means of other food, traps were laid in different portions of infested fields and baited with fresh clover, sliced raw potatoes, and cornmeal dough, sweetened and unsweetened. The traps were ordinary tin pie pans laid on top of the ground, and sunk so that their edges were level with the surface soil, and usually each was covered (or nearly so) with a board. What was the result. No wireworms whatever^ but a great many click beetles particularly where the bait was clover 6r sweeteried dough. Here was at once a revelation and a new line investigation opened ,up— ,viz> to destroy the beetles before their eggs are laid. The next step was to poison the baits by saturating them with paris green water or fluid arsenic solution, and again the result was satisfactory, dead beetles lying in scores around in the pans. Cheese-making. — For cheese-making, the milk should be well aired and cooled as soon as drawh from the cow. Agitation, if not aa Violent as to churn the milk, is an advantage, as it keeps the cream from rising. The milk should be cooled to 70deg or below, as soon as possible, at night, and left standing in the can ; the latter being placed* in a tub or trough of cold water, with the cover off, or only partially on, so as to give free ventilation. A good is to leave' the cover off altogether, and have a piece of mosquito netting spread over the top of the can, and fastened so that wind or slight disturbance from any other source will not ! remove it.