FARM NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1906, 21 August 1890, Page 7

FARM NOTES.

Gbodmd Grain.— Experiments, theories, and nioely written papers on feeding are good (says an exchange). But too many farmers pass them lightly by as of no praotioal value. Of such we want to ask one question. Do you think the grains (corn and oats) wbioh your cowr and horaea void whole do them any good ? If they don't, what is the use of feeding them with suoh grain ? If the amount they digest keepß them in good fleßh, why not save the amount they void undigested ? To do this grind their feed. The estimates in the saving of grain, as fed to stock, by grinding vary from 20 to 50 per cent. So one third may be taken as a fair average Baying, as farmers generally feed. If you have never tried feeding ground grain to your horses, we advisayou to do so at once. If you are in the habit of feeding 91b or 121b of oats at a feed to each horse, grind your oats, and fora month feed 61b or 81b at a feed and see bow your team looks. If you think this too much of a let down, reduce the oats one half, and add lib or 21b of maize meal. The best way is to grind the grain ; and, taking into acoount the expense of the toil and the time used in going to an ordi nary grist mill, it is cheaper to own a farm feed mill and do the grinding at home. Ohabacteb in the Hobse's Heap.— A horse's head indicates his character very much as a man's does. Vice is shown in the mouth and eyes ; intelligence is shown in the eyes and the breadth between the ears and between the eyes ; spirit in the eyes and in the noße, in the mobile nostrils and in the aotive ears. The siae of the eye, the thinness of the skin, making the faoe bony, the large, open, thinedged nostril, the fine ear, and the thin, fine mane and fore-top are indications of fine breeding, and acoorapany a high-strung nervous organisation, which, with good limbs and muscular power insures a considerable degree of speed in the animal. The stupid, lazy horse that drivers call a " lunk head," has a dull eye usually, a narrow forehead, and contracted poll, He ib not represented in this group, but

oooura not unfrequently, ib always a blunderer, forgets himself and stumbles on smooth ground, gets himself and owner into diffioulties, calka himself, is sometimes positively lazy, but often a hard goer, He needs constant caro aad wntohfu'nesa on the diiver's part A buyer of equine flesh should be able to detect the good and bad qualities of the animal ho contemplates purchasing. This valuable knowledge is only acquired by a careful study of the various parts of horse physiognomy. —American Agriculturist. Hints on Horseshobing.— An experienced horseman, in an address before a Minnesota Farmers' Institute, thus sums up some valuable advicelon horseshoeing :— " (1) Do not get your horse shod at all unless necessary, and when that necessity no longer exists let tha shoe disappear with it ; (2) On no acoount allow the frog or bars to be cut or the sole thinned out ; (3) See that tbe shoe is made to fit the foot, and not the foot to fit the shoe ; (4) The less rasping done after tbe shoe is nailed on tbe better ; if a correct fit has been obtained none will be neoessary beyond a touch under each clinch sufficient to remove tho horn fibres pushed through by the nails ; (5) Nover let shoes remain on longer than a month nt the outside without being reset ; (6) If it is absolutely necessary to have your horse shod with calkings (' calks '), have the calkinga made as small and as short as possible, so that the frog may come to the ground. With all your getting, get frog pressure ; and despite tha possible Bneers, smiles, or prophecies of evil of your blacksmith, always bear in mind tbe good oldjmaxim: 'No frog no foot, no foot no horse.' " The Pboduotion of Sulphate op Ammonia. — The Chief Inspector under the Alkali, &C, Works Regulation Aot is greatly concerned about the fact that so muoh of the sulphate of ammonia [now produced in this country is exported to Germany, In his recently published report, he expresses bis surprise that tha farmers in this country do not Bee it to be to their interest to buy what may be bad in their own market town rather than allow it to be carried away to Germany to grow beetroot with. This new critic of the British farmer doeß not seem to understand that the British farmer wisely buys whatever nitrogenous manure is cheapest, and the reason why sulphate of ammonia has been comparatively negleoted by our home farmers is because nitrate of soda has been so unpreoedentedly cheap, and is relatively cheaper than sulpbat of ammonia, Nitrate of soda is also more rapid in its notion than the sulphate, and the greater danger of the nitrate being washed into tbe drains on account of its solubjlity can be pretty well guarded against by not sowing it till the roots of the crop are there to take it up. On the other band, however, it has been found that sulphate of ammonia is better than nitrate of aoda for the growing of beotroot, as a muob larger yield of sugar is got when the beetroot is grown with the sulphate than when it is grown with the nitrate. This critic of the home farmer also says that tbe value of the Bulpbate of ammonia now produced in this country amounts to £1,500,000 per annum ; but if all the ammonia were saved from coke ovens, iron works, and other factories where tbe consumption of coal is large, the amount produced would be 10 timea as great, and that would ba an immense addition to the national wealth. Toe Baying of all that ammonia, however, would necessitate the erection and use of very coßtly plant and a good deal of further expense for labour, and if the price of sulphate of ammonia were to fall still further, tbe returns might not repay the outlay. Sulphate of ammonia has already fallen from £24, at which it stood 10 or 12 years ago, to £11 10a, and if tbe production were to bo increased tenfold, ifc is hard to say what the price might nob come to. — North British Agriculturist. "Get Understanding."— ln commenting on the offioial report of the Shire Horse Show, by Mr Sanders Spencer, the Breeders' Gazette (Ohioago) has the following pregnant suggestions respecting tbe ideal draught horse of Amerioa. Environment and the cunning of the skilful breeder's hand have united in tba production of an equine raoe in tbe shires of England on which the world may look and say, " Behold, a draft horse 1 " Pondrous, powerful, patient, the Shire horse typifies strength in draft, and stands as the highest exponent of the burden-movers of the world's oommeroe. To imagine for a moment that Americans should demand a descent from this proud eminenoe ia to do violenoe to the intelligence of a people who have in some instances reversed with tba Mother Country the relationship of pupil and teaoher in stock-breeding. It is not suggested that lin of height be lowered; it is not asked that lib of weight be lessened : but it is the firm determination of American farmers, with all their getting of draught horses, to "get understanding." In other words they demand exactly what Mr Sanders Spencer suggests, namely, that English horsemen should redouble their efforts to flatten and harden the bone and sinews, improve the walking aotion, breed out those round ankles and short upright pasterns and coarse curly hair, and at the same time retain, and if possible increase, the weight and substance of our Shire horses." To this bill of particulars for improvement, Americans care to add nothing, save a specification as to feet, which are included by implication, at least, in Mr Spencer's category of pointß demanding attention. RyegbaSS in Pastdbes —Professor Fream writes as follows to the Times on the subject of ryegrass. It will be seen that tbe professor takes up the very points that we (North British Agriculturist) took lip when writing o« the same point a few weeks ago :— " In tbe interesting reference of your * Agriculture ' article to-day to the botanical composition of the herbage of pastures, the results established by Mr Carruthera, acting on behalf of the Royal Agricultural Sooiety, are quoted as if at variance with my own, Those who have made a praotioal study of pasture herbage in tbe field are aware that the objeot of instituting quarantine examinations is to establish an order of precedence, My investigations in 1888 pointed to the conclusion that ryegrass ißthemoßt abundant grass in prime old English pastures. Mr Oarrutbera last year— that is, in another season, and by a different method — arrived at the same conolusion, for the average of all his results shows tbe quantity of ryegrass to be at least half as much again as that of any other grass, tbe next to it in order being florin. That my own estimate of ryegrasß was numerically higher than that of Mr Oarruthers I attribute to tha faot that, in each oaße, I close- cropped the turf with aheep 'shears, thereby securing the rich bottom-growth which ia a characteristic of ryegrasß. Independently of this, the statement ia the Times that Mr Carruthera found in tbe old English pastures which he examined an ! average of 27 '6 per cent, of ryegrass is tmrely full of significance. I have grown and examined blocks of turf from 12 Scotch pastures, situated in Moraysbire, Banffshire, AberdeenBhire, Forfarahire, Perthshire, Mid-Lothian, i Roxburghshire, and Dumfriesshire. Of these 12 pastures, fiveyielded no trsce of ryegras», whilst the remaining seven pastures gave an average quantity of 18 per C9nt. In the Scotch id vestigations of tbe botanist of the Highland and Agricultural Society, 39 pasturea were examined, 1 and in XX of theso no ryegraja whatever was

fopnd, in two only traces, and in the other 26 the average amount was only 17 per cent. My own results and those communicated to the Highland and Agricultural Society are thuß eeen to be remarkably coincident. Pried Draff,— The latest move on the scientific chess board is a stroke at tho profits of the dairymen by diverting one of the main elements of their raw material to a different use. Tho cowfeed6ra in the towns have generally Btuck closely to the principle of giving their cows a liberal allowance of " draff "— i.c, of grains which have passed through the brewers' and distillers' hands. These grains have had most of the starch extracted from them, which has been cony cited into eacarine matter, and afterwards into alcohol, hence tbo graino aie actually richer in albuiui noids than they were before. This draff was found to causa a great increase in the quantity of the milk, though at the expense of quality ; and as the draff was got at a fairly cheap rate, on aocount of its perishable nature, it waß found to be a valuable dairy food. The disadvantage of draff is that it will not keep long ; and, in the summer time especially, it is beginning to get putrid by the time it is a week old. But within the last few days irhas been announced that the North British Distillery Go,, Edinburgh, have introduced a machine which partly squeezes the water out and partly dries it off, so that the grains are thoroughly dried and can keep as long aa newly-thresbod grain. About four tons of dried draff are required to make one ton of dried grains. From the analysis published of the dried draff, it is made out that the dried draff shows 20 per cent, of albuminoids against 13 per cent, contained in oats. It is inferred from this that the dried draff will bo in groat demand for the feeding of horses, so that the draff will be placed beyond tbo roach of the dairymen. It may be pafely inferred, however, that the dairymen willattain thesame objeot byßome equally ohoa^ and effectivenieanß* It would hardly be safe to infer that the invention of this new machine will effect anything like a revolution in the draff trade. The system, v not bo new either, for desßioatod grains have been in the market for some years,and a dried grains company fhaa been established for Borne time in London, without being Buch a promient succesß or exerting any appreciable influence on the draff trade. Revolutions are not easily broagbt about in the agricultural business.— North Britieh Agriculturist. Preservation of Lard.— James L, Demoville, Ph., G,, finds the alum process for purifying lard aJI that can be desired. The lard is melted, a little powdered alum being stirred in ; then strained, cooled, and upon an inclined slab rubbed briskly with a muller, while a Btream of water is allowed to trickle over it. I'or preserving the lard, experiments were made besides with benzoin, with balm of Gilead buds, storax, Balicylio acid, turpentine, and tolu. The best results were obtained by using 1 per cent, of balsam of tolu. The lard was white, kept well, and had its peculiar odour well masked by the slight but pleasant odour of the balsam. Providing for Expenses.— There is a conBtant outgo of money ÜBed in conducting a farm, part of it for labour and working expenses, Unless there is something to be sold every week bills will run up, and it will be hard to balance the aocount at the end of the year. It is a wise forethought to diversify farm pursuits at least far enough to provide for these smaller expenses without drawing on the main crop. A Bupply of butter and eggs will often buy the family groceries right through the year. Besides these there should be summer fruits and vegetables, the surplus of what is needed for homeuße. If farmers ~ marketed more of such products city men would have a better idea of the profit of farming than ftom marketing only green crops. Selecting a SrAMiiON.— In selecting a Btallion first look at his legs. If they are not upto the standard, don't look any farther a^ that horse, for a horse without legs is no horse, The legs Bhould be large, flat, bony, free from flesh and puffs of any kind, not too straight at the pasterns, nor yet[aettoo far baok a fault with some draught horaßs. A good flat foot, with the ability to lift it up and place it Btraight forward the proper distance, is a desideratum. Next look at the baok. It Bhould be Bhort, straight, and closely coupled. Next, the head. Requisites- broad between, the eyes and the -earß ; clear, mild eye, not showing much white ; jaw thin. If the horse bafull Datween the eyes, head sloping backward, and a narrow poll, that horse has np intelligence, and will breed that way. Shoulders should be large, sloping well back ; vide rump, long hipi, not punched up in a knot like your fist doubled up. Wide between the forelegs. Thin throat latch. Neck long and enlarging to the point where it is set on -shoulders, If the horse possesses the necessary individual merit, his breeding may be looked up. Though the horse bad a pedigree a mile long don't breed to him unless he has individual merit. Gbkam Cheese.— 11 How to make oream oheese," is a question repeatedly asked by those interested in dairyiog, and though there are .many who have been manufacturing it, yet the results aobieved are not satisfactory. At the laßt show of the Villiers and Hoytesbury Association in Warrnamtool a special prize was offered for cream cheese, hut the judges considered that many of tho exhibits were not the proper article. An so many inquiries were made Mr W. J. Allan, president of the Booiety, instructed the secretary to write to Mr D. Wilson for information on the subject. In replying that gentleman furnishes tha following recipe for raakiug cceam oheese '•— " Put together one quart of cream, two quarts of perfectly new milk, warm up to 903 eg, then mix to them one teaspoonful of rennet. Leave them so for about an honr, then put a fine cloth into the sieve and ladle the curd gently into it with a skimmering dish, and let it remain about three hours, for the whey to run out. Next take the curd out in the oloth alone, tie a string around it, and hang it up in a warm place for a day, to drain thoroughly. After that hang in a cool place for a day, then form the cheese into Bhape by pressing it with the hand with a clean cloth or muslin, and leave it bo in a cool place, turning it over two or three days until ready."— Leader.