NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2056, 20 July 1893, Page 6

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Ihe breeding and rearing of calves, so long discouraged by the low prices Bearing ruling for cattle either for of fattening or dairy purposes, has Calves. again become an important department of farm management. For several years the province was ransacked by buyers, on North Island account, for young cattle, and these the owners were glad to get quit of even at nominal prices. Although realising quite their value, badly bred and indifferently reai ed as the beasts on the average were, cattle breeding was at a discount, and was abandoned by all but the owners of pure breeds and the few farmers who owned really superior and generally useful cows. The latter class of breeders are now certain of a reward for their persistence in this branch of farming industry, for there is a felt scarcity of and growing demand for carefully-bred cattle of either sex. Consequently there is now an inducement to rear calves, and if cattle-owners will but reject the worst, and keep and carefully rear the best only, the new departure must ensure a profitable adjunct in farm economics, aad especially as the rearing of calves does not involve any 'extravagant expenditure in the matter otfood. When the cattle-breeder can afford to give the youDg animals the whole-milk the rearing of calves is not attended with any difficulty, but when butter- making compels the use of skim or separated milk recourse must be had to artificial food of one kind or other to supply the deficiency in the feedicg quality ; for the whole-milk, as Professor Johnson defined it, "Is a perfect food for a growing animal, containing the curd which is to form the muscles, the butter which is to form the fat, the phosphates which are to build up the bones, and the sugar which, is to feed up the respiration ; nothing js wanting in it." The impoverished skim milk is, on the other hand, inadequate for the full development of the animal frame, and various foods and modes of treatment have been employed to obviate the necessity on the part D f the .dairy farmer of thp flaorj.

fice of the calves. These various practices have not only been successful, but they have further proved the practicability of rearing calves on ekim milk with the help of other cheap foods, to the extent of two or three calves per cow kept. , -

In dealing with the subject of calf-raising it is necessary to "begin at the Treatment beginning," and to point out of the inexcusable ignorance beCalves. trayed by ordinary "cow men in the treatment of the cow and calf immediately on the birth of the young one. The cow with a natural instinct will— if permitted, but often hindered—diligently lick off the slimy matter adhering to the young one. In so doing she imbibes a quantity of viscous matter which has a salutary medicinal effect upon her system, and in the process of licking she opens the pores of the calf's Bkin and stimulates the circulation of the blood. A calf thus licked by the mother will be on its feet within half an hour, whereas if thrown aside carelessly into a calf ctib it will lie helplessly there for a day, and unable to stand up. Again, just as the viscous matter acts medicinally on the cow, the "hoistings" milk is specially provided by nature as the first aliment of the newly-born animal— not only intended for the purpose of early invigoration, but by its mild aperient qualities it carries off the feeces that had .been accumulating in the foetus during the last months of pregnancy. A calf given the beistings is never subject to scour or indigestion, whereas when fed during the first 10 days or fortnight after birth on ordinary whole-milk it is liable to attacks of one or other of the complaints. The comparative' constituents of the milk explain the difference in influence and action :-— Ordinary Whola- milk. Beistings. J Caseine (cheese) ... 4*48 151 I Butter 313 26 ! Milk— sugar 4 77 — Sal(ne matter 0W — Mucus — 2"0 Water 8702 80 3 100^00 100-00 As •will be perceived, the preponderance of card, the lesser quantity of butter fat, the presence of mucus and ihe entire absence of miik sugar and saline constituents in the beistings milk account for the rare occurrence of bowel complaints among calves fed on it until its characteristics disappear. For a week or so after whole-milk should be given, and as the calf acquires strength the supplementary food and skim-milk should be gradually substituted. To Bave time and trouble, many farmers allow the calf to follow and suckle the cow for a few days ; this is injudicious, for when eventually separated both mother and offspring fret. The better plan to pursue is to remove the calf soon after birth and to allow it to suckle three or four times only, at shori intervals. By the exercise of | gentleness and care, calves can soon be taught to drink from a pail ; andthe meals should bo frequent, in moderate quantity, and always blood-warm. The common practice is to supply them with food twice a day— morning and evening, when they generally receive as much as satisfies their craving appetites. Their digestive organs are impaired and they become pot-bellied and subject to bowel complaints. It must be steadily borne in mind that the successful hand-rearing of calves much depends on the regularity and frequency of feeding them.

Of the various supplementary foods used in calf-feeding linseed boiled Snpplomen- to a jelly best replaces the tary Foods and butter fat removed by skimafter- ming on the separator. Oil-cake Treatment, ground to meal is also an excellent substitute. This meal infused in boiling water and kept covered till cooled is regarded as less likely to cause scour than the pure linseed jelly, which must be given in carefully regulated quantities. The most approved food of all, however, is a mixture of linseed and wheat-meal, or pea, bean, barley, or oatmeal in the proportion of .two bushels of linseed to one bushel of any of the other meals. The linseed must first be boiled for 30 minutes ; the other meal should be well moistened and, with boiling water added till it is of the consistency of gruel, should be poured into the boiling linseed jelly and the whole kept at the high temperature for 20 minutes longer. Calves fed on this compound and skim milk until seven or eight weeks old will be strong and healthy, and able to subsist partially on grass.' The skim milk may be withdrawn, and the other food continued a month longer, but a feed daily, kept back at intervals, the calves may be weaned when three months old. They will then be in high condition, and well able to feed for themselves. It may be considered that the treatment recommended is too liberal, but it is at least inexpensive, as all the requisites may be easily produced on the farm. There is the further advantage that as the supply of milk to the older calves is lessened a quantity is left for the rearing of young ones which may be purchased in the neighbourhood. In rearing a calf one object mutt be kept steadily in view, and that is to promote the development" of the body without checjc ; .those farmers who are not prepared to recognise the principle and abide by it had better leave calf-rearing alone. From the period of birth development ought to be progressive and uninterrupted by insufficient supplies of food or exposure to cold, inclement weather. During the greater part of the first winter, the weaners should have the run of a sheltered, well-grassed paddock by day, and at night as much as they can consume of chaffed oaten Btraw and green-stuff, or of oaten straw and pulped or sliced roots. As two-year-olds, if so treated, they will be worth at the lowest j 30 i per head more than beasts of a similar age ' that had been compelled to "rough, it."

Some time ago I referred to the advantages likely to accrue from the adop* Crossbred tion of a crossbred wheat suitWheats, able for a particular district. Messrs Fulton, Stanley, and Co., of Dunedin, now offer a selection of five different varieties of crossbred wheat, produced by Messis James Carter and Co., of London, after a lengthened course of experiment. I need hardly point oat the value of crossbreeding, as every farmer who has had anything to do with stock must know that frequent crossing is essential to the maintenance of the best strains of blood; and, as a matter of fact, new and improved strains are produced by experimental crossbreeding. What holds good in the animal kingdom, also holds good in the vegetable kingdom. In so far as crossbreeding benefits animal*, to a corresponding degree it benefits plants. New strains of wheat and oats have arieen accidentally from time to time, doubtless from the crossing by bees or other inseots, but when the possibilities are so great the time has come when sy stematicexperimenting should be carried on with our chief cereals. As wheat is a selffertilising plant, the elements of fertility being contained in each flower, crossing is not very likely to occur accidentally, or if it does occur, there is always the chance of the crossbred product being inferior to either of the parent varieties. But when the very best parent varieties are crossed the product will roost

likely contain improved qualities. The whole history of crossbreeding is, most instructive to the tiller of the soil and the owner of nocks and herds., Within the experience of .those who have experimented largely in this direction it is known that the crossbred variety is often so complete a variation on, the parent stock that nearly all semblance hatfbeen left behind., This is beßt known to the florist, and all of those marvels of beauty that most delight the eye are the product of crossbreeding or hybridising. When we know what has been done by the florist and the horticulturist, we have good reason to believe that corresponding possibilities lie before the agriculturist. Compare the fine fruits of our day with those of past generations and we see at a glance that this field of experiment is a very encouraging one. No doubt some of these wheats produced by crossbreeding will be found a great improvement on those generally in cultivation in New Zealand. By systematic selection the quality and yieldiug power of the' grain can be materially enhanced ; but by crossbreeding it is possible to completely alter the type of the plant. This appears to have been done by Messrs Carter and Co., and these varieties now offered differ materially from the kinds of wheat with whioh we are most familiar. Before making a selection, individual farmers should obtain small seed samples, and sow them separately on soil similar to that which they intend growing the main crop upon, and await develop^ ments. By so doing in a single season a good idea could be formed of the variety that will give the best results in the particular locality. If a considerable number of farmers would do this the chances are that one of the new types would be adopted to the exclusion of all the varieties now generally grown.

Every farmer knows the difficulty of 'obtaining clean samples of seed, but too Clean few recognise that, so far as Seed. wheat and oats ate concerned, this is a matter that lies in their own hands. It would really pay evesy small farmer to keep in his barn one of the oldfashioned fanners or hand winnowing maohines for seed wheat and oats alone. By passing seed grain through this machine a complete separation between light and heavy grain can be effected, and no farmer need be told that the heaviest and best grain alone should be sown. Where the seed is saved on the farm, and resown from season to season, it is surprising how rapidly it degenerates. This. is not so much from soil sickening as from light and inferior grain getting into the seed. By passing the grain through the fanners before, sowing this drawback could be avoided, and when the seed is produced on the farm, the farmer knows what he is sowing, and there is less danger of the introduotion of noxious weeds. I see no reason why every farmer should not grow his own seed oats and wheat. s Having selected the varieties he means to grow, all that he need do then is to select every year a little of the very best and cleanest grain, from which all light and inferior grain is carefully removed, and sow sufficient on good dean soil to yield the succeeding season's seed. This would be a far more satisfactory plan than trusting to outside sources for seed; I had one experience with seed wheat that I think will serve me a lifetime. The sample was all that could be desired ; but the crop of thistles and rubbish that sprang up along with the wheat was an object lesson not likely to be forgotten. ' • '' •

Among, the many other qualities claimed for - the various sheep dips' in the Sheep Dips mar k e t, that they promote the and growth of the weol is one that

Wool. requires -a little careful consideration. Some of the sheep dips in the market are 'said to ," feed " the wool. Now that wool is fed, no one Jwill attempt to deny, but it is fed in the natural process of growth from the body of the sheep, and so far as dipping sheep tends' to free them from vermin and keep them healthy, so far sheep dips promote tho growth of wool, but no further. Sulphur is one of the important elements in wool, and most sheep dips contain sulphur. Patting two and two together, the manufacturer of these dips claims that they therefore feed the wool. ' This is all nonsense, as the growth of wool depends entirely upon the health of the sheep, and if that is good the production of wool will correspond, or vice versa; Sulphur can' hardly be added to the wool by means of sheep dip, but it might to a limited extent if fed to them. An experiment made by a Scottish farmer' with sulphur is most instructive. He bought a number of lambs that became badly affected with ticks, and which consequently began to bite and tear their wool. He tried the experiment of feeding a little sulphur with their ground feed, and soon had 'the satisfaction of seeing the ticks leave the bodies of the lambs and seek shelter in the wool. In a few days the ticks climbed to the' surface of the wooL an 4in a few weeks they were all gone/ The reason of this is that sulphur soon percolates through' the skin and gathers on the surface. As soon as this fakes' place, of Course the ticks leaye, as snlphur is, baneful to the whole insect tribe. That farmer always feeds sulphur' to his sheep at ( intervals.,' as he finds it better than dipping.' Where.' email flocks are dealt with the sulphur cure could be tried, but dipping i 3 the best for the runholder. ' ' % Agbicola.