FARM NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2105, 28 June 1894, Page 8

FARM NOTES.

Curious Formation in Pigs.— A somewhat curious function is pnrt'ormed by a pig's leg — namely, an escape pipe or pipes for the discharge of waste water or sweat not used in the economy of the body. The pig is the only animal that has this peculiar formation. These escape pipes are situated upon the inside of the legs, above and below the knee in tho forelegs and above the gambrel joints in the hind lego, but they are very small and functions light ; upon the inside ot the foreleg they are in the healthy pig always active, so that moisture is always there from about and below these orifices or ducts in the healthy pig. The holes in the leg and breathing in the pig are his principal and only means of ejecting an excess of heat above normal, and when very warm the pig will open the mouth and breathe through that channel as well as the nostril. People often wonder why it is that pigs die so suddenly and quickly when rapid or violent exercise is taken ; but when you consider the few escape pipes, their small capacity and remoteness from the cavity where the heat is generated, the wonder is, not that they dio quickly when overheated, but that they live as long as they do when heated up. It will now be readily seen how important it is that the feet and legs not only be carefully watched, but that they have prompt attention when the first symptoms of lameness appear. The closing or obstruction of the orinceß or ducts in the legs in the pig has about the same influence on the animal as the closing of the pores of the skin in the human family — i.e., the temperature of the body rises and produces what is termed a " fever," and the body heat is above normal. But with the hog there is a further trouble, the closing of the orifices impedes the circulation in the legs and feet below the impediment, and the first effect is to produce numbness and coldness in the parts so below the obstructions, and this is shown by stiffness and lameness. A secondary result may be increased temperature below caused by strangulation and inflammation. It is important to note what to do when any affection of the feet and limbs are noticed, and numerous liniments and applications are recommended. But there is but oue that is always good, easily obtained, and cheap, and that is, first a thorough washing with water as hot as you can hold your hand in, and Castile Or soft soap in quantity sufficient to make a strong suds. Do not use resin soaps, as such tend to clog rather than open up the orifices. After a tnorough washing apply to the affected parts hot salt water with woollen cloths bandaged round the leg, and remove them often. When well enough to remove the wet cloths, rub leg dry aud put on dry woollen cloths for a short time. If the leg appears stiff, dry, and hot after euoh treatment, a linimeut of olive oii, menthol, and tmeburo of arnica may be applied with good rdpultß. The proportion should be as follows : — Two ounces oil, 2oz arnica, lgr menthol. The cause of lamene6S iuay be in the foot by injury to the ball or cracking of the hoof ; if so Übe the wash, and application of salt water, aud follow it by the application of pine tar. The latter excludes the air, is destructive of disease germs, and induces healing. — Farm and Field,

The Feeding of Animals. — A question of considerable importance to feeders is, When do animals that have been forced from ealfhood cease to lay on lean meat in addition to fat ? At the annual dinner of the Canterbury Farmers' Club a member stated that some years ago be personally experimented on cattle of different ages, aud came to the conclusion that an animal forced in its youth lost all flesh-producing powers at two years, anything put ou after that being in the shape of fat. One would like to know the experience of feeders generally on this point. A good deal will of course depend on the nature of the food and also on the kind of breed or breeds experimented with.

Treatment of the Foot of the Horse. — The importance of the frog should be known to every horseman, says the Rider aud Driver. It should never be touched with a knife, as it breaks the jar to the coffin joint in coining in contact with the ground, and from its elasticity it allows natural expansion — this being the great fuuctiou of the trog when the horse is in motion. Bus it" the shoe is so constructed that it closely fits each side of the trog, then the iron shoe controls the ela&tieity of the foot, and so inducea the first step to contraction. So the shoe, properly applied, should follow the gradual curvature of the wall of the foot, taking care to give the frog plenty of room to perform the functions already indicated. The horse should be shod once a month, and when shod very little alteration is necessary on the foot. The rasp is the only tool necessary to be used. The scooping out of the sole of the foot with the knife, or mutilating the frog in any form, should be carefully avoided ; and owners and blacksmiths, if they observe these hints, will find in couse-

quence less lameness connected with the horse. When horses first become feverish, the simple remedy is justto stand them in mvd — yellow clay — up to the fetlocks. This reduces all local inflammation. The treatment for thrash in the frog of the foot is quite simple. The foot should be poulticed with flaxseed meal for 24 hours. This treatment softens the parts and reduces tho inflammation. A dressing of fine tar and oakum should be applied. This is all that is necessary to complete the cure. The remedy for scratches I give for the benefit of the horse. It is to apply simple white lead with a painter's brush — and nothing else. No surer remedy has ever been suggested. All that is necessary is to continue the treatment till a cure is effected, which will occur in from six to seven days. Corns in the foot of the horse should never be cut out, as by this means support is taken away from the wall of the foot, and a receptacle is created for the lodgment of dust and gravel, which are very penetrating, and may cause separation to take place between the wall and the sole. The part of the heel affected with the corn should be lowered and a side-caulk put on the shoe, thus relieving the part from pressure and keeping the foot soft. The attainment of this result is all that is required. It may be accomplished more readily by using a wet swab, or by poulticing. Horses foraging should be shod light in front and never behind. Horses that interfere should be thoroughly examined in regard to position of the foot on the ground. If low on the inside, they should be raised from the point of the toe to the heel, thus widening their gait. This mode of treatment will effect a cure, except in cases of abnormal construction or build.

Loss by Worry. — There is a loss of quantity of milk from unkindness. When a cow shrinks in her milk at one milking, she usually makes it up the next. That is the general rule. But where that shrinkage comes from exposure or unkindness or worry, anything outside of the cow, that shrinkage is a loss she does not make up in the following or any other milking. She may get back to her regular yield, but does not increase it. So looking at the matter at the bare dollars and ceuts. side, it pays to treat cows kindly and humanely. The milk is made by the cow in a few minutes when the cow is milked. Take a cow that is giving a large flow of milk — VOlb — at a milking. At the usual time of milking, instead of milkiog, kill her. You would be doing well if you get two quarts of milk out of her udder. If, instead of killing, you would milk her, yon would get 10 quarts.

Success Depends Upon a Uood Wife. — One of the most successful dairymen in the S'.ate of New York attributes his exceptional success to his wife, "and," he Bays, "there ia no sentimental nonsense about; it either. You may count up the farmers who began with nobbing beyond their empty hands and have prospered, and you will find them, with a few exceptions, working in well-matched pairs, able as willing to pull together." There is a world of truth in this. Farmers do not, as a rule, sufficiently appreciate the hearty, sympathetic co-operation or the strong, sensitive wives who have borne their full share of the burdens of life, and to whom tully one-half of the credit is due for whatever success has attended their efforts.

Mares in Mirjc. — Mares giving suck require to be more carefully handled than dry ones. Sometimes in the rush of work during harvest the nursing mare is apt to be overheated, which very frequently gives the animal a chill on standing, and feverishness and a loss of milk and condition, is the consequence, if nothing more serious. Ignorant drivers are inclined to handle horses unnecessarily rough at all times, and perhaps the milking mare comes in for more than her fair share of this roughness when she shows impatience at detention from her foal. Harsh words, harsh tones, and the application of the whip excites the nervous systems of all animals, and acts detrimentally on the health, but on the mare in milk it acts the worst of all, because she quickly begins to lose condition, with a consequent decrease in milk. A plentiful supply of good wholesome rations, both green and dry, roots and hay, is always necessary for the working nursing mare, but kindness and moderate work are equally as necessary. Farmers' horses should be light and quick, not slow and heavy like elephants. They should be kept well cleaned, well fed, bedded in clean white-washed stables, so as to be always ready and fit for work. Very big horses may look fine and make a great show, but they are too slow for these times of steam and electricity, and besides that, they eat too much for the work they give iD return.

Obeam Raising by Dilution. — The Corneh University Experiment fetation has recently issued a bulletin giving details and results of experiments in cream raising by dilution. OmittiDg the details, the conclusions are as follows : — In 11 trials where the milk was set in the Cooley creamer with ice water, at a temperature of 44-deg, the average per cent, of fat in the skim milk was 023. In 11 trials where milk was diluted with an equal weight of cold water and set in the open air, the average per cent, of fat iv the skim milk was I*2B. In six trials where milk was diluted with 20 and 50 per cent, of cold water, the average per oent. of fat in the skim milk was T24-. In 10 trials where milk was diluted with 10 to 100 per cent, of its weight of hot water, the average per cent, of fat in the skim milk was I'll. In two trials where milk was set in deep cans without dilution, in running water at 60deg to 63deg, the average per cent, of fat in the skim milk was 0.89. In two trials where milk was set in shallow pans, at 60deg to 64deg, the average per cent of fat in the skim milk was 048. In one trial where milk was set in shallow pans and one-third of its weight of water at l2odeg added, the percentage of fat in the skim milk was 075. Five churn tests were .made, two of cream from milk set in Cooley creamer, in ice water, two of cream from milk to which an equal weight of cold water had been added, and set in air, and one of cream from milk set in shallow pans. The results are given in the table below. No. lis milk set ia ice water ; No. 2, diluted with cold water ; No. 3, ice water ; No. 4, diluted with cold water ; No. 5, set in shallow pans.

The cream was churned when just ripe in all these cases. The first two were churned at a temperature of 65deg, the second two at a temperature at 62deg, and the last at a temperature of 66deg. The buttermilk was drawn off when the butter granules were of the size of kernels of wheat, and the batter thoroughly washed in the churn, taken up, salted loz to the pound, and allowed to stand for 24- hours. In was then reworked and weighed. This is the weight given in the table. It is woithyof note that the results of the churn tests corroborate with emphatic significance the work of the chemist. While from 1141b of milk set in ice water 5'351b of butter were obtained, or lib of butter from 21*311b of milk, from the corre*

sponding 100-51b of fte same milk diluted with water under the conditions mentioned, only 2-751b of butter were obtained, or 36 541b of milk were required to produce lib of butter, showing an actual loss in butter by the use of the dilution process of 1 941b per 1001b of milk as compared with deep setting in ice water.

\\ TO.T 0. Date. Milk. Oream. Butter. Milk Required for lib of Butter. 1 2 3 4 5 Sept. 13 Sept. 13 Sept. 18 Sept. 18 Sept. 16 lbs. 114 100 50 8675 91-50 106 lbs. 23 25 15 50 18 16-25 13 75 lbs. 535 2 75 4-42 2 69 4 41 lbs. 2131 36 54 19 63 34-01 24-03