'NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2207, 18 June 1896, Page 5

' NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Tho Witness of June 4 contained a note on

•'Feeding Horoes," and by a Dietary Scale strange coincidence. I received, for Ilorses. two days later, a query from a " Waikaia Farmer " on the same subject The querist says he has been keepiag horses for years, and always fed his working horses well, but would like to know what is considered a standard feed for a draught horse in steady work upon the roads. I may say that the remarks in the note above-mentioned on feeding horses answer this question in a manner by Baying that different horses require different quantities of food just as men do, even when doing the game work. A* a rale, however, all the horses in a team get the same rations per diem, and it may be useful for "Waikaia Farmer "and other horsekeepers to know what' is generally considered a fair ration, though of course opinions differ upon this point. My correspondent gives hia horses sheaf chaff, and he wishsi to know how many pounds of chaff per day, how many pounds of oats in addition to the sheaf chaff, and how -many pounds of bran are necessary. 'The fact of mentioning sheaf chaff rather complicates the matter, as the proportion of oats to straw in suoh chaff varies considerably — according to the length of the straw and the fulness of the heads. I have known screw-pressed oaten sheaf chaff to vary from 601b to 901b per bag.' Many carriers, contractors, and farmers prefer to use straw chaff on that account, as they say they then know exactly how many oats their herses are getting. ' I don't make a practice of feeding my horses ' by any rule but that' mentioned by " Waikaia Farmer " — namely, sufficient to keep them in satisfactory condition while working, bat I have always understood that the standard scale is three bushels of oats (401b per bushel) per w&ek for each horse, and it a mix' ure of food is used, the mixture, acoordicg to this Scale, ehould be equivalent in weight and nutriment to three bushels of oats pec week. If the horae gets nothing but oats his allowance on this scale would be about 171b per day for seven days a week; but as oats alone a?e never used, other things in addition to the oats will bring up the whole ration to a point equal to the 171b of oats per day. I reckon myself that a stabled draught horse should get about 301b in all during the 24 hoars, and that should be an ample allowance for any draught horse doing any kind of work. If carrots are available, bran need nob be given, and if horses are stabled with a raok of hay to pick at, less chaff is required. In fact, as ohaff contains very little nourishment, it is only necessary for the purpose of making the horses grind their corn ; and if the latter is crushed, as it should be for old horses, then the chaff helps to fill up, and is as necessary for horses as bread is to man with his beef or mutton.

An important point in feeding horses is to avoid putting too much bsfore them at once. "Little and often" should be the motto of the man in charge, and never give food till the last lot is cleared up.- A sieve is the best thing to use as a measure, as a few shakes can be given to rid the feed of all dust and small seeds. It, is scarcely necessary to always weigh eaoh feed, for a certain measure can be made to contain the ■requisite weight of oats, chaff, &0., near enough for all practical purposes. I must; not omit to mention the salt. Every horse should have a lump of rock salt in his manger to lick at when

Nimho & Blaie's " Lsxton's Noble " Strawberries are considered by growers the finest and largest ever introduced. Grow them. At 8a per dossQ and 40a per 100,

he feels inolined. Failing rock salt, he should have 2oz of fine salt put into his feed per day.

** Cocksfoot" is clearing some bush ground ready for sowing without being To Sow or Not burned, and Wants to know to Sow, . whether it will be advisable to That is the sow the seed as he cleans the Question I ground,- of wait till spring and then sow the lot P He adds that if the ground is not sown' it will be a mass of logweed very soon. Well, it seems to. me that " Cocksfoot " has the ohoice of two evils, and has only got to make up his mind as to which is the lesser in order to make his choice. He is afraid that if he sows grass seed during the winter it may rot before germinating,' and if he does not get the ground into* grass t as soon as posiible it will be choked up with logweed. It seams, then, that while there is a doubt of the ; grass seed growing there is none whatever about the weeds. In that case I should give the cooksfoot the benefit of the doubt and sow as ' soon as possible. If the winter turns out to be a mild and open one, the seed won't rot unless the soil is very cold and stiff, which is not the usual oharaoter of bush land. More- . over, I may say thai good, sound oooks- . foot seed possesses great vitality, and is not nearly so delicate as ryegrass seed; therefore, unless the ground lies in the shade and does not thaw' all day, I should not think the seed would rot before germinating, as my querist seems to fear. In the Norm Island they sometimes bow the seed in winter with success, but in this island much depends upon the oharaoter bf the winter. I am of opinion that our winter will follow in the lines of the last British one, and if that proves to be the case the grass seed will be all right, and have a chance to dispute the -power of the logweed to monopolise the soil. ■ I must say that in a question of this sort much depends upon circumstances and the lay of the land. If I were to see the position of the land and the nature of the soil I could answer with more confidence, bub at all events I would sow the seed and chance it. If it fails it can b9 sown again, bat in that case it is not only the loss of the teed but the start of the weeds that is the trouble. However, I have given my advice, and if it is followed I should like to know. how it pans out later on. For tHe scientific agriculturist there is a wide

field of inveitigation, and it is Agricultural pleasing in this connection to Research, note that there ia an Agricultural Research Society in Aberdeen which has been investigating sinoa 1875. The objeots of the association are twofold. First, to obtain reliable and useful information on agricultural subjects by means of scientific investigation and praotioal experiments, and to disseminate the information so obtained ; second, to advance and aid in such ways as may be expedient the knowledge of agricultural science. In the last report the subjects' dealt with the securing of crops, permanenoe of manure, the best system of sowing grain, the mechanical conditions of soils as affecting plant growth, mechanical analysis of soils, constitution of soils best adapted to growth of clover, and new manures. The inquiry regarding the scouring of orops had special reference to the best stage for cutting the grain— the stage of ripeness at which the crop should be cat so as to secure the greatest value— alike as to quantity and quality and the best modes of storage so ai to retain the feeding properties unimpaired. ' The cutting of corn orops must to a very great extent be dependent upon the state of the weather, but the experiments bring out some useful points relating to. the time when the catting of oorn orops should begin. The experiments prove that there are times when orops may be cafe & fortnight earlier than is usual; .nothing is gained by waiting till the grain is fully ripe, and the farmer stands the chance to suffer serious loss. The general deduction is sow e&rly and haiveflt early. All the results are against late harvesting, for when the corn crops are harvested early more time is available for lifting potato and -root crops, and ploughing stubble and lea land before the' winter sets in. j The rule hap been pretty well established that it is all a mistake to allow any crop to arrive at the condition known as " dead ripe " before outting. The risks are too great, and the orops should never be allowed to readied that stage except under stress of weather, when the farmer cannot help himself. Of course catting too green and when the grain is in the milky stage is equally to be avoided, as the grain then shrinks in drying, and will not thresh out freely, j But between these two extreme stages there j are intermediate stages— first, with the whole plant yellowish, straw still sappy ; and second, with whole plant deep yellow, stem still erect, bat dry ; and the difference between these two stages, is from 10 to M days, according to the state of the weather. The farmer must always j keep before him the desire to teoare the full produce of the season's crop, and hit ohoice of j cutting must test between the two stages of j ripeness referred to above. The results of the Aberdeen investigations have been in favour of cutting before quite ripe. The experiments have been carried on for years, and the results every year are practically the same.. In- thinness of skin, brightness of colour, and general excellence of quality, the grain which has baen out before being quite ripe is the most marketable. Then a point' that mast not be overlooked is that the 'whole of the straw is more valuable when cab with* portion of the sap in it, and if there is a slight deoreue in the weight of grain, that is fully compensated by the extra weight of straw. OverBlge ptKAw, is of very Uttle value as feed foe

stook, and when used for bedding it is brittle, and will not last nearly as well. The conoltf* sions arrived at by the soqiety then are that jt 1 is best to cut the grain^sefore the straw is tally npe.

Other results arrived at by the same series of experiments point to the advan* Other tags of outting hay also before It Results, has reached a too ripe condition. The ripening of even a part of the grass, and shedding of the seed represents a considerable loss, not only of weighty but of quality also, the stems of the over-ripe portions being little more than woody fibre". This is very admirably illustrated when a mixture of grasses is grown for hay { with the usual proportion of clover and rotation grasses, In}oluding ryegrass. While as a feeding mixture the grasses may be all that could be desired, when made iuto hay there is a loss from unequal ripening. .Ryegrus ripens a month earlier than red clover ; when, therefore, ryegrass is' ready for cutting, the clover is still fa the earlier stages and growing vigorously { cuttiDg is usually deferred on that account in the ,hope of getting a better crop, thus permitting the ryegrass to become daad ripe and shed its seed? Many experiments have been tried by the Aberdeen Association, and the orops from various plots tested by weight, the result in every instance leading to the conclusion that the first hay crop, when ryegrass is plentiful in the mixture of. grasses, ought to be cat before the ryegrass is over-ripe. As a matter of fact the best stage is when the grass has Just named the flowering stage— a stage best reoognised by the plants giving off yellow pollen dost when shaken vigorously in the bright sunshine. If clover alone is grown for hay, the same rule applies, and it should be out before the seed is anything like nearly ripe. * *

One of the very best fodder plants grows !b luoerne, and the marvel Is that Lucerne for such a good coltecfcor.of nitrogen Fodder. as lucerne' is not more extensively cultivated. In England lucerne has been gradually coming into favour as a forage crop, and yearly th* area laid down is on the increase. In the course of 10 years its area has extended from 13,754 acres to 23,853 acres. Luoerne has been inoladed in the crops grown at Rothamatead, and Sir John Lawes expresses the opinion that it ought -to be very much more widely cultivated than it is. , The chief reasons are that it is an expensive crop to grow, a» it takes six or seven years to arrive at maturity, and during the v first year or two it requires to ba kept clean of weeds and other grasses. Yet when once established lucerne will oontinu* to grow vigorously for a long number of years. On light, sandy soils luoarne thrives to perfection when once fairly established, as it is a very deep rooter and will posh far down into • favourable soils in search of nourishment. A good plot of lucerne will stand outting three times a season, and can afterwards be eaten down by stook; but of, course it does not do so well if fed down like ordinary grass. Lucerne is, however, a very good mixture to sow along with other grasses, and although it luxuriates in a soil with a loose, open subsoil, it does very well even on stiff clay lands. It is not; only a 1 capital colleotor of nitrogen, bat at the same time a resistor of drought, so that it can be relied upon in situations where other grasses would be certain to fail. Where the land can ba irrigated lucerne can be grown to perfection even on- almost open shingle, as I have seen it so grown in Canterbary at more than one place. The yield, too, "is enormously increased where the crop oan be irrigated.! 1\ from whioh to make hay where a piece of suitable land is available. • AgblcoiA. ,•

able land is available.