FARM NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2240, 4 February 1897, Page 7

FARM NOTES.

More Calves Than Cows. — Calf-raiiing extraordinary is that described by the agricultural rsporter of the Rural New Yorker : — " Mr Mapes, like most other Orange County farmers, keeps a small dairy. Junt now ho has nine cows. They work up the waste on the farm—' stalks, appleß, &c— and make a better use of the rough pasture land than any other atomc would do. For a time Mr Mapes sold bottled milk, but * small dairy is always at & disadvantage, especially when it is located some distance from town. It is much the same with butter-making in a milk district. Mr Mapes has been so successful in making poultry pay that I wondered what new idea he had with the cows. ' Here are our milkers,' he said as he opened the door of & shed. There stood a group of aleck, fat Holstein calves, ranging in age all the way from calves a few days old up to ripe veal. 'So you are breeding Holsteins, are you? ' 'No ; other folk do the breeding and we do the feediDg. We buy the calves at two or three days oid, and let them Buck the cows. We plan to have a calf for each one of our cows while she is in milk. These calveß do all our milking for us. All we do is to "strip" after them, and this gives us eßoiigh milk for ourselves. A calf's stomach is a convenient milk pail, and saves lots of time.' ' Does it pay as well as selling the milk ? ' ' Better. We buy the little calves for, say, 6s each. They suck a month and then bring from 36s to 40s each.' 'How many calves will one cow fatten iv a year ? ' •On an average eight — and tais you will see means over £14 a year income per cow. Of course ours is a small dairy, and the business might not pay in a larger one. We are in a milk district where there are plenty of calves, and wLere the stock is usually of large size. It would not pay so well to raise Jersey calves in this way, for while they are of fine quality they do not give the desired weight.' " Water fob Figs. — When a pig's appetite fails nine times out of tan it is for lack of pure water. It is especially so with hogs kept in pens. Feeding them with milk or swill is not a substitute for water. Milk, when curdled, is seen to be largely solid. It has just as much solid matter before curdling as after. As for swill, it has mostly more or less salt in it, which utterly unfits it to be used for quenchiug thirst. Do not let the pigs suffer if anything so cheap as water will satisfy them. — " Hodden Grey," in Melbourne Weekly Times. Advantages of a Pboper Combination. — I feel satisfied (writes " Bruni " iv the Australasian) that a close study of the proper combination of fleece and carcase to suit the conditions of life in each district of Australia will lead to a higher general standard of excellence in our nocks than at present obtains. There can be no hard and fast rule in this matter, for the standard will vary in each locality. The sheep-breeder must work this matter out for himself, and if he is an adept at his business none should know as well as he of what his country is capable in the way of developing the form and fleece of the sheep. In aiming at the best possible combination for each locality the closest attention to the coupling of the breeders will be necessary, and the flock must be called after as well as before shearing. In some of the Eiverina flocks the most profitable combination of form and fleece has, I think, been nearly, if not quite, reached. Their yield of wool, not for a few individuals, but for the whole flock, is remarkably heavy, aud the wool is of high quality and most useful description. We still get from that great province merino wethers that weigh quite heavy enough to meet modern requirements. In Britain the Shropshire is the happiest combination of carcase and fleece yet attained. These sheep are about midway between the longwool and the merino for weight of carcase ; they are splendidly covered with wool of a most profitable character, and in the weight of fleece they are above the average merino. They yield a large proportion of that lean meat that is now so much in demand ; their mutton is of the highest quality, and they are rare rustlers. It must not be supposed that when the best combination for a district has been reached the cares of the husbandmau are at an end. The sheep as raised in all civilised communities is a thoroughly artificial animal, and it will require quite as careful breeding and skilful treatment to maintain a standard once reached as to breed up to it. The great advantage to be derived from a careful study of the best combination of form and fleece for each district i» chat it; will direct the sheepbreeder's efforts into the proper channel and save him from ranking v&in efforts to attain a Etaudard of excellence which his country ig not capable of developing. A Scoitish Vet on" Milk Ficver. — Milkfever, its nature, and how to deal with it came up for discussion at the annual meeting of the Renfrewshire Agricultural Society, when Mr A. roltie, veterinary auraeoa. said the faots con-

cerning it were that it was attended by a sickness that lasted from 24 tj 48 hours ; that ib ■ might attack the cow two day* before calving or within three days after it, hut never at any other i time ; that the best milkers of the Ayrshire E breed, and iv a fat condition, were more I liable to the disease than any other ; that ib was more fatal when ib attaoked cattle feeding on grass than those feeding on house food ; and that ib seldom attacked a cow under five years old, but might attack one at any age atterwards, and that one attack often led to another. Ilis observations of the disease were that an animal with a full rumen or first stomach seldom recovered, or at any rate was more likely to suocumb than an animal with a comparatively empty stomach ; that a cow in this disease had almost no fever or excess of bodily heat ; that its recovery was not dependent od temperature, and that in the great majority of cases the cow did not die from constipation of the bowels. These were perhaps most of the facts or truths thab they could produce from observation, and whatever they found as the first cause must in some measure account for these facts. Bub then came the puzzle. If they examined, say, 10 carcases of cows that had died from this disease, haviog passed fcbrongh all its stages, they would find five at *e*st where not » particle of disease could be Fouud in any organ of the body. It was aho to be considered that there were three distinct forms of the disease, and that the remedy for one would be injurious to the other, so that great c»re had to be exercised when dealing with the affected cow. Still there were certain things which one could do in certain cases. For instance, when they heard a cow grinding her teeth, either before or after calving, they should give her nothing but a drink of water for at least two days, with a small handful of hay or straw. No soft food should be given, for perhaps she was not cudding. Nor should the cow be tempted to eat, for possibly she had a large quautity-r-perhaps lewt— of food on her first and second stomachs — enough to serve her for four or five days. If the milk was much less than the cow should give, then the owner required to ba specially watchful. As to the question of medicine, there were difficulties in the way of successful treatment, the quantity of food in the cow's stomach being coo much for madicina to properly act on. An excellent remedy would be to empty the stomach by pumping off the food, and he was endeavouring to construct a pump to accomplish this purpose. He expected to have it completed soon, and had no doubfc it would lead to the saving of mauy oases that were at present regarded as incurable. Saddlb Gat-ls. — The annoying sores made by harness can almost entirely be prevented by intelligent care. The pressure of harness and collar upon parts not accustomed to it bo compresses the blood vessels that the normal flow of blood is checked, the vessel walls ara bruised nnd partially paralysed. When the pressure is suddenly removed with the removal of the harness the blood rushes into the weakened vessels, dilating the walls, so that the blood serum passes through and accumulates in the connective tissue under the skin. Thus originate the soft, fluctuating swellings often appearing on the collar rest. If these accumulations are not removed, either through an absorption or through an incision in the skin, there results a permanent enlargement from callous formation. . — Exchange. New Views of Tuberculosis. — Some fre9h matter was iutroduced by Professor J. M'Fadyean, of the Royal Veterinary College, London, in a paper on tuberculosis, read before the Newcastle (England) Farmers' Club recently. The professor said the modern view of the disease was that it was purely contagious, its essence being the invasion of the body by parasites, and the growth of the germ being very slow. The germ had to be bred in a tuberculous human being or an animal before it could infect another animal. The most prolific source of infection was the inhalation by healthy animals of germs that had been coughed on to interior walls and allowed to dry and float about like dust. This fact accounted for the prevalence of the disease amongst pampered cattle kept in houses as compared with those kept out of door 3. He combated the theory thab animals were born tuberculous, and proved that tuborculosis in newly-born calves was rare j enough to be considered a pathological curiosity. He also denied that the germs were evenly distributed through the body ; in fact, in a great many cases the carcase did not contain the disease, and the inspector who condemned a carcase of beet' because the lungs were affected would not be justified in his action. 4gaia, the professor declared that the consumption of j milk from a tubsrculons cow was not dtngorous ! unless the udder itself were affected. Ah the same time udderß became affected so rapidly that a system of constant inspection to be effective would cost half a million of money yearly, since the inspectors would have to see all cows ! twice a month. Boiling the milk was really the only absolu'ely safe method of guarding against infection when lha cowi' udders wore affected. He contradicted the assertion that consumption iv humau beings would be reduced if cattle tuberculosis were eradicated, and proceeded to show thnt there was scarcely any danger in eating the flesh of animals suffering from the disease, be'eause it was only in extreme cases that the edible portions of the carcase contained the germs of tuberculosis. Ib will be gathered from j this summary that, according to Professor M'Fadyean's views, tuberculosis need not be so greatly feared as it has been in the co'onie», where ib is considered highly dangerous to use the meat cut from an infected animal. More striking still are the remarks of Mr Clement Stephenson, an eminent breeder, who presided when the professor read his paper. He asserted that quite as much tuberculosis was spread j ftmon^it p.nttle by human beings as -amongst : human beings by cattle, and he contended that j the formar should be subject to some what similar

regulations as those pertaiuing to stock. Doubtless this is a far-fetched ides, but the whole discussion points to the conclusion that new light is being thrown upon the subject, and the result may be a remodelling of the measures adopted in connection with tuberculosis. TREATMENT OF YOUNG COLTS. — It IS » OOmmon practice to allow the unweaned coll to run j beside the mare when the latter is being driven I upon the road. Thia is a bad plan for several reasons. The ordinary drive is too long for the soft muscles of the young colt, and an overtaxing of these may" produoe a life-loDg injury. This point cannot be made too strong -Then the colt forms the bad habit of roaming about the road from side to side and out into the gutter and over to the roadside fences. It will try to do the same thing when ( placed between the [ shafts a little later for training. -The colt should know the highway only as a, stretch in which he is to keep " the middle of the road," turning neither to the right nor the left. The ruauing of a colt at large upon the highway is a nuisance both to other travellers and also to those driving the foal's mother. If the oolb must go with the dam, teaah it to lead by the halter, and then hitch to the off side of the dam aud let ib travel by its mother's side, learning restraint and keeping out of the way of teams. Even then a colt should not be taken | on long drives for the reason first stated.