NOTES FROM THE NORTH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 5

NOTES FROM THE NORTH.

By Fohbes Bukn, F.H.A.S.

There can be no doubt whatever that even i& ; the profitable stocking cf grass' Profitable land thoughtful and careful Jtaiiflpremciit management is required, and id rcediiii; yet there seems to be a popular of Rape. delusion afloat that discretion on the pait of the grazier is uqnecesary. If such be the condition oc things in regard to tbe feeding eff of grass to the best possible advantage, the same remarks may b<i even mote foieibly applied f,o consumption of sapo, turnips, &<;. I will confine my few remarks to thti fetding off of rape. The easier a crop is to pro-iuce ihe less care is exercised in. jti economical utilisation. There are few fodder crjps more profitable v to the sheepfarmer than a crop of rapn, and in my opinioa it is as necessary to ihe farmer who fattens as well as breeds as the turnip crop. The growth of the plant is rapid, aijd, as a rule, the custom i.* to sow the required a?ea At one tims iaslead o? at intervals. It' tbe iape crop in -own ab Different i^ervs.l«, so that there is a considerable d;ffertcca in the development of the pants, the farmer will have the advantage of being in ;. position to make the beet possible returns. The cost of temporary fencing is a minuto iten-, should it be required, whea the tconomicflconfumptioa of feed is considered. Too frequent' v He we see oheep or lambs turned into a paddock •A rape ihat has been allowed to reach a sta^e of growth too far advanced to be stocked profitably, or the area may be too large for the number of sheep. I advocate the early stocking of: the crop, say, with lambs, and after they have taken the " bloom " cfr' let them be followed up by older sheep and the crop edten up qidclc 1 !/ and bare to the groaat). By shifting 'il:d« like thip, and having areas at cliff e rent stages of growth, it is astonishing the amount of feed a sowing of rspa will produce in a "stason. The chat,ce of rape being atta-.-ked by bligh l -. is reduced to the lowest degree by following up this plan, and the stock, as they travel over the same plots again and again, are treated to a clean fretb bite. Interesting and valuable information is to be pathered from the results of tU^ Early British National Fat Stork Maturity of Shows. The skill shown by the Cattle. breeders and feeders of cattle in producing animals that come early to maturity with an aptitude to fatten rapidly is wonderfully exemplified. The details of c.oss « f production, relative proportion of live with drad weight, and many miner matters are strictly investigated. The advance of British agriculture within this century can be measured by many standards, and the science of cattle-breeding in itself should be ttudied by students of advarced agriculture. Graziers in the Australian colonies have much to learn ia the art and science of producing c.-tfeie thab will bring in quick returns. "We inJN T ew Zealand here are not very much ahead in this respect of what the British farmer was 100 .years ago. As it was with the^ British farmer then, so it seems to be with tbe graziers in New Zealand now. Time is no object. " Good cattle are good cattle, however long it takes to grow tbem," is evidently a motto with fb ' majority. Perhaps a few notes from old records with regard to the weights and ages of no'r-n fat cattls will be interesting. The famoaj Blackwcll ox — killed on the 17th December-, 1779— weighed 2292ib. This includes 15*lb o>" tallow. This ox was rising six years old when slaughtered. Again we have the record of tho red ox belongir.g to tfee Earl of Darlington. This p.nimsl was killed at Newcastle en Feb- ( ruary 1, 1786, whf n ten years old, and weighee; 27861b. The historical Durham os was compuled to have weighed a 5 ten years old one ant' threr-qunrb< r tfoDS as ho walked about. Thuj wss in l£o3. Ia 1811 we have recorded a lot oil paiticulara regarding the Craven heifer, whyl was then four years old. Length from nose JH rump, lift 2in ; height at shoulder, sft 2^| girth in middle of body, lOfb 2in ; her l 9 weight then was believed to be 40001b^TEj|^B may betaken as examples of the^flH^^H cattle common at the beginning oj|^^^^^^^| Gradually, however, as the &hort^^^^^^^|

gan to be diffused- ihrou^hc.ui, a chaage took place, and up to the pre^eut lime i« has beei. the-or.e aim to breed cattlo five in bone, carrying the hrgesfc possible quantity of Gne meat at an early age and with the least possible con«ump'ion cf feed. The cbaage of advancement forced itself on th*> British farmer ow : ng to iccreafetd rents, popular taste, and foreign competition. Ifc is educating to compare the weights anc" ages rf tbe fuffemifc breeda exhibited at the Ic&dirg Chr'stmas saows !&Rt year. Readers of the Witness had an opportunity of doing thia a few weeks ago, as au interesting s-cjounfe wsts given in its columns or" the Sraithfield Club's show of 1597. There is great room for iuiprovenu nfc in the beef industry cf this colony, and tbe. cvarse-fcamel, largeboned cattl-j that rtqui'e t( o lor.g a time to fatten, ami ooLSUtn'o proportionately too muoh. amount of i'c o ', rutgh'. prt Qt.ibly give way to the modern types of .deal butcher's meat The cultivation of kohl rabi as a field r-rop is totally ncg'Lc'.id in New Z r aCnltiration laud, and this is to be regretlsO. ol Kohl Rabi. Btlonging to the same order as the tut nip, rape, cabbage, fe') , the feeding qualities cf kohl rabi are rnly lv bs known to be appreciated. Like all other plants belonging to tlr.s crder, it has been produced from the original parent plant— sea-kale— by artificial selection. Practically speaking, in the case of tbe plant before us, its existence i* due to abnormal development of the etalk of ihe cabbags in^.a a large succulent bulb. I strongly recoirmetid the rowing of kohl rabi a? a sheep feed. Its requirements as to soil, cultivation, aud treatment are similar {o those nete-sary for tLe production of the turnip crop. Kobl rabi has notbad the cai c md attention bestowed upon it it ceiierve 1 !, and fcr this reason io has uot acquired its proger position amongst the members of its fani'ly a 5 a forage crop. The rca3on I bring it uuder tbe notice of farmers is that ils habit of growth entitles it to a place amongst our fheep feeds, a 1 * its bulb Gtands clear of Sic ground, affording facilities for its consumption without «ny loss or waste whatever. In this respect kohl rabi has an advantage o^er the turnip crop, the necessity for picking out "f^h'lls " being avoiderl. Besides, ia muddy weather the waste is much lessened. In the old country I have eeen crops of kohl rabi produce as go~-d leturns as an aversge turn;p crop, as a fold for theep, whin details vreie gene inlo. t r.m glad (o-see that the etarl'iig 13 increating l 111 number in the Manawatu I liicrense of dis'ricb. These birds are of 5 Stailings. more value to tLe f&tmr-r and ■j^^^!^ pastoraSist than m':.-t people are Most reliable investigations made in tion to the toed < f s'.urlints are prtjve that these b i 1 d-3d -3 are DcaucUon3 gatheicd frcm

rniniKe examination of thf? crops aud gizzar.-Sa cf 175" birds fhofc at oifrerf-uh g£ M so''S if tho 5 ear show that slafliiig food i? rnmposprf, "speaking roughly, of three-fourths is. sect life and about one-fifth of seeds and grain. Believing that a large proportion of the secda and grain tiiusfc have fcefn get fsrom dung — bow much cannot be precisely stated — tfce opinion is forced upon us that tbe sorting is a moii u-e'u's bird vhen regarded as :i c.-op dsstroyer. 'Tha insect food gathered by the starling was found on cireiul examination to be composed in a larger 'Teg-ec of grubs and insects known 6S food e'estroyers than of useful kinc!s. All things considered, j!; certainly appears that the starling- is a bir.l to be fostered, and that he is a friei.d of the farmer by-habil and instinct. A sheep lrtir was held on the B.h inst.. undpr tbe »u-p ; cs3 cf the Egmou!} General Farnafej*' Uoif n, at Haweia but, Notes. bidding wes dull.- Stortres^ of feed may in a measure account fcr thi?, but the i'acb thai so maf.y of the sheep entered were Romney or Ecimiey co-.se.", principally from Ntpier and too iJnl Coafct, and {ailed lo find tavonr hi the ;se? of the tut mersin the district may bo pub isown as the c\usc of stagnalioT. Canterbiu'y-brcd urn?, Kngiish Loicesters, brought irora lg to 2g'. Griss in the Manawaiu district ii fenf, ami the prosppefe of winter fetd in nyt briKbl Many ii quisles are being made fcr fat ca'tle by dealers for shipping to the youth a ftw months fcenca. Reports from Hawke's Bay ure anything bub good in regard to rantures, arcl lirge lumbers of aged ewes aad cull lambs are being cVspcsed of at low prices In the dair\in,e country round about Rongotea tbe want of sufficient grass is sorely I'elfc. Some of the dairymen have beeu purchasing last season'd straw cheff for their cows. Many of the farmers in the Feikling district have with commendiible zeal been operating exUusively ou their etubbie pnddocks in the way of autumn cultivation. The dry weather is favourable for this work and the destruction of couch grass and other undesirable weeds.