NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2328, 13 October 1898, Page 5

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

There are vastly different opinions about the correct method of shoeing a Shoeing horse, and many a horse is inaiul jured by bad shoeing while Fitting. the smith is discussing about the superiority of his method above all others. A practical shoer writes very sensibly about shoeing and fitting in the Horseshoers' Journal. He says any sensible man will study the build of a horse before he commences operations. He will look at the limbs and then at the position the feet occupy towards the limbs. He will find some legs with long-drawn pasterns, hound or curb nocked. Some feet he will find long-toed and low-heeled, others the reverse, with a short stubby toe and upright heels. Then as to the position the feet occupy upon the ground : there are some toeing out, some in a straight or direct position, and some pigeontoed. The conformation of the limbs has a great deal to do with the style of shoe and the method of fitting it. This writer says that a shoe properly adjusted will serve the pvirpose of sustaining the flexor ligaments according to the demands of the case. For instance, he says, the long-toed and low-heeled foot will, as a rule, be foimd on horses with long pasterns, and, as may be seen in many cases, the same kind of conformation in the lower part will generally be accompanied by a bowed hock; this is a common case, and is to some extent to be expected when the general line of conformation is considered. Now, in such a case, says this practical shoer, it will be noticed that many fitters will shoe with a long outside mule-shaped heeled shoe, which is quite wrong. If it is found that the long-toed low-heeled foot looks straight ahead we should, to be correct in our practice of fitting it, give an extra length on both heels, and not on the one heel alone. The latter method will be injurious, because it tends to throw the foot out of balance by forcing undue strain upon the interior ligaments of the leg, and also creates a tendency to friction on the joints of the foot bones. But when it is found that the toe is long and the heel low, and the foot points out in the manner of a cow-hocked horse, then a long outside shoe should be applied, turning or nailing it outwardly as much .as the case may demand. For straight pasterns the plain necessity is to follow the lines of the foot and keep the heels of the shoe regular and even, neither being longer than the other. It will be found that in such cases the legs and feet occupy direct lines from the hock down to the very point of the toe, and there is thus marked regularity of conformation.

'Accidents frequently happen to men feeding chaffcutters, and I myself Chaff-cutting know of several cases in Accidents, which a portion or the whole , of an arm has been amputated through having been mangled by a chaff-

cutter. So far as I know there has been no legislation here with the object of minimising the danger of accidents happening to men feeding these machines, and the old country sets us a good example in this respect. Last month the new net governing the use of ehaffcutting machines came into fores in Great Britain and Ireland. The chief object of the " Chaffcutting Machines Accidents Act " is to secure the safety of the person feeding a machine driven by any power other than manual, and the first section of the act deals with this matter. It provides that the feeding mouth of the machines driven by horse 3, wind, water, steam, electricity, or any othei power but hand power must be so constructed or fitted with apparatus as to prevent the hand or arm* of the person feeding from being dragged in. The act referred to was passed last year, but was not to come into force for 12 months, in order to give the makers of machines and others a chance to devise a suitable feeding apparatus for complying with the law. At the last Royal show there were several new feed gears, which were reported upon favourably, and 1 see by the lists of new inventions in agricultural machinery that no less thatl 10 applications for patents were made within a few months in connection with chaffcutters, and three or four of these pateuts applied to new feeding gear for automatically conveyng " material to the roller and the knives. I may mention that for breaches of this law the maximum penalty is pretty severe, it being provided that " every person so offending on any day shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a penalty not exceeding £5." This, I take it, means a fine of £5 for each day upon which the machine is working without proper appliances. Our own legislators have devoted their attention to plenty of less useful legislation than that referred to for the protection of workmen's limbs and lives.

Most of the flocks are lambing now, and where the owes are strong and Lambing in sound healthy condition, Notes. the lambing is proceeding very satisfactorily and good returns are to be expected, buL in many parts of North and Central Otago, where the drought was severely felt, the scarcity of grass has pulled the evyes down to such an extent that (their lambing is a great strain upon their strength, and in many cases the ewes have scarcely enough milk to support the lamb. A weakly ewe should not be allowed to suckle twins, better to kill one and let the other have the benefit of all the milk than have two half-starved lambs dragging^ at the ewe. As a rule strong sheep require little attention at lambing time, but the person in charge cannot be too careful and attentive when the ewes are in low condition, as they are often unable to get upon their feet after lambing. A bottle of warm gruel with a few drops of laudanum in it supplied at a critical time is often the means of saving a ewe's life. When a young ewe is inclined to desert her lamb she can generally be brought to perform her maternal duties by some forcible means — such as tying her to a fence so that she cannot get away from her young lamb, or by penning her between three or four hurdles for a time. Merino ewes lambing to long-woolled rams also require a great deal of attention, and the farmer who is not amongst them at the break of day will find that an hour or two longer in bed will cost him a good many sheep, for I find that most cases requiring assistance occur in the small hours of the morning. Cases of wrong presentation rarely occur, but the shepherd should be competent to deal with such when found, or the ewe will be lost as well a3 the lamb. There is no good reason why small flocks of breeding ewes on a farm where they can have constant care and attention should not give good percentages. 'Even in bad weather some shelter can usually be obtained, except on recently-occupied holdings, where hedges or plantations are not of sufficient size to give shelter.

The younger lambs can be castrated and , docked the less they feel it, I Lamb and the less the danger of ; Docking. mortality therefrom ; but j there are other things to be | considered in connection with this matter. It j is most important that the lambs should find 1 their mothers before the evening of the day ' on which they are docked, and if the lambs '• are very young they are apt to lie down under a fence or in some corner where the > ewes have a difficulty in finding^hem. Lambs ' can be safely operated upon when a, week old ' if they are done in small lots without any , knocking about, and if each lamb can get its dam immediately. As, however, the ewes do not all lamb at the same time, we cannot have all the lambs of the same age when docked, as the early ones will be probably three weeks or a month older than the last arrivals, according to the size of the flock. The best plan is to choose a time when most of the lambs are of a suitable age. Much driving and excitement are to be avoided, if possible, and if the flock can be quietly penned in a corner of their grazing ground, and care taken that there is no mis-mothering, no fatal results need bo feared. Blood-poisoning is not likely to occur when all the yarding and cutting is done upon the grass, but if the

Nimmo and Blair sell " Jadoo," the magic plant grower, and which should be used by all growers of flowers and plants, whether in pots or in the open border. Thousands of tons of " Jadoo are used every year for growing plants, and when better known nothing else will be used. — Advfc.

work is done in stale yards after the lambs have been rushed through gates and brought to the operator in a greatly heated condition there is much more risk of serious lohs.

I The most important elements of plant food I «, * „ , are phosphorus, potash, niI Plant *oo«L trogen, and lime. These «»lei > ments occur in boils in combination with other elements in the shape of compounds. Phosphorus is generally found combined with lime in the shape of phosphates of lime. The original source of soil phosphorus is the older igneous or ulutonic rooks, the chief source being the older metamorphic rocks. The determination of phosphorus in the soil is arrived at from the percentage of phosphoric acid found as the result of analysis. Innumerable experiments have shown that the percentage of phosphorus acid dissolved out, employing citric acid as a (solvent, is the best guide to the fertility of the soil dealt with. The relation between soil fertility and phosphoric arid has been found to be not so much the absolute percentage of phosphorus in the soil as the percentage available for plant food. The available phosphorus can be dissolved out with a solution of citric acid, leaving a considerable residue soluble in strong mineral ; acids. The percentage of soluble phosphorus \ in a fairly fertile soil need only be very I small. Determination by analysis has shown i that a percentage of .105 is sufficient to main- j tain full crops of cereals — that is, about l-10th of 1 per cent., which appears a very small 1 quantity indeed ; yet when a calculation is j made that will be found to mea.. FX/Sib per j acre contained in the soil to a depth of j 9in. In adding phosphotic manures to the \ soil no attempt is ever mv'.p t-j add such a ! quantity of phosphoric acid in one dressing, j At most a few cwts of phosphotic manure , are used in. the shape of guano, superphps- ! phate, or bone dust. Potash is another in- | dispensable element of plant food, and its ; determination in soil analysis is ordinarily carried out by the use of hydro chloric acid. This process does not determine the total ; percentage of potash in the soil, as much ofy ] it occurs in the shape of silicates, which are j not soluble in hydrochloric acid. As in the case j of phosphorus, the percentage of potash dissolved out with citric acid is a safer guide to soil fertility. "While the percentage of j potash dissolved by citric acid is only a per- ] centage of the whole potash in the soil, it ] really affords the clue to the need foi potash j manures. All soils contain more or less - potash, the original source being rocks con- j taining potash compounds. The well-known : kainit quarried in Germany and elsewhere ] is a good example of natural potassic rock, j It occurs in the salt beds of Stassfurt. The j minerals occurring there possess a mixed j character. In addition to common salt, rock ; composed of magnesium sulphate and chlo- ] rids is found; another contains a compound j of magnesic and potassic chlorides ; and still another a compound of calcic, magnesic, and potassic sulphates. Crude pctdssic salts are ■ found elsewhere in Germany, but they are generally variable in "composition. Potassic j sulphate is the chief potash salt found in j kainit, and good kainit should contain 25 j per cent, 'of the salt. The insoluble potassic compounds in the soil are generally rendered available for plant food when caustic lime is added to the soil. Of all the elements of plant food nitrogen j is perhaps the most impor- : Other tant, and the one element j Elements. most difficult to replace j when once the soil is exhaus- I ted. While the original source of nitrogen has been the compounds — nitrates and nitrites chiefly — occurring in certain soils, we now know that there is another and far more important source. The part played by the universal microbe is nowhere better illustrated than in the highly important work of adding nitrogen to the soil. I have often referred to this important subject, but its importance must be my excuse for again referring to it. The fertility of any soil in relation to nitrogen is not determined by j the percentage of nitrates in the soil so much as by the nitrate-producing power of the soil. Our chiefest concern is to get the j soil into suitable condition to support _ the micro-organisms which impound the nitrogen of the atmosphere as they find it in the j soil, and fix it in the shape of nitrates. The i conditions required are proper aeration of the soil and warmth. Drainage is the first step, after which proper tillage will render j a well-drained soil loose and porous. It the ; soil is of a naturally ienaceous character, it j must be sharpened up by either lime -or j some other means. Good results on heavy clay soils have been obtained by burning the clay in heaps mixed with wood ; but that process would be considered too slow and costly in this country. After the soil has been brought into fit condition to support colonies of the nitrogen-producing microbes, | the plants which favour their existence should be grown. These are the legumines— clovers, : pease, beans, lentils, lupins, etc. It has long been known to farmers that green manuring, by ploughing down a crop of red clover, adds enormously to the fertility of the soil: but it is only quite of recent years that the whole reason was known. The increased fertility is out of all proportion to the elements of plant food contained in the buried clover, and we now know that it is because the colonies of microbes attached to the cldver roots have gathered nitrogen from the air and stored it up in the soil. Any soil that will grow one of the legumines can readily have its store of nitrogen increased at will by growing a crop, whether for hay or for ploughing down. As a rule, soils that ' will not hold olover do so when drained

j and limed. It must have been noticed on j barren faces overrun with gorse for years, ! that when cleared and sown with clover it grows readily. The gorse is one of the le- , gumines, and the colonies of microbes at j the roots have for years been busy accumulating nitrogen in the soil.

i Of the remaining and indispensable elements of plant food, lime and sulLinie phur only remain to be reand ferred to. Every farmer Sulphur. knows, or ought to know, j the value of lime to cold, i clay soils. Yet a good deal of misappreheni sion appears to exist regarding the nroper amount required to be added to the soil, i and opinions differ within a wide range bel tween 30cwt to the acre and almost as many | tons. I have heard farmers having Home ! experience assert that there was httle use I in adding less than 12 to 15 tons to the I acre, and when I suggested that a great im- ! provement would be effected if a single ton | were applied, I was only laughed at for my | pains. Howver, I still stand to my guns, and maintain that far better results will acj crue from dressing the soil with a single ton of lime a year for half a dozpn years than from adding six tons at once. The chief argument in favour of my contention is that the greater portion of the slacked lime added to the soil reverts to its original condition, and becomes simply limestone, which only benefits the soil mechanically, exerting , no chemical change Now the \ chief purpose of adding lime to the soil is , to bring about the necessary chemical changes to liberate the plant food held in the soil in the shape of insoluble compounds. Now that the experiment of carrying lime free on j the railways is to have a year's trial, I hope t to see lime very extensively used. The great | obstacle to its wide-spread use is its limited I supply, as the available lime kilns are fully employed filling the orders for large landed proprietors and firms ; consequently the small i farmer has to take a back seat and wait till the man of big orders is supplied. If. however, the experiment is continued, the enormous advantage of lime is certain to lead to provision being made for a large supply. Sulphur occurs in the soil in the form of sulphates of lime chiefly. It occurs naturally as gypsum, which is sometimes used as a manure. While a, certain percentage of sulphur is required as plant food, as a rule no special effort is made to add it to the 3oil in the shape of manure, sufficient generally going into the soil in the manures commonly used. Superphosphate contains about 40 per cent, of sulphate of lime. Ageicola.