NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2359, 11 May 1899, Page 5

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Notwithstanding the bleady advance of the

frozen meat trade in the LonKew Markets don market and the gradual i'or hardening of prices we should Onr Meat. not rest satisfied with the

English market alone while oulside markets are offering a promising trade. A good deal is expected from the establiphment of direct communication with Cape Colony and South Africa generally, and from latest advice 3to hand il appears that a market for a good deal of our meat could be found at Hongkong. At any rate that is the opinion of a correspondent to an Australian paper, who says that if Australians were to visit Hongkong during the summer months and taste the stuff the inhabitants have to eat in the name of meat, their pity and disgust would be aroused. The Chinese meat sold in the shops there is tough, coarse, and unpalatable ; yet, strange to say, that place is in direct communication with Australia, and although Australian meat is now sent to Manila, it is unknown in Hongkong. " The •correspondent referred to asks if some enterprising Australian will not send a supply of meat, and stales that they have plenty of ice in Hongkong, so thai cool storage should present no difficulty. No doubt if Australian or New Zealand meat could be sent cold stores would soon be established, and a steady trade set up. Seeing that Hongkong is an important coaling station, and a regular place of call for numerous war vessels in eastern seas, there should be a good enough demand for frozen meat, and that without local competition, if the Chinese m^at is half as bad as the correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald says it is. The Hongkong market seems to be one that is worth cultivating, and if once an Eastern market for our meat is established, the trade is bound to extend, for our meat will soon replace the local product when once its fine quality becomes known.

The abnormal demand for sheep in Canterbury has caused a brisk trade Replenishing between that district and the The Flocks, rest of the colony. The deplenishing of the Canterbury flocks during the severe winter of 1896 reduced them below the level requisite to keep ;up the supply of " prime Canterbury " fo*r export ; consequently both store sheep and breeding ewes had to be imported into Canterbury from other parts of the colony to keep up the supply.' Another factor that has contributed to the demand is the export of lamb. The good prices realised in London for young mutton have resulted in a gradual weakening of the flocks in order to keep up the supply. One result is that the breeding eWes have been kept too long in many inBtances, and when a cold snap ensues the mortality amongst them is unusually great. The export of lamb takes away the primest of the flocks, and the gleanings are left behind to perpetuate the breed in not a few cases. The past summer and r.nhr.rm have perhaps favoured the Canterbury demand for sheep, inasmuch as the cropping season lu^ been followed by a good growth of ?iaFs; and when feed is plentiful landowners niturally want tq utilise it to the best achan-

tage. Yet this is only one factor in several ; the first being the supply of " prime Canterbury 1 ' mutton for export, and the next in importance the * replenishing of the flocks. It is estimated that during the past season Canterbury flocks have been increased by 300,000 sheep, which ought to make an appreciable difference in the local supply of "prime Canterbury." , Profiting from past experience, sheepowners would do well. to maintain the stability of their flocks by natural increase ; barring always the advent of a destructive winter season. In stead of sending all of the best grown, and therefore choicest, lambs to London, the primest of the prime ewe lambs should be retained for the perpetuation of the flock and ' maintenance of high quality. It iB all very well 'to import highly-pedigreed rams from from time to time, but if these are put to inferior ewes the progeny will disappoint ex- ' pectations. The 'correct thing, of course, would be to keep a stud flock of ewes of the desired type, and to replenish these yearly from the best of the season's lambs ; but failing thai, a proportion of (he best ewe lambs should be kept every year, if a steady but none the less certain deterioration of the flock* in point of quality is to be avoided. This is a problem that the flockowners of the colony will have to solve, and I unless they take time by the forelock it will ! be too late. (

Notwithstanding the enormous number of * bicycles in use in the United "More Blood- Kingdom there seems to be in Hackneys, a good demand for hackneys and good light harness horses. In fact, there appears to be quite a boom in roadsters of all kinds, and breeders are going in for better-bred animals to meet the demand for really good horseflesh for riding and driving purposes. A week or two ago I referred to the great annual show of carl horses at the Islington Agricultural Hall, which took place a few months ago, and I see by later -papers received from Home that in March last two great annual shows of light horses were Leld at the same place, the shows extending over two weeks and being witnessed by many < thousands of people of many nationalities, j The first was the Hackney bhow, eomprisj ing many entries of purebred hackneys hail- ; ing from all parts of the three kingdoms. > In past years thousands of job horses required by the keepers of the great London livery stables were drawn from the States, Canada, and the Continent, but British breeders have of late years apparently realised the fact that the money sent abroad might be diverted to their own pockets, and have, therefore, endeavoured to increase the quantity and quality of their output. A critical visitor to the Hackney show, writing in one of l!-e farm journals, finds fault with the Htyle of going of the best of the exhibits, and proceeds to give his opinion upon the best means of improving the hackneys in their paces. He says that though the action of many of the horses was very pleasing, it was evidently very forced, and gould not be maintained for any length of time even on f-oft running. He .should like to see the horse moving wit;i gaiety and ea3e aa well as speed, and also be able to sustain a good pace for some time. For example, he thinks good harness horses should be able to do 20 miles on a hard road in two hours without any distress, but he apears to think that the type of horses at the big show would not stand such a test. This is a severe criticism, of the best roadsters in the British Isles, and I expect to see some warm retorts later on. The writer in question believes in " blood " and goes on to say that the thick, bullocky shoulders of the usual style of hackney can never give a horse that liberty and action which is necessary to speed and ease. In his opinion, there must be altogethei a different formation of the shoulders if there is to be any degree of comfort and pleasure in using a horse and seeing him go. He criticises the stallion classes and thinks ther*e is a terrible tightness in the shoulder action throughout the whole lot ; he complains also of their want of size, and goes so far as to say that ( most of the stallions might be suitable for getting good harness cobs or 15-hand horses, ' j but few of them looked like getting a good j free-going 16-hand carriage horse. That is lather a wholesale condemnation, and I should say that much depends upon the stamp of mares used, for the- sire cannot be accountable for everything — size, bone, and blood. It is quite evident, however, what this critic is driving at, for he goes on to eulogise the blood stock shown the week following the Hackney show, under the auspices of the Hunters' Improvement Society, and draws attention to the long, graceful, reachy, easy, elastic movement of the thoroughbred stallions which, he says, are the embodiment of grace and noble bearing, with as much size as could be deeired, and with a quality of bone which, could scarcely be excelled. He admires the fine shoulders and the liberty of their joints, whilst their good wind gives them powers ■of endurance far beyond the hackneys. He sums up the blood stallions by saying: — " In them you get size, a good getting-over-the-ground pace, and you have handsome, strong horses, too, for which no day is ever to" I"Ti£." The writer under notice, therefore, ad w x-p! <m mint "" blood" for the road"ster-, and M\rrd suggestions as to how the bieed, or i\iJier type, could be improved, by cro'-sintr backney mares with, thoroughbred eUllions. Of course, there are

of same quality. Good bone, too, may be likened to solid heart of matai wood, while longer^and softer bone is more of the nature j of a sifppy rimu stick. , -I have referred to the efforts of British horse 1 * breeders to supply the Home , Horses Imported demand for horses and lessen to Britain. the .imports from foreign countries. A recent return would go Ie show that they are succeeding. ; Li February last the total number of horses imported to Britain from all countries" was 34-25 as against 4500 in the same month of the previous year. Of the 3425 imported in February last 2619 came from the United States, 34- from Canada, and 772 from other countries, i A medico, writing to the Scottish Farmer rej cently, calls attention to the | Skimmed Milk value of skimmed milk for j For Cab cs. calf rearing. There has been a good deal of discussion on this question in the same journal, some of . the correspondents maintaining that ekim'med milk alone is insufficient for the rearing of healthy calves, while others think it quite good enough. Dr Haddon says, however, that separated milk is a much more valuable food than it is generally believed to be by farmers. He clinched his argument by saying that the medical faculty in treating indigestion, when every other remedy failed, advised their patients to throw physic to the dog. and resort to a diet of skimmed milk. Experience has proved that when the fat is, removed milk is, easily digested, and larger quantities can be taken. Oi course separated milk is new milk minus the cream, and someifhat£ different frbm the partially soured article in the average dairy, where the milk is set in .ordinary dishes. It is quite -a common thing for patients to live for months on an exclusive milk diet and to grow fat during the process. Consequently Dr Haddon sees no reason why calves should not thri^ upon separated mil!r. The food constituents "of milk show that not very much is removed in the cream, or at any rate sufficient food elements are left to constitute a healthy food. The average analysis shows : Cap ein 4 per cent., fat 3.7, lactin 5, salts 0.6; or a total percentage of 13.3 oi solids, the balance, 86.7 i being water. Therefore with the fat left out the most important ingredients remain. Casein is a valuable proteid possessing good, flesh-forming qualitips such as a young growing animal requires, ; lactin is a kind of sugar, and constitutes a good fat-forming food. Yet the fact remains that whole milk fresh from the cow is the calf's natural food, and I firmly believe that if the cream is separated something ought to be added to take its place. The growing calf has to build up bone as well as muscle, and for that requires phosphorus, and a good part of this indispensable element 13 removed in the cream. Separated milk with the addition of a good calf meal will do very well ; but I fear the use of skimmed milk alone will prove disappointing. The addition of cod livei oil is being tried, and with promising result?. Crude oil is obtainable in Britain at about 3s 6d per gallon, and the quantity given is six ounces a "day. Thig^ubstitute would probably prove too expensive in the colonies, but it might perhaps be tried alternately with linseed. AGRICOLA.