NOTES OF RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2430, 10 October 1900, Page 6

NOTES OF RURAL TOPICS.

Potalo Digging.

More Biiify Queries.

I have had queries upon various subjects from navy different parts of the ;olony, from North Cape to he Biuft', but never before irom South "Westland until the query arrived from a "Bush Settler ' on the Okura River in the district named. A "Bush Settler" writes me a long letter, and says feome very nattering things about the usefulness, of my notes, and that it, was for the sake of seeing them that he took the Witness pome years ago. It is very encouraging to have one's work appreciated, and I can only t-ny than 1 spare no trouble in my efforts to furni'rh complete and correct replies to the queries bent to me. My triend "Bu&h Settlor" says that he is thinking of investing- in a cream separator, and would like to know oil abou'u the proper management of tho milk. He says the makers' circulars tell him that the milk mu»t be of a temperature of 86deg. l?ahr., when separated, and thinks it should be cooled down to that after coming from the cow. He need not be so concerned about tho temperature being exactly correct according to the circulars. All the different kinds of separator,, claim to separate thoroughly at any temperature above treeaing point. If "Bu&h Settler" will jupt consider for a moment he will realise that the separation depends upon gravity more than temperature. The fat globules, being lighter, ripe to the top, and are thrown out of tho upper pipe by the centrifugal motion. In pan-setting the cream rises "to the top for the same reason, and the separator ha°iens this process by means of the violent disturbance caused by the rapid motion. Tho word "centrifugal" means Hying from the centre, from the Latin word, "fugio," I fly. Therefore, the rapid revolution causes the cream to part from the milk, and, at the same time, to fly off into the opening provided by the respective pipes. This will happen whether the milk be warm or cold, and "Bu&h. Settler" need not wait for his milk to cool more than it will do while beingmilked and conveyed to the separator. Yes, strain tho milk, by all means, before putting into the machine, to take out hairs, etc., but any h?avy Impuiilies are always found at the bottom of the bowl of the separator, as it fills to tho lowest place by gravity. No matter how carefully milk "is handled there is always a biirpribing lot of dirt accumulated in the bottom after a quantity has been put through. "Bush Settler" is wise to proem o a f.epnraloi\ as he is not near a creamery or factory. There are many advantages over pan-setting, and more cream is obtained. In reference to his query as- to how long cream should bo kopc before churning I can only reply that it depends upon the ripeness of it, and that; depends upon the temperature of the dairy. Tho best tempera tin c for ripening is about 65deg. ITahr., but it is only in iactniio-3 and expensively-equipped dairies that any fixed tempciatmc can be maintained -while cream is ripening. A 1 - a rule, the cream, as it conma iiom the separator, i& too wai'in for

Dairy Profits.

ripening properly and in factories it is passed over a cooler to reduce it to the requited teSiperattue. "Bush Settler" can cool his in a simple way by landing the cream crock in a tub of cold water for a time. "Starters" are used for hastening the ripening .of cream. I have used a pint of f3our buttermilk from the previous v.-eek'& churning as a, "starter," which i& really to feoiir the cream quiefcly and cause the formation of lactic acid. "Bush Settler" tells me that he lia*? been milking from 25 to 30 c"o\vs, but lets the calves suck their share of the milk. That is a. bad plan, ,as it unsettles the cows and ai&tuvbs the dairy arrangements. In fact, "Bufch Settler"' says it has proved, to be very unsatisfactory, and I can quite believe that. Something must be wrong with bis cow's or with his methods, for he admits that he has only made about £1 pev cow, besides the calves. At 7d per lb for his butter that means only 351b of butter per cow for the season, which seems ridiculous when compared with returns recently quoted by me. The Manawatu Standard, a month or two ago, quoted some dairy returns which eclipse all others I have seen, and there is no doubt about the figures being accurate. A farmer on the Fo.iton line, which runs from Palmerston North to the coast, furnished that uaper with his returns! for the 12 months ending June 30 last. He has 56 acre-, and during the year the number of his cows vaiied frsm 11 to 27. and were glazed upon 40 acres. He received £228 for his milk at the factory, £60 from his pigs, and £20 from calves, making the astounding sum of £308 in all. Besides this, he had II acres, in potatoes, which 'brought, in something move, and home, garden, and orchard occupies five acre?-, so that from 51 acres he made a return of about £6 per acre. At that ratf> the capital value ot his farm at 5 per cent, is £120 per acre. That is the result of good land, good cows, and good fanning, but T don't suppose there are any rich patches like that in South Wcatland. "Bush Settler" also wishes to know how the farmers in Otago generally dig their potatoes. He thinks they rrrast have some smart way of handling their potatoes in order to make them pay at present prices. But "Bush Settler" must not take it for granted that we DO make them pay. He surely knows that farmers do not always get a profit upon their operations, and when things don't pay we have simply got to "grin and besr it." Sometimes potatoes are lifted by a special implement, sometimes turned out with a plough, but for the most part they are lifted in the manner that "Bush Settler probably adopts — namely, by means of a longhandled fork, some grunting-, and a good deal of sweat. Pay or not pay no farmer likes to see produce rotting in the ground, though I have seen many acres of potatoes so treated rather than the owners incur the expense of lifting them. "Bush Settler" has still another query, and in this he says that he has purchased a Yorkshire boar pig, which was supposed to be pure, but about which "Bush Settler" seems to be rather dubious on account of certain grey hairs around the pig's eyes. A pure and perfect Yorkshire pig should be all white, but it is hard to get perfection in this world, and E do not lhink my Weslland friend need fash hmise'f about the 'grey spots if the boar is uv> '<<■> the mark in other lesjiects. It muy be purebred — tht>t is, got by a purebred boar and sow — and still have a few blcmibhes of v triv ,\1 iharacto- 1 -, deiived from one of its ancesters. Animals often hark back and show characteristics which have noi been apparent for several generations. A roa.ly good boar shoui-1 '?aie a short head, bttt wide between the eyes, fine, pink muzzle, silky ears (standing rather straight up in the Yorkshires, but drooping in most other brcecN), pnfi, mo'low '■kin, long, fine, and abundant nan 1 , short, well knit, straight legs, heavy jowl, =1 ort, full neck, rather high and arching l»ri nd loins, full stifle, flanking low down on U.e leg. and sexual organs well-de\elop.ad. Thi* k:eal pig should be full and square in the qiiiHcrs, so that the outlines are almost a parallelogram. A sow should be much the same as the above, except having more length and depth of lody, and a little longer in the ltg. She should aLo have at least 12 good teats, and be rather finer in the bone than a boar.

The R.A.S.

The journal of the Koyal Agricultural Society of England for the quarter ended June 30 last is to iiaid, but does not contain matter of much interest tc: colonial farmers. A very long and exhaustive article is devoted to the discussion of "Various conditions affecting the malting quality of barley." The production of first-class malting barley is one of the most profitable branches of English agriculture, but on this side of the world it receives comparatively little attention. I suppose there is no reason why we should not be able to produce good borlcy if us wished to do so, bxit as the market is limited and the crop a difficult one to deal with in unfavourable weather there is not much (-n ccuragement for us to direct our efforts in that direction. The article under notice gives a summary of the bafley crops and their chief characteristics during the last 50 years, together with a description of the continuous barley-growing- conducted at Roihamsted by the late Messrs Law es and Gilbert. The latter gentleman has been dead some years, but Sir John Lawes's death took) place only a week or two ago. He devoted the greater part of his life to agricultural science and research, aixl must have done an immense amount of good in his generation. Another long article in the journal is de\oted to "Sulphate of Ammonia as a Manure." Some months ago there was a great deal of discussion in British farm papers anent the comparative value of nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, and this article seems to go so fully into tho matter that it should decide the controversy for good and all. Sulphate of ammonia was formerly obtained from gtis liquor and gas lime, but i.s now principally derived from certain^ bypi oducts in several different kinds of manufacture. Paraffin shale, iron works, bone distilleries, and coke ovens supply large quantities. The total production of sulphate of ammonia now amounts to about 250,000 tons per amium in the British Isle?. Both this substance and nitrate of soda are said to be largely taking the place of guano in Britain for supplying nitrogen to the soil, but are much more expensn c and neither of them arc used in the colonies to any extent. If the Orapuki shale works go ahead they may in course of time be a source of sulphate, and the by-products bo thus made a. source of profit, and at the same time provide a good and reliable fertiliser to the local markets at a reasonable rate. The journal also contains a short article upon "Reaping Machines, Past and Present" briefly reviewing the history of the reaping machine. Now, T do not think that any British farmer can teach us much about the use of ngriciuUual implements and

machinery of any king. They ar6 provtePf bially conservative in tijeiif ideas cHnp^rhlfis agriculture, arid are the lasE tS tuffipH Slijp" useful implement or laboiif-sa-dpg machined The reaper aha binder has no"t Wen yet psngi; tvatecl to sbmjs p'ar'ts'bf Great SriHin, thcJug^K it has been known and used ifi the British. colp£ nies for the last 20 "year?. Oolbnials wha hater travelled pay thai disc harrows are rarely seeS in England, where the soil is, for th£ pipitf part, of such a stiff nature as td derive t^ie greatest bonefit from this implement;. Ilia writer of the article referred to says, c m t&tj case of a large farmer with an acreage o£ corn, the purchase of one or more bindery can hardly fail to be good policy." Fancy it being thought necessary t'p make such vi statement nowadays, and note the vein, op caution conveyed in the use of the words* "hardly fail," implying the existence o£ soiri^ element of doubt about it being good P0H035 to do such a thing. The article then goes ohf to deal with the momentous question of what; area of corn would justify a farmer in tjuyingf a binder, and the writer concludes that from. 5Cf to 60 acres would warrant the investment. and£ he actually admits that a, man who has giveui a binder a fair tiial does not often revert to the old system of harvesting*, and he confesses that he has not known such a ca^e himself. It seems so very funny to me to lead an article like this in which the writer considers it necessary to point out the advantages connected with the use of machines* that we have adopted and fully appreciated! for nearly a quarter of a century. There is a great outcry about the scarcity of labour xii Britain, and yet farmers will not adopt alt the labour-saving and efficient machinery* available, and are so conservative, pig-headed and cautious that some of them even now require to weigh the pros and cons before going- in for one of the greatest boons o£ the nineteenth century.

AQRICOLAi