NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2516, 4 June 1902, Page 7

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The annual meetings, of all branches have ; recently been held, and ' The, Farmers' most of, the reports therepf Union. have shown, that thfr- union. . is verj much alive still and that the farmers are not falling away from. their adherence to the union. The total number of members enrolled is over 50,000, but I know that there are still many who have not yet shown the necessary three shillings' worth of interest in the new organisation. It behoves us all to wake up and stick to our guns, for already there are threats from other unions that they are going to swamp us and ride rough-shod over the country. At a recent trades and labour conference it was resolved to use every endeavour to obtain an increase in the bind tax, do away with the present exemptions, and increase the income tax. A statement has been made, too, by one of their number* that there are 280 trade unions in the colony, and that they intended to put in enough members at the next election to dominate Parliament and pass legislation in accordance with their views. That, of course, j an empty boast, but it shows that their intentions are to bring about nationalisation of land by taxing it so heavily that owners will be glad to let the State have it at their own price. The foregoing declaration on the part of the trade unions should rouse up the weak-kneed farmers who have not yet cast in their lot with the majority because of some private fad in connection with, the pasc policy of the union. It is to be hoped that the outcome of the colonial conference to be \ield in Wellington next month will be a thoroughly unanimous policy, and a consolidation of rules and regulations, winch hitherto have been too much of a> parochial character. The question of party spirit has been very properly excluded from, all discussion in connection with the union ; but party bias runs rampant among the trade unions, and no exception to it has been taken by the powers that be, while a most indignant outcry would come from them if the farmers expressed an equally strong bias in the opposite direction — that is, in favour of the Opposition. There are farmers of all shades of political views, and the-;e views, whatever they are theoretically, need not clash with a desire to elect men who will see that farmers get fair play in. all legislation affecting their interests, and that done they are welcome to ride any political hobby-horse to death. These ontcsts in the working of trained sheep dogs are popular in Sheep-Do? this island, and arouse aTriali. good deal of interest among shepherds and others interested. Sheep don trials are also held in Britain at the leading stock shows, and excellent work is done, though the course marked out there is usually more intricate and difficult than that adopted here. I notice, however, that there is a pretty strong feeling among sheep farmers in some parts of Britain against these trials, on the ground that the anxiety of the shepherd to keep his dog; in good training causes him. to harass the sheep more than is necessary in the opinion of Che owners of the flock; There may be something in the objection, because circumstances are different there to those obtaining in the colonies. The hill

The dairy -farmer can save bis milk by using Nmiio and Blaib's " Lactina." which is a splendid substitute for milk. It mixes with water, and is raadily taken by the calf at all times, and it tells ite tale ja a very short time. Price, 6d per lb; 50* par cwt....

iheep in Wales ami Scotland do not have t verj' large range, and are- usually tended c watched by the shepherd in charge, instead of having the freedom of our hill fcheen, subject only to periodical musterings and drafting. The following sentence from an article in a Homo paper will show the different conditions: — "One thing which as a tolerably Bure indication of a good hi!! shephcid is a flock dotted upon a hillside grazing in quiet contentment, but some Bhepherds that we know of are continually bunching ihe flock up together, purely by excessive and 'njudioious use of the dogs-, ( particularly in the case of young dogs, in order to give them practice and experience." Every sensible sheep farmer knows that the Jess dogging heavy paddock sheep get the better, and will not allow them to be knocked about unnecessarily in order that a yotmjj dog may have plenty of training exercise ; but, as a rule, the dog trials liere are held iv connection with shepherds on the high country, who have to deal only with the light and active merino sheep, which could not be managed at all without fast and well-trained dogs. Of course wo all know that it is to the shepherd's interest j ■ — apart from winning prizes at trials — to , irain his do;?s to such a pitch of intelligence and usefulness that he himself is saved as touch work as possible in mustering, yarding, and drafting. And why not, if the sheep derive no harm from it. and the work is thereby expedited? The dogs are only too glad to display their skill, entering into the spirit of their work with great zest, and hang their tails for a week if any blunder Dn their part causes their master to scornfully say, ''Come into her heel and she'll

A foal is generally weaned at from four to si\ months old, and thereWintering fo re l as t season's foals

should all bp weaned

tin", and provision made for giving them pioper food and shelter during the cold mouths ahead of them. Valuable foals are always well treated, but in any case a foal worth breeding muit be worth rearing, and the horse is to a great extent made or marred during it's first year. For the ordinary run of foals a grass paddock, with a good sheltering hedge or plantation, seem 3 very well ; but they are all the hotter for the warmth afforded by a shed in one coiner and straw to lie upon. In addition to a bite of grass they should have •some hay to nibble at, also an occasional feed of crushed oats and chaff. f hey have to build up bone and muscle, and they cannot do that properly upon a winter pasture. A good stack of straw affords food and shelter, but there is not much nourishment in straw for growing animal?. They will appreciate a lump of rock salt, at which they can have a lick when so disposed, and, in fact, the owner will find it good policy to give them whatever h necessary to lay the foundation of a good and useful hor.ee. Nature has done it, duty to the foal through its mother's milk during the firat six months of its life, and now it remains with the fanner to carry on the work in such <* way as will redound tc liia ovm advantage

J. D " (no address given) asks me to tell him how many tons of clover Wcipht of liay there would be in a Clorer Hay. stack 16yds long. 4-ycls wicie,

and 12ft hierh. but does not say whether the height given is the total lieialik including slope of the 100 Loi jnm;&lv

the height to the eaves. The cubic contents of a stack can be obtained by multiplying together the length, breadth, and height, the latter being reckoned from the ground to a point midway between the eaves and the top. If the stack) springs out at ihe sides, the average breadth can be got by adding the width at ground and cave and halving the total. Assuming the stack mentioned by "J. D." to have perpendicular sides, I find that it should contain 256 cubic yards. Good clover hay that has been in stack six months and settled down thoroughly should average about 15 cubic yards per ton, therefore the stack in question contains 17 tons of hay. But '■J. D.." can rectify this by cutting out a truss of the hay about a yard square each way, and the weight 'of that multiplied by 256 will give him the total weight of his stack pretty correctly. The weight of any kind of hay varies according to the stage at which it is cut, the manner in which it is cured, and the density of the stack. "J. D." will find that a cubic yard taken from the head of the stack will not weigh nearly so much a3 one from th"c bottom. A fair average can be got from the weight of both added and the result divided by two.

Double ploughs are not so generally used in Britain as they are here, and Knglish the introduction 3f Canadian rersus ploughs has caused a^good Americait deal of rivalry between the Ploughs. Home-made article and the

imported. The same remark applies to the South Island of this colony, and the Canadian ploughs are pushed in opposition to those of our local makers, who have for many years had the field practically to themselves. Here, however, single and double ploughs of our own make can hold their own against a-11 comers, and it is chiefly in three and four furrow ploughs that the Canadian makers are doing business. These, for the most part, have short and high-set mould-boards, which, while turning the furrow, break it up. and leave the soil in a much loosei condition than the lower-set and longer mould-boards of our local ploughs, which leave the furrows more intact, but more tightly packed together. Each pattern is well adapted for the style of work for which it is intended, and practical farmers admit that while the one makes good work in a tough sod or in stiff land, the other can get over the ground more quickly and do good work in stubble land or in turnip land which is of a light and friable nature. In suitable soil the gang ploughs, as they are called in America, do excellent work in burying weeds, and four good horses can turn three furrows without undue exertion, and the ploughman has tho luxury of a seat. An English paper contains a report of a trial between certain Canadian double ploughs and one made hy the well-known firm of Ransome, Sims, and Jeffries, who have been making ploughs since the year 1818, and have made them in 2500 different patterns, 50 that they fchould now have a. good idea* of what the British farmers require. At the trial referred to the Cockshutt Plough Company, of Brantford, Canada, had two double ploughs, the '"Kangaroo" and tho "Kangaroo Kid." TJiosp easily beat a local plough, but when pitted against a Ransome double plough, the contest was very keen. The general opinion seemed to be that the latter was stronger and simpler in .-onstruction, and that its wearing parts could be more easily and cheaply replaced. In the matter of draught, all were equal, the dynamometer indica-tincr a pull of scwt in turning two furrows lOin wide by 6in deep. The dynamometer was then attached to a single plough turning a furrow of the same size in the same soil, and it indicated a pull of 3icwt ; so that the draught of a double plough as against two single ploughs shows a gain of 2cwt — sowt as against 7cwt. It is said that Mr Ransome 'first turned his attention to the making of double-furrow ploughs in 1872, and since that date his firm have made a special feature of these implements, and have made many thousands for British farmers, besides exporting as many to*- the colonies and to South America. AGRICOLA.