NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 7

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The editor has sent mo a letter from "A Constant Reader," who I A Wocld-be says that he is about to take i Farmer. up farming for a livelihood, and, having had no experience, he asks me to advise him as to the best way of going about it. He says he has a few hundred pounds of capital, and would like to know the best way of procuring a ' sin-" farm — whether to buy outright, lease frc , a private individual, or from the Government under lease-in-perpetuity ; whethet poultry and dairy farming combined would be the most favourable branch of farming to take up; and, also, how would I advise him to devote 12 months to acquiring knowledge preparatory to embarking upon his own account. These- queries constitute a pretty large order, and as I do not profere to be able to see into the future with infallible discernment it is impossible to answer conundrums of this sort in such a manner as to ensure that the* r result of following my advice shall be entirely satisfactory. Suppose "Constant Reader" is a merchant, or in a merchant's office, and I, a farmer for 40 years, were to say to him that I wanted to be a merchant, and ask him to tell me how to do so in the most profitable way. He would probably _give me the same advice that Punch gave to those about to be married, and say, most emphatically. "Don't."" However, as I don't wish to discourage querists, and am game to tackle any queries or conundrums about farming, I will" honestly endeavour to furnish ' "C. R.*' "with all the information po.seible. In the first place, then, I must say that much depends upon the man himself. If he is smart, persevering, and industrious, ho will succeed as a farmer in time, though he may have to pay dearly for experience as he gcea along. If he wants to buy a small farm he must be satisfied with one very small, because his capital will not go far in that wav — to say nothing of cost of live and dead stock. There is no doubt that the lease-in-perpetuity is the safest for men of small capital. I know a number of men of small capital who have gone in for that and are doing very well, and I also know a good many cases in which State tenants have sold out and obtained considerable ! sums for the good-will, over and above the value of the improvements they have made. As dairy-farming is a flourishing and profitable industry, and likely to continue so f for seme time, "C. R." cannot go far wrong in leasing a farm in a darying district, especially if be has any children of a useful age to assist with the milking. A3 things are now 30 or 40 cows of average quality ensure a certain income, and milking and sending to a creamery or factory does not require so much knowledge and experience as the conduct of a mixed" farm, and there are no risks of bad harvests and poor prices for grain, wool, etc. With regard to "C. R.s" qutry about the best way of employing his 12 months' of apprenticeship, he knows as well as I do that it is impossible for anyone to learn a new business in a year. Moreover, the answer to this depends upon what kind of farming he is going in for. If he is going to tako up a dairy farm he had better just engage himself to a good dairy farmer and learn to milk and handle cowe, and acquire an insight into all the ins and outs of that branch. On a well-conducted dairy farm he can also learn how to grow roots and hay for wintering the cows, also the feeding, breeding, and general maiKcem.en£

of pigs and calves. Let himJook hard, work squarely in the faoe, keep his' hands busyjr and his- eyes open, and, unless he is a duffer, he cannot fail to learn a good deal v even in . one year. If he is inclined to fancy' mixed farming he had better hire himself to a good farmer of that description, and take any wages he can get for a start; as he be"comes more useful they will increase. A Dunedin merchant's son adopted that plan for a few years, and is now doing well on his own account. Then as to the poultry business, if "C. R." is fond of poultry-rasing he can quite well combine that with dairying or any kind of farming, and the Go-vern-men expert will always give him good advice when wanted. A young man of my acquaintance, with about the capital "C. "R." mentions, went in for poultry farming on a few acres near one. of the largest towns in this colony, and is apparently doing very well; but poultry are as bad as cows in requiring constant attention- anU long-hours" of work. There is no royal road to success in farming with small capital. Hard work and drudgery have to be faced for years.

A Canadian paper relates how a puzzling error may sometimes be A Strange made in milk testing. Two Error in Milk farmers each sent 50 gallons Testing. of milk daily to a factory, and, though the cows of both were apparently equally good, the test obtained by one farmer was always about one-half per cent, lower than that given by his neighbour's oowe. They fre-quently-discussed the -matter and wondered how it was that such was uniformly the. case, i but having implicit confidence in the Bab-^ cock test and also in. the man who did the testing and the manager: who did, the figuring, they accepted the tests as being correct, ] and decided that one.3iefd..was v £hat iriuch' ; better- than the other, though it was puzzling to account for the fact that if the test of the one. varied, that of the other was always one-half per cent. less. This had been going on some time when it chanced that a student of one of the Canadian agricultural colleges was visiting one of the farms, and amu3ed himself by testing the milk of some of the cows. The farmer then asked him to test the bulk for a few mornings before the jans were sent to the factory, with the surprising result that the tect was invariably half per oent. higher than the milk got at the factory. As neither the student nor the owner could undersiand why this should be so the matter was laid before the- factory manager for investigation. A thorough search was made for an ' explanation by all parties^ concerned, and , the manager was very anxious to arrive at j a solution of the mystery. After a time the explanation was discovered, and the dis- [ ©repancy in the testing proved to be owing j to a peculiar accident. It was found that ( the butterman who did the testing had been in the habit of testing each supplier's milk in the same test-bottle every week, and as it was a steady-going factory, having few ihanges in the number of suppliers, and as | few test-bottles were broken, this arrangenient had been going on for some time without variation. Thus it happened that the milk of the dissatisfied farmer had been tested regularly in €he same bottle, and investigation showed that thi3 bottle was found to have been wrongly graduated, and, therefore, showed an incorrect test, which was half per ' cent. • too low. The, farmer had lost about -2£lb of butter fat eyery, day by this faulty bottle, and as the manager admitted the fact the farmer was recouped for his loss. The foregoing incident shows that the t graduations of all test-bottles should be proved correct before using; that although te3ts may bo incorrect, the person responsible may be quite innocent of his error ; and that every supplier should test his milk himself occasionally in order to check the factory tests.

In my opinion good milkers are like poets, inasmuch as they are born, Hie Art of and not made. Few people Milking, realise the importance of . quick and skilful milking, ami think that it is all right so long as the cows are stripped clean. I begun milking when I was quite a nipper, and have been doing it for 40 years, therefore I should know something about the matter. I have known many men who, though smart and handy j men at all other kinas of farm work, were regular duffers at milking, no matter how ! inuoh practice they may have had. Then, again, there are plenty who have the knack oT milking properly, but have not the right p disposition, and no kindliness of feeling towards the cows. They never speak to a oaw unless it is to growl at her or to threaten her, and do not have the patience necessary to put ut> with all the little annoyances connected with the handling of . cows. Cows are as acute as children in their susceptibility to the moods of those who have to do with them, and "many a cow which will stand quietly and peacefully for one whom they like will often behave badly to a milker of a sour temper. They hate dawdling milkers, nor do they like milkers to bo yarning with one another and fidgeting on the stools. They agree with the farmer in thinking that q_uick and thorough milking, with an occasional kindly word, is the correct thing. , With regard to cleanliness, I dop'fc spoßOsa tae cows care har mwh. dirk

I goes,' into* the bucket, >but a man, woman, or boy~who is* "•fpjfaflazjr'lfo- clean His -hands, and -. tlie :udders'- is" only fit for .pigs. When cows -are- on clean x past'ure-a.wipe witK a damp cloth is sufficient, but when they _ walk . through creeks or swamps or .gefc ' coated with mud in any way, a thorough washing and wiping is absolutely necessary. To sum up, then, a good 'milker; must be/ quick, good-tempered, and "cleanly, and take an interest in doing the work as it should be done, and not in a grudging, dour-tem-pered, and lazy manner.

At the large dairy -shoW held annually in j London, there 'were buttei F Butter tests for Jersey and shortTest" horn cows, also milking I competitions for all cows. There were 18 Jerseys^ntered for the test, and the first prize and gold medal cow, which was exhibited by the Bishop of Ips« wich, had been 178 days in milk, gave 431b • 12oz in the day's milking, yielded 21b Boz of butter, and her ratio was 17.50. Ten other cows had a lower ratio, but gave -much less milk. In the shorthorn olass there were 11 entries, and the best was-eix years old, 28 days in milk, gave 581b lloz milk), 21b lOoz butter; ratio 22.04.' The- lowest ratio .was 19.80. In.-the .milking trials a non-pedigree shorthorn gave 73£lb milk 'in - '24~ hours, while 49&1b was the best yield of the pur© •breds, but one of the* latter gave a veryhigh test. — namely, 4-.16 in the morning's mUk and 5.21 in the—«vening. A Jerseygave 291b milk, and the morning test was 6.39, evening 6.60. . There we're 30 entrie| of , all kinds of cows, in this -competition! > and I notice that all,, the cows ,buY nine gave a much' "better test, in : the 'evening milk,, some, nearly ope; per oent. more. The tiest -test- itf*th& crossbred- cowb was 4.61. "A Kerry cow -ran up t0 "4.94/ cDexter 5.22? The ,red poll breed gave the lowest test. . . AGRKJOLA. { ,