NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS

Otago Witness, Issue 2612, 6 April 1904, Page 7

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS

•' Sheep Farmer " takes exception to my remarks in a recent note re Export of Ewe the Premier's threat to Lambs. bring in legislation to prohibit the exportation of ewe lambs. lam afraid I must have expressed my meaning very badly, or- else "Sheep Farmer" lias formed a wrong conclusion. I did not cay that I desired any such legislation, but wished to show that legislation in the direction indicated was just as much, justified as compulsory dipping of sheep and compulsory eradication of weeds ana l-abbits. Ido not believe in too much State interference ,with the private business- of any class, and I do not think that any such legislation ie required in connection (with our fat lamb jrade. I regret that my note should^ ""have conveyed the idea that the State should interfere in this matter, and I wrote, as I thought, in rather an ironical strain about 'the Order-in-Council. "'.'Sheep Farmer" knows that a proclamation in the Gazette, must be authorised by Pariiameht/ancl therefore 'the Premier has no power to swoop" dowr, upon us •with., an Order-in-Couneil restricting our, exports. I always keep some of the best ewe lambs to replace cull ewes, and I am sure "Sheep •Farmer" does also, but we know that .there are plenty of farmers who sell everything that will pass the works, and then ( breed from the cull lambs remaining. That ie their business, however, and so long as the quality of our fat lambs keeps ahead of other countries we have no- need to be alarmed about the methods adopted by those who eupply the " lambs. I thank '-'Sheep Farmer" foi his letter, as it has shown me that my note was open to misconstruction, and thus given me an opportunity of setting myself right with my readers.

'A farmer writes from Cambrians, asking if it is too late to sow dun Spring oats now for feeding off in F«ed. the spring. The ground is in stubble — a loose', free soil, ton a sunny slope, but at an altitude of 2000 ft. As I said in a previous note, the euccess- of late sowing- depends much upon the character of the winter. During a mild, open winter, such as W3 occasionally' get, the oats -would keep growing right ' through on a sunny face, especially on a Iree soil. Dun oats are hardy, and when town" thickly on a free soil make rapid) growing in favourable weather. "T. D. Si." 'has the land ploughed. I should certainly advise 1 him to give the oats a trial, although- it is rather late for such a high location. Tha fact of the land lying well .to the sun, makes a great difference, because 'the soil is never water-logged, and therefore does not ge<t so cold as flat land. Ec should use about two bushels and a'-half pf seed per acre, and drilled in, if possible. i A stroke of the barrows about August will {break the surface crust and stimulate the growth of the oats very much. Two years ago I 6&w dun oats sown early in April on iand slightly sloping to the north, but with a cold clay subsoil, And at a height of 1200 ft above sea level. .They were sown too late

to give the best results as spring feed, but still, they gave a useful bite until end of TOctober, when they were laid up for a crop and threshed over 50 bushels per acre. (Whether my Cambrians friend gets much

jpring feed or not, he is sure to get a fair crop for chaffing or threshing, and 1 as the tand is in stubblo he loses no grass by giving th© plan a trial.

Scientists bave long been working at a process for converting milk Cates of into a solid form, but have Hilk. hitherto failed, owing to the

bolief that a very low temperature was necessary to avoid decomposing the fat& and sugars in the milk. I learn from an extract in the New Zealand Dairyman that more recent efforfa, have fceen entirely successful in Europe, and that milk is now being solidified on a considerable scale. In the new process the milk Es -whirled around polished cylinders, which Bre kept at a fierce heat by steam, and eoznee off in a few seconds in the form of a continuous creamy-white sheet about sft in «r.idth. .This hardens as it jools, and is Ifchen ground into powder, and made 'up into cakes. The nature of the milk- is .•not changed by the process, but the water icontained in it is all evaporated by reason of the great heat to which it is subjected, end the cakes can be converted into ordinary milk again by dissolving them in the usual quantity of water— that is, about seven aiarfcs of wat&r to one of solid milk. If the

©olid cakes are made from whole milk the I addition of water restores its original form, and! if set in pans the cream will rise as ■ usual ; if made from skim-milk the water ! makes it skim-milk again, sweet and fresh. It is eaid that 'the solid milk, whether as a powdter or pressed into cakes, will ke&p for any length of>ime, and test 3 have been I made by sending it round the world, and lit has returned as good as ever. Of course, j when pure milk is once solidified it cannot then be tampered with or adulterated 1 in way. Agents of the principals at Home are now in the North Island, arranging for ;a> supply of milk for giving the process a- thorough trial in the colony, and it is said that the necessary plant is very simple. The great heat required in the process thoroughly sterilises the milk, and all attempts to cultivate microbes upon it have failed. The New Zealand Dairyman refers to the discovery as one that may abolish the dairy, but I should think it is. j more likely to abolish the condenced milk factories.

All pig-keepers know that pigs are fond of small coal and cinders, and Coal and that &s there can be no

Cinders nourishment in these things as Pig Tonics, the pigs must eat for the ** reason that the system calls for a corrective of that/ kind, or they would not crunch them up with evident relish. It may 'not (be (generally known that pige are frequently troubled -with indigestion, and the best tonic at such times ie grit in some I form, and the form they seem to prefer is that of coal and cinders. In a state cf nature -wild pigs live on roots and grubs aiftl -worms obtained, by turning up 'the soil with their snouts and consequently the3 r eat a certain amount of earth with their food. A domesticated pig, deprived of th& power ' or opportunity of rc-eting in the earth, has a craving for a' gritty substance occasionally, and should be supplied therewith. Aches are no good for this purpose, nor is lignite — neither being hard or gritty enough.

The following useful points have been ob-

tamed from a long series of exPointers In perimeuta in connection with Sheepbreeding. breeding ewes : — The usual

period of gestation ranges from 144 to 150 days, and more ewes lamb at 146 daye than at a longer oi shorter time after tupping. There is no appreciable difference in the time of a ewe carrying a ewe or ram lamb — that is to ?ay, the sex of the lamb does not appear to make any difference in the time of gestation. There is an apparent connection between the period of gestation and the period required for maturity, and the ewes of earlymaturing breads appe-ar to carry their lambs a shorter time than is usual in those breeds which are longer in coming to maturity. Large lambs are, as a rule, carried a longer time than small and' medium-sized lambs. It 'has been found that lambs dropped before the one hundred* and forty-fourth day and after the one hundred and forty-ninth day of pregnancy are lacking in strength and .vitality at birth. Ewes of the mutton breeds more often have twins than singles. Two-tooth rams are not so prolific as those a year or two old, and ewes average a larger percentage ox increase .from the time they reach maturity until they are six years old than fthey do after that age or before they are mature. The foregoing results were obtained from English breeds, and from careful observations made from a long eeriss of te§ts, but they may not agree in all respects with the experience of colonial breeders.

AGTtICOLA.