PRESENTATION TO MR W. R.

Otago Witness, Issue 2675, 21 June 1905, Page 36

PRESENTATION TO MR W. R.

Members of the Dunedin City and Suburban

Daily men's Association gathered in numbers al,a 1 , the Carlton Dining Rooms on Monday even- j ing. when a complimentary social was held as a farewell to Mr W. E. Brown, inspector of dairies, who, after over two years in Dunedin district, has been promoted to a position in Auckland. Mr D. T. Roy. president of the association, occupied the chair, and amongst those present by invitation were Messrs Bruce, Thomson. Cargill, and Fountain (of the Stock Department). An excellent repast had been provided by Mr Lean, and at intervals music was introduced by Messrs de Lautour and Clark. The Chairman, in proposing the toast to the departing guest, said that all the dairymen around Dunedin would agree with him when he stated they had always found Mr Brown to be a fnpnd. He had carried out his duties as dairy inspector as well as, if not better than, any other man they had ever had in the district. They had advanced considerably during Mr Brown's term of office. He considered thai the regulations under which. Mr Brown worked were, with a few exceptions, in the best interests of dairymen generally. The inspector it i\as who administered the act, not enforcing regulations which were impracticable. Mr Brown had been courteous in every respect; he was prepared to study the finnvoiiiiHirp of a dairyman when callins to in- i

[ way it is now one doesn't know whether th# rooster is from a 30-cgg hen or a 240-es_; , hen. — Raising the Layer?. — ' Another Point : To get good winter layers : you must prepare a year in advance, lhe ' layers must be hatched from eggs laid by , good stock, and they must be hatched right 1 and raised right, and^of course you won't 1 get winter eggs unless you get the pullets to maturity and ready for business by the ' time cold weather sets in, no matter how they may be fed or housed. Lack of space prevents me from giving the details of & series of experiments on incubation. Whcrt poultrymcn can better control the hatching; problem ; when they can with less trouble : and with less waste of eggs and chicks hatch and properly raise a sufficient number of good early chicks so as to get the pullets in gocd condition for early winter/ laying, the poultry business will be far more profitable. There is no use in asking the question why the hens don't lay in winter when they were hatched in December and January. There is no use in lyino- awake at nights trying to devise 6ome scheme to make them lay when eggs- are 35 cents a dozen if your chicks, though they may liava been hatched in September or October, were not properly raised after they were hatched. You must begin as soon as rfa is hatched in the spring to train the puilefc to lay in winter. There is no particular secret in feeding; the chicks, unless it be care. Feed themt with care and regularity. In feeding chicks Nature is a good guide to follow. They should be fed several times a day, enough to satisfy the hunger and no more, ano, abo\e all, they should be fed a variety of food. No wet or sloppy food should be given. They may be fed with success either by the dry method or the wet method. The grain may be cracked or ground coarsely and fed dry. or it may be mixed into a mash. Grit is as important as grain. They should have grit in the first feed! and in every feed^afterwards. Good, 'clean, sharp sand is good, or crushed rock or gravel. Dry bone, broken into fine pieces, is art excellent food for young and growing chicks. The grit or sand should be mixed with the food so they will be cure to get enough of it. To make good growth they should! also have animal food. If they get plenty of skim milk, this will furnish about all the animal food necessary, but a little meat occasionally will help. Yet another thing, they must have green or bulky food of some kind, such as alfalfa, clover, vegetables 1 , etc. If the chicks can have a good range, th© feeding problem will be simpler. With & good range they will probably find all the grit, animal food, and green food necessary.

sped; his animals. He had been a good man. for the department and a .good man for tha. dairymen. He (the speaker) recalled the dayswhen the City Corporation used to send round! inspectors without regulations, and no one was | able to tell what was required. Now the Government had made regulations and appointed inspectors, dairymen knew what was required! of them. He had .pleasure in handing to MpJBrown a silver-mounted inscribed riding whip and a case of pipes, which, besides speaking; of the esteem in which he had been held by dairymen in Dunedin district, would serve aa an introduction in his new district. The toast having been drunk with enthusiasm, Mr Brown briefly returned thanks) for the hearty expressions of goodwill and for the gifts. A number of toasts were drunk during tho evening, amongst them " The Dairy Industry," " The Stock Department," the " Taieri and! Peninsula Dairy Company." A pleasant function vras brought to a termination by the sing* ing of " Axild laixg syne."

— A Russian timber dealer has discovered! a valuable mine of oak. It exists in a. river of South Russia, in layers 3ft or 4ft deep, scattered over 150 square miles, and its most striking feature is its variety of colours, supposed to be be due to the variegated soil of the river bottom. No fewer than 12 shades of pink, blue, yellow, and brown have been noted, each log having its own uniform shade. The logs taken out have ranged from. 40ft to 200 ft in length and from 15in to 20in in diameter, and it is estimated that more than 150,000, averaging 70ft, remain. — A new _ substance called "fibrolcum'' has been invented. This product is obtained by chemical treatment of leather waste The clippings of leather, cut ibto very small* bits, aro stored in great vats, where they are macerated in a chemical solution, which by dissolving the substance that cements the fibres together, leaves them independent. After washing with cold water the material is reduced to a pulp. The pulp i<? treated in machines similar to those used in paper making, and the result is a very light but strong sheet After treatment in. the hjdrauhc pres* these sheets look liia leather, and have its strength