SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2677, 5 July 1905, Page 8

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

fFBOV Ovb Own Cormbpowbhht. ) Tho weather was very wintry during the fir3t half of the past The Weather month. A heavy snowfall and occurred during the first the FavM.^week, and a good deal of it lay on. the ground for nearly a fortnight in many place* the thaw having been slow, ov.ing to hard irost. But since ih» middle of the month the weather has been mild, and young pasture has a biighb, green colour evidencing a slight growth 1 ! The lotal precipitation was 1.97 in. The plough was idle about a fortnight in many places, but the favourable weather during the past two weeks Has enabled farmers to make ui> to a considerable extent for arrears. Much lea is being ploughed on account of the unprofitableness of old pasture and the high value of shoep. It has been owing chiefly to the scarcity of competent workers that so much land has lain too leng down to grass ; but as less oats are being grown more attention can be given to the production of green crops and the renewal of pasture. Four years is long enough for most land to be down in grass, as the herbage after that time is composed of a large percentage of weeds, especially if the summers had been wet. The duration of pasture depends to some extent also on the classes of animals that are grazed. Lea is usually ploughed from 4in to sin deep for cereal crops and 7in or Bin for turnips. It is usual to take off a cereal crop the first season, turnips the second,, and then lay the land down to grass the third year, with or without a crop. But turnips are grown in some cases the first season, and pasture teeds town the second. It has been found, however, that as the old vegetation is turned up ihe second year it interferes with the growth of the new pasture. The deep ploughing with the digger i;he first season enables tho subsequent ploughing to be performed without bringing to the surface the old pasture, and where the soil is suffic'ently mellow pasture does well | the second season. But unless the old suri face is kept down land should not be laid; down to pasture the second season. There is not a great deal of subsoiling done, and I heard l one farmer speaking against the use of the subsoil plough because, as he said, it killed all the worms, the result being inferior crops after the first season. It is probably not a fact that subsoihng has that effect but sometimes an incorrect observation sets one thinking, so that knowledge is increased. * There has been a little comment privately on the fact that prices given Lira for fat lambs varied a. good Stack. deal during last month, jome giving 15s 6d and others 16s 6d. Early in the season some liuyers found the prices given by others so high that they could not, or v/ould not, buy, but at tho end of the beaicn some of those who gave the higa.^l prices were not giving market rates. Efforts appear to be made to get this profitable trade into few hands, and some" buyers appear io be content with small profits temporarily, with the view of establishing a conneotion with farmers in various ways. Lambs fettered very well ihis st»s:n on soft turnips, but there were a number* of deaths in some cases during the severe, weather among lambs that had been a considerable time on turnips. There could b™ no other result, for cold, watery diet is a fruitful cause of gastrio and lung trouble among lambs in stormy weather, if not in fine, when the animals have been so long on the crop that they consume large quantities. -Removal to pasture for a few days or a week causes the mortality to cease, but it js advisable to give turnips in moderator for a week or two longer. It sometimes happens that there is an unusual percentage of deaths among lambs in January and February, when much of the- pasture is in seed, ilf they are iremoved from a paddock of closely-cropped pasture to one that is luxuriant ; and the lesson is learned that changes of diet should be gradual for young animals. Oatile have been very low in price ffto t - some time, but some people are predicting an improvement in spring. Tho improvement is bound to come some tinie, as cattle arc- laised at a loss at the present time. Herds ha\c been improving during roxmt years, for shorthorn bulls have been used by a considerable number of farmers in placs of the Ayrshire. The crosses are quieter and larger, and of more value iv the market ; while the milking properties are not much impaired. The principal breeds of pig£ kept here are the Berkshire and the medium Yorkshire, but it is an advantage to cross them for bacon purposes. It is usually the Yorkshire that is the &ire, but the Berkshire may be tho sire and 1 Iho other the dam. Another good cross is the Tamworth-Berk-sldre, but some buyers do not like the mixed colours, as the carcase does not look so well when dressed. A large amount of l»an meat is the main consideration, however, and the pig that excels ia this respect , is of the. greatest valua*

During the winter, cattle, and sometimes sheep, are subject to hoyen Teterinary. when feeding on turnips. This condition may be caused by eating turnips when frost is on them, but is more often due to a stoppage of rumination caused by a piece of turnip sticking in the throat. When there is considerable swelling of the body the animal should be secured in a bail or stall, and the left side pierced with a trocar at a point 4in or sin ifrom the spine and midway between the last rib and the haunch-bone. It is sometimes necessary to leave the cannula or tube of the trocar in the wound for an hour or more in order to permit the e3cape of gas formed after the escape of that first Iterated. A pocket lmife may be used instead of a trocar, but there is trouble in keeping the wound open, for the part of the paunch pierced shifts from the hole in the" skin as the swelling decreases. The proper instrument can be obtained from the wholesale chemists for a few shillings. The plan I adopt for getting rid of ihe obstruction in the throat is one recommended by Mr Neil Marquis, M.R.C.V.S., in the Witress a number of years ago. It is as follows: — "Introduce gagways into the mouth a piece of rounded wood. 7iu long by 6m in circumfei*enoe, having several quarter-inch holes bored through it, and kept in position by means straps passing behind the horns. The gag ill the mouth causes an incessant action of of the jaws, which necessarily produces an increased floiv of saliva, and from the elevated position in which the muzzle is held a portion of it finds its way into the esophagus, tending at the same time to dissolve the outer parts of the obstruction, and relax the spasmodically-contracted muscular fibres. In every ease I have had io deal with the obstruction passed down a few minutes after introducing ihe gag. The animal should be kept on soft food for a few days after the choking has been relieved. If the obstruction has been long the throat it may not shift for a considerable time, but I have never found it necessary to use a flexible stock or probane to push it down. Such means often lead to fatal lesults, owing to slight laceratio-i of the gulkt. A pint of salad oil may with advantage be poured down the throat, as it tends to &id the passage of the obstruction. It is desirable to j keep the animal from food for about 12 noura, but it is unnecessary to give medicine, or apply anything to the punctuia in the side. Some, however, smear it with Stockholm tar. which would be an advantage in the summer time.