HAWKE'S BAY FARM AND RURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2744, 17 October 1906, Page 7

HAWKE'S BAY FARM AND RURAL NOTES.

<F*ov Ova Ornr CoßftssroHDxxT.) I asked a farmer the other day if his oats wero up yet. He r«- _ Small plied: "Yes; the birda Birds. have seen to that. I shall

have to sow again." This is what has happened in many instances, and in many others the crops are very much thinner than they should be, owing to the depredations of tho smali birds. Throughout Hawke's Bay there is very little of anything like united action in, dealing with this costly enemy. A group of farmers here and there do a little poisoning, but tho majority leave the birds and oats to fight it out. Those that suffered this year should stir up their btother farmers to tho importance of dealing with the pest systematically. Some are beginning to think that there is not much in graingrowing. I think those who had to re-sow this year were those who -mit in the seed when tho ground was cold, and consequently the growth was slow, which gave tho sparrows plenty of time for misch'ef. It is obvious that tho birds are. increasing very fast, and the toll they take from the farmer would pay for a lot of poison. •Supposing a man has ,1000 small birds on his farm, which each eat 2oz of gram a. day, for, say, three months out of the year, they will put away no less ti.au 275 bushels.

Most of this work is tow tnrou^h, ai,d the percentages huve been Dockiag. records for most farms and

stations. A very :arge number are from 110 to 120 per cent., while 130 per cent, all through is recorded from, one large station. Of course, the U6ual question arises as to how the calculations

trere made. -The majority of them were ' made from the number of wet and dry ewes yarded at- docking, minus any dry sheep, such as wethers or hoggets, that might have got into the mob during the winter. However the calculations are made, there is little doubt that it is a record docking for the province, and, feed be'ng good, the ewes are in the best of con-, dition aad a goodly proportion of lambs Ehould be got away fat off their mothers during the following season. In most cases more than; the tistjal number of ewes were put to tli© ram tc meet the growing demand for rape lambs, so that flock-masters have every cause for congratulation.

Tha general way of feeding these is from a bottle fitted with a. rubber Tet mouthpiece, which plan Lambs. takes up a lot of time. I recently saw gome fed in fc trough, just as pigs are. I am told this plan means a little trouble for the first iew days, till they learn to drink, after which the feeding of them is no trouble at all It is best to teach them to drink from a bowl before letting them take their turn with the others at the trough. They are apt to get into the trough and dirty the milk, so the trough should be divided down the middle by a board placed longitudinally on its edge, or some sucb plan. The trough should be rinsed out ■with water after each feeding. One cow's milk should be sufficient for about 10 or .12 lambs, as that with lambs worth somethink like 10s per head and calves worth something like ss, it should pay to get rid of the calf *id .rear the 10 or 12 lanyts in its place. They do very well on skim milk, out it is as well to give them a start in- life with new milk for a week or two. They should be fed not less than three times a day, but four times is better. The great point in rearing lambs successfully is to find them good, dry shelter at night, and also in the day ehould the weather be rough. I have known them reared on separator milk, and grow into splendid sheep, but I think tbe mam reason they did so was that there were only a few of them kept, and they got nice clean pickings about edd earners to wiuch the other sheep did not have access.

HEPERE.