CHATS WITH FARMERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2985, 31 May 1911, Page 17

CHATS WITH FARMERS.

A VISIT TO THE FARM" OF MR SAMUEL YOUNG, BUSHY PARK, ALL ANTON.

So far in the history of the Dominion tractors and electrical motors have not usurped the position held by the draught horse on the arable farm, and when we talk of a draught horse in Otago only one meaning cam be attached to I*—viz., the Clydesdale horse. And where there is anv work going on it will probably be many a long day before such a contingency transpires. Till that time comes along, and •perhaps _ Jong afterwards, we shall have enthusiasrio breeders of Clydesdale horses in our midst, whose thoughts seldom transgross from the ruling passion, and whoso interest is keenly excited by any question as to the breeding, feeding, working, or showing of a young draught horse. It is not to be inferred from this that horsebreeders do not take an intelligent interest in every vital operation bearing on their business, for as a olass they are shrewd, keen business men—the very best settler that any district can possibly have, , and good'.all-round farmers. But more and greater skill is exercised by them in the production of superior young draught horses than they permit themselves to give to any other subject on the farm. Successful breeding requires all the thought and care and skill that can be brought to bear on it, and just as much also is required in the economical management of the foal after it is obtained. Among the keenest and most successful breeders of the Clydesdale- in Otago Mr Samuel Youing, of Bushy Park, Allanton, must bo reckoned, and his' card might read as follows if he was not so modest and unassuming: "Samuel Young, Bushy Park, Allanton, noted breeder and importer of Clydesdale horses, an upright and capable judge, a supplier to order of superior Clydesdale horses of any class." Mr Young is one of those substantia! settlers who, like most of the early settlers who faced colonial conditions in the fifties, possesses good grit and stability of character. He has been a working farmer all his life, and has owned the farm he now owns and lives on, o.nd the competence he now enjoys, by the sweat of his own brow. He is univer-ml-'y regarded as a competent, impartial who is pre-eminently inaccessible to bribery, and has been a leading breeder ever since he came out to this country. Born in Glasgow, he comes from "doon the wattcr," and the ruling bono of his life induced him to bring out three Clydesdale stallions . with him when he came to Victoria in 1862. One of those was the •famous horse Champion, which waif- bought for reshipment to New Zealand' by Messrs Imrie and Bfeir, at a high figure. Before leaving Scotland Mr Young was farming in the lowlands near Paisley. He came over to Port Chalmers by the ship William Jackson in 1863, and worked two years with Mr James Cullen at Owhiro; but, anxious to launch out on his own account, be leased the land at Mosgiel on part of which the woollen mills now stand; and,' still following the bent of his early training, at the same time he purchased the Clydesdale stallion Tannahil. Shortly after taking up this land he took as his partner his brother-in-law, the late Robert Smellie. and worked the farm jointlv with him for 25 years till the end of the lease under the title of Smellie and Youn^ 1 . Mr Young resided at Mosgiel for 30 years, during which time he took a leading part in the local Agricultural and Pastoral Society, and also in the Mosgiel Town Board. In 1883 Mr- Young was married to the oldest daughter of the late Mr John Nimmo, of Wardlands, West Taieri, and afterwards Mrs Nimmo took possession of the Granige Farm in East Taieri. Unfortunately Mrs Young has" been partially paralysed for the last 12 years, and has b?en a semi-invalid for all that time. She is always cheerful, and takes a keen interest in all the work going on at the farm, and her husband must sometimes carry a "sair heart" under the bright, happy expression usually seen on his face. MR YOUNG'S FARM. The farm itself is portion of the estate of the late James Shand, of Abbotsford, and is halfway between Allanton and Oufcram, and lies between the road connecting these places and the Taieri River. From the relative position of the farm it naturally receives most of .the drainage from the original estate, and th& same might be said of any farm below Mr Young's towards Henley. Why the magistrate should have made any differentiation in Mr Young's case is quite inexplicable; but the fact remains that he is most unjustly placed in a higher class than his neighbours in regard to the drainage rate, and, in justice to Mr Young, tfo-> West Taieri Drainage Board, who' .sire all local men and know what is here stated to be the case, should place Mr Young's property oh the same footing as regards taxation as all the other properties in the north end of the district. The farm is as level almost as a bowling .preen, and every inch of it can be effectively worked. A plantation of pines all along the west boundary to windward provides splendid shelter, and it is an ideal spot for rearing young horses or any class of stock. Originally it consisted of 207 acres, but since the first purchase Mir Young has bought 118 acres in one lot at a high figure, and now owns a first-class level farm of 325 acres in one of the choioest corners of the Taieri Plain. THE PLANS OP WORKING THE FARM. Whesi Mr Young tf'« possession of his land he found that the Canadian, thistlies had a pwfcty go'id hold over moat of it, and h* found it necessary to make an

attempt to clean the ground before crop ping. With this object in view the system adopted was to summer fallow the ground intended for grain. The land was ploughed in the spring after the season's work was over, as soon as it can be got at, and cultivated all the summer till the following autumn, when wheat was drilled in about the beginning of May. This system enabled Mr Young to secure clean crops of wheat, but has this drawback, that the crop is liable in a we* year'-to lodge. Usually a green crop of swedes, mangels, or potatoes followed the first crop of wheat, but this year Mr Young thinks of growing green crop on the fallowed ground, thus _ practically giving the ground a two years bare fallow. He hopes by this means to give the Canadian thistles a terrible fright. After the green crop another crop of wheal is taken, and the following year the land is sown out with a crop of oats, to remain in pasture for three or four yea;rs before being taken u.p again. The latter item is an indefinite one, depending on the sole of grass obtained and the quantity of stock which it has been able to carry. PRESENT STUD MARES AND STALLIONS. At the present time Mr Youing shares Newton Chief with Mr James Blair, of Abbotsiord Farm, ;aid others, and he is the stud horse now used, along with a two-year old colt of nis own breeding. This stallion is called Newton's Heir, and is got by Pride of Newton out of Violet, and gives promise of turning out a very superior stallion and a notable credit to his breeder. As a yearling he obtained first prize at the Taieri in 1909, and also the cup' presented by Mceurs G. Thomson and Co. for the best yearling or two-year-old bred by exhibitor. At two years old he was first in his class, and again Won the cup, and it will take a top-notcher to beat him next year and prevent him from winning this cup outright. The Wairongoa stud horse Baron Winsome was also used last year, but Mr Young unfortunately lest the foal got by him, which to all appearance would have turned out a real good one. This experience is not by any means singular when breeding is carried on regularly. Several first-class brood miares and promising youngsters of all ages were inspected, the history of one of.which shows what a prize the breeder very occasionally lights on. The mare Violet mentioned above, a clean-cut, quality mare all over, was got by Garryowen out of a Pride of Scotland mare, and the following stock' have been obtained from her during the last five years: First —A four-year-old filly, by Aitkon Brae, now breeding on the farm, which Mr Young values at £l5O. Second—A three-year-old filly, sold to a noted judge of a horse (Mr Cupples) for 90gs. Third —The two-year-old stud horse Newton's Heir, worth £250 or £3OO to any breeder. Fourth—A promising yearling colt, which wall .realise for its owner next vea.r another £2OO if he has any luck. Such a mare is as good a gold mine to its owner as tllie paddocks surrounding the Wingatui racecourse. Unfortunately Mr Young has not been too. lucky with his foals recently, and calls himself the unluckiest breeder on the Taieri. He has lest several by navel-ill disease, which is too common among- foals. It is diue to an organism which gains access through the open end of the navel string at foaling time ; and the tying of this string with a piece of tape soaked'in carbolised water is a "possible remedy, which should net be neglected lit any case. APIARY AND ORCHARD. One of Mr Young's sons has an apriary with 25 colonies of been, and all the appliances -necessary to turn out a marketable sample of beautiful clover honey. The writer has sampled some of the honey, and has no hesitation in recommending it to anyone requiring it. The apiary stands in the corner of a two-acre garden, the trees in which look healthy and thriving. Not a v.-"v.:l was allowed to show its head in the . ga don, but heaps of lime were being stacked preparatory to being spread over the surface. Mr Young is beginning to feel the weight of his years, but has great satisfaction in seeing his sons following in his own footsteps. They arc already keen breeders, and familiar with everj r implement on the farm and with their father's methods of farming. They have had a training which should qualify them to make a success of any farm they may take up, andi go to work with great confidence, assured of coming out on fop. SOME STRAIGHT TIPS. For the benefit of young farmers just beginning to breed horses and of established farmers wishing to enlarge their operations, Mr Young has been good enough to describe the methods which have been so successful in his own case. He does not believe in molly-coddling young horses, or any horse. He makes them hardy and _ keeps them hardy. Cold weather, he thinks, never injured any horse provided ho had plenty to eat and the shelter of a good plantation to get behind. The cost of breeding young horses, without going into particulars as to stallion fees and expenses of keeping the horses, etc., depends largely on the percentage of foals one is lucky enough to obtain annually. Before they are weaned they are taught to eat crushed oats and bran mixed with chaff, and by this means it is found they do not lose condition after they are weaned. Such feeding depends on the grass, but usually starts about the beginning of May. The gress they eat is worth Is 6d per week, equal to nearly £4 for the year, and another £5 worth of feed should set. them up independently. That is to say that a yearling will cost £9 to keep for the first year, without reckoning_ anything for misses and deaths. In this connection Mr Young recommends young breeders and all who are interested to obtain a copy of Mr Wiikie's leaflet on "Some of the Common Ailments of Foals," and by following the instructions there given many losses would be avoided In considering the whole year's outgoing these latter items are frequently heavy, and enormously increase the cost of each foal, because they all have to be paid for. The horse must have his food in a more concentrated form than any other animal, and is kept healthier and in better condition when the oats aro bruised in preference to using them whole, and the oats also go further. In summer Mr Young's horses are turned out to grass in the evening after they have cooled down. In winter they get swedes, and later on mangels, and are »lways covered ' when turned out, but are never stabled at niniht. There is no food to equal a liberal allowance of oats, chaff, and bran, with hay

Otr oaten straw for hard-working horses; but no two horses take the same time to cat their meal, and individual cases should be noted by the man in change. Some ploughmen gorge their horses, and thsit is even worse than not giving them enough. There is no other food cheaper or hotter for horses than wo have already indicated, and the present methods of feeding cannot bo improved on very much. The follow ir.<% mixture is used by Mr Young for his workers :---©ne bag oaten chaff, two buckets whole oats or three buckets crushed eats, and one bucket of bran, mixed up. and one pint of molasses dissolved in one -bucket of water is used to moisten each feed before it is given. No more of (this mixture should be given to a horse than he will clean up thoroughly. THE AGE TO HANDLE AND WORK After the foals are weaned they are handled enough to halter t.hciri without difficulty and load them about, so that they can be fed and treated independently. Young horses are usually started to wo'k at two arjd a-half years old, and two of them are made ito do the work of one ablebodied horse. This enables tha owner .to give them regular feeding all winter, and they are tunned out again the following summer till they arc disposed of, or whan ploughing begins again take their place in the team. Very light shafting is allowed until they arc four yeatrs old, and after that ifchey must take all the work as it comes. The .roller is a good implement to break them i.ito shafting work. Generally it is found they eat better and have less teeth trouble when brought in at two aind a-half years old then at three years old. SECURING HIGH-CLASS FOALS. In attempting to secure high-class foals the main thing is to procure a mare with pyenty of milk .that breeds well arxl ocasistently, and put .her to a torse that will suit heir physical characteristics. If ehow animals are required mo consideration of the cost of service should stand in itihe way. A prize filly is easily worth £ICO, whereas a good working filly cot quite fit for the show will only realise one-half of that amouat. Th© only way to obtain, the prize filly is to use the very best horse obtainable in the island. Even then they are only got now and again, mot by amy means frequently." Horses bred on the farm are usually bettor than anything purchased, and although we have shown that youngsters cost as ir.v.ch to breed as <Hr» buy, there is always the chance of getting a high price for the very best. The possession of the bast of any age for the year is a high honour, and the struggle to obtain that honour contributes largely to the fascination of breeding. KEEPING HORSES HEALTHY. No trouble need be experienced in keeping horses healthy provided that they are judiciously fed with suitable food and with great regularity. But they must clean up all fcho food they get, and it must not be allowed to ferment and get mixed with the next .meal. They must have aooess at least three times daily to pure water, and their stables should be well ventilated. In Mr Young's opinion, it is necessary to givo growing animals plenty of fresh air and shelter, and workers in heavy work extra good feeding. If the condition of the horse is watched and he is not allowed to get constipated, he is- easily kept in goocl health. The addition of a swede turnip or a little more bran to his allowance often makes all the required difference. AS AN IMPORTER OP CLYDESDALES. Mr Young has done a great deal to raise the quality of the Clydesdale breed in Otago. If he had done nothing more than to bring out Champion he; wo-u.kl have deserved well of his adopted land. But in association with others he was the means of landing such horses as Agitator, Pride of Newton, and mainy others which have been signal successes, and which ane stiil breeding high-class horses. In Mr Young's opinion, Agitator has done better than any other horse which has been imported by the associated breeders. Stallions got by him have beaten everything that came forward in the Royal show at Melbourne, competing in classes whore there wore 130 odd entries to battle against. It is a cousin of Mr Young's at Home — a noted judge—who has been selected to judge by the Highland Society this year, and also nominated by the Clydesdale .Society of Scotland sole judge of Clydesdales at Chicago, who selects and forwards any staHioms Mir Young may require. It will thus be seen that Mr Young has existing arrangements in force and available by which he can secure the best blood that Scotland can produce merely by cabling Home for it, provided that tho necessary price is forthcoming.