NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3018, 17 January 1912, Page 14

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

We ate being continually reminded what line fellows tire Danes aro, and inferentially how negligent our farmers are in their business, and how far they fall short in those co-operative methods so essential to carry on and maintain, successful institutions connected with the farm. No regard is paid to the different circumstances under which the two countries work, or to the fact that the Danish iucourer would be pleased to work for what would be regarded heme as a sweating wage, and the fact that what is possible in Denmark with a daily delivery of pro-duce-to London, i s impossible here at such a distance from the market is also calmly set aside. Wo ought to congratulate ourselves on the very high standard which our produce has attained in the eyes of the world, and think much more of it than we do, and continue quietly but firmly und decidedly to improve its quality until Danish or any other competitor need mt be feared But there is one thing we ought to do, and that is to praise in no unstinted manner what lias been achieved in the Dominion's factories. Wo admit no superiority on the part of the Danes so far us our respective countries are concerned. If we were close to them with oivr advantages, we wou'd beat them every time. What wo need is that our departmental officers should persistently continue to improve the average quality of the produce, aim, as they have always done, at a high ideal, and pursue those factories which are not up to the mark till by probing end investigating they lay their fingers on the weak spots and see to their removal, and also without any false modesty acquaint merchants all over the world of the high esteem in which their grade certificates are held, and of tho willingness with which local and some London merchants buy and sell hundreds of tons on that certificate alone. Let the department, through the Government, see that our produce is sold for what it is and not milled up with inferior quality, and give us a fair chance to boat the Dane on his own chosen ground.

Are We too itloiltst;

Reports that there arc unemployed at present deserve very snort shrift. Farmers in tho Taieri are offering Is on hour £or turnip-thianere, and cannot get them. They arc aJso offering 20s a" hundred for shearing sheep, and find that all the shearers have gone inland to the sheds. The turnips are overgrown and weedy consequent on the lon<r ■spell of wet weather, and more labour than usual will be necessary to overtako this portion of the season's work. If men decline Is per hour on the farm in the off-wesson, and cannot save money on that amount, they have set up a standard of living which is quite unjustifiable, and. deserve no sympathy whatever. He is not a bad thinner, if he does his work properly, who can without asidstanoo thin his quarter-acre of dirty turnips daily—thab is to say, that at~ Is per" hour his turnip-thinning will cost the farmer 32» per acre, arid that represents an increase of over 200 per cent, on current wages a few years ago, at which time a good man could make 30s per week at the job. No farmer can pay more for this class of work, and clear his rent, a'id, in addition make a living on his farm if his thinning costs him more than that. We heard last week of a demand for carriages to carry shearers from the train to the station. The next, demand will probablv be for a hot-and-cold-water installation in the men'* hut, a bathroom, acetylene gas, and tho telephone eo that on the completion of fcheiir job the men can ring up the Government agency and obiter their names for ar.otl~.er job as unemployed, and, possibly, they will not bo satisfied till they are taker, to and from their work on a motor car. It saves time, and time is money, except at 5 o'clock, when Weary Will throws down his tools like hot potatoes, and needs another car to take him home to his bath and cool his swelled head.

The Unemployed.

In the reports of the Woburn field experiments contained in the Journal of the Board of Agriculture, crops of various kinds were grown and ploughed in in order to ascertain which would have the bant effect on the. succeeding' straw crop. Tares, rape, and mustard were used, and the effect of mineral manures was compared with that of lime in each case. The succeeding crop in this case was wheat, the returns being: After tares. 14.7 bushels; after rape. 21.6 bushels; and after mustard, ploughed in, 22.3 bushels per acre. TJme proved superior to mineral manures in each case, a result which was to the depletion of lime in the soil. At Rothamst<ead for some years plots of mustard, vetches. crimson clover, a-nd rape have been used for this nurpore. The last grain crop -was in 1907, "the siroon craps were repeated for two years "duiing 1908 and 1909, and wheat was again taken in 1910, the

(I ten Man iir int.'.

yield after the various crops being as follows: Mustard, 19.6 bushels; rape, 20.8 bushels; crimson clover, 30.8 bushois; and vetches, 34.* bushels. And this was a better return than on any other plot in 1910. As in the previous trial, it is remarked that the value of the leguminous crops as a preparation for wheat was very noticeable, the yield of grain being 60 per cent, better after vetches or crimson clover than after rape ar mustaird. The yield of straw was even more favourable to the leguminous crops, and it was noticeable that on all these plots following green manuring there was none of the blight which charac terised the wheal; elsewhere.

The existing duty on wool impcited to America is at present fixed by schedule K of the l'ayne Tariff Act at what is practically a prohibitive rate, and there seems to have been some vaguo hopes that CongreAs would have dealt with the report of its Tariff Board before the holidays. Th© board recommended that some modification should ba made on the high rates charged. President Taft urged Congress to take prompt action in the matter, but it may still be eomo weeks before anything definite will bo done. How much we are interested in this matter may be gauged from the effect of the American competition at our late sales, when the American bid made each a difference to any parcels which suited them. The American people are clamorous for a reduction of the tariff, so as lo provide them with cheaper woollen clothing, while the Hock-owner and the manufacturer urge that J;he high cost of labour can only bo maintained by a high tariff wool and, in order to protect their own labour, there must be no alteration. This suggestion was turned down by the Tariff Board, which showed that the duties are greatly in excess of the difference between home and foreign production. The removal o'f this duty would make a considerable difference to the value of the wool which suited them.

American Wool Out),

In 1904-5 our exports of dairy produce represented approximately the production ot ,57.117,9201 b of butter-fat. And in 1910 this amount increased to 51,773,9581 b; but in making an estimate of the butter-fat yielded' by each of the 630,000 cattlo in the Dominion, the local consumption must be taken into account. If an allowance of 41b of butter-fat is mode for a family of five per week, that will include the butter and chr.pse vvl. and aggregates 40,160,C001b for the whole population in the course of the year. If an allowance is also made of one gallon of milk per head per week for home consumption, that will increase the amount of butterfat by 18,200,0001 b. And if these sums are a<lded together and divided by the estimated number of cows in the Dominion last year, it will be" found that the yield per cow amounts to 174.81 b, or say 1751 b, of butter-fat per annum. That serves to show the necessity for herd-testing, which has been proved over and; over again to be one of the most potent factors in drawing- close attention to the necessity for better feeding, better breeding, and better care. Herd-testing associations have long ago proved their value in Denmark and Canada, and in the former case the Danish output is more than twice as much as ours per cow. Herd-testing indicates which cattle it is desirable to breed from, and increased returns arc obtained by carefully breeding from the ascertained best, and d:soarding anything which does not come up to the standard set from year to year. Dealing with tiho subject of cow-testing. Hoards Dairyman says:—" There are a lot of agricultural paoers telling what certain cows can do by the month. Some of these.records are very good, but what most farmers want is the "cow that will show a great record for a full year. The good, all-year cow is what is wanted as a practical cow. There are too many cows that are great cows for two or three months, but not for a full year Breeding associations will do well to heed the above advice. There are too many tricks, too much of the humbug, in these short tests of a week or a month. A certain breeder that, wo know of makes it a practice to test his crack cows for a week or a month and then dries them oft, po that they will make another big test. On the strength of that humbug policy he sells the progeny of these cows for big prices. Is there any sense or reason in Biich a policv? All this testing, anyway, has for it* bottom purpose to distinguish the cow that has a strong, abiding cur. pose and temperament in her. The calf is the final consideration. How much reliance can the buyer put in a trick test of a week?"

Areraae Butter Fat per to it.

But although the Danish yield doubles ours, it does not by any nans follov,- that the anish dairyman is making vice the income that is enjoyed by the Ncp Zealand dairyman. Their absolute dependence on fodder crops summer and winter cannot he supplied without considerable expenditure, while our natural advantages are ever so much greater than theirs, and our comparative net m come is greater. But that does not absolve, our dairymen from taking such action that in a few vears the amount of butter-fat ■would compare more favourably with that of the Danes than it does at present. Several causes might operate to increase the income of the dairymen. The feeding the cows might 1>« immensely improved

by the provision of fodder crops for autumn and early spring, so- that they would be kent gointg all the year, and not require half the season to pull together after hard times in winter. Co-operation to make the most of all by-products of the dairy, and convert these after pasteurisation into bacon for export. If these were combined with universal milk-testing, the position of local dairymen could be very much improved. There is no reason at all except the want of sufficient care in breeding and feeding why cur yi< Id should not to worked up gradually in a. few years to the level of the best milking countries in the world. Professor GiLman, the Commissioner of Agriculture in Maine, United States, America, another advocate of testing associations, considers that as an cduoativo factor in the development of the dairyman, the cow-test-ing associations of that Stale are easily first. Accordingly lie is doing all in hifi power to encourage a.nd facilitate their formation. _ In a review of a year's operations he has incorporated the opinions expressed bv some of the farmers regarding the benefits derived from such organisations: "I have the value of definite knowledge concerning one's business; I have learned the value of method in conducting a dairy business; I have learned that cows vary in food requirements; I have learned that the cost to-produce a pound of milk varies widely with different cows; I have learned much conoerning methods of feeding; I have learned the analysis of feed; I have learned that protein is sometimes fed in excess; I have learned to have a genuine pride in good dairy cows; I have '.earned the importance of breeding; I have learned that breeding operations should bo carried on with intelligence; I have learned that fads have no rightful place in the breeding of dairy animals; I have learned something of the 'fact that food nutrients play in the economy of animal life and milk production." There is no doubt that the dairyman who does not know his cows decs not know where he is, and the only way to know them is bv regular, systematic resting. AGRICOLA RAISING A MOTHERLESS FOAL BY HAND. In rcplv to " Spririghcels," " Agricola " writes: —Choose the milk of a cow that has recently calved, preferably one which gives milk low in butter-fat, for mares' milk, while rich in sugar, is poor in fat. Sweeten with molasses or sugar, and dilute with warm water. Give a little of this prepared milk at short intervals from a scalded nursing bottle and largo rubber nipple. Be careful to keep the bottle and nipte scrupulously clean. Add one ounce of lime water to each pint of the prepared milk, and allow half a cupful once an hour at first. As the foa-1 grows, gradually increase the amount of milk fed, and lengthen the intervals between meals. In a few t'avs food may bo given six times a day, a.nd "later four "times daily. The foal will soon learn to drink from a pail if allowed to Buck the attendant's finger at first. Until the bowels move freely, give rectal injections night and morning. If the foal scours at any time, give two to four t.ahlesnoonfuls of a mixture of sweet, oil and pure castor oil shaken up in milk, and Stop feeding milk for two or three meals, allowing sweetened warm water and limewater instead. Let the fcal lick oatmeal as soon as it will eat, and gradually increase the amount and add wheat bran. In five or six weeks some sweet skim milk may be given, and the amount gradually increased daily until, in three months or so it may be given freely three times a dav in plaoa of new milk. The foal at this age also will be eating freely of grass. m-ain and bran. At all times supply co.d drinking water. Let the foal run out in a plot or'paddock for exorcise. Accustom it to be handled daily. Feed small quantities of nutritious food often, keeping all food utensils clean; and the foal should thrive and develop well.

Feeillmr. IT Co-op -rating. 1J fl