SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3029, 3 April 1912, Page 19

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

(From Our Owr Correspondent.) It is pleasant to record an improvement in the weather. Perhaps it is T.'ie Wen her too early to crow, but a ami steady barometer would inT.ie Farm. dicate that a spell of good weather may now bo looked for. There is still a deal of harvesting to be done, but a couple of weeks of good weather will see the bulk of the cat crop in stack. Some of it has, however, been cut for a month or five weeks, and has commenced to grow at the bands. This class of stuff will take some drying, but it is astonishing what a few drying days will do, even at this late season of the year. Mills are working fairly steady, a difficulty is experienced in securing sufficient hands to man the mills. A shilling an hour is being paid, but men do not evince any special desire to rush the work at that ligure. The farmers in the South Hillend district refused point-blank to pay Is per hour, and they banded themselves together for the purpose of resisting the demands of the men. They signed a bond undertaking to forfeit a substantial sum individually in the event of their paying more than tenpence per hour. Needless to say, the men have not yet capitulated', nor are they likely to do so. In discussing tho position with a well-known Western Uistrict millowner, who is also a farmer on a large scale, ho very properly felt highly indignant at tho action of the South ii illend farmers. He considered that a shilling an hour was small enough remuneration for the men who follow tho threshing mill, and that unquestionably is the opinion of everyone I have spoken to on the subject. Doubtless the South lJilli;nd farmers who signed the bond have already seen the error of their ways, and are probably sorry at the high-handed action they adopted.

Ho has a peculiarly-constituted mind that considers the plant-food content of the soil inox- • haustible. Such a conviction is manifestly not founded on reason, nor supported by theory. But there are farmers who conduct their business on the assumption that the soil is a bank, the deposits of which are maintained by unaided Nature. There a.re systems of farming in vogue which recklessly ignore the most important principles of rational agriculture, and flagrantly violate the laws of Nature. They persisted, by virtue of the great supply 0 f plant-food winch the chemistry of ages formed in the soil. On this source of wealth too many imprudent colonial farmers have drawn with lavish hand, and although in some purls of the country Nature has rebelled, the soil was so generously dealt with in the constructive period that its tillers continue sapping it, and yet tho decrease in production has not been pronounced enough to convict them of their robbery in their own eyes. That system of farming which constantly takes and never gives is the most, pernicious. It is the greedy man's method of abusing Nature's bounties for pecuniary loss. It saddles a debt on posterity. Sensible farming gives and takes. Its followers have a reciprocity treaty with the soil, utilising its wealth but always making commensurate reimbursements. The grain farmer who boastfully presents an array of figures in proof of his theory, that under his system the soil becomes more productive, or at least does not appreciably deteriorate, is a leccn-hke weed in the great field of agri- I culture. If practical experience and the experiments of scientists on two continents have demonstrated anything it is that grain crops cannot successively b;: grown on" the same land without gradually impoverishing it. Whether an individual's experience conforms to this diction or for a little while seems to refute it docs not matter; time will invariably prove its correctness. If balanced rations are desirable for stockfeeding purposes they are equally desirable for feeding the soil. A balanced food for the lain! combines animal husbandry and agronomy in harmonious proportions! and while exclusive grain farmers may, through the marvellous richness of (heir land, realise profits for years, in so doing they infest : paths of their children with thorns. And, for what do men live?

Auu*o of Nature's Bonn I its.

The analysis of kan moat and of skimmilk for poultry avo >o near Skhii-milk alike in their proportion of For I'oultijr. protein and carbohydrates when reduced to the dry matter contents that there should be no hesitation in using it with perfect sa.ti.sfac-

tion in feeding young chickens and for laying fowls. Yet it is not a perfect substitute for flesh food as meat is when there are no insects for them to feed upon. The percentago of water—about 90 per cent. — makes it impossible for the hen to eat enough of it to fully take the place of meat. It is good when there are also some insects to add to it, and if gram mashes are mixed with it, it makes meatfeeding less important. A good plan is to scald and curdle the milk, press out the water as whey, and make what is called cottage cheese. Tho fowls eat this greedily, but doubtless soino of the value of the milk is lost in. the whey. Still, I believe that if properly mixed with grain, a gallon of skim-milk may be used as profitably in the poultry yard as in feeding calves or pigs.

When considering; a horse's points no practical -.man will began 'to judge from the top. It is true that a horse with a taking head and general appearance is certain to attract anyone; but. if upon the examination of his feet and legs it is seen that he haa not sufficient bono to carry him, however good his other points are, he is useless not only for carrying weight, but for standing much hard work of any sort. This principle applies to all classes of horses alike. The draught horse requires sound, strong " under-pinnirig" to carry his massive weight and successfully move heavy loads. The massive leg, however, is not always indicative of strength of bono. Commonly we hear of "flat bone" in a horse's leg; but theio is no such thing in any breed; but " flat," as applied to the appearance of the leg, is correct, and the desirable shape in all cases. The appearance of a round, meaty leg does not so much bespeak inherent lack of strength as it does undesirable attributes that, generally accompany this typo, such as grease, lymphangitis, and other diseases of plegmatic horse. Breed for the flat-appearing leg, for the reason that the bones of such horses are "flinty'' in quality, hard 1 as gun-molal, and accompanied by well-developed, plainly-seen tendons, and in draught horses by a fringe of long, silky hair springing from the back portion of the leg; whereas in coarse-bred, sluggish horses tho " feather," so called, is likely to stick out all round the log, and in quality is about as silky as the stufling of an old-fashioned sofa. Choose the breeding horse that h;i3 big, sound joints and 1 well-developed, flat legs that properly bear his weight. See that ho shows the soles of his shoes plainly as he trots away, and it may be taken for granted that his temperament is desirable.

breeding For lldiip.