NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3455, 1 June 1920, Page 10

NOT ES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Possibly more rain is required in places, as the land which should be

Farm Work for June.

ploughed is still hard, but every endeavour should be

made to turn up as many furrows as possible to the beneficial action of winter atmospheric conditions. Stiff furrows will benefit in a marvellous manner. Some feeding off of early-sown autumn cereals may well ba possible this month. Liming, and the lifting of all potatoes will suggest themselves, while the securing of potatoes intended for seed purposes should not be neglected. The sprouting of same in boxes should be considered. Mangles can be nulled and stored whenever the lower loaves begin to turn, while the saving of swedes on the farm will prove a uspful work when the early lambs appeal". The advantage of chain-harrowing the grass paddocks are obvious, and so scatter the droppines, the best time being after rain. All drains should be attended to arid shelter sheds made secure, all plantations cleaned up and tidied. The planting of shelter trees this month may well be taken in hand. See that all rubbish is burnt, and the farm tidied up generally. Don't neglect the harness, but clean it up and dress with nentsfoot oil, and sort over all the implements as time permits. All stock require attention, the working horses, young and "old

animals, should got some extra feeding from now on, and see that the latter have time to eat their food. Attend to the ewe flock and handle any lame sheep and doctor them. Alter the rams have been out eight weeks they may well be mustered, as it is no economy to drag on the lamb-* ing season indefinitely.' See that the pigsties are well strawed, and kept clean and dry. Peed all milkers generously, and attend to their body warmth by sheltering, housing, or rugging, as seems best, and so avoid wasting foodstuffs. •>

When not in actual use farm machinery with any woodwork in their

Care of Farm Machinery.

construction should be under cover. If fowls are allowed

to run at large, the front of the implement building should be netted off. All carts and woodwork may well be painted once in, say, three years, and all leather work receive a good dressing of neatsfoot oil. All nuts on machines should be screwed up tightly, and double-nutted if there is a chance of them coming off. During winter, and when work.is slack owing to rains, good use can be made of one's time by attending to all the implements on the farm and overhauling all the harness, etc.

The early signs of debility in farm stock are lack of spirit, amounting at

Animals that are "Run Down."

times to positive languor. Shortness of breath, tiring with the slightest of work,

dilating nostrils when hurried, etc., are sure signs that something is wrong with the, horse. As put by one who professes to know:—"ln the stable the debilitated animal stands with lowered head, and ears; that are more or less, indifferent to familiar sounds such as the opening of the corn-bin and the rattle of the sieve. He probably does not take his ■ fill of water, but turnsaway with a sigh as if it were too much trouble to empty the bucket. If his flank is watched it will be -seen that his breathing is shallow; that is to say, he does not take a deep breath inflating his lungs to. the full and expiring nearly all the air in his lungs. There is a large amount of residual air left, and this fails to properly aerate his blood, and so he yawns or sigh 3 as men do when shut up in hot rooms. The pulse in debility is quick and feeble in its impression on fcha finger and sometimes difficult to feel without considerable compression on the angle of the jaw of the horse, under the tail of the. beast, or inside sthe thigh of the pig or dog (femoral artery). The membranes are easily seen by anyone who will turn back the eyelid. _ These look pale, and perhaps leaden, certainly not the salmon colour of the bright and cheerful animal in health nor the turgid appearance of fever. In the sheep a swelling under the tongue, between the branches of the lower jaw, often precedes the pot belly which is so commonly recognised as the sign of fluke when the infested animal has arrived at the debility stage. If arising from want of sufficient nourishment, the remedy is obvious. The addition of a greater amount of food or a richer ration may be helped by digestive tonics such as salt, iron, and'the bitter vegetable barks and roots. It should., however, be ascertained before resorting to tonics if the patient is being robbed of nutrition by the presence of worms. The evacuations should be carefully watched, especially for those minute strongles which do so much harm, but are so insignificant in appearance that they are not observed until too late. The dung in the case of colts and sheep in particular should be daily broken up and carefully examined for slender threads 1-Sin long, or for segmentsof tapeworm. If these are discovered, a course of worm medicine should precede the tonics unless they can be combined. When, the blood of debilitated subjects is microscopically examined and chemically tested it is found wanting in certain elements, and of these iron and chloride of sodium, are the chief. These, then, are the chief remedies for debility. They are both cheap, and most' animals will take them in food made damp enough for the drugs to adhere to them.

Experiments at _ Rotharnstead, conducted quite recently, are .of in-

Some Interesting Home Notes.

terest. The necessity for the presence of lime, if a, good clover plant is to be

obtained, is insisted upon. There is still time to apply lime in some form, and effectively neutralise that soil acidity deterring generous clover growth;. A correspondent asks whether swedes can be sown on the same land year after year. At one time 15 successive crops were raised on the Barnfield at Rothamsted. The chief trouble seems to be the flea-beetle. Mr G. ScottRobertson, in Essex, England,' has just published his results on the effect of basio slag on grass land. He found that, broadly speaking, the high-grade slag is, on _ the whole, the best material to use, but it isapproached very closely by the lower-grade slags, especially when these are used at a rate to ensure the application of sufficient phosphoric acid per acre. Perhaps the most striking feature of the result is the fact that the slag has acted well on the grass land in spite of the prevailing dryness. The rainfall is low, the soils are not wet, and yet the slag has proved effective. A further interesting result is that finelyground mineral phosphate gives satisfactory results on grass land, and can be used if slao- proves unobtainable. Although it la notT usual to apply slag as late as this in England, farmers would do well to examine then- grass land during the season, and ascertain whether they should not apply slag early next autumn.

ANSWERS TO .CORRESPONDENTS. By Agricola. "Straw Stacks," Pembroke, wishes to know the most economical and satisfactory way to use molasses with oaten straw and rough hay for the purpose of making the stuff more palatable for cattle. Molasses should be used with caution or digestive troubles may happen. If diluted with warm water and " sprinkled on foodstuff immediately before feeding, probably one gets the best results. It is rather a stimulant; than of value as a food. The treacle might be put in a watering can and hot water poured over it (about equal quantities). Then damp the straw with hot mixture and turn it a few times. Some people favour leaving it overnight to heat a bit. It is a laxative, ard it would be" wise to have a salt lick of some sort nearby. Safe, I would say, to use not more than, say, lib molasses to some 501 b roughage. Perhaps some reader with more experience than the writer will communicate their views on the matter.

"C. H. W.j Lome South," writes, inter alie:— "Could you tell me the period that

should elapso when herd-testing and noting the quantity of milk, butter-fat? What is a fair test for a heifer per season? lam using- an Ayrshire bull on some Shorthorn cows with a good test, and purpose fattening oft* the poor yielders. Two of rny Friesians are the lowest-testing cows in the herd. One heifer, about two years old, has given 18101 b milk with an average test of 3.85, and another heifer 4325!b with a test of 4.12 for the past .seven months, and still milking twice daily."—The period understood .when herd-testing is usually the milking season, or till cow goes dry. A very fair test for a heifer might be put at, say, 1701 b butter-fat for the year. You appear to be working oh sound lines. The Friemans not infrequently test rather a low average, but at the end of the milking period have often yielded such a lot of milk that their total butter-fat bulks away in the van.

"Farmer," Otago Central, asks whether lupins are of any value as a fodder plant to graze or cut for hay, or only of worth as a green manure. In some countries lupins are used at a certain stage for feeding sheep, but, personally, I would not recommend them, "except for green manuring on light or sandy areas. On the Continent it is a custom to roll the crop when just in flower, and then plough it in and take a cereal crop of potatoes. The juice of the lupin is bitter, and stock do not at first oare to eat the plant, while pigs will have none of it. No, I think you had better look upon lupins as a means of adding to the soil so much organic matter.