NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3489, 25 January 1921, Page 10

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The first of the season's wool sales in Otago has come and gone, and growers, no doubt, breathe more freely. Certainly brokers have been cheered wonderfully by the capital prices secured for the brightest of the fine wools. line thing is clear, and that is that the average values of wool which were on such a satisfactory level during the appraisement scheme have come an undeniable thud. It is also apparent, as “Jason” points out in the Farm, official organ of the South Australian Farmers’ Co-operative Union, Ltd., that the force which is depressing prices has not yet expended its energy, and there seems to be a back kick coming that will lower the average still further. Recent sales in Australia were more or less a fiasco, possibly because owners have not yet realised the fact that the appraisement scheme is over, and that the basis of valuation employed is gone like a beautiful dream. We no lunger have a beneficent British Government order for the wool clip operating with gilt-edged limits, but are back to the days of solid commercialism, when the man• who buys our wool has got to make a profit, or he caminor come back and buy some more. Practically speaking, that's all there is io if. and the position of the buying do of ijie Lade, which lias now io find the money tor w.; oi, is something like the man in trie sung, “ . dull!' v.diore arm” If hf thinks, he does lobe., cousinly cannot say anything aboei to morrow. While all this is true, one • ".mot see. any particular reason for pessimism or gloomy prophecies of slump. Kq sane

Future o' Wool.

business man in either branch of the trade wishes to be a party to anything of the kind. lhe position just requires careful handling and patience. Realisation of this year’s clip will certainly take longer than has ever pretiously been the case, but it will give the trade a chance to get estub. lislied on a sound, if lower base, on which 'business can be done in an even How instead of spasmodically as at present. Growers might consider this fact also, that, if the present state of things is not all beer and skittles for them, neither is it champagne and trifles for the buyers, for if they cannot purchase the wool they certainly cannot earn commission.

Oi the various kinds of food which may be made use of when oouo unions are no longer favourable to the plentiful and rapid growth ot grass there is none more suitable than cut green forage. As tins is one of the same nature as grass, it undoubtedly forms the best substitute for the latter when there is a temporary shortness of teed on the pastures. It has, says Lave Stock Journal, referring to dairying in England, an excellent effect m sustaining the milk yield, being quite as good m this respect as grass itself; in fact, it proves even better in droughty weather. In feeding cut green food to dairy cows it may either be carted on to their pasture ground, being distributed in small heaps so as to afford tnem all an equal chance oi getting a share of it, or else it may be given to them vvnen they are brought in to be milked, in this connection it may be mentioned that wet brewers’ grains are also the most useful for tile purpose of supplementing the grazing wiien the latter is deficient. 1 hey exert a very stimulating effect on the milk flow, and t.jus maieriaiiy assist m keeping up a full yield. Brewers’ grains are quite often nabituailv used as an additional iood for cows on farms in the vicinity of a town, and are led irrespective ol the state ot the pastures in substitution for the more costly cake or meal. lo a small extent the quality of m.lk can be improved by judicious it-eding, but not nearly so much as it was at one time supposed, and breed and tho individual peculiarities of different animals having tar more to do with the quality of the milk produced than has the feeding. An increase of oil or fat in tile food of dairy cows does not seem to have much effect in increasing the quality or quantity ot milk. For this reason, probably, the harder pressed and cheaper oilcakes, such as compound cake, are more economical for the feeding ot dairy cows, whereas _ for fattening cattle the best results are given by cakes rich in oil, anil although these may be dearer, they are for this purpose more economical, in summer, when pasture is abundant and of good quality, cows in full milk do very well without additional food, but from 21b to 31b undecorticated cotton cake per day is often a useful condition.

Dairy Catt; Feeding.

Good harness is costly, and should be kept ju serviceable condition as long as possible. "In my barn,” writes a correspondent to American Farm -Lite, "I have a harness room sufficiently large so that the harness can be hung up m various parts, thus in case it becomes wet while m use it will the more readily dry. The custom ot hanging the harness on hooks or stakes in tno siaole is a very poor one, and when followed causes it to deteriorate rapidly. . It a proper p.aee to keep it is provided it is not necessary to clean a harness thoroughly every time it is used, but it will last much longer it alter being removed from the horse the dust and dirt is removed with a good slid brush, if it lias become muddy or badly soiled with sweat it should first be brushed and then sponged off until the 41 rlace is iree from dirt, alter which it may be rubbed with a cloth which has been moistened by a little neatsfoot oil. For the good of my harness i give it a general cleaning, and oiling about once in three months. rVi 1 tiio straps are unbuckled and laid out straight on a labie and all parts well brushed, to remove all the dirt that will come off without washing, care being taken to see that no dirt is left around the’’ stitching. If the stitching is broken or any repairs are found to be necessary 1 attend to them betore going further 'in the process of cleaning. When the harness has been thoroughly cleaned with the brush, I wash all the plain leather straps in tepid water, which is web charged with good harness soap. Then I rinse in col i water, wipe olf witli a woollen cloth, and hang all the parts up separately to surface dry. In washing, the straps are not allowed 10 remain in the water longer than is absolutely necessary, as it will injure the stitching and open the edges where the leather has been doubled. I do not put all the leather in the water at once. 1 wash one piece and dry it, and’ then take another. Patent and enamelled leather is not put into the water, but is simply rubbed well with a cloth moistened in tepid water. To do a particularly good job of oiling—one that lasts for three months under the most trying conditions —I lay out each strap on a board as soon as the surface has become drv, and apply a libeial coaling of neatsfoot oil Next apply a coat of beef tallow which is thin enough to go on with a stiff brush, then lay all the straps out on a board and allow them to dry thoroughly. If there are any red spots visible I black them, or if I wish to black the harness I do so as soon as it has become dry For red spots I touch with some vinegar black. To black it throughout I u-o 1 standard make of harness black. When thoroughly dry I remove with a rag whatever surface grease may be apparent and give it a nice polish by rubbing well with an old niece of silk. Before buckling the straps I apply with a spring bottom oil.can a little castor oil around the buckles, rings etc., and on the bolts and base of mountings. A very little oil applied at those points will prevent rust and keep the leather from becoming hard. One good cleaning and oiling, as I have mentioned, is of more value as a liarnes-.preservation than half a dozen of the iff'** T l ' A’ often pass as ‘cleaning and oiling an . t: made "the tr-nora; practice once m three month - ii will -b 1 one- of the common leaks on the farm.”

Cleaning and Oiling ilie Harness.

A enrrcsr.omVmt la a West Australian paper gives some useful 11 formai:on about mending iron, tanks and prolonging' their | usefulness. He says : “A lank with a rotten bottom but n jond top may be reconstructed by turning it ups Ido down, cutting cut the old bottom and fixing the tank in some permanent p<-iiion. m.ak’ng it immovable. F' place the old ltd-hole over a 1. ■ ::c flat hoard, which is flush with the new tank bottom and its

Rcpairin j iron Tanks.

base, and tack the edges of the lid-hole down fast on the board. Leave a few tacks half driven into the board for cement keys. Cover the lid-hole inside with water-wetted cement and solid grit. Let dry and give a fresh coat. Run a little of the same stuff around the tank edge inside. Be sure the tank bottom lies flat and solid and cannot buckle or move.” Another method mentioned makes use of boiled linseed oil and cement. I tackled five old tanks in the garden. They were ail old rubbish, but arc now, as a result of treatment, open 100-gallon tanks holding water as a reserve supply. I mixed tire boiled oil and cement rather thickly, and gave the calico patch and its proposed site a coat of the paint. I then stuck it on and smoothed it down. Occasionally while it was drying I dusted it with dry cement. I had, through force of circumstances to fill the tank before the patches were properly dry. The patches recently fell off the sides, but the bottom ones are still acting. I have the side holes plugged now until rain comes, as I cannot, this hot weather, spare the water in the tanks to repeat the patching experiment. He also had one tank (corrugated iron) with the side joint riveted all the way, but not soldered. He stopped this with a putty of boiled oil and cement, and a coat of the same applied afterwards paint-fashioned. It has answered finely, set hard, and does not leak a drop. Rubber inside and out, supported by iron washers and bolted through is a good way of mending a hole. A 2in hole in the side of a tank, where a tap had been, was repaired by fitting ft with a piece of 2in rubber pipe and then driving into that a soft wood round plug. AGRICOLA.