NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3542, 31 January 1922, Page 8

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

One of the main operations on the farm this month will be the cleaning and grubbing between the turnip drills. The hor6e-hoe should bo kept moving, and no crust, of earth allowed to form. This intercultivation, besides allowlnS. turnip roots to breathe, conserves moisture and kills the weeds. Oats cut on green side make far better feeding than “ allowed to ripen, so, too, with wheat, although in a lesser degree. The stubble should be left short and the sheaves well set up to catch the sun’s rays. See that the binder is delivering well-balanced sheaves. Provide scrub or gorse for stack bottoms. Get the hay in os soon as possible. Sec that some sort of green feed is provided for winter feeding of stock. Get things ready for liming generously this season. Potatoes are growing well. It is too lato in any ease if “blight” should happen now; but if tojis are affected later perhaps as well to bend over the tops, or fairly ripe scythe off the shaws and bum them. Don’t neglect the fouls, which ono may wean any time from now on. See that salt is provided for cattle. See that, the pigs get plenty of water, and keep them free of lice by application of kerosene emulsion or sulphur and lard. Look over the ewe lambs and mark those to be retained for the breeding flock. See that a job is made of the wether lambs and all Down crosses, and send them to the freezer. Don’t allow ticks to feed on lambs, as vermin-infested animals will ruin and waste twice the feed as a clean and restful fattening mob of lambs.

Farm Work For February,

Tile following queries were submitted to an authority by R. H. in Hoard’s Dairyman, regarding feed influence on butterfat tests, etc. The reply merits attention:—“We know that proper and sufficient feed will bring a cow to her full capacity of milk, but does the amount or nature of feed increase or decrease the percentage of butter-fat? We will say, for example, it one were to test the milk from an ordinary cow fed roughage and pasture with very little grain at any time, and found that milk to test, say, 2 per cent, or 4 per cent, as the case might be. Would a test at that time and under those conditions he an accurate test of that cow’s natural butter-fat percentage? Under more favourable conditions, would it be increased ?

Feed Influence on Test.

“Does a heifer coming in with her first calf test the full per cent, of butter-fat in her milk, or does this increase or decrease with age? That is, is a 4 per cent, heifer a 4 per cent, cow for life?” The following is the answer:—“Greatly underfed cows tend to secrete milk with a somewhat lower percentage of fat than they will when kept under normally fair conditions. This, however, applies only to cows that are practically starved. It is not the bedv of the cow or the digestive tract, but the glands of the udder which deter mine the characteristic of the milk yielded by each individual cow. “The milk of a cow will vary in test somewhat from day to day, and it may occasionally show a rather wide variation; but, take it all in all, a cow that shows a. test of 4 per cent, over a given period of time is very likely to maintain this saino ipercentage throughout the entire year, except as the test will, of course, vary according to the advance in lactation. “The general tendency of all cows is to test practically the same from the time of their first freshening to their mature age, although there seems to he a tendency r or a slight decrease after the third milking period. The daily variations in test are constant, and may be quite striking, but the average for 'the year varies slightly with most cows. There are certain cow's, of course, to whom this general rule wiil not apply but in speaking of large numbers it will work out as stated. Professor Kckles has made some very extensive investigations along this line. ITe tells us that judgment of future milk production < f a heifer is not always safe, but the percentage of fat shown in her heifer form may reasonably be considered her fat test in future years. In other words, a 2 per cent, heifer is a 2 per cent, cow for life, and a 4 per cent, heifer is a 4 per cent, cow for life.

What makes 6ome horses stand the heat of summer and hard work year after year so much better than others of the same breed and the same size? That is a question perennially bobbing up, the more so now when men are drawing the inevitable comparison between horses and tractors as efficient power pro(infers. When the sun shines hot in harvest time a farmer chafes at the time lost while suffering horses pant in the shade. When the work continues steadily throughout the season there is dissatisfaction with horses that lose flesh and strength. But there are in every collection of teams some animals whose comfort is not seriously disturbed by the heat, or whose flesh is not reduced by long-continued work. In many cases the horses which endure heat the best also maintain the best appearing condition. The Breeders’ Gazette points out that what is termed constitution is at the bottom of this endurance. The anxiety for more work from teams will drive horsemen to greater appreciation of the horse with enduring make-up. As far as indications of long wear are concerned chief interest in the past has been directed to correct- underpinning and hardness of bone. In a considerable measure the fine hair, cordy canons, and smooth joints denoting hard bone also indicate durability of ihe entire organism. Further, the organs which cope with the heat are those which maintain the supply of energy. The depth of chest is equal to half or'move than half the height of the horse. When ihese long libs are spreading in breathing there is room for a. great supply of air. There is also room for a powerful height. Such a horse in thin flesh appears tucked-up in the flank because of the removal of fat from its storage place in the tissue about the intestines. The greater the spread of hind rib, the shallower the flank is likely to appear in this condition. The deep chest and wide spring rib determine the capacity of lungs and to a large extent indicate the capacity of the digestive tract. When one studies horses with these thoughts in mind he notices that most of the good old horsea that have done an immense amount of work file year round, and can be depended on to keep up their part through a hot hardest, are of the deep-chested type.

Constitution In Horses.

In reply to an inquiry which recently appeared in the English Field, a subscriber w'rote :—“I enclose two recipes which I have used with succe&s for some years. In fact, the ham cure is a very old family recipe. Hams: Rub 4oz saltpetre into each ham, the next day pour over them, boiling hot, the following mixture:— One pound common salt, lib bay salt, 2oz saltpetre, llL> sugar, one quart old ale, one pint vinegar, 607. juniper berries brayed in a mortar. Keep in a pickle 28 days, basting, and turning every day. After being out of pickle a week, should be smoked if possible. Bacon : One pound and a-half coarse sugar. Ijib bay leaves, 6oz saltpetre, 141 b common salt. Sprinkle each flitch with salt and let blood drain off for 24- hours. Pound and mix above ingredients together arid rub it well into the meat. Turn and rub every day for cne month, each side being alternately on top. Hang it up to dry, and afterw'ards smoke it for 10 days. The cheeks are excellent pickled in the ham cure for three weeks, then hung tin to drv. AGRICOLA. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. By Acbicola. “Ajax,” Romahapa, writes to say that his ryecorn has been cut, and has come again, and is now headed. (1) Will the stuff make good chaff? (2) What stage w'ould it be best for cutting. (3) If not good for chaff what is the seed worth if thrashed? (1) and (2) Rye is nearly always grown as a green crop for spring feed, either alone or in association, and is seldom left to ripen its grain in this country. (3) Depends on the demand; in a dry season, when feed is short, rye may be worth 3s to 4s per bushel, but circumstances affect the demand.

Curing Ham and Bacon.