NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3613, 12 June 1923, Page 12

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

ihe happenings of any moment of last week in Otago revolved "Our around the Winter Show, Silo.” and in increased amount of educative agricultural a ” ( ’ pastoral information must have been absorbed by those interested in matters pertaining to production and the land generally. No feature at the Show, perhaps, was more impressive than the wool and cheese sections, the latter, indeed, is responsible for the following reprint from the N.B. Agriculturalist as a contribution in aid of increased production by dairv cows: j j My poem ain’t long, And it isn’t a song, 'io read it won’t do you much harm: Just take the hint quick, Discard the hay-rick, Put a “Silo on every Farm.” When it comes to your door You build right from the floor, It s easy as singing a psalm; It s all t-ongue and groove, And it s easy to move The “Silo on every Farm.” When you’ve finished to build, And you have it well filled, It s a tower of strength to your farta And the cattle with glee Will come far to see A “Silo on every Farm." There’s the horses, the cow, Don’t forget the old sow, Silage for all has a charm; And Ned with a bray Says, “It X had my way I d have a Silo on every Farm.” Conte rain, hail, or snow, Let wintry winds blow, Your feeding is safe—so bt calm ; het this be your motto, Your watchword, your guide, A “Silo on every Farm.” Ti.ir v. , ~ —J- **• Jackson. Ballievey, Banbmdge, Ireland. Wether is one of many interesting words applied to sheep to denote a ™ ls particular sex, and at times, wether? ~, some districts, their age. ■lho old flock masters were not content to adopt the usage of the breeders of horses, who were able to satisfactorily designate says a writer in Live .°i " ourna ■ The members of their studs by referring to them as one. two, three (and so on) year-old colts, fillies or ge dings I rue, ever the horsemasters spoke of stage,” “rigs,” “mares,” “three - ,‘? orn:, ig four,” but. they bad the wealth of confusing terminology which belongs to the shepherd. He even had his own pecuhar table for counting (or “scornig ) his flock. It i s interesting to glance “? e glossary compilers in various parts of England in connection with the word ‘ wether.” Peacock, in his “Lines Words,” says: “V\ ether: a young female sheep; wether-hog, a young male sheep; also a ®” rnarn ) e -" Brockett, in “North Country Words, renders the term “wedder,” and says; “A male sheep after the second shearing. From the Sfu.xon weder.” ‘‘Berkshire Words and Phrases” says; “This word has similar significance to that given in other countries, except that young wethers of the first, year, when set aside to fatten, are called hoggets.” Other authorities on local words says that a wether is a male sheep (castrated) of a year old. Mr W. J. Young, F.R.C.V.S., has gone very thoroughly into the terminology thus:

B:rth to weaning (uneastrated): Wedder lamp, tup lamb, pur lamb, heeder: (castrated), hogg lamb. Females (as above): Ewe lamb, gimmer lamb, chilver. A sheep till weaning is a lamb. Weaning to first shearing hogg, hoggeit, hoggerel, tup teg, lamb hogg, tup hogg’ teg. Castrated (as above): Wether hogg, he teg. females (as above): Gimmer hogg, ewe hogg, Sheedcr ewe, ewe teg. First to second shearing: Shearing (or ling), shear hogg, diamond ram, Dinmont ram, tup, one-shear tup. Castrated (as above): Shearing wether, shear hogg, wether hogg, two-toothed hogg. Females: Shearing ewe, shearing gimmer, theave, double-toothed ewe or gimmer. After this the males are known by the number of shears, whilst those castrated are two-toothed wethers,” “four-toothed wethers.” Morris, in his “Yorkshire (and Other) Reminiscences,” says (p. 185): “Our judges on the Northern circuit were often at. a loss to understand what was said in evidence by our country folk. ‘Aye,’ he replied, ‘that was like t’aud shipperd upo’ d jury. They were on aboot sheep, an’ they gav’t in wrung. They said it, wer’ a wether shearing, an’ it wer’ nobbut a last year’s lamb. An* seea t’aud shipperd tell’d ’em aboot it, an’ said ’at they’d a’e ti be mair nialindful; for there’d mebbe nut be an ail’d shipperd amang ’em t’next talnn.”

'lhe “bell-wether,” of course, was the old sheep in the flock which led the others, kept to its own leaf or stray, and let the shepherd know where the flock was in darkness or storm.

Professor M. Diicomet, of Grignon, as his conclusion from a long study Leaf Curl of leaf curl of potato, is ot Potatoes. opposed to the universally common practice of changing the seed. He states that Mons. Ch. Riviere has grown the same varieties of potatoes in the Jura for over 25 years, without renewing the seed, and the only result was a pathological deterioration varying with the season," but no physiological deterioration. To prove that degeneration in the exact sense of the word does not take place, it. is advanced by Professor Ducomet that when the potato is planted further north it immediately regains its normal character. This is proved from the fact that when potatoes are grown in North Africa as an early crop, the seed potatoes from that crop degenerate, and can no longer be used after the third year. The same is the ease in the Canary

Islands, where seed potatoes are imported from England. For anyone who has good average vision judging the fineness jf wool The Fineness is no more difficult than of Wool. judging the size of trees (says J. A. Hill. University of Wyoming). Both are a matter of practice. and based on comparisons with known standards of size. Who could say that a given tree was five inches or seven inches in diameter if he had never measured a tree? Xo more can one say whether a fibre is five ten-thousandths or seven tenthousandths of an inch in diameter if lie has neither measured a fibre nor seen one measured. There are many vocations which require a keen discrimination of the size of woll fibres. Thoso who deal in wool, either as buyers or sellers, and those who grade and sort wool, largely depend for their success upon a trained discrimination of fineness. Xo one can hope to attain more than a fair success with sheep if he is not able to distinguish <legre.es of the fineness of wool fibre with accuracy. llow can a man judge the uniformity of a fleece, if all wool fibres seem to be about the same size? How can ho tell whether the wool on a sheep is too fine or too course for its breed, and when he comes to sell his wool, how is he to have any idea of the grade that he is selling. At the University of Wyoming we have found that the best instrument for measuring wool fibres, when the object is to impress their relative size upon the senses, is a micrometer caliper, graduated to tenthousandths of an inch. The only we use is the ordinary kind, made for machinists. The instrument we use is supplied with a ratchet stop. The caliper is a much better instrument for teaching a discrimination of fineness than a micrometer attached to a microscope. To be sure, it is less accurate than the micrometer; yet it is accurate enough for this particular purpose. The main advantage is that the student, has the fibre right before his eyes and in his fingers at the same time the caliper registers its size. AGRICOLA.