NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3661, 13 May 1924, Page 12

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

-he second instalment of Messrs Tennent and Mark's excellent articles upon irrigation, as affecting lands in Central „ , , , Otago, appears in the April number ot the l\ew Zealand Journal of ftgiiculture. The authors are still breaking ground, as it were, in an endeavour to acquaint Central irrigationists with some of ’f, Practical and scientific, which T u ! " i? handle water in quantities Z, k , t Wn n. T Nauire - 11 is essential, of tii & ’t * a Y u , sers °f water should realise t n.Jib!®' 1 ! 111 ‘u rm pi . irrigating soils coni' P n d that their knowledge of the oTa 1 hrns (,t f T y - be> Chemical "*5 physical ?s uo to I^ e,r rt i. culai irrigated lands Possessed bv te ‘f Sudl information as is to tho b Y t few lrl ''gationists should be ° f . a ?¥°no "ho contemplates v , di, * ** s neighbours with the immense result of Y°r UCC per acre ‘‘kely as the result of judicious watering. Elsewhere inbi U rtiH CS ° f • acres have been ruined by injudicious irrigation, and in the Central “Yu ls ah ;pfdy evidence of alkali and a wevd giowrh due entirely to using too “ Tr , 11 * to stop this 'misuse of atei that these articles of instruction and Tm,Y?I,V n /.°, mo i' e , Particularly directed. uned.n City is looking forward to greatly increased production from her inland country, anc. welcomes the experts’ efforts to dd.use mforniahon pertaining to irrift‘on in the Central. Ihe Department of Agriculture will have to do more, however Turn issue instructions through its journal! it will require, and that soon, an expert who is able to give personal instruction on lndiviaual farms—one who knows what no is talking about.

livlgation in Central Otago.

The imminence of the Otago A. and P. Society’s Winter Show presupposes that every settler interested in the progress , . province will turn his thoughts and footsteps Dunedin-way, and roll up in full strength. Not everyone can win a prize, but all can learn something worth while if interested in the trend of modern agriculture. It is unfortunate that the course of instructional lectures, as carried out so successfully last year by the department of Agriculture, is held a few days before the actual Winter Show, and that time and place of meeting are not in contiguity; but that no doubt will come when the society realises the scope and importance of combining show exhibits from farm and station with instruction classes, and builds. In the meantime Instructor K. B. Tennent, N.D.D., of the Department of Agriculture, has in hand a similar busy instructive farm course as held last winter, tie says, inter alia, in a memo, to hand that “it is again proposed to hold a course of instruction in the Dunedin Technical College from May 26 to 31 (inclusive), and it is hoped to have a large number of farmers in attendance. T.he course takes the form of lectures by qualified professional men in the mornings, demonstrations of stock and visits to places of interest m the afternoons, and in the evenings popular lectures open to the general public will be given. A course of this nature is of inestimable value to the farming community, arid, quite apart from the instruction and advice obtained thereat, an excellent opportunity is afforded the farmers of meeting in social intercourse. The whole course of instruction is free of charge, and we earnestly advocate your attendance at it-” Anyone who intends to be present is requested to communicate with the instructor, who will forward full particulars and a syllabus of the proposed lectures for the information and guidance of applicants.

Lecturettes for Farmers.

The foal cannot be taught too early that inan is not a savage enemy. If tied up for half an hour a day, and “gentled” (ie., passing the hands all over legs and body) it soon becomes amenable. A command in an even tone of voice should accompany each action. A swift movement of hand or foot may give a nervous animal the jumps for a long time, and may even cause it to “land out” or bite from the mere instinct of self-preservation. It may be necessary to return time after time to get a horse to perform some necessary act of training. If it can be accomplished without resorting to force, the training will be all the better. Lunging—that is, attaching a long rope to the headstall and making the horse circle round his instructor for 20 minutes or so —soon exhausts the animal, when a lot can be done that he would otherwise refuse. When harnessed, it is best to get a horse thoroughly used to the feel of things before attaching a vehicle of any sort. In winter, an unintentional cruelty is often practised by the insertion of an icy-cold metal bit into a horse’s mouth. A cold saddle or even harness will often make an otherwise quiet animal jump about. A horse loses half its power for refractoriness if made to stand on three legs. A foreleg can be flexed and held up, and may even bo secured with a. rein, but the latter must then admit of beiinr speedily undone, or a cut knee can easily result. Every horse should he trained to lift a foot without the use of force. For raising forelegs, face the horse shoulder to shoulder. Run the nearer hand down and grasp the leg at the back just above the knee. Lever backwards with the elbow, which will make the animal put his weight on the other leg; the other hand can now easily lift the leg by the foot. The nearer you are once you have grasped a hind leg the less chance there is of being kicked. Jerking a horse in the mouth to make it increase its pace cannot be too strongly deplored. A horse does not seem to be able to focus an object presented quickly to him close in front, and will snort and rear at a most trivial object. Shying is often due to bad eyesight; occasionally it is sheer high spirits, but usually fear of some unfamiliar or alarming obieet causes it. It is therefore the height of stupidity to thrash a horse for shying. It may lie a harmless enough thing to rider or driver, but truly terrifying to his horse. To thrash lu'm but accentuates the terror and strengthens him in his first impression. Induce him to approach the object, dismounting if necessary. It will usually be far from waste of time to spend a quarter of an hour familiarising him with it. If it is defective eyesight, the only remedy is to pass slowly or chance the shy on a safe road.

Handling the Horse.

Some of the stock and station agents sell a lick for stock which is in handy blocks. Failing success, it might be useful to make up the following i One bag of salt. 151 b of sulphate of iron, 251 b of slaked lime, and 15lb of sulphur

Two gallons of water will suffice to dissolve the sulphate in water before mixing the lot together. This mixture contains all that sheep need in the way of licit. An added advantage is that when mixed by yourself it is cheap. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. By Agricola. ‘‘Blueskinite,” Wellington, sends a grub which he found when cleaning out the stable, and desires a name for the pest and how to eradicate it. It would be sheer guessing to attempt to name the specimen sent in its present form, which appears to be the chrysalis (or pupa) state of one of the bigger flies. It will not probably hatch out until after the winter (the time is indeterminate), and until then the species cannot be determined. It might be the chrysalis of the blow’ fly or the horse bot fly. but I think too large for the latter. When hatched out will report further on the matter. “L. F. 5.,” Otago, desires a good, allround salt lick for stock. See note under “Rural Topics.” “Trapper,” Glencoe, writes as follows: “ Please advise mo as to the proper quantities of strychnine to use for poisoning labbits. I have been fairly successful w’ith large quantities, but am not sure as to how much for, say, I.lb or lib of feed. I have been feeding on both turnips and carrots, but they take the carrots best; also how would you mix the strychnine with the feed?”—Twelve pounds of carrotsor turnips, finely chopped, will take loz of strychnine, finely ground. Sprinkle over this, also, about £lb of white sugar, _ and allow it to soak some four hours. Sprinkle a little at a time over the carrots until all is used up, stirring after each addition of poison.- Then add Jib of icing sugar to cover the taste of the strychnine, and allow the carrots to stand for two hours before laying bait as when free feeding. (See notes under “ Rural Topics ” in next week’s issue for further information anent “ brer rabbit.”) A cow straying on the Main South road near Oaonui met a voilent death a few days ago (states the Greymouth Star). It jumped from a bank and alighted directly in front of a motor bus, the speed of which was estimated by a passenger to be more than 30 miles an hour. Fortunately, the vehicle was not thrown out of control, and the cow was the worst sufferer, being so severely injured that it had to be destroyed.

Lick foi' Stock.