THE HONE PADDOCK

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3813, 25 September 1936, Page 10

THE HONE PADDOCK

HINTS FOR FARM AND HOME. A Milling Hint: When grinding barley with the grist mill at home, the output of meal can be greatly increased by mixing a small quantity of maize with the barley. The maize, being Very hard and gritty, assists the grinding of the barley and keeps the mill-stones of plates defer. Cart and Horse Unattended: — When leaving a cart and horse unattended it is a good plan to pass the reins back over the lamp bracket and make them fast to the front part of the wheel. If the animal starts to move away it is immediately pulled back. To Renew a Barn Shovel:—When the barn shovel is very much worn .a new lease of life can be given to it if one rivets la stout piece of sheet inon along the bottom, making the shovel again as good as new. A Hen Rouse Hint:—An old turniphoe with its shaft sawn off to about 3 feet, is an excellent tool for cleaning the dropping-boards of the poultry house daily. Spray as Bellows:—When a handspray is broken, so that it cannot be used for creosote or spraying liquids, it will be found very useful as a fire bellows. Pegs for Wire Netting: When making wire netting runs for poultry, try pegging the Wire into the ground with metal skewers. These can be opened sufficiently to hold the wire, then hammered into the ground. An Incubating Hint:—Many farmers’ wives have two or more incubators to look lafter, and find that to turn each egg separately twice a day takes up a lot of time. The following method takes only a few minutes to each incubator and has proved itself with good results. Instead of turning each egg separately, take two rows of eggs from the centre of the tray. Then gently roll the other eggs to the centre of the tray with the palms of the hands. Replace the eggs taken from the centre round the outside of the tray. The eggs are all then in a different position at each turning. To Fix Handles:—Whether knives, choppers or any kind of tool with a rnetal portion fitting into the wood. Fill the cavity of the wood with powdered resin. Heat the metal shaft and quickly insert into the cavity, pressing it firmly home. Leave, until quite cold before attempting to use it again. If this repfeir is properly executed you will never have trouble with’that tool again— it is so secure. Proofing Boots:—Before wearing pew boots stand them in linseed oil half-way up the, soles and leave them all night, then take them out and leave them to dry two days. Vaseline rubbed into boots occasionally will prevent them getting stiff and cracked. Never dry boots against a fire but fill them with hot bran and leave all night. A Good Use for Spare Carbide:— Used carbide from acetylene lamps, mixed to a creamy paste, with water is an ideal Whitener for doorsteps, etc. It will last far longer than ordinary whitening. Saving Cream:—After separating milk it is the usual practice to put warm water through the separaror to wash it out. This means the loss of the cream in small separators of at least the last I gal. of milk put through, and in larger machines even more. If before putting the water through, a half-gallon of the already separated milk is put through (more if larger machines) this cream will be saved. On washing the separator the plates will be found free from cream and the washing of the machines done in half the time.

To Prevent Planks Cracking:— Newly sawn planks are apt to crack especially in warm weather if not well seasoned. To prevent this, nail a piece of board on each end of the plank and leave it on until the plank is well seasoned.

POULTRY. GROWING GOSLINGS. The coop in which young goslings are to be reared should be comfortably roomy—about 2ft square Is a reasonable size. The front should be covered with wire netting, and if there is any fear of rats the floor should be of the same material. Otherwise there is no need of a floor at all. Do not transfer the goslings to the coop until they are quite dry and able to walk strongly. A broody hen can manage 5 or 6 goslings, and although she may be permitted to roam with the youngsters after a day or two it is as well to confine her activities with netting for a while, in case she walks them too far. One or two hens should always be run with growing goslings. They keep away all sorts of dangerous animals, such as stray cats, etc., and prevent the babies from straying too far from the main flock. Do not'allow goslings to get wet until they are well able to stand up to it. Damp ground and early swimming are the causes of many a mysterious disease outbreak. Soaked biscuit meal is a very good feed for goslings during the first few weeks. At two weeks old they can have cracked wheat. Give them plenty of room to graze. A gosling will eat an astonishing quantity of grass, and if this has a sprinkling of clover in it, the amount of prepared food required will be considerably lessened. Goslings do not, as a' rule, require

more than two weeks’ brooding. After this, they can be all run together, allowing about 10 to a coop 2ft square. I.ow houses, such as are used for ducks, will hold a lot of goslings comfortably. Even at this age it is still advisable to run one or two hens with the goslings as a protection, and to keep them together. It must be remembered that geese cannot be reared intensively ar.d must be got out on to grass as soon as possible. The utmost cleanliness must be observed at all times, peat moss or chaff being used as litter—not straw or hay. Be careful to see that none of the goslings get over on their backs. Once in such a position they find it extremely difficult tq get up again, especially if there are several others running about and knocking them over all the time. PIGS. OPEN AIR PIG KEEPING. On poor soils, where the growing of roots, etc, is uneconomic, it is well worth turning attention to the pig as a machine for converting low priced wholesome meals and grass into bacon. It is generally argued that the best breeding results are obtained by running sows and litters out at grass, and so wonderful is the transformation of poor land when it has been grazed by pigs that the possibilities of the pig spending its whole life out in the open should be given more attention. The system reduces housing costs and minimises the consumption of meal without the use of expensive ingredients in the rations. Careful planning of the lay out is necessary and 'where large numbers of sows are kept it is important to have the newly weaned sows turned into a grass pen within easy reach- of the boars. It is wise to have a strongly fenced enclosure about one-eighth of an acre in area in front of every three boar pens. The sow to be served is turned into the enclosure and the selected boar let out to her. With 12 boars and four serving pens four sows can be dealt with at once, thereby saving much time. By repeating with fresh boars, 12 sows can be served in 40 minutes, without difficulty. After service sows are turned into pens, where they stay for three weeks, being fed on raw potatoes, catch crops and a little meal rich in protein. Any sows which come over are served again, but all those appearing -to be in pig are transferred to a second range of pens. After six weeks in pig, the sows may be taken to the farthest point on the farm and only visited once daily, when they should be given an allowance of 11b to 21bs per head, depending on the herbage available. On a potato growing farm an allowance of a stone of chat potatoes per sow may lie fed daily, but it is a wise precution even to feed a little meal rich in protein in the form of beans or soya bean. A load of chalf, if available, may be shot in the pens, to enable the sows to get what lime they want. As a further precaution against deficiency, lime and salt should be included in the meal feed. Plenty of water must be available for drinking.

REPAIRS. WIRE FOR FENCES. Barbed wire should be four point and of reliable manufacture, and where plain wire is also used it should not be of less than No. 6 gauge. All wire must be strained tightly and firmly secured, and for this purpose galvanised straining bolts, or winch type strainers, are exceedingly useful. The kind of wire and number of strands to be used will depend upon the livestock to be fenced in. If it is desired to fence only against cattle, three strands will generally be sufficient. In this case the top strand should be from 3ft Bins to 4ft above ground level, with the other two strands 12in and 24in below the top one. Fences for cattle and sheep may be provided by standards 4ft above ground with seven strands of wire about the following distances from the top: 2in, 12in, 21 in, 30in, 35in, 40 in and 45in. This type of fence is often erected with two strands of barb wire at the top and five strands of plain or strand wire underneath. During the last few years the woven wire fence, with one or two strands of barbed wire, has become very popular. In this case a slightly higher initial outlay is incurred, but the result is a fence which will keep in all kinds of animals.