BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS

Taranaki Daily News, 27 October 1932, Page 12

BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS

advice to competitors

CARE OF THE CALVES AND PIGS.

THE DEHORNING OF CALVES.

(Contributed by the' South Taranaki

Agricultural •Clu'bs’ Association.)

Most dairy farmers are now agreed about the wisdom of dehorning all their stock, for when this has been done, the cows will stand much more quietly in the yard and will thus be able to produce more milk. You will easily understand this when you know that a great deal of the milk is made while the cow is being milked. The cow that stands quietly chewing her cud will give much more than she will if she has been (horned by other cows in the yard, or ■frightened by dogs, or by rough handling. The dehorning of calves should be attended to as soon after birth as possible, this being much better than sawing the horns oif after they have grown. The method is as follows: —

Use a pair of sharp scissors to clip away all hair from the base of each horn. Apply vaseline or grease of some sort to the skin around the horn, but hot to the skin covering the tip of the •horn. The use of a stick of caustic potash, keeping all except the top of the stick wrapped in paper to protect ■the hands. This is most important as -the caustic potash is very corrosive and must not be allowed to come into contact with the skin. -Slightly moisten the top of the stick in water and rub (firmly on the skin covering the tip of the horn until the skin becomes red and is about to bleed. Be very careful •not to get too much water on the caustic as it will run down on to the skin or even into the eyes of the calf. If, after five or six days, the first treatment has not been effective, give a further rubbing with the caustic. The sticks of caustic potash are obtainable from any chemist. Boys and girls are strongly advised to get assistance with this job. Do not handle the caustic potash, and put it away carefully-in a tightly corked bottle after use. REMOVAL OF EXTRA TEATS. Another job that should be attended to while the calf is still young is the removal -of ■ any extra teats! that will be in the way later . on. Many calves' have more than the required number of four teats. Often the extra teats' are placed well up on (the back of the udder, and as they will not interfere with milking, they do not need to be removed. But it sometimes happens that these small teats are growing on 1 or near the base of one of the main teats. The judges regard this as a bad fault and advise all competitors to remove such teats. When the calf is quite young this is easily d-one by clipping off the extra teats with a pair of sharp scissors and applying a little iodine to the cut. Another method is to tie a piece of thread tightly round the base of the small teat and leave it. After a time it will be found that the teat disappears. Here is a list of some of the most important things for competitors to attend to. Many of them' have been mentioned before in these notes, but they are worth reading through again to make sure that you have not forgotten anything. (1) Always handle calves quietly. p2) Always give a regular quantity of food at the same time each day. Don’t guess the quantity, measure it. (3) See that all food is sweet and fresh and about the temperature of new (4) Keep all feeding buckets and measures perfectly clean. ... (&) Bring about all changes m the kind and quantity of food gradually. (6) See that the calf has shelter from cold winds and cover the calf at nights and on cold days. (7) Get a proper halter mode for your calf anditeach it to lead. (8) Give regular attention to the (brushing of the calf but do not clip or trim its hair in any way. . [ '(9) Provide calves with an ample supply of clean water. . (10) Make a real pet of your calf and ■treat it kindly and gently at all times. (Tli) Kee-p regular records of the feeding and care of the calf, with notes on its health, etc. (12) -See that your calf has a good (clean pasture of short sweet grass. This lis -very important and we will say something more about the pasture for calves in the next notes. CARROT AND MANGOLD PLOTS. This year the supplies of seed and manure, for the carrot and mangold! ■plots have been sent out a little earner than was the case last year and all those who have given attention to the preparation of the ground at the right time will be able to make an early sowing. All competitors should have had their seed and manure by October 17, <so if it has not arrived inquiries should ■be made at once. Some of the competitors have already sown their crops and will -be getting the' full benefit of the warm rains this week. Instruction sheets for all competitorshave been sent out to the schools and great care should be taken to read these through carefully before a start is made .with sowing the crop. If there is anything in the instructions you don’t understand you should ask your teacher about it. Put the instruction sheets away carefully as they will be required again later on. Each competitor in the vegetable plots should have received the supply of manure and the instruction sheets about a week ago. You will see that the -parsnips should be put in straight -away and the carrots about the end of the month. Don’t make the mistake of putting the crops in too early. Remember that the judging does not take place until next winter and you will want your crops at their best then. If some of the crops are put in too soon they will be too old when the judging takes place. The following dates are suggested for sowing the seed: — (Parsilips, early in October. Canrots, early in November. Beetroot, about middle of November. Silver beet and swedes, early in December. CARE IN SELECTING SEEDS. In buying the seed care should be •taken to see that you get good varieties. This applies particularly to the silver beet, and in the -past-year many boys and girls grew the variety with the narrow green stalks. . This is not nearly as good as the kind that has a wide, white stalk and a dark green leaf. Remember also that the swedes should be table swedes as they are being grown for a vegetable and not for feeding the cows. Parsnip seed often has a very poor germination and unless the seed is sown thickly you may get a number of gap& jn the -rows. It is better to have some thinning to do than to be left with gaps as it is very difficult to transplant parsnips.

The entries for the vegetable plots have again come in very well and now total 83. The figures are as follow, last year’s entries also being shown;

This is a very good total and competition is sure to be keen again. Hawera has done very well with 03 entries and Norm-an'by has made .a- particularly good advance on last year. We hope that all will set out to do the best that is possible and that all will stick to the job even if things do not always go just right. Don’t give in just because you' are afraid you won’t be first. We have S 3 entries and would like to see S 3 plots judged. KEEPING THE RECORD BOOKS. Each competitor for the vegetable plot competition is required to keep an account of all the work 'that is done in the plot, and observations on the growth of the crops. These books have not been very well kept in the past and it has often happened that those with good crops have had poor record books and have not won a prize. You should all see that your records are well kept this year. A record book will be sent out to you later but you should get a notebook in which to enter your notes and these can later be copied carefully into the record book.

These are the notes you should enter up -now: Selection of site of plot, shelter, etc.; previous crops; preparation of the soil; manuring; sowing the seed; plan of the plot. Other notes will -be made later but see that you enter up the date when you do any work and a short account of the work done, i.e., keep a diary of all work in the plot. “’From 120 plots of potatoes grown in (Southland a magnificent average yield of 20 tons an acre was recorded, and in Otago, from 130 plots examined, an average of 18 tons an acre shown,” said -Air. J. H. Reed at a meeting of the' council of. the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce when instancing the value of the Agricultural Club movement. "This in itself, apart from other club ■projects, gives room for thought when the average field returns for the Dominion are from six to eight tons an acre. It may prove interesting to note that the highest yielding potato crop ■for the Dominion was grown by a ■Southland Club bpy, who grew a crop of King Edward yielding 46 -tons If) cwt an acre. The potato project alone brings- into the province some £5OO a year.” . ■ N' .. j ■ Questions addressed to Boys and Girls’ Clubs, care of the Hawera Office of the Taranaki Daily News, will be answered in this column.

1032 193'1 Havrera .. 23 1 19 Eltham. . . . .... 15 17 Manaia 10 15 Tawhiti ...... ....... 8 8 Turuturu ... o 8 3 Okaiawa ...■. 3 Normanby . ■ 10 0 Kaponga — 0 *■) Total ... ....... S3 75