PASTURE AND PADDOCK.

Thames Star, Volume LXII, Issue 17449, 11 October 1928, Page 5

PASTURE AND PADDOCK.

INFORMATION FOR FARMERS.

COMMENTS ON LAND,

NOTES AND “SKIMMINGS”

A good sheep drench is made this way. Hoi! in a quart of water for abcut half an hour lez. of arsenic. Add to this 2oz. carbonate of soda, with water to make the whole up to two gallons. Strain the mixture and pour off the dear fi it rate. This drench should he given in the following doses : Grown sheep. 20d.; woaners. 150 z.; and lambs, loz.

Some horse-breakers work the youngster for too long a stretch. It’s cruelty to have the beast drag a weighty log around for the greater part of the day. Don’t select a mate that throws up its head, for this is the first vice that the youngster will pick up. Watch his shoulders from the beginning ; dash sumo cold water on them after un- >•

harnessing for the first few days, and add a little salt to toughten the skin.

Despite a prevalent belief that apples ted to milking cows will dry up the milk supply, we have for several years fed .windfall and rejected apples to our herd for at least four months of the year. The apples supplemented the dry grass and chaff which would otherwise be their only fare at that season and. instead of lessening, we find they maintain and even slightly increase the milk yield. The cows soon acquire a taste for the apples-, hut early in the season, when the fruit is not fully matured, it is necessary to feed with caution.

Tt very often happens that a drench-ing-bit is not available, Tn that case put a halter on the horse, and over a beam or limb of a tree about 7ft. or Bft. from the ground throw a strong rope, with a non-slip loon about 24in. in circumference at the end. Pass the loop under the nose-hand of the halter, over the nose into the horse’s mouth. Then pull his head up until it is a little higher than his wither. Now hold the free end of the rope in one hand, liecause if the horse fights much he may do himself an injury if the rope is secured. The dose should lie already, he in a bottle, to which",, should be fixed about Gin. or. Sin. of rubber hose. If {lie horse bites on this, no harm will lie done. ?Cow put the hose in his mouth and pour a little at a time, so that lie can swallow it comfortably. Treat him gently, taking plenty of time. Stand a little to one side when pouring, as he may strike. / *

HOW TO TELL A HORSE’S AGE. The following rhyme can be easily committed to memory:— (Hi To tell tlie age of any horse •Inspect the lower jaw, of course. The six front teeth the tale will tell. And every fear and doubt dispel. Two mickle nippers you behold, Before the colt is two weeks olcl. Before eight weeks two more will come. Eight mouths, the corners cut the gum. The outside grooves will disappear From the middle two in just a year; In two years from the second pair, In three tho corner two are bare. At two the middle nippers drop. At three the second pair don't stop; When four years old the third pair goes At five the full new set he shows. The black spots now will pass from view— At six years from the middle two; The second part at seven years; At eight the spot each corner clears. From the middle nipper, upper jaw, At nine the black spots will withdraw; The second pair at ten are white; Eleven finds the corners light.

As time goes on the horsemen know, The oval teeth three sided grow; • They longer get, project before, Till twenty, when we know no more.

THE BAD-NEIGHBOUR CURSE. The man on the land has enough to contend with in the way of natural pests, but he frequently suffers worse from an unexpected source, for the bane of many a farmer is the had neighbour.- Some of the annoyances seem trifling at the moment, but repeated carelessness is apt to cause much waste of tune and labour which can ill be spared from the routine and emergencies of the land. Go through these questions and see how many you can answer ves to:—

1. Do you take care to shut your neighbour’s gates and so prevent carefully-drafted stock from getting boxed ?

2. Do you avoid cutting up liis roads iu wet weather, by getting on to the rough as much as possible with your heavy vehicles? 3. Do you faithfully keep down the noxious weeds on your boundary, so that his clean side is not persistently resown after the work he has put in? 4. Do you always take a fair share of the work of repairing boundary fences, ; creek-crossings, etc. ? 5. Do ybu borrow tools and keep them longer than is necessary ? Or fail to return them altogether? 6. Do -you arrange with any of the men doing piece-work at a neighbours to help you without consulting him in any way? 7. Do you prevent your dogs from - foraging in your neighbours’ paddocks (they may be only catching rabbits—and they may bo learning to kill sheep!)?

8. Do you prevent, as far as possible, your employes trespassing on the same preserves?

9. Do you take proper precautions to keep your hull, rams or other stock from wandering on to your neighbour’s, and so wasting a year of his timfe by spoiling his carefully built up flock? 10. Do you burn carcases against the boundary in a had time to prevent the breeding of blowflies ? 11. Do you stop your ewes and lambs from making a prolonged stay on the grass and water of a neighbour who has already notified you of their presence?