FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 98, 14 December 1872, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

THE PARSNIP AS A FODDER PLANT. As we are quite certain that it would be a wise policy for many of our farmers to lay down green crops .before it is too late—before their lands are exhausted by white straw crops and pay some attention to dairying and butter and .cheesemaking, we draw attention to the following, taken from the Journal d' Agriculture Pratique. We have transposed the months so as to suit this district. Few persons in our country havo as yet tried the experiment of planting many of th'eir fields with parsnips for the purpose of feeding their cattle. Those who have tried it invariably failed on account of their obstinacy in cultivating the parsnip by the same moans used for the carrot and beetroot. But supposing, on tlio contrary, rejecting the culture of roots, we treat it us a fodder plant, we shall obtain the most satisfactory results, and it will become a valuable resource in giving green fodder at a time of the year when such food is excessively raw. One great advantage iu the parsnip is, it never eutfera from the attacks of frost., nnd it may be left in the field a whole winter, without sustaining "the slightest injury. It may be cultivated in any situation where beetroot and carrots hare given satisfactory products ; but the result will be much more sure and complete if care be taken to choose a fresh earth, substantial nnd deep. It may be sown from the commencement of September to the end of November, in land preepared as for tho culture of carrots; the seed should be sown in ridges nearly twelve inches apart) that distance is sufficient to obtain good'results in green food). Two dressings should be given to the crop during the dry season for the purpose of destroying the weeds, and if the plants are carefully thinned till they are about three or four inches apart, by February the folia"e will have attained the height of twelve or sixteen inches. It may then as before be cut with a scythe to within two and two and a half inches of the ground, supplying the cattle with a dainty of which they are very fond. Thus the fields will remain without culture unti the end of March. The heads will have again sprouted to the height of ten or twelve inches and may bo cut as before. The vegetation is so active that the parsnip rapidly reaches the height of forty to sixty inches. It therefore yields an abundant crop ; in fact it ie no exaggeration to say that one acre cultivated with parsnips gives at the first cut as much green fodder as-four acres of lucerne. At the last crop the root should be drawn with the plant, and before giving parsnips in pasture to cattle, the roots should be cut up, and mixed with the leaves in bits. Those of my milch cows who have been fed in this manner gave me from ono to two piut3 of milk more than their ordinary produce.

D R AUGHT HORSES.

A writer 'n Xh* T'.nariv Herald says:—We have been breeding J.ra .igV - k these last twenty yeare in the colonie3 from to vv-s !,..■•; -■ vsand dams Great Britain can send us, bui we ::avj'o.i!v u .'o-v yet among us equal to what we get ;:v:n hoa;. : <.vh- .-,;•; dd" such be: the case? We have good i'ii.-vav, good water, in fact, all the elements required'ior rearln;: young horses, and yet we find ourselves far b/ivnd t":it> 'lOir.e breeders in a great many essential points. It ha* boon V:;c iKiv.o-.i hitherto to breed horses with a great ]o: of ii-.'.-about tlieii- legs; if they hare a great profusion of the r:r'.>iv-n;erifioiu'd appendages, they are reckoned within t::o i-:c.e of perfection ; for with many judges, hair covers a great Many deformities—defective loin and barrel, narrow chest, any greasy heels, which they quite overlook. What is the use of such superfluous quantity of hair about a horse's W ? It is simply an excresence, like horns on some breeds of° sheep or cattle, Wo don't see it helps the horse anv' "way hi the duties he baa to perform. This hair which is" dry and coarse in character, growing in a thick mass Oil the sides, front as well as behind, indicates round bone, and gummy, gouty, diseased legs, full of grease and swelling. The right sort of hair may be long, but fine, with a soft glossy appearance, growing only on the back of the lew, and only as far as the knee or hock joint—no further. When viewed sideways, it gives the leg an appearance of increased width. Legs with this kind of hair will be found to bo both flat and thin below the joints, having- both tendon and sinews well deiined-, Th»-joints should be well-knit, short, slightly leaning back and spreading out where they join the hoof, which itself should be broad and open, but not 'flat- All that a horse is fitted for is work, whether in saddle or li°-ut or heavy draught, and in every purpose for which he is uid, his "legs and feet are brought into prominent

requisition; it is of great importance, then, tl>at these •'bmili be as perfect as possible, with no defective parts about tff«n r as his strength and durability greatly depend on the structure of his limbs. Men who breed or use draught stock, and who are conversant with their qualities, know well that horses possessing legs and liair of the character I have tried to delino. are more serviceable, more active and durable, than those with the fleshy and buiry legs I have described ua to be avoided. In Scotland, horses with large quantities of hair ■were never thought much of, and now they are universally condemned throughout Great Britain. If objectionable there, they are doubly so in this colony, with its muddy ami dusty roads.