FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XLII, Issue 3424, 9 June 1894, Page 3

FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Destitute or Phosphates, —ln his annual report, of analyses made for-tbo Leicestershire Agricultural Society, Dr Bernard Dyer records au instructive case in which so-called basic slag, sold at £1 % ton, was stated to contain 30 per cent, of phosphate. Qn. examination the material proved not to be basic slag at nil. it was destitute of phosphates and of any other ingredients of mauurial value, and was absolutely worthless, though its apparently low price had tempted at least one farmer to purchase 20 tons, whilst another bought 4.tons and carted it 5 miles into the bargain.

An. ExcEFTiON.r-The statement has frequently been made that English butchers and dealers are in the habit of selling antipodean beef and'; mutton as Keglish, and recievirig for it the price usually commanded by the beet quality of Home-grown meat, This, at all

events, cannot be said of Messrs Holland, Barrett, and Layrig, of Newmarket, England, In the boldest type the Newmarket Journal can afford, the firm announce Don't forget the New Zealand beef and mutton : Splendid beef (all prime joints), 7d per lb;, other joints, 4£d, s|d, and s|d; shoulders of the choicest mutton, 6d; legs and loin of the choicest mutton, 6 Jd; other jointo, 4d and 5Jd. Try a joi it and convince yourself.of its superior quality." V Thorougu FABMING.-Many a farmer I is proud of how much' land he has'; not Of how well he tills it, If he is owningor occupying land which he is turning to poor account, ne should rather be ashamed than proud; and many a farmer | who has more land than he can really use to advantage would do better, as his boys grow up to subdivide with them and keep them near him than allow them to drift away in search : of other homes, It will often be found; that as good a yield, and bigger profits can be " got from half

the land really farmed' than there, wab from the whole. What' about the qoruers also, the unused patches which need a little clearing or levelling, "or draining ? They can be. made to pay,— Agriculturist Dairying, ; Cropping and: Grazing : Comparative Results,—A writer in the Waimea Plains Review has been going into the details of dairy and cropping and grazing business, by which he makes the dairying branch the most profitable. He assumes that the farmer commences with a farm of 200' acres and is free from monetary encumbrance. He has 140 acres of oats and CO of grass, and at the price received for oats for the last three seasons, and a 40-bushel crop, he proves that the farmer has only a surplus at the end of each year for his own labour of £7B Is Bd. By having sheep he would Ijave a profit qf ;£lo3los lOd, while if he decided to keep dairy cows he would maVe a surplus of £157 12s Sd. The figures seem all* right too, besides "which we have to remember that the return from otfta is based upon a return of Is 4d per bushel for firsts, and seconds at Is, which I have pot seen this season. The sheepbreeder has the most agreeable time nf. them all, - for the other callings are laborious and unintermittent, Gore for " Blows " from over Eatjng .Wheat,-A cure for the sickness caused in horses and cattle by engorgement with raw wheat has been published as the discovery of Mr, J, Toirlinson, of Mathoura, N.S.W, "As I have a large number of horses," writes Mr. Tomlinson, f l have often had the misfortune to have horses gpt their fill - as many as H at a time having got at the grain, . I always give one tabiespoonful of carbonate of soda in a pint and a half of water as soon as I know that the horse or, beast of any kind has been at the wheat, or if they are ailing, so that I think they may have had any, and the remedy never fails, Sometimes there is a stiffness in the legs, then I rub the.affected parts with turpentine until the animals begin to get rest-

Jess, then I let them go, and I always allow the auimal.to have food or water, especially the latter, They will not die if this be done, as the wheat can do them

jig harm when the acidity is destroyed'in their stomach, It is very likely: that there are people that , cannot understand how soda can act as I ha?e stated, but, Should they be taken very bad by an overdose of any food or drink, let them try soda on themselves, and Ido not fear the result. It is also an immediate relief for

cattle that are,blown from eating clover or trefoil."—Exchange.

Manures foe Various Chops.-For land in good condition lcwt, of nitrate of soda per aero is a useitil top dressing for A mixture of ryegrass and clover; if in

poor condition 2c\vt. of superphosphate may be added with advantage, A dressing of 4cwt. per acre of basic slag applied to young ; clover in the autumn or in the previous spring to the crop with which the clover seeds are sown down generally gives excellent nßults. A few cwt. of kainit applied to the young- clover in the ■autumn is very often useful. On light

poils farmyard manure applied to young; grass and clover seeds in the autumn' gives excellent result?, For meadow land 1 which is growing artificial grasses every year the following four-course system of pianuring, would be suitable First year, 15 tons farmyard manure applied in the ptumn; second year, 1 cwt. nitrate of goda; third, year, 4cwt. basic slag, or ftowt. superphosphate and lcwt, nitrate of jtoda; fourth year, low;, nitrate of oodc, For pasture, land not, mown for hay. jjitrato of soda should not be used, but Otherwise the same course, of manuring piigbt be adopted until the pasture was fa good condition, when, the, dressing of a few cwt. of basic slag, Or of superphosphate, with in some cases- the addition of 2owt, of kainifc every four years, would

probably be sufficient. After wet, marshy land has been drained; an application of jifne generally gives excellent results -

Lirae is also useful for sour, stiff pasture land which is rich in plant food, as it stimulates the action of the plant food already in the soil, All the dressings suggested above are not only beneficial to the cmp to which they are applied, but increase, the fertility of the land for some years afterwards. •

" Stock-sick " Pastures. Professor M'Alpine, of Edinburgh, says the Queenslaudeiy explains that in grasses growing around droppings there was an over production of nitrogenous matter, which has the effect of making the pasture nauseous to stock, and in some cases alkaloids... were formed, and these were sufficient to make the grasses even poisonous, and thia, was ; one cause of sickness of sheep in various couuties of Scotland as a- result of over-stocking. Might not this, the Queenslander, account for the depreciation of. the. pas* tures in the Darling Downs district? That they have greatly depreciated of late-years , cannot be denied, and they have also become " sheep sick." In the course of his lecture, the professor stated that" farmers always thought that in order to till and plough the land they must have horses and ploughs. Nothing was a greater mistake,. The most potent ploughs and the most potent tillers whieh they had were the roots of their pasture grasses." If the professor's remarks are at all applicable to our pastures, then (says the Melbourne. Leider) the easiest and most reasonable mode of renovating them is by giving them a spell. This means fa'ling back on the old argument of small paddocks, and frequent change of pasture for the stock by a system of rotation, which should always leave one or more paddocks fallow, and such a system will force itself on our graziers in time unless the, runs are kept more understocked than at present. Docking.—The Lyttelton Times says: —The practice of " improving" nature by trimming the ears and: tails of .dogs has gone out of fashion in Englaud since Sir Edwin Landseer entered a public protest against it ard the magistrates began to back him up by sending the perpetrators to. gaol;., but;the equally cru :l and senseless, custom: of docking horses' tails seems still to prevail., On a recent date a coachman named Alexander Fraser was fined £lO and costs at a London police court for gross cruelty in docking the tails of two horses belonging to his employer. ,There had'been five or six inches cut from the tails of the animals in a most unskilful manner, and the irons use 1 to sear the flesh after the operation were stated to be of a barbarous description.' Two veterinary professors gave evidence that the docking of horses' tail* served no useful purpose, though ' custom seemed to make it expedient.' Even the plea that the practice was useful in preventing horses' tails from being entangled in the reins, was' discarded by these experts, who held that animals should not be deprived of their natural protection agaiust flies and other enemies. The Magistrate said he was hot called upon to decide whether docking for fashion was right or wrong. In this case the operation had been perfoimed with gross cruelty, and he the e fore inflicted a substantial fine. The employer, who, was charged with haying ' caused two horses to be cruelly illtreited,' was discharged with a mild rebub for having acted 'foolishly' in trusting to an incompetent mau to operate : on the horsej. Many people will think that the wrong man' was punished, aud will aceuse the magistrate of shirking the real issue.. Cutting off part of an animal's tail aud searing with hot iron must always be,more or less of torture, and the Society for the .Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will doubtless not rest until the practice has been placed under legal ban, • Docked' dogs and horses are frequently to be seen in our streets, but it.may be hoped that a. fashion so irrational and inhuman will be abandoned in this colony without the 'persuasion'of special enactments.

Tiie CuiMERY Cow,-Under the above heading an American periodical, entitled the Creamery Journal, has the following: -"If a vote of the.creamery men were taken as to what breed of cows they preferred for creamery purposes, it would be overwhelmingly in favour of the Jersey, the' yield, churnability, and body btiog the evidence on which they would ; record their judgment. Under, proper conditions the choice would, undoubtedly be a correct one; such conditions may " be had in the elder dairy districts—namely, shelter, feed, and care. It is a lamentable fact there are sections, thickly studded with creameries, where those essentials are the exception rather than the rule. The Jersey is a delicate iiimal in this, that she is not bred to seek either sustenance or shelter from the cold side of a straw stack or among the corn stalks on our western prairies. There they would be as much out of place as would be a " Montana mtler" in a warm stable with all its comforts, For this reason we think it a mistake to induce farmers who have not the proper comprehension of her needs to invest in these" dairy queens." Such experiments are more apt to end in failure than other wise; and while from the creamery standpoint it is desirable to have as strong an admixture as' possible of this breed, yet it would seem the better policy to build up an intelligent d liry sentimeufc in your various localities before attempting anything general in the way of their introduction, Select ore good farmer who cares for his cows properly, persuade him to improve his herd .with a butter sire,and thus found in each community an object lesson that in five years' time will bear abundant fruit," We consider this good advice ; but the Jersey Bulletin, from which we have taken the following extract, adds the following editorial note to it: 1 ' This is first-rate advice, #xcept the idea that the Jersey ;is a delicate cow. While it

is admitted that a Jersey cow, nor any! other cow for that matter, will not winter profitably without sufficient food, shelter, and care, the Jersey will stand j as much rough treatment as any other breed, and yet make a better income for the owner," Now, in this case our contemporary claims too much for its favourites. If the sentence read thus:— u The Jersey will stand a 8 much rough treatment as any valuable cow ought to be subjected to," we : would agree; but as'it stands it goes far beyond the faculties or even pretensions of the Jersey. On hundreds of farms, year after year and generation after'generation/Kerries, Ayr•hires, . Galloways; and' thousands of. crossbreds and nondescriptsthrive, fill the pail or' rear, good calves, on hillsides and bleak moors, where most Jersey .cattle, as at present constituted, would : die, and the survivors lead a shivering life, miserable to themselves and unprofitable to their owners, . Such misleading statements as the one we have referred to do harm, and are calculated to bring a valuable breed into discredit; for if anyone accustomed tb hardy common cowsiwere to, change:to Jersoys, and keep them in the same; manner as he did his former breed, on the supposition that they " will stand as; much rough treatment as any other breed," he would be greviously disappointed, and. then (very unreasonably) condemn the breed- altogether.— Queenslander.

SELLING CATTLE BY LIVE WEIGHT. '

The following extract from the North British Agriculturist gives a clear indication of the .progress which : the principle of buying and selling cattle by live weight is making among agriculturists at Home: r-During.tbe last few days the farmers in the Stirling district have been largely signing a petition to the Board of Agriculture in favour of selling live 'stock at so much per cwt,, as against; the present method of so much per head, The petition is 111 the following terms Onto The Right Honourable Herbert C. Gardner, M.P., President of the Board of Agriculture, 4 Whitehall Place, London, S.W. The petition of the undersigned farmers, graziers, dealers,, and others interested in the buying and selling of live farm stock. Humbly your petitioners are favourable to facilities being afforded for the weighing of cattle and other live stock at all markets and fairs and auction sales. That the sale of stock, by weight is, in the opinion of your petitioners, the fairest method, and alike secures justice to buyer and seller.

That, while recognising the advantages which are afforded to all parties by the introduction by cattle salesmen of weighbridges at their marts, your petitioners are confident that, if the following matters were attended to, the system: would be firmly established in public favour, and secure universal adhesion 1. That a Bworn weigher be appointed to weigh the slock. 2. That said weigher mark the weight of the stock on a black board, visible to the buyers , and sellers during the bidding for the lot. 3. That bids) of, say, threepence per cwt., be the recognised advance. Youiv petitioners would crave that you take the above into your favourable consideration,' and give effect thereto in determining the sufficiency and suitability of the accommodation for weighing cittle as required by the Markets and Fairs (Weighing of Cattle) Acts, 1887 and 1891. . , :