AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8046, 1 November 1906, Page 1

AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

A glaring case of butter anulteratiou was recently brought to light at Bristol, England. On two occasions butter was purchased under guarantees that it was pure butter, but analysis revealed the fact that there was 20 per cent of lardine, pi»'s fat, and water so skilfully adulterated that wi h It per cent, its prtsence could not be detec'ed. Hie prosecution alleged the d( fendant's figures proved that 1 y this adulteration profits of over /4010 had been made in fifteen months. A fine of .£4:O and 50gs. costs was imposed.

Supplying the Kaupokonui Factory Mr E. Long, of Manaia, last mouth received a cheque for £26 for the milk of thirteen cows. The return is perhaps too good to base calculatioi s on, as the cows were a particularly good lot, but it shows what can be doit when the animals are carefully selected. Ihe milk from three cows weighed respectively 681b, 651b and 631b for one day. Farmers in many districts in New Zealand, but practicularly in the North Island, are much concerned at the dry season. Very little rain has fallen in some places for over a month, and tillers of the soil are getting uneasy about the condition of their crops. Speaking to a Marlborough Express reporter two days ago, Mr H. D. Vavasour, of Ugbrooke, who has a large area under crop, stated that if a good rain did not fall within the next week the Starborough people would be compelled to turn their stock into the crops. " You always notice," said Mr Vavasour, " that when these warm winds come in the spring, and rain constantly threatens but fails, we get droughty weather." The outlook in the Auckland district is regarded as particularly serious.

The doctrine preached by Mr Gilruth in his veterinary lectures to farmers is oleanliness and common senße. Both, he insists, are essential, but while common sense is a matter of individual capacity, cleanliness in operations and treatment can be practised by anybody. Instruments should never be allowed to get dry, because then the microbes multiply, and some microbes are very hard to kill. Ihus it is that instruments should be boiled for fully ten minutes before and after using. The same treatment is necessary with milking machines. In fact, it appears that cleanliness is the most essential virtue of a farmer.

The healthful eliects of white washing cowsheds ODce or twice a year is being brought to public notice quite considerably by the action of the various city boards of health in various parts of the country, who, where ttiey have authority, are generally insisting upon its being done. Ihe true, wide-awake dairyman, who understands his business, does not need a command, but only a hint of good things for his cows. In this coi - section it may be well to note that a small hand pump, with a rose nozzle, costing about £i ss, will whitewash more space and do it more thoroughly in an hour than can be done with a brush in ten hours. The whitewash should be made thiD and free from lumps, and mixed with a little dissolved glue.

"Never judge a cow by its backbone, nor a bull by its horns," says Mr Gilru'.h. That is what many farmers do when they go to the saleyards, explained the veterinarian at Parkvale, aud the result spells disaster to any dairy herd. Was it reasonable, asked Mr Gilruth, to suppose that the farmers who placed these animals in the yards were fools? It often happened that a man bought the cow or the bull by judgment of the backbone or the horns, as the case might be, and then found out his mistake, too late, after which the animals were again yarded and sold to another farmer, who also sat upon the rail and made a superficial inspection. The result was that disease was spread broadcast over the country. When good cows were worth a year in milk alone to their owners, was it reasonable to suppose that the farmer would sell these animals in the hope of getting not more than £5 apiece.