The Farm.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IX, Issue 457, 13 January 1882, Page 23

The Farm.

XSFrffST^J 1 ??""" Ti Bmall fMme "are to live on the land jfrhich they hold they must learn to increase its produce. Besides Rowing farm crops they must grow vegetables and fruits for the market, and their wives must look to the hen-roost and haggard for much assistance in providing valuable home comforts. 55 a very difficult thing to persuade farmers and others to adopt a good system lpSn7w- c.e .f PP J Dg - I hey may be told ' articles ma y be written, and letters published year after year, but every man thinks them applicable to others and never to him self. Poultry shows may be visited but a lesson is not learned, and the farmer continues to keep his mongrels without a single effort to change them or to improve the system upon which he works Supposing we take an example of an ordinary farmer and see what his system is. We find that he keeps a lot of hens of no particular breed, or perhaps it would be more correct to fin 7 H *S£t a 6° f breed ' If We could instigate their ages, we migS andlfew?^ are ss t lx ° r Beven years old, the majority fourto five Sm Lvf hom ° a . c to thr , ee years. At all events, the major portion forthrfrfSS 1 th T e £ rbe4tda ? 8 > and be returning what does Sot pay to S wl' Tbefarme r's argument, of course, is that he receive! !LZ? \ S iy fo^ egg 9) and that the fowls cost him nothing, ? ch as the y ° n y get the tail corn. These fowls ar*, perhaps housed wherever they can find a beam or a rafter to roost upon. The hen-house is either a mass of filth or it is exposed to every wind that S7 of. W 1 M T ery sh0 T er ' and consequently the fowls forsake it, RnL f w 6r^° f COUrB , e ' the ' r eggs are laid on all P^ts of the farm Some are lost, others stolen, and others broken and spoiled. To make poultry keeping a success all this should not be. It is all very well to assume that because fowls consume the tail corn they do not To t S,™ £ '' bu * tha * c ° rn has lts value, and would sell well, and surely return more than it does by being given to the birds ; and, again, it Jl J e i UrD * a larger P ercenta ?e given under a good system and to fh^^f S° f T T!^ d and Of a P r °P er •«* The proper plan to show a farmer what his loss is or what his gain might be is tovalui tet 3? *H f a T ar - Jt 'I Very Well knov ™ that in some P ar « farmers let the dairy for so much to a dairyman, who simply milks the cows sells his milk, and out of the proceeds his rent. If he cares to give any extra food, such as cake or corn, he does so at his own cost fTrmer'fnVVtT add J tional mi *« the same principle a farmer might let his yard to a person to run a certain number of oUhe Scorn 0Ul A dbeenti - kdt , 0 * U they P icked U P «£ whoto ™W £i • "i An "fenced poultry keeper would know how to f£Zi*J^ e ¥' aDd if -' for exam P le ' he estimated it and made a wS r d neceßßanl y be udiciously selected both as to fw • f -i he wouldsee that regular attention was devoted to 2M? *%&* UpOr V aU 8to ? k farms t0 the covre and calveMamS and colts. Who ever hears of a farmer inquiring whether the hen" are all roosting in their house, seeing that it is thoroughly cleaS out or hmewashed 1 He considers it beneath hsnE HetS Eolfcall P v°Ji c /i y made and we » arra °ged building, which would be periodically cleaned out and white-washed. The nest-boxes would ct L^° PP f ee 5y5 y mad - 6'6 ' , and the P ercbes P lace d at the proper hefghl and f^Vi 3f a , tfa c jequ'red width. The whole would be made vermS-proof aSd fhe^ tlme8 ' !t uld be vißited at night t0 Be e thSSe D*afd iust as 4? I"? 6 ° f ?- em mi6Bing - Withoufc attention bein| SScS to I S* at ls p / id to other Btock » p° ultr y cca t bl expected to pay. It does not necessarily take much time but thT and cows additional warmth, better food, and housing surely the SEh»ff Wlth fOWIB - vis uite di fferent, for the poor «^ gAI ° combat Bev cre weather and long hours without food itmaZ^^Y? o^?^ B"^**™^8 "^**™^ warmth; but no one

' fl FF J£l??mJ £I ?? ma .l °* HOMKB.— Three or four feeds (quarterns) of good oats daily, with a little bran and chaff mixed with them, will be average rations for horses in ordinary work. Hay should be allowed at the rate of a little more than a truss per week, but the quantity will be regulated by the time that a horse spends in the stabli Horses naturally eat almost constantly ; and if their racks are not i kept supplied with hay, they will eat their litter, or, worse, gnaw their manger or stall posts. Under extraordinary circumstance! very large quantities of concentrated food will be consumed by a horse without injury and indeed with benefit, but only when the animal hasgreat digestive powers and is doing heavy work, involving much destruction of muscular tissue. Horses under such circum. stances attain the highest possible degree of health and vigour It cannot, therefore be allowed that a large quantity of food or excessive IS -w° aU l e of dlsease - Tfa e terms are relative, and only become intelligible when they are so understood. A very moderate allowance of food may be i^unous when an animal is standing idle, while liberal rations may be insufficient to meet the waste and exhaustion consequent on exceptional work. Food of the best quality ig desirable at all times ; during the treatment of swelled legs it it indispensable. About six pounds of good oats, with a handful of bran and a little chaff, with ten or twelve pounds of good old hay will form a liberal daily allowance tor a horse doing ordinary work every day. Green food and roots, in small quantity, may be substituted for a portion of the hay from time to time ; but they cannot be made a staple article of diet for working horses. By the adoption of the system of regulated diet and work as suggested, the use of medicine will in many casses be rendered unnecessary If however, the legs continue to swell when the horse is in the stable' both local and constitutional remedies may be used. Plethoric fivp m d»r yat f tbe ° Utß^ b u c beneilted by a dose of physic-four "r five drachms of aloes will be sufficient for a dose, which may be repeated m a week if necessary. When the condition of the animal tZf* ♦T m I 0I 0 ]ÜBt !f y tbe c? f P ur g ati ves, diuretic ageuts may be substituted A powder containing two drachms of nitre ana halfa drachm iodide of potassium may be mixed with the food once a day for a week, and then discontinued for several days, and repeated 2 required. Local remedies will include hand-rubbing and the use " dry bandages, which should be applied firmly, and only kept on for a few hours at a time, other-wise they d O more harm than good! The proper time to apply bandages in the treatment of swelled le« is immediately after the animal has returned from work and hS been groomed. Flannel bandages are firm enough for the purpose^ »£ ♦£ PU « - 8 them °v 80 J aS to oaiwe V™**™ on the vessels of the ffi n » tbe effusion which ordinarily takes place into the areolar tissue s retarded, if not altogether arrested. If the bandages are to be left on during the night, it is necessary to slacken them before the £vTf ? H V r 'rf m the 6 n ent ° f the legS SWelUng ' tbe P reßß «e dieted by a tight bandage will be too severe. Swelled legs which depend on an exhausted state of the system from overwork and want of proper nutriment require a somewhat different plan of treatmeat from that which has been recommended above for the ordinary form of the disease occunng among horses in good condition.— ExchangV