On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 11 April 1912, Page 51

On the Land

Every case of apples or bag of potatoes or grain produced takes out of the soil nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash,; and unless some return of these is made to the soil to. meet the loss there must inevitably bo a decrease in yield. Never allow a cow to be roughly handled. -This is the cause of many cows being nervous, ill at ease, and restless, and in its turn the milk flow is impeded, to the detriment of the farmer’s profit. By nature the milking cow is quiet and phlegmatic, therefore noise and rough handling upsets her, and should be avoided. It is estimated that Victoria (Australia) alone will ship this season 219,000 cases of fruit to London, and about 95,000 cases to Germany. The complete estimates for the rest of Australia are not yet available. The total number of cases exported from the Commonwealth will, it is confidently estimated, be between 1,400,000 and, 1,500,000. for the season. At Burnside last week 198 head of fat cattle were yarded. Best bullocks and heifers met a fair sale, but medium quality were 15s below late values. Best bullocks sold at £lO to £ll 10s; extra prime and heavy,£l2 to £l3 10s. The yarding of fat sheep (3062) was made up largely of ewes. The sale opened at reduced values, and was dull throughout, prices showing a decline of Is to Is 6d for wethers, and Is 6d to 2s for ewes. Prime wethers, 18s to 19s 6d; extra, 21s 6d to 225. The fat lambs penned totalled 2107. There was fair competition, but prices were lower than at last sale. Prime lambs, 14s, 6d to 15s 6d; extra prime, 16s to 17s 6d. The pigs yarded totalled only 50. , There was a good demand for baconers and porkers, but poor competition for stores. The Bhuda kale, cow-kale, rape, and thousandheaded kale (the first crops on very poor, newly-drained swamp at Ruakura) promise well. The recent dry weather showed the comparative drought-resisting qualities of these four forage-plants. In descending order they stand as follow: Thousand-headed kale, cow-kale, rape, Bhuda kale. The thousand-headed kale, although sown in the driest part of the paddock, has not shown the slightest sign of wilting, even in the hottest part of the day; while the Bhuda kale, sown in the dampest portion, showed signs of much distress. This result confirms the manager’s previous experience at Moumahaki Experimental Farm. If the thousandheaded kale had the feeding-value of rape it would undoubtedly (in Mr. McConnell’s opinion) be the most valuable fodder-plant of this class we possess. The yarding of fat cattle at Addington last week totalled 244. Values remained steady at late rates, and the range of best prices was 21s to 26s per 1001 b, according to quality. Steers realised £6 17s 6d to £l2; heifers, £6 to £lO ss. There was an ,entry of .8029 fat lambs of uneven quality. Prices ranged from 12s lOd to 19s lOd. There was a large yarding of fat sheep, all classes being represented. There was some competition between exporters and butchers, but prices were on a par with late rates. The range was: Prime wethers, 17s to 20s 7d; others, 14s 9d to 17s; prime ewes, 13s to 17s Id. There was a full entry of fat pigs, the bulk being very good useful sorts, and prices were steady at late rates. Choppers made 60s- to 110 s; heavy baconers, 60s to 745; lighter sorts, 52s to 59s equal to s|d per lb. ■ 1 .

SALT FOR DAIRY COWS. • , The large percentage of salt that is drained out of the average dairy cow’s system in the milking is a point that probably escapes the attention of the general dairy farmer. The inventor of the Babcock milk tester; publishes the results of recent experimental 'trials with regard to the giving and withholding of salt in the daily feeding of milking cows. It was found that if salt was absolutely withheld the effects were shown within from two to three weeks, and that even while exceptional instances were longer without ill-effects, yet sooner or later the animals developed a decreasing milking yield, and generally a lower state of vitality.

The effects were worse at calving time, or immediately alter, and also in the heaviest milk producers. The need of salt was further found to be greatest in the case of cows fed mostly in the cow house, and least -"among those kept principally on pasture; f The outcome 1 .: of the tests indicated that on the,-: average milking cows required not less than 2oz daily in their food, and the conclusion came to was that cows in milk, when outside, should have access to rock salt as a lick, and when indoors the 2oz per cow per day should be mixed in the food in the ordinary granular form. V £ ECONOMY OF THE SEPARATOR. „ The cream separator is a time saver. There is no rehandling of milk and, of course, no great pile of crocks and pans to be cleaned and aired. The quality of the cream is better than under the old way. Cream from average milk can be separated to within five hundredths of 1 per cent, with a first-class separator. With the separator sweet cream may be had at each milking and the milk can go to the calves and pigs in first-class condition. The cream is easily kept sweet until churning time, and the butter will be free from all impurities, so of the best quality. TESTING FARM AND GARDEN SEEDS. Some oats were tested on one occasion out .of mere curiosity, for the sample was considered sound and it was. found that only 55 per cent, was good. A deficiency of A\er 10 per cent, or even 5 per cent, is to bo looked on with suspicion, because it means that many others are weaklings, even if they do so sprout, and would die in the field. Sprouting is easily done: a piece of tile in a saucer witn.a piece of blotting paper over it is all that is needed. One hundred seeds laid on the tile, covered with the blotting paper, some water poiued in the saucer, and the whole kept on the mantelpiece. In a few days the germ shows, and the sproutmg grains can be counted. Another method is to put some sawdust in a tin dish, squeeze down level, put the. seeds on the surface, cover with blotting paper, and pour in some water. The tile or sawdust, plus the blotting paper, keep the seed just at the right degree of moisture, and the household temperature does the rest, while the growth can be inspected at any time. . SPLINTS. Splints only amount to unsoundness when they are likely to cause lameness from their size, shape, or position. A large number of light horses suffer from this ailment, but the majority do not experience any inconvenience. They usually occur on the inside of the front cannon-bone,’ although sometimes they are found on the outside of both fore and hind legs. When placed well forward, they do not cause much distress, but when at the back of the leg they irritate the ligaments and tendons found there. A frequent cause is galloping fast on a hard road. As splints are very hereditary, they are easily caused by working animals too early, and placing heavy riders on immature animals. They usually occur between the ages of two and five years, but are found on younger horses. A blow, such as one leg striking the other, may cause a splint. It is not easy to detect a case; but if a young horse goes lame on a hard road, it is advisable to examine the legs. The splint is usually easy to find, but not always so. The first treatment is to rest the home immediately, placing him where the floor or foothold is soft, on sand or straw, for instance. A dose of physic, such as - a pint of raw linseed oil, should first be given, then the leg should be washed with cold water for half an hour, three times' a day, leaving a cold wet bandage on between times. If this does not cure the lameness in five or six days, a blister may be applied and repeated if necessary. ...v.v....-;-