On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 9 January 1913, Page 53

On the Land

GENERAL / In Iceland ewes are regularly milked both night and morning. The sheep are described as a fine type, strong, and upstanding. It has been proved in practice that not only do cows improve in condition by feeding on pastures which have been manured with phosphates, but they give more milk. Arsenate of soda is a specific which has been found satisfactory in preventing the growth of plant-life on paths. Tiie following is the formula for making the mixture; Roil 11b of white arsenate in three gallons of water; dissolve 21b of washing-soda in 7 gallons of water; mix the two together and apply. The Minnesota State Dairymen Association (U.S.A.) is offering £lO in cash prizes to the boys and girls under eighteen years of age who will keep the best records of dairy herds at home. Records must show the amount of milk and butter-fat, the value of the butter-fat, the cost of feed, and the net returns from each cow. Each contestant must keep records of at least six cows for six months. The best and surest way of preserving butter for winter use is to place it in . a freezing-chamber at a temperature of from 10 to 15 degrees Fahr. Where it is not desired to follow that course, the next best plan is to pasteurise the cream, salt the butter a little heavier than usual, and add also about £ per cent, of butter preservative then store the packages containing the butter in a cool, dry place. Something like a record in hay-making for the Waikato has been established at the Ruakura Farm of Instruction. Lucerne was mown on October 28, and was safely stacked by the 9th of the following month, notwithstanding very bad weather. With the aid of sweeps, the Manitoba hay-stacker, and a good staff of men, the hay of a nine-acre crop was stacked in three and a-half hours, excluding the time occupied in the xakings. Answering questions in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, the Minister of Agriculture said : Ihe recent increase in the price of wheat bags was due to the greater demand for jute fabrics, and the condition of jute and stock. The market regulating these values was at Calcutta. As to whether the Government would consider the advisability of importing 2,000,000 bags, to be sold to the farmers at a minimum cost, he said that it would be impossible to import from Calcutta in time for the coming harvest, but information was being collected with a view to taking action, if deemed advisable, on a future occasion. No wheat sacks were made in the Commonwealth from jute material imported in the piece.

THOROUGHPIN.

This is a swelling at the back of the hind leg just above the point of the hock, and in front of the tendons. It is so called because, if pressed with the finger on one side of the leg, it will show out prominently on the other side. It is a distension of the sac containing joint-oil, which is so placed to diminish the ruction of the back tendon. Some horses are predisposed to this complaint by defective shape, which if unaccompanied by inflammation, seldom causes lameness. The best treatment is by massage, though if inflammation is present warm fomentations should be applied and the horse put on laxative food. A blister of bimodide of mercury, one part to four parts of lard or vaseline, rubbed on with the fingers, washed off in ft hours, and vaseline applied, will sometimes absorb the fluid, but the enlargement generally reappears when the horse is working again. If there is no inflammation, a skilful vet will sometimes draw off the excess of jointoil; but strict antiseptic precautions must be taken, and the benefit is not in proportion to the risk.

THE VALUE OF LUCERNE.

Lucerne (says a writer in the Journal of the Department of Agriculture) undoubtedly provides the best of all silage materials, but used by itself for this purpose it presents a certain disadvantage. As with all legumes, it has a particularly high flavor when made into ensilage. This may be overcome by mixing the lucerne with green grass or some non-leguminous fodder plant, such as maize or millet. It may indeed be mixed with a little old hay or straw, provided copious drenchings of water are supplied during the stacking process. Lucerne, under whichever form it is supplied, is the most highly concentrated fodder plant known. It con-’ tains within itself a ration of higher nutritive value than any other plant, and fed judiciously is capable of maintaining more stock to a given area than any other plant. Especially does this apply to milking-stock, for which it is invaluable for sustaining the milk-flow, and at the same time maintaining the animal in thriving condition. We.have much to learn yet in regard to growing and feeding it to the best advantage; but this we do know : that it has brought fortune to many farmers in other lands, and promises to do the same in this country, provided it is studied and managed to advantage. As an American writer has put it— ‘ It is one of Nature’s choicest gifts to man.’ It must be iemembered that lucerne not only keeps stock in fine condition, but it also makes the best of manure, which, when returned to the soil by stock, improves it cheaply and quickly, so that the farmer who growls lucerne is taking the most direct road to fortune.

ROTATION OF CROPPING.

The reasons for the advantages of rotation cropping are because the roots of the following crop feed on a different layer of the soil to the preceding crop; because the requirements of the crop in the matter of plant food are different; because the preceding plant has left nourishment in the soil to be utilised by the following crop; because the following crop may not be liable to the same kind of insect pests as the preceding; because the extension and penetration of the root system of the following crop is facilitated by that of. the preceding; because the physical condition of the soil, as regards tilth and moisture conservation, is much improved by the choice of a suitable previous crop (says the Leader). • Rotation and manuring stand in intimate relation to one another. The farmer, knowing the average yields of his main crops, can calculate what approximate quantities of nitrogen, phosphates, and potash they extract approximately from the soil. Then he can also estimate roughly how much of this extracted plant food he can replace in the form of _ manures. According to experiments made, it is estimated that in each 1000 parts of plant food put in the soil not more are utilised by the crop than 30 to 40 parts of phosphoric acid, 40 to 50 parts of potash, 50 to 60 parts of nitrogen. Some plants have the power of assimilating more of the plant food available in the soil than others, because the roots of the plants differ in the capacity for plant food assimilation. The poorer a soil is the less use can the plants make of the fertilising substance applied, so that it is the best policy to supply the initial crop of the rotation with liberal dressings of phosphate of lime and potash, which are not washed out of the soil, but stuff ploughed under will appreciably improve the physical condition of the soil, and from material on which the beneficial bacteria can set to work manufacturing food for plant life. In the second case the root action of the grasses will improve the texture of the land, while the droppings of the stock grazed upon it will also prove of special value.