On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 5 June 1913, Page 59

On the Land

GENERAL. Cows have peculiarities that 1 should be studied, and met as nearly as possible by the feeder. Never allows the cows to be excited by hard driving, abuse, loud talking, or unnecessary disturbance; do not expose them to cold or storms. Do not change the feed suddenly. Lack of care in feeding is far and away the most fruitful cause of trouble, and the man whose horse is troubled with indigestion has usually only himself to blame.

Crocked or badly worn utensils are a great source of contamination for milk and cream, as they afford a harbor for various objectionable ferments which ultimately cause considerable trouble.

In Auckland there are 230 schools giving agricultural instruction (out of 594 schools and 108 part-time schools), and as this work was proving so satisfactory it had been decided to appoint another instructor.

The walls and - fittings of cow-sheds and stables should receive a coat of fresh lime-wash at least once a year, and the floors soaked with a solution of sulphate of copper, five pounds to ten gallons of water.

When giving skim milk to pigs it is advisable that it should be soured, as the formation of lactic acid aids digestion. As much as can be used, and no more, should be given. Another valuable aid to digestion is the addition of a few coal ashes or some dirt thrown into the stye.

The making of a crop into ensilage enables the maximum amount to be saved and fed, and produces a greater percentage of feed than by any other known method. The silo ensures a succulent feed for twelve months in the year, while there are several months in which the pastures are out of use, and green feed cannot be had.

No industry is so vital to the well-being of a nation as agriculture, and nothing is so vital to agriculture as the soil. How to use and not abuse the soil is the most important problem which faces the farmer of to-day one worthy of the best efforts of our most profound and learned scientists, for upon its solution depends the future prosperity of the nation.

There were unusually large yarding in all departments at Burnside last week. The fat cattle penned totalled 250, consisting of a fair number of good bullocks and a big proportion of cows and heifers. Prices were about the same as previous week, although- the sale dragged a little at the finish. Quotations: Extra heavy show bullocks to £23, extra to £ls 10s, best bullocks £lO 10s to £ll 10s, medium do £9 to £9 15s, inferior £7 5s to £8 10s, best cows and heifers £8 to £9, extra £lO 15s, medium £6 10s to £7, inferior £5 to £5 15s. There was a yarding of 6000 fat sheep, consisting of medium quality wethers and ewes, with a few pens of extra heavy sheep. Prices for prime ewes and wethers were fully equal to previous week’s rates, but for medium and unfinished competition was erratic. Quotations: Extra heavy show wethers, to 495; do ewes, to 37s 6d ; best wethers, 24s to 26s 6d; extra, to 28s 9d; medium, 21s to 21s 6d. The fat lambs penned totalled 4500. Exporters were competing keenly, although prices were hardly as good as those ruling lately. Medium and inferior lambs were difficult to dispose of. There was a large yarding of fat pigs forward. Prices were high at commencement of sale, but eased off later in the sale. There was a small yarding of stores, and prices were better than at last sale.

At Addington last week there were large entries of sheep of all classes, and fair yardings in other departments. There was an improvement in the prices. There was again a large entry of lambs, totalling 7848, the quality of which was not so good as that of those that have been coming forward during the season. Export buyers lowered their limits, and consequently there was a drop of Is to Is 6d per head as compared with previous week. Tegs made 19s to 22s 9d; average

weights, 15s to 18s 6d; and light and unfinished, 12s 6d to 14s 9d. There was a large entry of fat sheep, totalling over 6000. The range of prices -.was: Extra prime wethers, to 38s; prime, 20s' to 265; others, 17a to 19s 6d; extra prime ewes, to 275; prime, 18s to 24a 6d ; ■'■medium, 15s to 17s 6d; aged and light, 11s 6d to 14s 6d; merino wethers, 16s lid to 17s Bd. The yarding of fat cattle totalled 303 head. The demand was irregular, varying greatly at different periods. Steers realised £7 7s fid to £11; extra, to £l4 ss; heifers, £6 to £10; and cows, £5 15s 6d to £lO. There was a medium entry of fat pigs, and the demand showed an improvement. Choppers realised •£3 10s to. £5 10s; heavy baconers, 65s to 78s ; and lighter, ; 50s to 58s, equal to sfd per lb. Heavy porkers made 45s to 50s, and lighter'3Bs to 425, equal to 6d per lb. ; THE SHEEP-BREEDING INDUSTRY. A few figures (says the Journal of the Department of Agriculture) will indicate the great importance of the sheep-breeding industry, and the dominant part it plays in our national prosperity. The total number of sheep in the Dominion at April 30, 1912, was 23,750,153. The exports for twelve months ending March 31, 1912, were as follow: Mutton and lamb exported and locally con- £ sumed, 6,138,176 carcases, value ... 4,447,042 Sheep (live) exported, 7855, value ... ... 40,000 Wool exported, 176,963,6071 b ; locally. iutilised, 206,2501 b, value ... ... 6,785,234 Skins, pelts, fat, and by-products, value 943,183 £12,215,459 BONES AS MANURE. The use of bones as a manure has been known for a very long time. It is said that their value was first noticed in the neighborhood of Sheffield, when reports were spread of the results produced on grass lands by the application of refuse bone material from the cutlery workshops. Whether this is true or , not, the use of bones became general about that time, and the excellent grass land of England bore witness for many years, to its nourishing efficacy. At first the bones were roughly broken, but gradually, as the better effects of more finely ground material was observed, it became customary to break them up more completely, accelerating their decomposition. After the advantage of dissolving raw bones with sulphuric acid was recognised, the application of raw bones or bone meal to the fields was partly given up and dissolved bones substituted for the raw material, and now for more than half a century dissolved bones and bone manures have figured largely in the lists of chemical manure manufacturers. At the present time there is an enormous demand for them, and the demand has regularly continued in spite of the suggestions of some agricultural chemists that dissolved bones were sold above their real fertilising value as compared with mixtures of superphosphate and sulphate of ammonia.