On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 10 December 1914, Page 59

On the Land

GENERAL.

A Woodville farmer, in advocating the claims of clover, said that he put fifteen of his cows on clover for a couple of hours one evening, and again for ah hour the following morning before they were milked. The result was that their milk increased 5515 sin weight—almost 41b each.

» An interesting letter is published in the Manawatu Standard from a Marlborough sheep-owner, who, referring to the drought conditions, says ; ‘ The drought in Marlborough is really appalling. I have never seen the country so dry in the driest autumn. Sheep are starving and springs are drying, and this is October. The cereal crops are coming into ear before they are six inches high. The Awatere, they tell me, is even worse. Other years, all my sheep have been sold months ago, but so far I have not sold a hoof. It is really most serious. No one remembers anything like it here; and we have been advised .to make provision for storing our wool indefinitely. Sounds cheerful, doesn’t it?’ Burnside Stock Report;—Fat Cattle.—2o7 head were yarded. Of this number the bulk of the yarding consisted of medium to good steers and heifers. Competition was dull, and prices were back fully 15s to 20s per head compared with previous week’s values: Extra prime bullocks, to £l9 ; prime bullocks, £l4 to £ls 15s; good bullocks, £l2 to £l3 ss; light and inferior, £lO to £ll 10s; prime cows and heifers, £ll 10s to £l4; good, £9 to £lO 10s; light and inferior, £5 10s to £B. Fat Sheep.A small yarding, only 1704 being offered. Amongst this number were a proportion of extra prime sheep, some of them being 'prize-takers from Dunedin and Waimate shows. Prices opened on a par with previous week, but as the sale progressed prices advanced fully Is per head. Extra prime wethers, to £2 11s; prime wethers, 28s to 335; good wethers, 25s to 27s 6d; light and medium, 20s to 245; extra prime ewes, to £2 5s 6d; prime ewes, 28s to 33s 3d; good ewes, 23s to 255; light and medium, 18s to 22s 6d. Fat Lambs.-—There was a fairly large yarding to-day, 230 being penned. As this number proved slightly more than butchers’ requirements, prices receded closely on Is per head. Prime lambs, 18s to 19s; good lambs, 16s to 17s; light and inferior, 14s to 15s. Pigs. — fats and 90 stores were yarded. Prices for fats were a shade better than previous week’s rates. Quotations : Suckers, 10s to 12s; slips, 16s to 18s; stores, 20s to 30s; porkers, 37s to 465; light baconers, to 535; heavy baconers, to 60s; choppers, to 765.

At the Addington stock market last week there was a smaller yarding of fat cattle, but larger entries of fat sheep and lambs. The rains have improved the store sheep market, and there was a keen demand for all that were offered. For fat cattle there was a little keener demand at late rates. Fat lambs and fat sheep were somewhat easier in consequence of a large entry. Two-tooth wethers, to 16s 7d; medium two-tooth wethers, to 16s 7d ; medium two - tooth wethers, 13s 6d to 14s lid ; inferior two - tooth ’ wethers, 12s lOd to 13s Id; forward four-tooth wethers, 17s 9d to 20s sd; backward woolly four-tooth wethers, 18s 6d; fair woolly. ewes, with lambs, 14s 3d; other ewes, with lambs, 7s to 12s; two, four, six, and eight-tooth ewes, 17s Id; woolly merino wethers lbs 6d; best lambs, 18s 6d to 20s 9d; lighter, 14s 6d to 18s; prime shorn wethers, 22s to 265; others, 19s to 21s 6d ; shorn merino wethers, 19s; woolly ewes, 16s 9d to 25s 9d; prime shorn ewes, 20s to 25s 3d;. others, 16s to 19s 6d; shorn merino ewes, 12s 6d to 15s 6d; shorn hoggets, 18s to 21s 6d. Extra steers, to £22 10s; ordinary steers, £7 15s to £ll 10s; heifers, £7 to £l2 15s; extra cows, to £l3 12s 6d; ordinary cows, £6 5s to £9. Price of beef per 1001 b, 32s to 41s. Store Cattle. —Yearlings, £2 ; 15 to 18 months; £3 2s 6d to £3 8s; two-year heifers, £3 17s to £3 19s 6d; three-year steers, £6 7s 6d to £7 15s; four andfivesyear steers, £8 I2s 6d to £lO 10s; three-year heifers, £5 to £5 15s; dry cows, £2 8s to

.£6 15s; dairy cows, £3 to £ll. Pigs. — Choppers, £2 10s to £4 ; extra heavy baqoners, £3 to £3' 8s ; ordinary baconers, £2 8s to £2 15s (price per lb, 5d to s|d) ; heavy porkers, £2 2s to £2 4s; lighter porkers, £1 15s to £2 8s (price per lb, s|d) ; large stores, £1 10s to £1 15s 6d; medium, £1 2s to £4 9s; small, 16s to £1 Is; weaners, 10s to 16s. • t INFLUENCE OF SOIL IN HORSE BREEDING; It is a point of some importance to success in the breeding horses that the land on which they are bred is suitable, because the nature of the soil has much influence in moulding the type of horses, their size, the development of their bone, and general conformation (says the Melbourne Advocate Not only does it have a bearing on their outward type, but also their constitution, the quality or texture of the bone, and the toughness of their sinews. A soil which is suitable for one class of horse may be less so or quite unsuitable for another. When the conditions of soil are not congenial to its particular nature, a breed cannot flourish, and yet, the mistake is commonly made of attempting to breed a particular class or breed of horses on land which is unsuited to its character. ■[; The heavy draught horse can be raised only on rich and fertile land, where the grazing is of the best, as well as abundant. -Such horses cannot be bread on poor soils, because the grazing on these lacks: the elements which are necessary for the production of; this type. On this class of land draught stock deteriorate in size and weight. Their weight and size bear a direct relationship to the richness and fertility of. the, soil. The richer the latter, the more does it promote the development of these characteristics. The heaviest and biggest draught horses of the Shire breed, for example, are reared in the low-lying, marshy and rich lands of the Fen country in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, which favors the production of weight and frame.

In the case of the lighter breeds richness of soil tends towards massiveness of shape, just , the same as it does in the case of draughts, but the requirements of this class of horse as regards suitability of soil are in certain ways .different. They represent a different •type of horse, in which the development of mere weight of body is not the principal requirement. The light horses can be bred on soil which would not be suitable or good enough in point of richness for producing really weighty and first-rate draught stock. Marshy, lowlying, rich pasture ground is by no means the most suitable for the production of good horses of the light class, which do better on poorer land as long as it.is sound and has a fair share of lime.

The lighter breeds of horses raised on rich land develop weight, and grow to a big size, but they are more or less coarse in type, and lack quality and refinement, while being more or less soft in constitution.' The quality of their bone and sinews is also of an inferior character, the structures being deficient in toughness, while their feet incline to be of a flatter shape and more spreading than is desirable in horses of the Tight class. Really tough, hard-wearing, and stoutly-cbnsti-tutioned light horses, with strong legs, steely tendons, and good feet, can be bred only on the higher lands. In no other : direction does the nature of the soil exert a greater" degree of influence upon the horse, stock bred on it than in regard to the size and quality of the bone, tendons, sinews, and ligament. The principal ingredients which go to build up the bones are lime and phosphates; hence, where the soil is deficient in these constituents the feed it produces does not contain a sufficient amount of bone-forming material to assure a full development. " ~ ■ _■