Farm and Garden.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 422, 19 May 1904, Page 2

Farm and Garden.

ORIGINAL ARTICLES.

ECONOMICAL FEEDING OF DAISY CATTLE. - CTptfBOFITS in dairying now depend 5§CJ£ largely upon the sum total of MJS? small savings made possible by careful attention rather than an increase in the price of dairy products. The feeding of the dairy cow is one point j where economy is of prime importance Every intelligent dairyman knows that the ration given a dairy cow goes first to maintain, and secondly to the manufacture of milk. If only fed enough to support her, it is quite evident that there will be nothing remaining to be used in making butter fat. The constant effort of the dairyman should be, therefore, to see how large a part of the ration fed can be profitably used in the manufacture of i batter. The capacity of the individual cow must be determined, and then what is fed in excess of the maintainance will fee profit. There are many breeds and many individuals that can only support themselves, others, if fed in excess of their requirements, increase in weight rather than turn this extra feed into milk. Neither of these classes are of any profit whatever in the dairy. Batter fat and beef seldom go together. The cow which fattens very easily is seldom worth keeping as a milker. If she uses it to cover her own hones, she cannot in the Batare of things make large quantities of milk. On the other hand, if she does produce large quantities of milk she usually is thin. The initial step in economical dairy production is to ascertain just how much feed each cow can be induced* to consume and what are the uses to which she tarns it. If she takes on fat, she should be sent to the butcher at once. But to determine just when a cow is profitable requires systematic study. The feed must be weighed, the milk must be weighed, and the cow must be weighed. It will then be comparatively easy to figure out the standing of the cow in a dairy. The feed of dairy cows should at all times be sufficient to supply ample nourishment. The amount will of course vary greatly from month to month, according to the amount of milk the oows are producing. A cow yielding some few gallons a day needs more nourishment than when giving only a gallon a day.

EXPERIENCES IN BENEWING GRA.PE VINES.

A man experienced in grape culture relates that after trying different methods of pruning he adopted the high renewal system. Instead of the arms used in the horizontal arm spur system, and which are allowed to remain year after year, he uses a new cane each season. The arm is cut off close to the trunk, which reaches from the ground to the first wire, and two new canes which have come out near trnnk are bent down and tied to the first wire. The other weaker canes near the trunk are trimmed to one or two buds from which new shoots will grow out for bearing canes next year. In selecting the bearing canes it will usually be found that those of hard, smooth wood and of medium size, will be better than large overgrown ones. Shoots which do not readily attach themselves to the second wire with their tendrils should be trained in place and, if necessary, tied with some soft material. This cultivator is using three and four wires, about ten inches apart with the best results. But little tying is necessary, and but little summer pruning. If the new growth becomes unmanageable the end is clipped off, In other parts of the vineyard he uses two or three wires. Good shallow cultivation should be given through the growing season. The replacing of missing vines in a vineyard is a perplexing task sometimes. If a new vine is planted tbe old ones on each Bide seem to take up the fertility and moisture in the soil, making growth very slow if it succeeds at all. A good method is, in early spring, select a strong cane of the previous season's growth as near the end of the vine as possible. Cut off about one foot from the end to make sure of healthy wood. Carry the cane along the lower wire to the vacant place where the vine should be and lay the cane in a trench for a distance of twelve or fifteen inches deep, filling the hole with top soil pressed firmly around the buried cane. About a pint of bonemeal in the trench will help the growth of roots. The parent vine nourishes the cane, and after two or three years it can be cut loose and a new vine established Care must be taken to thin the new shoots so as not to weaken the oane or hurt the vine.