Farm and Garden.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 426, 14 July 1904, Page 2

Farm and Garden.

ORIGINAL ARTICLES. RAISING AND FATTENING HOGS. fOSKHE easiest and quickest money tfjl'lo made on tbe farm is obtained from <Qf&9 raising hogs. But it is necessary that one should commence in a proper manner. Select big boned, large size, pure bred specimens of ssme leading variety. The particular breed would depend on the size of the farm, the location, and the natural inclinations of the selection. Berkshires are the most popular with same people, the Poland Chinas with others, and other varieties. The first important matter is to provide good ihelter. The buildings need not be expensive, but should be dry and so arranged as to prevent cold drafts of air. It is best to provide board feeding floors, not necessarily under a roof, but of course that is best where it can be so arranged j also that the hogs should only use the floored space at feeding time. The feeding troughs may be made of two-inch boards one foot wide, with sides of six- { inch boards, the height of troughs being four inches to hold slop food. There should be fourteen feet of troughs for every twenty hogs, and slop should be placed in the trough's before letting in the pigs so that all may have a chance of obtaining some. They should be fed that much that they will eat up readily without leaving any. If there are some few acres of farm land raiee your own feed, or as much as possible; also one should have a grinder for grinding the feed yourself. The hogs should have one feed of soaked shelled corn once a day part of the time. Slop food may be placed in barrels beside the troughs, from which they should be fed twice For 'succeseful hog raising it is necessary that they should have the run of pasture land; also a .portion of land should be reserved for growing hog pasture mixture and dwarf Essex rape; also a small patch fenced in where seme Jerusalem artichokes may be grown, which are excellent feed, easy to grow, and the yield is very large; also provide plenty of pure drinkißg water. If wanted to grow quickly the hogs may be forced, but should not have too much corn, as it renders them susceptible to cholera. With favorable surroundings raising hogs ie a very profitable pursuit. ROOT DEVELOPMENT. A knowledge of the root development of plants is important in the searching for methods of cultivation to suit the various crops. Plants differ much in regard to the growth and development of their loot systems. The grains and grasses, although they may have a thick fibrous growth of root near the surface, send their main roots foraging five or six feet deep into the subsoil. These roots do not spread far to the side however, and these plants do "not require much root room. Grain crops are sown broadcast or planted in drills a few inches apart, and if they receive any cultivation it mußt be very shallow in order not to injure the network of fibrous roots near the surface, The roots of corn and potatoes may not extend so deep into the soil as grain roots, but they spread out horizontally in every direction, often extending three or four feet from the hill where planted. Such crops are cultivated in rows several feet apart, so that their roots can have feeding room and a suffl jient supply of water and plant-food to produce tbe perfect plant, Deep cultivation of these crops destroys many o£ the lateral roots which only a few inches below the surface and check the growth of the crop. The knowledge of the root growth of corn has revolutionised the methods of cultivating this crop. Root crop 3 such as the sugar beet do not make much lateral growth, but- the tap root goes directly downward, sending its branches deep into the subsoil; much attention has c£ late been directed to the sugar beet, and it is found that the portion projecting above the soil is devoid of sugar and a loss; it is therefore apparent th&t the s :g-.r beet should-grow below the surface. Root crops in a general way require deep, mellow soil and deep cultivation for their beat development. As we study the roots of plants we find that the methods of culture which are practised to-day are best, and are directly related to the systems of rooting which characterise the various crops.