FARMING AND COMMERCIAL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1556, 27 September 1912, Page 10

FARMING AND COMMERCIAL.

' »■ , ■■ i AND NOTES. .

HORNED CATTLE. k EELIC OP BAEBAIUSM. Properly speaking horns can be classed only as a Telic of barbarism and entirely out of placo in a civilised cornmun- | ity, says Mr; Primrose M'Connell, mau- ' nger of' the Riiakura State Farm. , Mr. i- M'Connell Says ho is quite convinced that-a hornless herd of cow 9 will yield ■ considerably more milk than, a similar V herd with horns, not taking into account tho direct loss through prods and bruiies, which later,-although they may not seem much outwardly, undoubtedly affect the milk-yield. Dehornins: renders a herd altogether more docilo and less timid, ' and' such qualities in a milking herd help considerably in making a big rccord. Mr. M'Connell says ; lie has seen so much of .the: evils of horns and the great loss oaused by them that he is more than convinced that dehorning should bo made ; compulsory, particularly' among dairy stock,' and that the retention of the horn js not only the cause of enormous loss, but it is absolutely barbarous.' We in. New Zealand, says Mr. M'Connell, pro- - fess to be practical in nil things pertaining to the breeding of' stock, especially when compared with the British, but the fact is, lie adds, that we are not honest with ourselves. We preach against all manner. of faking, but ou tho quiet wo wink at and encourage it i while the Britisher openly encourages .it and' as openly 'carries it out—not only so, but ho-practises it to such perfection that one cannot but admira his art. At many New Zealand shows, ■ he says,..although tho rules are most emphatic on . this,goint, faking is carried 011 unblush-. iiigly, . and. even encouraged .by many of the judges. He would yield to no one in.'his desire'to see stocK-turned out to thcr highest point of perfection that could beobtained- by legitimate means,_ but,to bo further' than'this, was, in his opinion, foplisb and served no practical end. Failing compulsory dehorning, ' the points that are .allotted' to horns should, Mr. .M'Connell, agrees, be entirely eliminated. from tho -judges'- scale, particularly. in.!judging a'dairy cow; and ,a • cow that' has - her horns trained' upward and 'outward lib would- either debar entirely or deduct so many points from tho total scale. A' judge that will debar a milking-'cow simply because'she happens to be dehorned is in . Mr. M'Connell's opinion, not a'judge at air but a faddist —unless, of course, ho is bound by the rules, of tho association. Many breeders, even of pedigree Jerseys, would dehqrn to-morrow were they certain that-, it would .not affect their in r the show-ring. . In dehorning, the most humane way is, no doubt, to apply' caustic when tho calf is-but a fow days old, "When' the operation is. performed on a mature animal with'a dehorning instrument, care should bo taken to,go as closo as possible, also to cut'.the horri on a line with the slope of-the ; head. When the horn is not cut close: enough a short stump will soon appear, which is most unsightly, while a 'well dehorned animal will show a head like a-polled Angus with no. vestige of horn visible. An unrulv bull shonltl bo dehorned-at once, aiid .it is astonishing how'the operation will quiet hirii. -. LAMPAS. . HOW. TO GET- BID. OF. TIIKU. . , A correspondent, writing, to the- Agricultural Department asking the best method of 1 getting rid of lampas in horses, and why burning them out, if.properly done, is-so much objected to that'there is a heavy , fine' for .doing.it, has been supplied; with the following answer , by the Live Stock : and: Meat Division:— "It is not uncomm6n for young horses, wlien 'cuttjng their' permanent' upper incisor teeth, to have an inflamed condithe mucous membrane of the gumS'atid' of'thd' Kard pa-late'. ' This constitutes'the so-called lampas. In these true cases of lampas the' membranes are swollen owirif to tho infiltration of scrum into-the submucous tissue, causing the gums'.to descend below tho leyel'of tho tables of the'incisors, which at this time have not attained their full growth, thus making the gum appear more prominent than.it really is. The aiiiraal does not like the mouth examined, and if the gums . are pressed upon evinces pa'in, and'js disinclined to feed, as prehension and mastication, hurt him. Giving food in the fornr of.spffc mashes, etc.. for a time is generally all that is required; and a hand-ful-.of Epsom salts niay'be given in-these or his drinking-water every other day. Tf tho portion of the palate immediately behind the upper front teeth' is much swollen and painful, it may be'lightly scarified; with a sharp-pointed clean knife, and a,little powdered alum applied. Inmany cases horses have naturally very prominent.palatop, often being on a level of the tooth-tables. This is what is generally termed "lampas" by horsemen. In point of fact, it i 9 nothing of the kind, and the. animal is not. affected by'it, neither is there pain on pressure nor an inflamed nppoarnnco of the palate. It is this condition that ignorant persons think- ; should be got rid'of, cither by, cutting, puncturing with a sharp horsenail,'or, by using a red-hot iron with a. curve at the end: There is no doubt that the last-named is cruelty, ' arid tho firsrt-mcritibned proceedings' ilo -no good. You have only to Icok at tho horso a week or so afterwards, and you will find the condition still there. Burning, apart from causing great pain, disfigures the mouth, leaving a hollow behind the teeth which never fills up. There is great risk, too, of injuring the palatine artery, in which case roti. get. haemorrhage, which .is'extreme! jdifficult to-stop, and lias been known to prove fatal. Accompanying the artery is the palatine nerve.' which . provides VenBibility tp the-hard palate and'also the roots of the incisor teeth. If the artery, is injured by the burning, it is reasonable! to assume that the nerve is also,' and thus incalculable damage is done both to the p.alnte and the teeth."

CREAMERY BUTTER EXPORTS. OUR HOMU.AGENT'S COMMENTS. i -" Tho inspector of New Zealand dairy prO- - dtico in London (Mr. W. Wright) gives - some valuable hints in regard to tho hond- . ling of creamery butter, during tho course I of his annual report. Generally speaking, 1 he says the flavour of tho' various brands • of New Zealand creamery butter gives : satisfaction, but, lio adds, tho regrottable . crratic prevalence of fishi.ness calls for i earnest,endeavour to get at 'ho root of the > evil. This troublo makes its appearance I quito -unexpectedly in brands that liavo ■ been giving ovcry satisfaction, and that L have boon looked upon as being reliable . as to quality, when suddenly fisliiness ajv ' pears, and causes embarrassment in busi- > riess circles. In a few instances, • Mr. • Wright says ho has found rather objec- > tionablo flavour in some of the New Zealand butters, ono in particular being what ho terms a kida flavour. This is probably ■ due to the excessive uso of a neutralising • agent in the cream before pasteurising. • ' Great care should be exercised in cases ' where a neutralising agent is necessary, so as to prevent the flavour of the butter , ; suffering. Mr. Wright stresses the need : ' for makers being absolutely sure that i ; theii 1 butter is perfectly straight in col- ' 1 our before-packing. Butters that, arc ] "streaky".or "marbled" in colour are-not ; wanted at Home, and there have been in- : ; stances brought under his notice where i : clients have returned New Zealand butter i to the agents or firms from which it was purchased because of the ab'ove defect. The, ! only destination for such butters is .the ;• blending establishment. Core should also ; be'paid to tho salting of butter, irreju- i larity in salting being rather too preva- I lent. The British public.'are Tather par- • ticular in.'their'taste in this-respect, says j Mr. .Wright. Some-of the New Zealand : brands have been' found to contain over the limit of moisture content. Mr. Wright ] urges producers to take eveTy possible ! precaution against sending away butter i ' containing over the legal percentage of ' moisture. He recommends that 14 per. t cent, should-bo the limit aimed at. Neg- < lect to remedy the above defect can only < result in serious financial loss to the pro- 1 1 ducers. says Sir. Wright, who adds that ' it is of vital importance to the industry ] that the people who deal in our dairy ; produce should_ feel and know that the i | article in question is above suspicion. The Homo representative says' lie has seen 1 quite a quantity of New Zealand creamery ' butters with an advertisement inside the ; | lid of the packacre indicating that the con- j tents are manufactured from pasteurised : cream on the Danish principle, etc. Ho re- ■ ■ commends that the uso of the word "Dan- ] ish" be discontinued as early as possible. 1 Several instances of shoTt net weight in , New Zealand <butter nackages have comb I under'the notion of Mr. Wright since he : took up his duties. . j ; New Zealand butter with ' other nialces. Mr.'Wright'savs': "Since my arrival'ill England I havo had many opDortiinities of comparing otir creamery butters with those of . other' countries' whose butters havo'also to be carried long . distances, and. generally sneaking, I find' ' that the quality of our butter is superior to ouv eomnetitors'.: I refer to Australian, : Siberian. Argentine, and Canadian pro- ! duce. ' Thrf Irish butters that I have seep ' ' up to ,the'pTe"sent are not to be comnared with'ours" for quality, but'no "doubt the ■quality of. Irish will improve as their sea- ; .spn.advances. 'Our b'Klie r grades comngrn ; very frfvourablv with . Danish. Swedish! [ and' Finnish. One is very much struck [ with the lack of colonr_ in'many Continental butters, some beinir almost dead | white in colour, due no doubt/to fodder feeding «nd pasteurisation, further aprra- . .viited by excessive working.' Some butters I have seen are very salvy in aonearanee. and t.ho texture was,' in my opinion, ' destroved." In Mr. Wrighfs opinion, our butter ' nackages are neater and'more attractive. ' in iptornnl appearance than nny'others t-bat he has seen up to the present, time. ' Tliis refers to sGlb. packages and kegs J from overseas.