ON THE LAND.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2366, 5 December 1908, Page 2

ON THE LAND.

THE LIVE STOCK JUDGE

A GOOD EXAMPLE.

Almost invariably the live stock judge in this country is a man who knows this business and can place the tickets with a fair degree of satisfaction. It is seldom l'mmd, however, that ho is as adept at describing the quality of the animals he has adjudicated on or can speak well at the annual gatherings usually hold in connection' with our agricultural shows on the many points which must arise in fhe course of his work, and which would bo of interest and of vast importance to exhibitors and farmers generally. There are exceptions to this general weakness in the judge, however. and Mr •‘Teddy” O’Rorke, the popular light horse authority of Auckland —a ison of Sir Mnurico O’Rorke, and as good an amateur rider as ever crossed a pigskin—it one of them. Mr O’Rorke judged at the New Plymouth show last week, find repaying to the toasting of the judges at the annual dinner of the society, ho spoke in a. manner which did a man good to hear. - He referred to detail matters in his work during the day, land dwelt at some length on two vital matters, which it would bo better for A. and P. Societies and horse breeders were they dealt with by other horse judges. These were only breeding from sound stock and the proper" education of the horse, two matters, by the way, which are never token as seriously as they should bo by New Zealand breeders of horseflesh. FACTS TO MEMORISE. Great care, said Mr O’Rorkc, should be taken by farmers to breed only from horses which were free irom any hereditary unsoundness. In the future New Zealand was destined to become a great source of remounts for other countries, and at was therefore imperative that diseaso should be eliminated a.s much as possible from our breeding stock. Germany was now buying in Australia. A big trade was about to open up for New Zealand, and the Government should assist breeders to ho prepared for it as much as possible. The price of horses had advanced tremendously- at Homo during the past few years. At the last Dublin horse show horses went up to £I2OO, und this for hunters which had not gained a prize. Mr O’Rorke declared his belief in the fact that the breeding of remounts would he a very payable proposition for New Zealand farmers. The important suggestion was made by Mr O’Rorke, that a system of premiums for stallions travelling in the different districts of the country should be established, his idea being based no doubt on the King’s premium scliemo of England, the objective of which is to encourage farmers to breed remounts of the desired stamp. EDUCATING THE HORSE.

Air O’Rorkc’s reference to proper breaking in of the horse was most timely, for it is a subject to which far too little attention is paid in this country, saving of time being considered more essential than good manners in the subject. Air O’Rorkc laid great stress on the question of break-ing-in. lie generally found, ho said, when he mounted a horse in the show ring tin it it was very badly mouthed. It was all very well to get on the young horse and let him buck like blazes; hut that was not the wav to make a comfortable hack out of him. It was a pleasure to meet with an exception to the general mile in a horse he had ridden in the show that day (All* J. Davidson’s Loch a her), one of the most mannerly horses he had ever crossed. He was sure time had boon spent land care had been taken in the breaking of him. Air O’Rorke congratulated the society on offering a prize for manners and pace—one of the best prizes which coif’d he given in any show.

MR, GILRUTH ON UNSOUNDNESS. THE VICTORIAN EXAMPLE. Speaking on Hie same occasion, .Mr J. A. Gi'.ruth, Chief Veterinarian, referred to Mr O’Rorke’s remarks as of the utmost value, and he counselled farmers to pay due heed to them. No min in the country knew horses better than Mr O’Rorke, and he could vouch for the truth of his statement in regard to tile price of horses at Home. As to the important question of unsound ness in' horses, Victoria was paying proper attention to it. while this country wins doing nothing. In Victoria horses could not gain a prize at iau agricultural show unless they ihad the Government certificate of soundness. Mr Gil ruth referred to the celebrated c»s© of Timekeeper, the high-priced stallion imported from England to Victoria, .and which was thrown out by the'Government veterinary officers in the Mcfbo urine show ring. It was subsequently reported, said Air Gilruth, that the horse bad been rejected for unsoundness at the Shire Horse Show in London. This horse, a magnificent animal, had probably been sold at a reduced figure, on account of his hereditary weakness, and hut for the stallion jaw of Victoria would have been passing on his defect to a good proportion of the best draught horse studs of Victoria. Mr Gilruth explained hereditary unsoundness as ,a tendency transmitted to off-spring to develop "certain weakness. There was of course in the case of an unsound stallion n- counteracting influence on the mare’s side, but the marc cou'.ld only reproduce her species once in a season, whereas the stallion would reproduce ihis species 40, 60, or even 100 times. Assuming that farmers in England were going out of horsebreeding, there was all the more .reason for the farmers of New Zealand to only breed the best. Every .breeder - knew it well enough that it only paid to breed the best. And now was the time to weed out, when the’vnluo of horseflesh was comparatively low to what it would be in the future.

TEACHING YOUNG FARMERS.

THE VALUE OF TRAINING. The following is an extract from the Agricultural Department’s . annual (report, a copy of which is to hand :-y Within the currency of tlio present yetß dt is.expected that the accommo-

Farm and Station.

elation for cadets will ho provided sst Ruakura. Practical training in farm work will be the principal feature, but it ds expected that a series of lectures will also he of equal importance. These may ombmeo such suL jeets as the principles of agriculture, breeding, economic botany, chemistry as applied to the farm, diseases of stock; land -surveying and accounts. The general idea is not only to equip the young man who is entering Into agricultural life with the knowledge of the casual work of the farm, hut also to imbue his mind with idem that he must be -progressive, that country life is as attractive as that of the city, that profitable farming, assured by practical training, can bo still further assisted by acquaintance with the principles on which- 'agriculture is founded, and that such knowledge will, at least, help him to undertake many interesting invcstig.itions on his own land, and materially improve the conditions of his life. With the farmers’ co-operative experiments and with t-lio development of the experiment stations as educative institutions, there should ho associated the short course of instruction to farmers. These courses should ho considered as an accompaniment of the co-operative experiments, and would be the extension and explanation to -ifie young farmer where the experiments were in being. They would show the lesson to he conveyed by those demonstrations, and now, when the problem of the day is to arrest the inclination of fcho rural population to the town and bo provide, with 'assured remuneration to the farmer, the knowledge of the means of bringing the 'attractions of interest and progress into country life, may well become the special enterprise of this Department. It is recognised that those fields for progress are wide —the widest in the dominion. They are yet untilSed, and they claim the best efforts of the Do nartment of Agriculture.

HARNESS HORSES. A UTILITY PRIZE. Dr Paget, of Stratford, lias offered the Taranaki A. and P. .Society a special prize of £5 to be competed for next year under the following conditions, which ho considers would demonstrate the utility value of a harness horse : —Each lior.se to he driven a journey, .on the road, of 20 miles, then brought immediately into the ring. Gigs to he ordinary roadster gigs, and to carry preferably two persons. Marks to he given as follows: Twenty marks for pace, i.e., the horse doing the journey in quickest time to lie -awarded full points, and one marl; to ho deducted for each minute off the the minimum time; provided that my horse which in the opinion of the judge has been overdriven will he disqualified. Ten marks for condition in which horse finishes; and 20 marks for show ring points, viz., conformation, style, and action. Dr Paget suggests that only half of tlio prizemoney lie given in ceisc the general lines of breeding are not known. He afso emphasises the fact that this is not a road race, hut a thorough test of light harness horses.

NOT WORTH THE TROUBLE

A SHIPPER’S EXPERIENCE

With reference to the export of Romney Marsh. sheep to the Argentina Air G. Sykes, secretary of the Alasterton A. and P. Association, who was one of those who forwarded two consignments to that country, informed the AVairarapa correspondent of tlio “Dominion” that lie was not much enamoured with any scheme for a further trial. He made a. profit over his first shipment, hut nothing on the second, and unless there was a big gain the work was not worth the trouble. The sheep in his second shipment dost weight on the voyage, and then they arrived at Argentina on a falling market, and when there was practically no demand for them. Air Sykes thought that the trade might become profitable for New Zealand farmers,.if they had a trustworthy representative residing in the Argentina, who would sidvi.se them when it would ho a good time to ship consignments.

DAIRYING IN DENMARK.

THE PRINCIPLES OF CO-OPERA-TION.

Mr. R. J. Guthrie, the agricultural commissioner of tlio “Sydney Mail,” who recently returned from a tour of the world, delivered, at a complimentary dinner, some remarks on the dairying industry of Denmark. The principle of self-help and cooperation (said Air. Guthrie) prevailed throughout Denmark. Cream wassail pasteurised before being made into butter, and the producers did not wait for the Government to help them. They appointed their own inspectors, and obeyed thei r own rigid laws .respecting honesty of dealing and quality of produce. Denmark was the greatest butter-producing country in the world, Siberia wtis second, and Australia third. Danish butter was popular in cities like Birmingham and the north of England because of its uniformity of quality. It was a paler butter than that exported from Australia, hut it was always of the same grade, and produced in even qualities all the year round, and the people had become used to .its flavor. The highercolored and full-flavored Australian butter had a great hold in London, and if there could be a regularity of consignment ' throughout the year there was no question that the popularity of the Australian product would grow. The winter-feeding of cattle in Denmark, the careful use of fodder, and the arrangements to time the calving for different seasons of the year,''all made for continuity of supply. The Danish appliances were not as far advanced as those in use in Australia or New Zealand, but the Dane was an immensely thorough and painstaking worker.

MILK REJECTED BY CHEESF FACTORIES. COWGRASS. BLAMED. There arc “gases” and “tastes” in some of the milk up Eliham way,, and the dairy farmers are it bQ

cou-grass. Here is what the “Eltham Argus” says about it : “D'.urynien’in this district \vho «*>,/ ply ciice.se factories are perplex ;d by the prejudical . effect which certain feed is having on the- milk. Old pastures of cocksfoot make the best feed for the purpose of obtaining a tasteless, gasless milk, but- for obvious reasons the farmer prefers a rank growing feed like red clover. Uufoi frunately such feed has its dangers, and it has been found that one feed which ds popular has a serious effect on -the milk. The feed in is cowgrass and is closely allied with red clover. Its effect on' milk is to give it “tastes,” and to make it gaseous. Dairymen state that after carting the milk to the factory and. removing the lids from the cans the gases are quite pronoxxnced. From the cheesem-akor’s point of view this is a very serious drawback, as it prevents proper "acidity. Cheese-mak-ing is a more exact and certain science than it was a few years ago, and it is nob outside the makers’ power to take steps (by regulating the starter and other means) to counteract the effect of these gases. This, however, means -extra trouble, -and therefore increased cost of manufacture, and 1 even then the “tastes” are probably perpetuated in the cheese. The simpler method is to -refuse this milk, and wo are informed that this lias been done in -a number of cases at one factory in this district. “How to meet the difficulty is a question which is exercising the minds of dairymen. Some suggest that if the trouble grows it can he best, met by abandoning the manufacture of cheese for the manufacture of butter. The milk affected by gases is not so hopeless from the hutterm-ak'er’s point of view as the cheesemaker’s. In butter-making the milk is cooled, but in cheese-making it is heated and this process aggravates the defects which may bo in the milk. Another apparent remedy is to stop sowing this feed, hut this is hardly one which appeals to farmers. A third remeay recommended by a factory, manager with whom our representative talked the matter over is the cooling of the milk. He is hopeful that this will entirely meet the difficulty. He points out that cooling will drive out most of the gases and leave the milk correspondingly sweeter.”

SPRAYING FRUIT TREES.

A SIMPLE METHOD

The problem of keeping fruit trees clean seems to have been solved by Air. G. A. Jones, of Bomaderry, New South Wales. He says:—l have about 700 orchard trees, and everyone says they tiro the cleanest trees they have ever seen. I attribute their cleanliness and freedom from disease solely to proper spraying. I have used every kind of wash for diseases of. fruit trees that lias been recommended, hut Sunlight Soap is the best of them all. It will cure a tree of red scale or olive scale. One tablet of Sunlight Soap should he sliced up into two gallons of water and boiled until the soap is dissolved, and when nearly colu spray on the trees in the afternoon when the sun is nob too hot. For peach aphids I make tlio solution stronger, that is. I add two tablespoonfuls of Lever’s Dry Soap (Sunbeam Washing Powder) to every four gallons of the above spray, and I spray the trees just before the buds burst. It will also kill the aphids on rose trees, cabbages, and swede turnips. It is a sure cure for San Jose scale.