BY THE WAYSIDE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 58, 24 March 1937, Page 15

BY THE WAYSIDE

News of Interest to H.B. Farmers SECOND-GRADE CREAM Of the various causeB of secondgrade and " bor der-line " cream there is none as common as the contamination resulting from inefficient waahing of dairy utensils. Contamination may result from: — Failing to wash up twice daily; washing up with cold water; leaving the separator unwashed at night; failing to use washing soda to remove grease; using objeetionable cloths or unclean brushes; failing to scald thoroughly all utensils, brushes, etc., after washing; failing to wash and scald cans on their return from the factory; washing up utensils in polluted water — rain water is always preferable. From the aspect of cream quality, cleaning dairy utensils is one of the most important operations on the farm, yet it rarely receives the attention it warrants, mainly because the part played by germs in cream deterior- j ation is not properly understood, Rabbit Extermination. That it is not impracticable to exterminate rabbits in colonies by the introduction of an infectious disease, deadly to them, but harmless .to domestio animals, is the conclusion reached by Sir Charles J. Martin in .a report to the Institute of Animal Pathology at Cambridge, England. Using the virus of Myxomatosis cunieuli, he has produced complete extermination of colonies of wild rabbits. The readiness with which the infection will spread to other colonies, however, depends upon the intercourse between the animals of the different colonies, and his Tesearch is being continued to deal with this factor. Speed-up Hay-making. It is the drying of the stems of f orage plants that prolongs haymaking. To overcome this handicap the Agricultural Engineering Department of the Mississippi Experiment ' Station have devised a combination mower and crusher which is said to be giving promising results. The crushing of the stems facilitates evaporation and promotes quick and uniform natural drying. Sound investment. A herd-testing association in America sent out a list of questions to its 222 members. The replies showed that membership in a herd-testing association was worth an average of £12 a year more than it cost. All the mem» bers declared that the association'* work paid big dividends.

Believe it — or not) Recently a civil engineer was running lines preparatory to dividing the 1,400,000-acre King Tanch in Texas, U.S.A., when he discovered that the "line fence" between it and the huge Kennedy rancli "next door" was in the wrong place and that the Kennedy rancli as fenced included more than 30,000 aeres belonging to the King estate. The Kennedy ranch manager 's attention was called to the error and he promptly replied: "All right, let's xnove the fence. ' ' Or at least news despatehes so record. What Should They Cost? During the discussion upon. the price of fencing posts at the deputations to the Hon. F. Langstone while in the Bay of Plenty district, the chairman of the. Taneatua bchoql committee, BEr C. H. McCready, was worried over the price of two 8x8 strainers purchased for the school fence. "What do you think they cost?" he asked the Minister, "You tell me, ' ' replied the Minister with diplomacy. "No, but I'want your opinion," persisted Mr McCready. "3 am not an authority on posts," admitted the Minister. "Well," said Mr McCready, with tragic emphasis, "they cost £3 16/-." The Minister then agreed to look into the price. British Pig Scheme, A result of the British Pigs and Bacon scheme, probably anticipated at its inception, has been that the Dominions have benefited almost as much by the quantitative regulation of foreign imports as Great Britain has done. Canada, the Irish Free State, and New Zealand have all increased their exports substantially, while AustraBan shipments have been 'almost quadrupled. The increase in the quantity of Home-grown bacon has been 56 per cent., but the increase in bacon from imported carcases put into cnre by registered curers has been over 70 per cent., most of these carcases coming from the largely increased supplies of New Zealand and Australia. The Rabbit Pest. "It really pays 'the farmer to let the rabbit become a pest and then eliminate the nuisance rather than to cultivate his ground," said the Rev. Clyde Carr, M.P. for Timaru, presiding at a meeting in Wellington of Federated Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The elimination of the rabbit pest had become quite a substantial industry in some parts of New Zealand. "In Seddon Js day legislation was passed to deal with that sort of thing, but I don't know whether it is a dead letter now," continued Mr Carr. In parts of Soifthland farmers let the outer parts of their lands to trappers and reserved the inner area for themMlve*.