Farm and Garden

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 202, 25 October 1909, Page 3

Farm and Garden

LUCERNE. A Taranaki farmer recently secured : from Messrs Adams Bros., of Marl- j bourough, the experience of those farmers with lucener, which they hav-> cultivated with success for many years. He furnishes the Hawera Star with the information he obtained from Messrs Adams, who write as follows: — "We note that you say you have been unable to obtain reliable seed. We have never found that difficulty, nor have \vc ever had a failure in our long experience, although our neighbours have had Complete failures. Lucerne is a plant that will give you practically no return for the first year, thus giving people the impression that it is a failure, which is entirely a mistake. At the beginning weeds get the upper band. We usually put the mower over it once or twice the first season and cut them; it is a mistake to g*aze in the first season. After the first season it can be either grazed or cut at pleasure. When we don't graze it we cut five crops of hay in a season; the first is cut about t>c 20th October, and every five weeks to the day thereafter for five crops. Many people think it cannot be grazed which is entirely a mistake. Of course, keeping it closely fed down allows grass to grow, which is the only thing that will get the upper hand of lucerne after it is once established. We scarify ours in the winter, which pulls the grass up, cultivates the surface, and buries the sheep manure, thus giving a very prolific growth. The cultivating does not hurt the lucerne. By keeping the grass out the lucerne will never die out. Marlborough is a very suitable climate for it, being dry and a lot of sunshine. We are of opinion that Taranaki climate is too wet for it to give anything like the results that we get. We sow in September or October, broadcast, and about 151b of seed to the acre. We have just bought the /arm adjoining ours of IGS acres, and are sowing it all down in lucerne. This will show you what our opinion of it is over twenty years' experience.

Ail the cans or milking pails, refrigerator and pan, churns, and utensils should be thoroughly cleansed and scalded. Chicks that run at large will help themselves to green feed, but when confined in small yards such food must be supplied. Do not allow your dog to bring up j the cows if he is in the habit of chas- ; ing them as an excited cow will never | give a full mess of milk. A highly specialised cow is in a measure an artificial product, a coni- ! plicated machine requiring skill for I its best utilisation. The problem of securing cleanliness is not to be solved by simply ignoring it nor is it to be solved by indifference or cowardice on the part of creamery > managers. I The milk cow should not be compcl- \ led to take much exercise. Water I should be convenient, as travelling a | long distance for water compels her \ to drink water in large quantities at ' too long interavls. » The man who runs a dairy farm and I raises pigs will find that by good management Ihc cows will pay all expenses of the farm and the pigs will | nut the money in the bank. Skim milk is a most valuable feed for hogs, and when added to chopped grain greatly adds to its feeding value. An exchange says that "it fattens a hog faster and more economically; it enables you to make a bigger profit on your hogs, and the money for you faster; it is the source of cheap and good I calvos, and in fact is so valuable that we are often led to believe that a man on a farm cannot afford to dispose of it at any price." Having the butter fat removed by the separator does not greatly lessen the milk as a pig and calf food. Fat is easily supplied by grain, and this grain with good pure skim milk is a most wholesome diet. Green feed in season, carrots or other roots in winter, but especially carrots, and frequent mashes of bran are desirable for horses habitually constipated, while astringent foods, such as beans, should be avoided. In addition put a lump of rock salt in the manger, provide plenty of soft water to drink, and give occasionally small doses of Epsom salts. When dairy land could be purchased at £4 to £5 an acre the man with a herd that returned 1801b. or 2001b. of butterfat in the season might make a decent living; now that same land is worth £2O an acre he feels compelled to make a change. The land will not carry a large number of cows, and the expenses cannot be much cut down; therefore the only thing to be done is to improve the milk-production per cow. Effeminacy in a sire means a lack of tone in muscle and loss of vigour and this is very observable in sires lacking impressive powers, while the most noted sires in the history of breeding have been remarkably virile, with the characteristics of masculinity unusually developed. A stallion should have a determined expression, the hard features, the high crest, and full neck that are evidences of masculinity. With these there should be the active, vigorous temperament, which also indicates virility. Oats we may regard as almost an ideal food for dairy cows for whatever purpose the milk is to be used,and one which can be fed on with excellent results. There is a most delicate daily response by milcb cows, showing the effects of feed or conditions which would be imperceptible in animals fed for other purposes. The dairyman who allows his heifers to reach a fair degree of maturity and breeds them so that they will drop their first calf about the time they should have reached their full development is on safer ground than the man who will not wait for this maturity.