Farm and Garden

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 294, 14 September 1910, Page 6

Farm and Garden

THE AYRSHIRE COW. "The Ayrshire Cow: Her Past, Present, and Future," was the title of a lecture recently given by Mr James Dunlop, a well-known Scotch authority on this breed. The lecturer traced the origin and history of the Ayrshire cow from before the time of the Covenanters until the present day. He quoted from ancient writers to show that Holstein, Jersey and Guernsey blood had been used, less or more, in improving the Ayrshire. A progenitor of his own. Dunlop of Dunlop, was the first to improve the breed. The improved cattle were first known as Dunlop cattle, then as they began to spread over North Ayrshire as Cunningham cattle, and about the beginning of the present century, when they became common throughout the shire, they were called Ayrshire cattle. The rapid spread of the improved cattle was due to their superior milking properties and so popular had they become that by 1830 it was estimated that one-half of the cattle in Scotland were Ayrshire cattle. At that time the Ayrshire was a notable milker. Aiton, in his survey of Ayrshire, said five gallons per day was common, while he had seen cows giving seven gallons per day, and later on they read of a cow which gave over 1300 gallons in a season. By the late fifties or early sixties the small teat had become the showyard rage, and in later years the additional curse of a tight, fleshy vessel was the fashion set by the showyard. As a result there had been no improvement in the Ayrshire as a milk-producing healthy animal for over 50 years, and for this the utilitydestroying fads and fancies of the showyard were entirely responsible. For the present they were getting on to new lines; the milk record movement was firmly established, although a great extension of the work was desirable and necessary. He reviewed the trade in Ayrshire cattle for the past year, and owing to the great reduction in dairy cattle as revealed by the agricultural returns and the increasing demand from abroad for "milky" Ayrshires, he predicted a higher range of prices and better times for the breeders.

TOMATOES. Where tomatoes have not already been planted they should be put in without further delay. Artificial heat will assist germination of seed, but it is not indispensable, it being possible to raise a good crop of healthy seedlings in a pot covered with a pane of glass in an ordinary window. When, however, the seedlings appear they must have as much light and air as possible to ensure a sturdy growth. As much air as possible does not mean that the young seedlings are to be exposed to the outer air at all times and under all conditions, but that whenever conditions are suitable fresh air should be admitted to the structure in which they are grown. They will soon begin to attain size, and before they overcrowd each other put them singly into small pots filled with moderately rich soil. Keep them close for a day or two after this, and then let them have air again freely. Presently it will be necessary to transfer them into larger pots, for the roots will very quickly fill the small ones into which they were first placed, and for this second shift the soil should be more generous than for the first one. Never grow tomatoes two years running in the same soil, but make up fresh compost each year, using a liberal supply of manure, for this is a gross feeding vegetable. When planting out put the plants well down in the soil, for the stems emit roots, and these are of great assistance in feeding the plants when flowering and fruiting.

BREVITIES. The dairyman should remember that, while he is being constantly advised to keep none but the best lines of poultry, the hen is only a side line of the dairy. He must keep his cow stock up to standard if he is to show profits on the year's working. While there has been in the course of the last few years a marked improvement in the methods of milk handling for profit, it is a fact there has been a serious deterioration in the methods of milking, and until the perfect machine comes along this will be the trouble of the man with a herd. The pigs from the well-fed sow grow right along, for by the time they have exhausted her stored-up vigour they are large enough to eat from the trough and there i 3 no unthrifty period in their growth. It is advantageous to have t.he pig feed troughs where they may be washed or scalded out twice each week at least. Every farmer knows, or should know, that foul feed troughs are good breeding places for parasites. Pigs that have become too fat by over-feeding will not be so good as breeders as if they had not developed a tendency to lay on fat rather than a disposition to make growth, which will be reproduced in their kind.