FARM AND GARDEN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 328, 14 January 1911, Page 2

FARM AND GARDEN.

LINSEED IN CALF FEEDING.

In the feeding of calves it is found that linseed meal or crushed linseed added to skim or separated milk is one of the safest and most economical substitutes for the abstracted milk fat. Linseed approaches more nearly in composition to the solids of milk than any other food, and the oil which it contains, to the extent of 34 to 3S per cent., is easily digestible. There is, however, a risk in buying any grain or seed in the form of a meal, as it is difficult to detect impurities when the material is sold in this condition. One of the commonest adulterants of linseed meal is ground linseed cake. The latter does not contain more than one-sixth to one-third of the oil in pure linseed, and the relatively larger amount of fibre in it renders it unsuitable for giving to young calves as a substitute- for milk fat. Again the meal of almost any cereal grain can be mixed with linseed meal in fairly large quantities before the substitution is detected. The object of such admixture is at once apparent, in that linseed cake and cereal meals cost, roughly, about one-third the price of genuine linseed. The risk would be obviated by purchasing whole linseed and having it ground at home, but the objection to this is the difficulty of grinding, owing to the linseed clogging the usual crushing mill used on the farm. Whole milk should be fed for at least one week. During the next week the change from whole milk to skim mlik should be gradually brought about. Substitute each day a regular proportion of skim milk for the same amount of whole milk withdrawn. The skim milk should be fed warm, from 90 to 100 degrees Fah. To replace the fat removed from the skim milk as well as to furnsih additional protein, is now the duty of the linseed, mixed with the milk in the form of a jelly. This jelly should be added in small quantities at first, and slowly increased. Begin with a dessertspoonful in each portion, and gradually increase until about a cupful is being fed night and morning to the three months' old calf. To prepare the jelly, boil or steep one pound of linseed in water almost boiling until a thick paste results. Another method of preparation is to take a half-cup of ground linseed in a quart of water, and allow it to simmer just below the boiling point until a thick jelly is formed. It should be kept cool and sweet until fed. "The Dairy." LUCERNE AND LIME. In the Eastern States of America the cultivation of varieties of lucerne that will withstand severe winter weather is extending, but some difficulty appears to be experienced in getting a good stand on land on which it has never before been grown. To obviate this trouble, studies have been made in regard to preparing the soil for that crop, and the methods favoured by the stations seem to be inoculation with bacteria by sowing soil from land which has borne that crop at the rate of ZOClba to the acre and the application of lime at the rate of about loOOlbs to the sere. ,-i Nc',;i station bulletin says that briefly summarising the result, it is found that without either lime or inoculation, the chance of a successful crop is not more than 20 per cent,, or one chance in five; with lime the chance of success is raised to 40 per cent., or two in five ; with inoculation, it is raised to about 60 per cent., or three chances out of five; while both lime and inoculation Visiod together indicate a successful crop about four times out of every live trials.

A simple method of destroying the common fern or bracken is referred to in the "Estate Magazine." The plan is to run chain harrows over the ground when the delicate fronds are first making their appearance in the spring. At that stage thoy are very brittle and easily broken off, and if this is done repeatedly as they appear, it cannot fail to weaken the plants generally. The essential point is to persist in the treatment, which should Result i i the complete eradication of the bracken it done for two or fchyee successive spring' 3.