FARM AND GARDEN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 355, 26 April 1911, Page 6

FARM AND GARDEN.

FERTILISING VALUE OF SHEEP No live stock on the farm is as good to enrich the ground as sheep. They scatter the manure evenly over the pasture, and results are more: satisfactory than when other live stockpastured. Sheep are the best natural spreaders in existence. It is admitted all the world over that live stock on the farm means an addition to its fertility, and the speedy improvement of land impoverished by long-continued cropping. But stock on a farm is also conserverof fertility, and the running of cows, pigs, or sheep in the stubble is good business from any of the viewpoints of the sound farmer. Stable manure is the finest of ail tetilisers, but the diiliculty is, in the first place to get enough of it and in the second, to distribute it in such p. way as to give the soil a fnir service, and not a patchy feediong in spots; and, more than this, it is the rule, where the manure from the stable is used at all on the farm, to cart it out and let it get bone dry before it is turned under, in which case it has about the fertilising value of so much sawdust. • The sheep is the fertilising friend of the farmer. It returns to the soil 80 per cent, of what it consumes in the way of fertility ; it will ea\t what other animals refuse to touch; it is a browser, and bites close; it will chew weeds and waste right down to the root. AH the while it is engaged in this good work of fertilising the land and putting it into a to yield its increase, the sheep is piling on wool, and making mutton out of the weeds and rubbish, and thereby returning to the farmer a little in each hand,- Australian Farm and Home. POULTRY NOTES. Jn breeding fowls for high egg production wc must develop the sexual characters. Egg production is a sexual character. It is the first stage of reproduction; hence, if we would be successful in increasing production, we must be skilful in recognising and in selecting only individuals which

are physically and sexually vigorous for the breeding flock. When either physically or sexually weak fowls are discovered, they should be removed from the breeding fowls. Any single evidence of physical weakness alone may not necessarily be conclusive, but a combination of several weak characteristics is absolutely reliable. In the opinion of "Hotspur" (of the "Australasian") this important question of knowing how to pick the vigorous pullets for laying competitions is where certain breeders have been so successful in egg-laying competitions in Australia. How many eggs a ben will lay in her lifetime is still a matter of speculation, and has been placed by some investigators at from 500 to 600, the most of these being produced in the first two years. As some readers are thinking of going in for the day-old chicken business a few hints may not be out of place. Immediately the chickens are dry is the best time to despatch; nhe natural nourishment from the eggs is quite sufficient for the first thirty hours. The best way to pack chickens is in wood or strong cardboard boxes, size about Sin by sin and 4in deep. The bottom should be covered with hay, and a layer of felt or cotton wool for the top. The ventilation holes must not be too large, as it is warmth more than anything else the little chickens must have. For long distances they should be railed at night for delvery the following day, and early morning when the destination is a short distance. As a general rule, the chickens may be put to a broody hen with safety, but it is a wise precaution to only put two chickens under the mother hen, preferably at night, then the rest may be given to her the following morning. Occasionally broody hens will refuse to have anything to do with chickens, and no amount of coaxing seems useful; in these cases another broody must be tried or the chicks vvii! soon be killed.