THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 460, 27 April 1912, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

HOW TO DRESS A SHEEP,

Many people object to mutton, because it has a "sheepy" taste; and it is the opinion of many that this undesirable flavour results from permitting the meat to come into contact with the fleece. The "sheepy" taste which is sometimes found in mutton does not come fro.': contact with the wool, as many suppose, but from gases which arise in the viscera of the sheep as soon as life is extinct. I have dressed a good many sheep for home use, and have never seen another man use the same method. The sheep or lamb is taken off the grass the evening before it is slaughtered, and is kept from feed at least twelve hours before the event. Early in the morning, after everything has been made ready, the dressing begins. The knives used should be sharp. The head is severed and the sheep is allowed to bleed, but before it has finished it should be hung by the hind legs with the rope looped round each and the gambrel put in as a spreader. As soon as it is hung, and before it ceases kicking an opening is made in the upper part of the abdomen, and a pail of cold water is emptied into the abdominal cavity. This cools the viscera and arrests the generation of the objectionable gases. The rest of the work does not require so much haste. Some remove the pelt first and then the entrails, but I reverse this order. When the water has been poured into the carcase the pelt is removed in the usual way, the knife being used only long enough to open the belly and to start the pelt on the legs. After that has been done it is "fisted" off, which is accomplished very readliy if it has been properly started. After the pelt has been removed the entrails are taken out, an incision having first been made near the breast bone to let out the water that was poured in. The heart and liver are saved, the legs are removed at the hock and knee joints and the mutton is then ready to go to the refrigerator. Agricultural Gazette.

RAGWORT. It is hardly correct to speak of ragwort as beine directly poisonous but it is a fact that if it be eaten in considerable quantity for weeks together it does very serious harm to both horses,cattle and sheep. What happens under such circumstances is that in the case of horses and cattle especially the liver becomes seriously affected the condition known as "cirrhosis" being set up. This is a similar condition of the liver to that often met with in human beings who have indulged too freely in spirituous liquors for a long period of time. When the liver becomes so affected it is unable to perform its functions properly the food is not properly digested the nervous system is upset and death usually results ultimately. Sheep appear frequently to be able to feed upon ragwort plants with impunity and when getting a sufficient admixture of other feed often show no illeffects whatever. But on the other hand cases bsve occurred when flocks have suffered severely. Anyway ragwort is a bad weed to have on the farm and every care shoud be taken to get rid of it. TRAINING THE FARMER. The new training and instruction department in connection with the Government Experimental Farm at Ruakura. Waikato. was opened on Tuesday by the Prime Minister, Mr Thos. Mackenzie. The farm totals 914 acres, of which 137 were transferred to the Agricultural Department

by the Waikato County Council as a reserve for an Agricultural College^ In his opening remarks the Minister pointed out that the dominant object of pioviding farm training at the Experimental Farms of the Dominion was that of making farmers, not the education of agricultural experts or of instructors, which could remain the function of the Education Department and the University. In the matter of farm instruction the Department of Agriculture could and should supply most important and practical assistance. The public schools were beginning to afford some teaching in rural subjects, but for the youth who was going on the farm there was no institution to which he could attach himself for practical equipment in his future calling with the exception of Lincoln College in Canterbury, which was beyond the means of the majority of most youths thinking of taking up farming. With this view, some young men had been received at Ruakura experimental station during the last five years. The possibilities were so great that suitable accommodation was provided for training young men in practical farming. But it was recognised that something more than working on a farm was essential. For which reason courses in study had been mapped out. The proposals might be ambitious, but the importance of agriculture to New Zealand must also be considered. To meet this demand for education of young men a new building for their reception had been built at Ruakura, and was nuw in occupation, providing room for about a score of embryo farmers. The department was also making provision for young men at Weraroa and Momahaki, and hoped soon to accommodate 40 or 50, with further expansion in the future.