THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 553, 26 March 1913, Page 2

THE RURAL WORLD.

DEHORNING DAIRY CATTLE. — A compilation of results of experiments in dehorning milch cows has been published by the Maryland (U.S.A.) Experiment Station, from which the following is quoted: At a number of the experiment stations exact records of the daily milk yield before and after dehorning hav» been kept. In a few instances the per cent, of butter fat has also been noted at each milking for a few days before and after dehorning, and from these we can make a pretty fair estimate of the effect of the dehorning on the dairy cow. At the Wisconsin Experiment Station, a record of ten cows was kept for th? four milkings before dehorning and four milkings immediately following dehorning. The ten gave 289.3 pounds in the four milkings hefore, and 243.6 pounds in the four milkings after dehorning, a lobs of 45.7 pounds, or sitxeen per cent.. Each cow was tested two milkings before dehorning and four milkings after dehorning. In every case but one the milk tested much lower the milking immediately after the dehorning than it had tested the two milkings before dehornnig. But the test gradually increased until it was much higher than it had been in the milkings previous to dehorning, and the actual amount of butter fat produced by the COW 3 was as much more than it would have been had th 9 cows not be6ii dehorned. At another time at the same station twelve cows were dehorned with a loss of five per cent, in the total yield of milk in six days after dehorning, and a gain of four per cent, in the total amount of fat produced in the same time. A record of the weights of the cows hefore and after showed practically no loss due to the operation At the Minnesota station, nine cows produced seven per cent, less milk in three milkings following dehorning than fthey bad given in the three previous milkings, and produced three per cent, less total butter fat in the same period. Six cows which had been kept where they could see the excitement and smell the blood lost three per cent, in their total butter fat in the same time, showing that the slight loss of the dehorned cows was due partially to excitement.

At the Georgia station, nine cows made an actual gain in milk yield the day following dehorning. At the Tennessee station nineteen cows were dehorned, and in ten days they lost only 34 2 pounds of milk from a total previous ten days' yield of 2874.8 pounds. The New York station, at Cornell, found that five cows lost an average of a pound a day for four days following dehorning. Seven cows not dehorned lost an average of one-half pound a day in the same time. One of the dehorned cows lost an average of four pounds per day in the record time. At the North Dakuota station fourteen cows were dehorned Most of them fell off in their milk slightly,but gained in per cent, of butter fat, and at the fourth milking all were back to their normal flow. The fourteen cows made about one pound less in the two days following dehorning than they had made in the two previous days, From these reports, it appears there is a small percen f age of loss in the total amount of milk produced, and very little if any in the loss of total fat produced, in the first few railkings before dehorning. In the majority of recorded trials the cows came back to their natural flow of milk in less than a week, often in two days. Judging from this there is no amount of pain suffered by the cow, and practically no loss in product resulting from the operation It must be emphasised that, as far as our knowledge ofjthe dairy cow goes at the present day, we would be practically sure that any protracted pain, or any great physical shock, would lead to a material reduction in the amount of milk produced. It seems that the excitement of struggling with the cows operated on, and handling them in the manner to which they are not accustomed is almost as operative in reducing the milk flow as the dehorning itselt. HEALTH: THE HERITAGE OF THE FARM. Health is a heritage of the farm. This fact was well expressed in a paper read at a meeting of an American State Board of Agriculture. In large cities labourers who thrive by right of muscle alone are employed largely in the grinding work of mechanics,where they must toil under more or less unwholesome conditions, which rapidly depletes their physical strength, and sooner or later leaves them without position, and with little left for their declining years The city man, intellectually occupied, too frequently becomes pale, nervous, and worn in the fetid atmosphere of confinement. The city is a marsh light. It lures with glitter and gaiety, its theatres and clubs, its kaleidoscopic activities, but eventually the dweller of the wicity pays dearly for the privilege of congestion and contamination. It is when the experienced eye. looking below the surface of things, views the tragedies of the city, that he longs for that indefinable, soothing, and consoling something which we term Nature, and years for that bodily fitness which is found at its best in the open life and pure air of the country. Yes, health is one of the biggest inducements the farm offers; and this is true now more than at any time in the past, because in addition to the natural favoruable environments the farmer of to-jav, and his labourers are guided more by scientific methods of living, systematical and conscientiously executed, which operate as surely as cause and effect for his physical betterment.

CARE FOR THE MILK

The following statement, made Prof. O. P. Hunziker, before the farmers attending the short courses at Purdue during January, sums up in a few words the situation relative to the care of milk and cream on the farm:—

"Cleanliness and low temperature are the fundamental essentials in the proper care and handling of milK and cream, regardless of what disposition may be made of the product. The purpose of these essentials is to prevent or retard bacterial fermentations which shorten the life and impair the keeping quality and wholesomeness of milk and its products. When the dairyman disregards these essentials he becomes a menace to the health and life of the consumer and a demoralising factor of the mar kets of dairy products, curtailing the financial success of his own business. With due attention to the proper care of milk and cream he hecomes a benefactor to the human family, a promoter of high quality -of dairy products and a guardian of the welfare and prosperity of his business." —Hoard's Dairyman.

NOT IMPRESSED WITH US

My impressions of the New Zealand girl are that she can do almost anything; and the contrast between the girl from the Homeland and herself in a new country accounts for this I suppose, but whatever, the fact remains. Girls at Home are trained in one line, and outside that they are useless. Here you have the girl tackling anything. An arrival from Home the other day was in converastion with me and she said, ''Don't your woman here take up any out of door work at all? No poultry farming, fruit grow ing, or bee keeping?" I said "No, not generally, they all seem to find so much other employment." She said that she couldn't say that she waa very much impressed by any of us. Being a New Zealand girl myself I naturally felt a little slighted, but proceeded to ask her what she was going to do if she could not secure a billet in her own line which was out door work. I had visions of some of our plucky litttle women that are in the backblocks to whom day is one long toil. Milking, minding the children, cooking for the men and the hundred and one jobs that are every day facts in the farm house here. In the end I found that cooking, milking, sewing, nursing, music, commercial knowledge and any one of the things a New Zealand girl could turn to in an extremity,were all foreign to her. —8.0. THE FARM GATE. When you are building a gate, consider how any thousand ties you will use it. For vehicles of pll sorts, the one which may be opened and closed without getting out of the vehicle is to be preferred. Have you ever had to get out of a carriage on a dark night, wade through the mud, fumblea round with a wire or chain fastener, tug at a heavy gate and finally run into it, because you did not open it'far enough? A good farm gate should swing both ways, and never sag at one end. so that it will have to be carried around by main force. The catch or latch should be a simple one, locking automatically when the gate is swung shut. The gate should be painted white, so that it will be perfectly visibl« at night. It is best to have an automatic catch at thß side of the road way, so that the gate will remain open until closed by some one. Nothing is more dangerous than a gate swinging on its hinges when drawing hsy or grain through it The hinges and catches should be oiled frequently, to prevent squeaking and to work easily. APPLICATION OF POTASH MANURES. One important feature in the skilful use of artificials is the proper v season of the year to apply them, remarks the North British Agriculturist. This point has far greater signicfiance than most farmers commonly imagine. Especially is this true in the case of kainit, and potash manure salts, where success or failure may depend on the season of application. Kainit is a very useful manure,, if applied at the right time. If applied at the wrong time : it may be thrown away as far as the crop in question is concerned; it might even be hurtful to some crops if used at a wrong time. The results of a large number of experiments conducted on the Continent and in Great Britaii. give valuable information on this point. The majority of them point to the advantages of early application of kainit and potash salts, that is, autumn or winter application. Profitable increases are given by both autumn and spring applications, but in almost every case autumn or winter applications have given a considerable increase over spring applications. It would appear, then, that while there is nothing to lose by the early application of potash manures, there is every possibility of getting a considerably enhanced yield, particularly in case of kainit, where large dressings per acre are the rule. The reason why this should be aie not far to seek. When kainit is applied in spring, all its constituents act upon the growing crop, and its excess of chlorides and magnesium salts have a detrimental effect, particularly on the young shoots of cer-tain-plants. When applied before the leaching rains of winter, the great bulk of it chlorides and magnesium compounds are washed away into the subsoils and drains. On the other hand, the quantity of potash in the kainit that is washed out is infinitesimal. The soil fixes the potash, which becomes thoroughly diffused through the soil before the crop begins to grow so that the plant roots are able to find what they need at all points into which they extend.