THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 574, 7 June 1913, Page 7

THE RURAL WORLD.

CALF REARING. POINTS BY AN AUSTRALIAN. Some interesting points on calfrearing are given by Mr Alexander, of the Arawatta Estate., New South Wales. Mr Alexander has very definite ideas on the question of calf-rearing, and states that he has had excellent results by following a certain system of feeding. For a week or two the calves remain at the farms where they are born. They are fed three times daily on warm unadulterated mother's milk. It is found that the third meal per day largely obviates the risks of overloading the stomach. When the calf is about ten days old, the midday meal is dropped, and shortly after skim milk is gradually added. A little lime water is also given to strengthen the system and neutralise acidity oE the stomach. As the calves strengthen they are taken to the central feeding station near the factory, and when about four weeks old are fed completely on a whey ration, treacle, or pollard being added. As the calf's diet is undergoing change, a two or three-ounce dose castor or raw linseed oil, given twice a week in the food, is found to have an excellent corrective effect. Mr Alexander states that calves can be reared quite as Batisafactorily on whey as on skim milk, provided that pollard and molasses are judiciously used and the utmost care and cleanliness Ere observed. In fact, he advises that co-operative factories should pasteurise all whey, as the dirty state in which whey tanks are allowed to lapse in some factories almoßt completely negatives the feeding value At Arawatta the whey is conducted from the factory into a couple of tanks, and thence run off in an open trough to the calf shed. This course enables absolute cleanliness to be maintained. All whey is pasteurised before being fed, thus killing all germ life, minimising the risk of transmitting disease, and keeping the whey sweeter and more palatable for feeding. The actual feeding is done by means of diminutive bails, this method being found to give far the best results. Each calf thus gets individually just what it needs, and slow feeders do noe suffer at the expense oE ravenous neighbours. The quieting effect on the hsiferß is regarded as being not the least of its advantages, and plays a valuable part in the cow's life. CALVES AND TUBERCULOSIS. Everyone connected with farming is now very keen on the subject of fighting tuberculosis among our herds, and the coming Milk Bill is likely t« take this matter up very strongly. It is pointed out, however, in a contemporary, that most of us are working from the wrong end altogether. We are treating animals after they are attacked, and proposing to have them examined and slaughtered, whereas nothing is dons at the other end, as it wer«, to breed animals free of tuberculosis. It is well enough known now that a calf from a tuberculosis cow may be perfectly healthy; and nearly always is to start with, and if we feed it on healthy milk and keep it away from tainted surroundings, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it would grow up a healthy animal. The whole point, therefore, emphasises the fact that we should set about rearing our calves under proper conditions, and that we might in a short time bring forward hsrds which would be absolutely sound to begin with, and these would take the place of others more or less tainted. It used to be a rule,, for instance, to keep our young calves under warm and comfortable conditions, which meant close, dark, dirty, unventilated pens. These pens were absolutely the best sort of placea for breeding all sorts of disease, and if there was a tendency towards tuberculosis in any animall, it was likely to spring into • strong growth under such conditions. The I rule now, however, is to have the breeding pens open, well ventilated, and lighted, and these items alone are a great step forward in stamping out this dreadful disease. Continual testing and slaughtering would not stamp it out. because we know that if we are to be guided by the tuberculin test at least half our animals are tainted, and in cases known to the writer from 75 j to 90 per cent, have reacted in individual herds. The great majority of these never showed any "clinical" symptom 3 of tuberculosis, and for all practical purposes were perfectly sound even for the supplyng of milk for human consumption. If the calves from such were saved and kept clear, then in a short time we would be able to start With a new race perfectly healthy. No amount of money can possibly pay for the -slaughter of all animals that react, and therefore we have got to work away with our herds as they are, getting rid of those only that have tuberculosis of the udder, or which ara clearly affected; but in order to make matters safe the system of rearing our calves under the best conditions should be rigorously adhered to. —Primrose McConnell in The Dairy. MIXING FERTILISERS. A word of caution may be given as regards the mixing of artificials. Probably it is now universally known that sulphate of ammonia must not be mixed with any manure holding free lime, notably basic slag and precipitated phosphate. The immediate result of making such a mixture is the liberation of free ammonia, whose presence in the air can at once be datected by its pungent odour. If it is desired to apply sulphate of ammonia with one of these substances to any particular area of ground, the phosphate should be put on a month or more before the other substance. Sulphate of ammonia may, however, be mixed with the other ordinary manures, such as superphosphate, dis-

solved bones, bonemeal, kainit, sul phate and muriate of potash, and nitrate of soda. Nitrate of soda should not be mixed with superphosphate, dissolved nones, or dissolved guano. Not only does such a mixture result in the loss of more or less nitrogen, but the mass is apt to become sticky, and difficult to sow. Superphosphate and dissolved bones should not be mixed with basic slag or precipitated phospate, as this results in the soluble phospate of the super or dissolved bones becoming insoluble. Potash manures (kainit and sulphate and muriate of potash) should not be mixed for more than a few hours with any "dissolved" manure (e.g., superphospate and dissolved bones), not because anything is lost, but simply because the mass becomes smeary and unsowable. Generally speaking, the sooner a mixture of manures is sown after it is made the better. Some mixtures, as has been indicted, get smeary, others get lumpy, while others, like basic slag and kainifc,may actually become a hard, solid, stone-like mass, which the ordinary appliances of the farmer are insufficient to deal with.