AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LVI, Issue 6499, 26 December 1881, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

iTftBHOOMJJtun. Consequence u{oniho prevalence of very wet weather rot has made its appearance among sheep In the Warreambeol district. From South Australia continue to arrive reports of a more favourable character than these previously to hand. ‘ The cool weather and shower# ” (says the CAromel*) " we have had recently seem to have had their effect on the crops, which are looking much more promising than they did a fortnight or throe works riure. Our Gladstone correspondent telegraphs Iha* in that district th -ro are some splendid looking crops, promising a return of eight to 18 bushels per aero | and cron from Telowie, where things looked so very unpromising a short time since, we learn by telegraph that t hough the crops vary very much, they are yielding from five to tea bushels per aero of plump, well-filled grain, which is more limn was expected. From other districts also come mare cheering accounts tlun Dios* wo have lately been re-

©riving.” Speaking of the Victorian crops the Land*? says i—The report* to hand arc utill to the effect that the recant mine will be of eonaiderahlo benefit in helping to fill the later crops, but that for the majority of diilricte the shower* came too late. The Qoulbum country and portion# of the Wluimcra will yield fair crop of wheat, but on the whole the average yield for the Colony of that cereal promise# to bo low. The eriwon has been an excellent one for the district# south of the dividing range, but northward, with the exception referred to, the harvest prospects am not good. BtlU the rains, although late to the interior localities so far ns (he crops are concerned, have boon of benefit to the pasture* and to the way of providing water for stock.

Efforts are being made in Victoria to obtain a protective duty on condensed milk. Mr T. J. Laby, the well-known Victorian miller, who is at present in London, writes:— “ A careful study of the London market has caused mo to think it would bo desirable for us tolcbange our wheat and produce so that it would bo more saleable. Like a great many more, 1 thought our white wheat was Serfeotios, and could not be improved. »o oubt this is very much supported by tte superior weight to the bushel but all wheat will approach that perfection to oar climate, for its tendency is to produce »he best quality. Bui wo have cultivated only one sort, ri*., white wheat, and this sort u n >t so strong as red wheat, that it, it is not so strong, or contains os much glutton, as the red, and the London miller goes for strength only. I have consulted the leading corn factors of Mark lane, and they all recommend the change of seed, and 1 propose to ini induce three sorts as follows s—American rod winter wheat, Minnesota spring wheat, and Russia ghorka wheat, and I shall get 50 bushels of eaeh. I have written to America to get the American, which I shall get shipped in air-tight casks, and the Bunion Z shall got in London, and send out to a tank. And I shall ask some of my farmer friends to grow iteothat we may distribute the produce to others, and thus produce it or do our best to do so, and thus start the culture of what I firmly believe will add a groat deal of value to our future wheat crops, farmers need not be disinclined to grow it, for I will take all they can produce, and if its production shall be found succeotful, and I believe it will be, we •Ml find a material improvement in the first growth j I am quite sure it will ho both to weight and appearance. One of the London factors said red American winter wheat is the 1 consols * of this market. Then why should we not try to predate come of it, and we am if we but plant it. And if we but calculate the area of white wheat we shall find it a large one—California and Oregon, Chili, India and Australia—these are those who are quite alive to the excellent quality of oar present production#, bat they are not appreciated to London. I found the millers at the north praised our floor os much as I did, and said they wondered that its excellent qualities were not more appreciated in London; at the same time they said they were glad of it, for it permitted them to buy it cheap. I have seen ths London miller boy soft Few Zealand at more money than ours, and when I expressed my surprise and wonder he looked—ho would like to sit on me t but I could stand it, and offer good and sufficient reasons for the difference, end support it as well. We must change oar seed wheat. We can do it without difficulty, and Z hope the varieties X am selecting my be found benefioiaL 1 feel confident of the hearty cooperation of those I have asked to assist me to reproduce it, and I hope wo may be all successful”

Olbakisos. An agreaable flavour in cattis food stimulates appetite and promotes digestion. Gecao are easily kept] gross and water form their chief requirements. These, with a fair supply of corn, oats and boiled potatoes make up tbcir bill of faro. Good posture grasses bare a nutritive ratio of about I of albuminoids to 4} of carbhy drates, while corn bos a nutritive ratio of 1 to 8-6, showing the great superiority of posture grass os a muscle-forming food. A two-year old heifer that has given no indications of breeding may be fattened for the butcher. She wilt probably be barren. No former can afford to waste his time and wear out his lands in cultivating non-paying crops. Study what crops your lands ore best adapted to, and confine your labour to them. Remember always that poor land is a feeble mother which can give no sustenance. The more you work it, the poorer you make both it and yourself. On the Island of Jersey cows with white horns are not looked upon with favour. The yellow horn tipped with black, is considered a much richer milker than the white bornt while the crumpled horn Is there now, os it was nearly a century ago, a favourite form. Tliis latter is a short born, turning in a curve across the bead to near its centre, drooping somewhat from base to tip. The loss to the harvest crops in England by the heavy rains has been estimated at from £1 to £2 per core on one-third the arcs on which cereals are grown. This represents a total loss to the nation of £3,000,000, which will hate to be paid for in hard cash to foreign countries. Mr T. L. Miller, of Beecher, lillnole, D.S.A., the well-known Hereford breeder, Jim challenged the Shorthorn breeders of the United States to show 100 bullocks against 100 of bU Hereford bullocks, the Judges to take Into consideration age, quality, ana cost of production, and cannot get any one to take up the challenge. Complaints are made all over the Western States of America, particularly in Kansas, Nebraska, end lowa, that wire fence# attract lightning, which often results in the killing of stock. The stock imagine that the fence affords protection from the storm, awl accordingly huddle close up to it. One instance is given where 65 head of sheep were killed in Nebraska at a single stroke, and another where 10 head of cattle were killed.

There ie probably wo feed »o good for raising good dairy animals as warm skim milk with a mixture of moderate quantities of ground oats which contain a larga amount of muscle and bone routerial, and a# a consequence wa have a cow with an excellent constitution and a good-sired frame. Cornmeal doe* not contain enough of the requisite material for giving a good'slecd and at the same time a well-formed animal, Tim oat# might be alternated with linseed oil and cotton wed meal. In a good cow the physical marks of excellence are ea follow* t—The head is long and thin, the face broad and dished, the eye large, the neck thin and long, the dewlap i« light, the shouldere email, the back straight and broad, the belly large and deep, the udder largo, broad and extended forward, the teat# ert well apart, the limbs slender, the romp broad and bony, the tail long and fine, the skin soft and mellow j if one of these be lacking, the chain is broken and too cow’s character doubtful. Three or four weeks is the age at which pip need the most careful attention. At about this period the pig reaches* point when the milk ot the sow is not sufficient to keep up a healthy growth, and unless the pigs have been taught to eat before this time, there

wilt always be trouble with them. The only way to avoid it is to teach them to eat and drink at the earliest possible age. This may be done by placing a Utile tniik or other palatable food, in liquid or eemt-liquld form, In a trough near them, but where the sow can not get (it (I. By the lime the pigs area week old they will very quickly learn to eat heartily. Give them plenty of nutritious, (mutable food from ltd# time on, and there will be no fur! her difficulty. A young calf weaned from its mother will not digest the milk of a cow that has been milking for some time and bos been for some months in calf. Huch milk causes diarrhoea, which, if continued #ome days, may become dysentery and e«u»o intestinal fever, which will probably be fatal J u #rite of treat went. Tito method of treating such « cate would bo to restore the mother's milk and give it as it is milked, but in small quantities at first and for a tow days, until the organs recover their tune, Al»o give small doses, one tcaspoonful at a time, of castor-oil, or, if the spasms are violent, give a teaspoonful of the following mixture, vix. i—Four ounce# of peppermint water, one ounce of prepared ehall, and half an ounce of laudanum, with sufficient gum to hold the chalk in suspension for a short time after the mixture ha# been shaken.

The op of hornrd cattle may generally bo known by ring* on the home till thoir tenth year j after that time they giro no indication of ego further than that the animal has passed it* tenth year. The tint ring appear* on the horn after the animal has patted two yiare old—seen nficr, a* a general rule, though sometimes before that ago. Daring the third year the ring gradually increases, and at three years of ago it i« completely formed. The second ring appears during the fourth rear, and at the firth year it i* complete. After that period an additional ring ie formed each year. This rule ie sufficiently plain, and eren a young farmer needs but little practice to enable him to read a cow'e age on iter horns. A cow with three rings is sizVears old | with four she is seven years old. No new rings are formed after the tenth year j the deeper rings, however, and the worn appearance of the horns are pretty sure indications of old ago. The leading features of a pod root-collar are, proof against frost, neatness, dryness, ventilation, and cheapness. If a bill-side is conveniently near, it helps much to secure there desired ends. An excavation should be first made, in sice depending upon the required capacity of the collar, and In this erect a stout frame of timbers—pests with plank, or a log pen, and on whloh place » stout roof. The earth that has been excavated, is thrown over tho structure, until the whole is covered to the depth of two feet. A door should bo made in the espied end of the cellar, through which tho roots may be put in and taken out. The smaller the door, and still be convenient, tho belter, at it allows of less exposure to the frost. A quantity of straw E rested in tho door-way, will aid greatly in oeping out tho frost. Every farmer, with many roots to be stored, should have a rootcellar, either by itself, or in the lower port of the barn. It is not well to store a largo quantity of roots in the cellar of the house, as the gases rising from them during winter may cause sickness to the inmates. Cultivating tho soil in a dry season helps to retain tho moisture. This will not appear strange if we recollect that water is conveyed through the soil in capillary tubes) these being broken by cultivation, the water cannot pais through them readily. The following experiments in regard to the retention of water in the soil during dry times were made at the UasMcbuietts Agricultural College They were made by taking three different kinds pf soil—clay, loam, and light sandy loam —filling two boxes with each and sinking them into the ground until level with the surface, previously weighing them. One box of each kind of soil was hoed every morning and tho other boxes left uncultivated. This practice was kept up until it rained, which in this instance was seven d»y s. Tho boxes were then taken up and weighed to ascertain the amount of moisture lost, with the following result The clay soil, tilled, lost at the rote of 904 barrels per sore; the untilled, 1170 barrels per awe, or 263 barrets more than the oaltivated area. The tilled, sandy bam lost at the rate of 642 barrels per acre, and the untitled 1276 barrels, or 734 barrels tho most. The heavy loam, tilled, lost at the rate of 1106 barrels per acre, the untillod 1329 barrels, or 223 barrels more than the tilled. The average loss per day of the tilled loam was at the rate of 158 barrels per acre, and of the untitled 189 barrels; of tho tilled clay 129 barrels, and of the unfilled 167 barrels \ from the tilled sand 77 barrels, from the until led 167 barrels. In other words a farmer cultivating an acre of land under like circumstances, would save 268, 734, or 228 barrels of water in tho same time, according as bis land is clay, sand, or loam, which would have been lost by evaporation hod not the land been tilled.

Testimony m to the advantage* in the nay of hardineae, early maturity, and power to resist rust of the various Indian wheats (says the Qunewslander) keep constantly turning up. In the shop of Mr If. Rigby, Queen street, there has for eomo time past been on view a collection of well-grown ears of these wheats. They wore grown by Mr Henry day, of Chinaman's Creek, North Pino Hirer, and they are well worthy of inspection. Wo understand they were all harvested free from rust. Dr Bancroft hands as a letter for publication from a gentleman on the Upper Babootare, giving the results of his experiments this year with ten varieties of seed the produce of a similar experiment carried out last year, but upon a smaller scale, "The two sortc that did the best,” the writer states, " were No. 2 Korrachi I’isi and No. 0 Pisi. They were planted on the 2Sth last May, and reaped sth Oct. Bust made its appearance in No. 2 about the middle of August, but in spite of it the seed matured fairly. This wheat mss a fine grain, yields well, and is early. No. 6, sown at the same time and alongside, was very little affected by rust. The grain is small but plump, and I believe would rive a fair return per acre, for it does not grow long in the straw, and to ooald be sown thicker. It is lest susceptible to rust than any other wheat I have ever grown. Some Queensland wheat sown at the unis time and alongside of the Indian ;ot so Badly rusted that I bod to eat it for say. This year the rust is very prevalent. There are several small lots of wheat on the Cabooltare, several of which have : been made into hay, and the remainder are all more or less affected with rust. Z think the two Indian varieties will be the best samples reaped this year in this neighbourhood. Skinless oats itave done well with me.”