Farm Notes.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 22 September 1891, Page 2

Farm Notes.

Salt will kill sorrel very easily, while it will only make the grass grow more and faster. A practical man says : — " I have used 10001 bof salt per acre on a swamp meadow, and it enth'ely killed the weed. I have whitened the gravel walks on my lawn in which sorrel came in thickly (with the gravel) with salt, anil killed it out at once. I learned this about fifty years ago when my father cleaned gravel walks with it, and it cleans them to perfection, killing any weeds, and brightening the surface wonderfully." In connection with this it is satisfactory to have had the assurance of the Government that a firm propose starting salt works in the colony, and they were considering the granting to them ot a small bonus.

The value of bran as fodder remarks the Melbourne Leader, is very much under estimated. Our ordinary horse stock, and even our racehorses, would be much healthier had they twice or even five times as much bran as they now get. For milking cows, especially in dry weather, it is one of the best fodders you can give. Sheep fatten splendidly on it, as do pips, especially with boiled turnips or potatoes. Boiled maize and bran is one of the best foods you can give cart-horse stock. Here it is always at high prices, very seldom under is per bushel, but even then it is cheaper than hay at 5s 6d per cwt. It is good food for fowls, as is sharps, this latter being fine food for pigs. I wish, says a correspondent of the National Stockman and Farmer, to give some of the readers in your valuable paper a hint in regard to feeding horses, namely, feed the hay the first thing, and do not feed the grain till the very last, and water before feeding the grain, morning, noon or night. The horse may not drink much at first, in the morning, but will after a little. It is just as they are used. Habit is very strong with them, as with the human race. Try this for six months or a year, and observe if your horse does not do better on the same feed and work. Mine do no less feed, and it doesn't cost no more, certainly. Then, if you will add a little to their comfort as well as health, keep in a box stall — ground floor. It need not be planed or paiuted. Nail a little box up on one side or corner, and always keep salt in it, or else keep rock salt in the feed box.