Farmers’ Column.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 18, 27 May 1871, Page 9

Farmers’ Column.

' QJv-'.'Vu '. o ■'■•’ * ■•■' .* a - •'■■; «v/ i <■'*** /i; ?£ DRIED BEEF. ; •« •.-■■,.km.i•■■••.'(r ?■<: -/The follow,ing'pertinent-remarks upon the fuse of this very convenient article of diet: are from a correspondent of the ;Apierican ftgrioulturist” “ Thegood qualities of dried, beef as an article of food, for the, family are not fully appreciated; ‘ln point of excellence it is one of fhe : nicest articles, when properly prepared,, that ,we have in our store-room. It is also one of the most economical articles of food ; quite a small quantity of dried beef, shaved very fine, and cooked with a nice gravy, will serve for meat for a family at a very small expense. Then it is so very convenient to have ; always ready ; always acceptable. To people who live convenient to market, it is not of @6 much importance but to us, who live at a distance from towns, dried-beef is; one of the necessary articles in our bill of fare. We frequently biiteVtain guests at our table who never have seen dried beef served other than as.,a relish for breafland butter, shaved and eaten without cooking. There are several methods of cooking it. Some prefer it cooked with a gravy or water, seasoned with butter, . thickened with

flour, and perhaps eggs beaten in while cooking. * Others cook it with crumbs of sausage, frying the sausage first, then adding the beef with water, and thickening, with flour. It is also very good with a little.sweet milk and sweet cream, the gravy being thickened with flour; allow it to boil once ; that is all the cooking it requires.' A dish of'dried beef properly cooked, served with toast, baked potatoes, and boiled eggs, is a very nice provision for breakfast or a dinner prepared in-haste. When too salt, it can be remedied by soaking, after cutting and fiefore cooking, and adding a little white sugar while cooking, to restore the sweetness lost by soaking. Sugar-cured beef is much nicer than that cured by salt fflqhe, I put mine into a sweet brine, such as is used for pork hams.

.WHAT CROPS SHALL WE CROW? - This is a subject attracting attention here from other reasons than give it prominence'in Australia. Here the enquiry is made for other reasons than that the yield of oats and wheat has fallen so low that'the growing of grain is next to profitless. The putting of this question, we think is created by three causes, and they are briefly these. I. The farmer in absence of, a supply of manure desires to rotate his crops. 2. All cannot afford to place their land under pasture, «s they do not understand dairying or the fattening of stock, or are otherwise disinclined to sow- grasses 8. They wish to grow other products than grain, for the purpose of obtaining higher profits. By confining his course of cropping to _fiay and .cereals, with sometimes a few potatoes, the farmer ensures an immense fieal of leisure, for when the harvest is nver and thrashing done there is nothing thatxalls for daily attention. The grain and hay farmer is indeed, the most independent of a-country community. - To the storekeeper, the butcher, the baker, and 4he dairyman, every day brings its special ‘duties ; like the horse at the wheel, they have no sooner done one round than the llext begins. .But the grain farmer may 'sleep whilst his crops are growing', and he pas frequently , a long interval of leisure .this leisure is desirable. , The H dairyfarmerhas none of.it; even Sunday -brings no.relief, unless his establishment -happens to be large, enough for each to take his “Sunday out” in turn. Now, "it would certainly be very desirable to <hit upon some course of agricultural practice that 1 would occupy an intermediate •position to give employment throughout ’the year/ It is probably owing to the of leisure engendered by grain and My growing that farmers exhibit so much 'repugnance to the task, of growing crops Ahat Riband 'more constant attention. If we recommend hops, mangels, sugar opium, chicory, flax, or crops of a sSimiliar,,! character, the amount of labor .they require, we are sure, will be felt as obstacle . to .growing them generally. And yet, for the whole of these crops land »and.climat& adapted for each can be found m-nornis part or other of this district. Bulky produce such as chicory is certainly adapted for Tong carriage, and as one "kiln should suffice for a district, the cost of eßtablishing B'o Bimpl e an industry as dry ing the ulichd loots would be compara- ‘ The market for chicory is 'both.in the province and for export a.large The Melbourne,manufacturers do Javqr, the . suggestion that the farmers should undertake the task; of drying the roots.,, A little practical skill to ensure uniform results; hand could be in-

.. district, jt would be tie'preferable plan." The roots, after washing, are sliced into cubes and kiln dried ; both operations are simple enough, .but require experience. The land best suited for the .growth of chicory, or at all events the land on which it has been chiefly grown around Mel-, bourne, has been the deep black soil that is met with at the base of hills, and on the margin of creeks. The crop is grown upon the black soil above mentioned, in drills just far enough apart to permit of the use of the horse hoe. The first crops are the largest; which we take to mean that chicory makes large demands upon the land and necessitates a fair share _of manure. It is, however, not our intention to give instructions for growing chicory, but to suggest a further reply to the question with which we started. And let us ask why we still import bacon and hams form Dunedin and Riverton and. why farmers do not more generally grow roots for the purpose of feeding pigs.. Large crops of mangels, sugar beet and carrots, instead of the acre or two we now see on most farms, would necessitate the keeping of large numbers of pigs, and would besides find employment whilst the grain crops were growing for hands, that would otherwise be idle. If the labor question is a difficult one, it must be com ceded that the difficulty is partly the result of the colonial system or no system of farming. How can efficient form laborers be reared when their services are only required for three or four months in the , year ? Under the present system of grain and hay growing the discharge of the hands after sowing is done becomes a necessity ; at harvest they - are again wanted for a few weeks—there is an outcry that laborers are not to be had. In the interval they have sought and obtained other and permanent employment, and such will be the case until a system is adopted that will find work for the hands all the year round. We do not recommend farmers to pin their faith on any one crop-; we-suggest from time to time such crops as seem adapted to this district; but,- after all, experience must determine what crops are or are not suited to any particular locality.—“ Leader.” THE BREEDING OF HORSES. Breeding has become a science, and the science in breeding should keep pace with the improvements in mechanics, arts, agriculture, medicine, See. Through science extraordinary improvements have been made in navigation, manufactures, the raising of hogs, sheep, cattle, dogs, poultry, in. horticulture, floriculture, &c, j to say nothing of the wonders of steam, and the still more wonderful discovery of the electric telegraph. The highest aim of the horse breeder is ' to combine beauty of form, speed, and endurance in the horses he breeds. To be able to accomplish this great desidera- ' turn, he must also call in the aid of science. This will teach him to investigate the constituents of that vegetable food which forms the best growth and quality of animal substances that best subserves the ( animal economy. As the mind works out 1 the problem of life in other pursuits, so 1 should the mind be employed in solving ; the problem of rearing to the highest point of attainable perfection the noblest 1 four-footed animal that God in His bene- 1 licence has placed on earth for the use of 1 man.

According to the best authorities on the subject there is no fixed age for breeding to mares/yet the most practical writers agree in the opinion that both stallions and mares are better capacitated for breeding purposes after they have had several seasons of judicious training. Youatt, the highest recognised authority on the horse, and who made the animal a study from the moment of impregnation to extreme old age, also coincides in this theory. He says It is a general observation with those who have devoted their attention to the subject that horses and mares require much time after they have been first,trained before,they distinguish themselves as the progenitors of first class stock.” . • •

This affords another argument in favor of early training. He further adds:— “ Both with mares and stallions, their best foals have often been produced after they were advanced in years. According to the presumed age of the Godolphin Arabian, he was thirteen years old ivhen he became the sire of Regulus. Paynator and Whalebone were each of them twenty years old when their son?, Dr Syntax and Sir Hercules, were foaled. Potato, Suttab, Langor, and Venison were each of them sixteen years old when they became the sires respectively of Waxy, Bay Middleton, Epirus, and Kingston. Melbourne was fifteen when he got West Australian ; Haphazard fourteen when he was the sire of Filho da Puta. Orville was the same age when he was the sire of Ebor, and twenty when he begot the still more celebrated EmiliusJ and an infinity of similar examples may be added.” That which applies to the stallion is equally applicable to : the brood mare. Having become perfectly developed in bone, sinew, muscle, and endurance, through a long 'and judicious training, each, as a parent, is better calculated to

Aipwerful, vigorous, sound, and hardy progeny. " ' " . There can be no question that a horse’s action is improved by a proper training. “ Form is beauty, action is superiority.” It. therefore follows, if we accept this axiom, that brood mares possessing the right action are much more desirable for the stud than those which are devoid of it, and the proper action can only be acquired by a correct system of- training. The young, mare, though she may have attained her full size, is comparatively untrained ; hence she lacks one of the chief requisites for the road and the turf —superiority. It is a well known fact that action is much more difficult to propagate than form. A colt may have a fine form, a majestic port a graceful carriage, but these do not supply the place of action, which is more the result of high breeding than of blood. True instances are known where horses have developed this marked superiority at. an early age, almost unaided by the trainer. These have always been, however, the progeny of high bred parents Up to the present time, we find that action in horses is one of those arbitrary faculties that often run under ground for generations before it crops out again, instead of being transmitted directly to the offspring. Until, therefore, enlightened experience shall so far perfect the art of breeding as to secure in the issue perfect action, it is the. breeder’s place to develope it by proper training. “ When science shall further reveal the laws of nature, especially with reference to the horse, chance will no longer rule the destiny of the breeder.”

ILLS TO WHICH FOWL FLESH IS HEIR. The “American Stock Journal” makes some interesting statements on this subject, remarking at the outset that it is our duty to study whatever may tend to alleviate the sufferings of domestic animals. Everything worth knowing we ought to know, and our knowledge should be such as will render us equal to all emergencies. By far the greater proportion of poultry diseases arise either from cold and wet, or neglect in preserving cleanliness—often both combined. It should be noted, also, that the first symptom of nearly all such diseases is diarrhea, which we have observed usually manifests itself even in roup, before any discharge of the nostrils is perceptible. At. this stage much evil may be warded off. Whenever a fowl hangs its wings, and looks drooping, let it be seen at once whether it appears purged, and, if so, give immediately, in a tablespoonful of warm water, a tablespoonful of strong brandy saturated with camphor. Repeat this next morning, and in most cases, the disease, whatever it is, will be cheeked—care being of course taken to give the invalid warmth and shelter, with ale in its food. If the evacuation continues, administer the stronger prescription given for diarrhea. Gapes is a fatal disease of chickens, and which wo believe is infectious ; it is, at all events, epidemic. Unless perhaps thus communicated by others, it never occurs, except there has been foul water, exposure to wet, and want of nourishing food. The disease consists—at least, so far as actual symptoms extend —in a number Of small worms which infest the windpipe, and caused the poor chicken to gasp for breath. If taken early, it will be sufficient to give, every clay a morsel of camphor the size of a grain of wheat, and to put camphor iu the drinking water or a little turpentine may be given daily im meal, taking care, of course, that the deficiencies in diet and shelter be amended. In fully developed cases, the worm must be removed by introducing a loop of horse hair into the trachea, and turning round during withdrawal—the operation to be repeated several times, till all the worms appear to be extracted. A feather, stripped almost up to the top, may be used instead of the horse hair. The frequent occurrence of gapes is a disgrace to any poultry yard. Loss of feathers is almost always caused either by want of green food or having no dust bath. Let these wants, therefore, be properly supplied, removing the fowls, if possible to a grass run. For local application, Mr Tegetmeier recommends mercurial ointment, but we ourselves prefer an unguent composed of sulphur and creosote. Nothing, however, will bring back the feathers before the next moult. Roup is always caused by wet, or very cold winds.- It begins with a common cold, and terminates in an offensive discharge from the nostrils and eyes, often hanging in froth about those organs. It is most highly contagious, the disease being, as we believe, communicated by the sickly fowl’s beak contaminating the drinking water; therefore let the fowls affected by it be St once put by themselves and have a separate water vessel. Keep them warm, and feed with meal only mixed with hot ale instead of water. Mr Tegefmeier’s treatment is, to feed on oatmeal jnixed with ale, and green feed, washing the headin tepid water, anclgiving daily one grain sulphate of copper. We prefer the above. Roup runs its course rapidly, and in a week the bird will be either almost well, or bo nearly dead that it had better

be killed at once. It is the worst/disease of poultfy7anfllobe dreadM'aCcOrdingly; fortunately, the symptons are specific, and the treatment equally so. MR HOPE, FENTON BARNS, ON PICKLING WHEAT. At the, present season, the remarks of an agriculturist whose name is so widely known as Mr Hope’s, will ,be read with great interest. We have recently noticed in contemporary journals, questions asked as to the best way of preventing smut in wheat. Mr Hope’s statement, as undernoted, will help them to a conclusion. ; “ I.have long thought that ball smut, is a fungus. propagated by adhering to the seed and unless this fungus is destroyed before being sown, afl the graininfected by it are sure to produce diseased ears. I must here remark that smdt is of two kinds. In one of them the smut or; black powder flies or wastes away; before the sound wheat becomes ripe, while in 5 the other the power is enclosed in a skin' frequently strong enough to remain unbroken when passing through the' threshing’ machines. The larger number of balls, However, 'do get' broken, the powder discoloring the sample, giving it a disagreeable smell and a peculiar oily feeling, which judges know at once. It.is this variety which is destroyed by pickling The other appears to be propagated in some other way, at least as yet no remedy has been found for checking it., Manyyears ago, I rubbed smut balls amongst clean wheat, then pickled part, and sowed both. The result was, the pickled seed produced a health) 7, crop, while of pickled portion there was hardly one sound ear. I have again and again seen the sowing of fields finished with un« pickled seed, tell to the spot whefe the dressed and undressed seeds met. Old wheat should not be pickled, as its vitality is sometimes totally destroyed by it, and the fungus itself seems incapable ,of growth when upwards of twelve mouths old. lam far from saying that ball invariably follows, when undressed- wheat-is used for seed as, by a careful selection .of seed, this may be avoided for years. But the little trouble and expense saved by not pickling the seed is trifling indeed in comparison to the security given. I have tried piclding barley for blackheads, where the powder blows off before the grain is ripe, but as in wheat, without success. Still, I think, it is worthy of further trial, as it has appeared to me for the last two or three years, that many' of the blackheads in both oatsand barley are more nearly allied than formerly to the true ball in wheat. I should like to see experiments made by steeping grain different lengths of time in sea water, or in water salted to. the strength of swimming an egg.

Preserving Butter. —A correspondent at Balmain sends the following valuable suggest tions, with reference to the preservation of butter, lo the “S.M. Herald” I have read lately so much in your valuable 1 paper about the manufacture of butter, and knowing that many of my fellow colonist! are interested in the preservation of the same, the'fdllbwirig description of the inode of Dreserving btitter without salt may prove useful. It is universally used in the Valois and Piedmont, especially for the purposes of cookery, and is there called boiled butter. In looking at. the horrid compound sometimes sold here as salt butter, at least the cheaper sorts, I cannot but believe that its supercession by the boiled butter,'as used in Switzerland, would be advantageous both to the comfort and health of a large proportion of our fellow-citizens. Formula Into a clean copper pan (better no doubt tinned) put any quantity of butter, say from twenty to forty pounds, and place it over S. very gentle fire so that it may melt slowly ; and let the heat be so graduated that the melted mass does not come to a boil in less than two hours. During this time the butter must be frequently stirred, sav every five or teil minutes, so that the whole mass may be tborougly intermixed, and the top and bottom, changed places from time to time. When the melted mass boils, the fire is to be'regulated so as to keep the butter at a gentle boil for about two hours more, the stirring being still continued, but not so frequently as before; The vessel is then removed from the fire, and set aside to cool and settle still gradually, this process of cooling being'supposed also to take about two hours. The melted mass is then, while still quite liquid, to be carefully poured into the crock or jar in which it is to be kept. In the process of cooling there is deposited a whitish cheesy sediment proportioned to the quantity of butter, which is to be carefully prevented from intermixture with'the preserved butter. These caseous grounds are very palatable and nutritious, and are constantly used as food. Butter so preserved will last for years perfectly good, without any particular precautions being taken to keep it from the air, or without the slightest addition-of salt.

A Kiwi’s egg, measuring nearly four inches in length and two and a half inches in diao)ester was. recently dug up in the course of some excavations going on at the foot of the Ahaura township. The shell when found appeared to be in a perfect state of preservation," but gradually lost its color and became porous upon exposure to the. air. As the egg was found, firmly, embedded in a stratum ot shingle at a considerable depth from the surface some little speculation has been rife as. to how it came there.-—“ Grey Valley Times