The Farm.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 36, 30 September 1871, Page 9

The Farm.

THE SIZE OP FARMS. The subjoined interesting paper (says a Southern contemporary) was read by Mr John M'lntyre at the last meeting of the Western District Farmers' Club : Few agricultural subjects occasion more controversy than that of the proper size of farms. There can be no doubt but that large farms admit of the most economical and scientific management, and afford the largest scope for improvements. It is also a noticeable fact that many of the early settlers of this colony are of opinion that unless their holdings measure by miles or their acres by the thousand that farming cannot be a profitable occupation. The fallacy of this in the eye of the practical farmer is very great. Any attempt, however, to limit the size of farms would not only be vain but injurious. The interests of society demand that the fullest scope should be afforded to the industry of every man, be his means what they may. Whether equal to the cultivation of 100 acres or of 1000, room should be left for his exertions. It is, however, generally found that from 300 to 500 acres of tillage, with a fair proportion of meadow, and of medium soil, are sufficient to occupy the most experienced husbandman, and besides that the quantity of land, which in large holding must necessarily lie at an inconvenient distance from the homestead, occasion a proportionate ( waste of labor. Much no doubt depends upon | the nature of the land and on the ability and attention of the man ; bub in any case, if he takes more land than he can himself superintend, he is rather to be considered as an agricultural speculator than as a farmer, and lb might be often advantageously borne in mind that if " fifty acres make many a pauper" a farm of 1000 makes many a bankrupt. One of the drawbacks we suffer from is the want of capital. Most farmers are anxious for large holdings, and many are thus betrayed into the error of buying or renting a greater quantity of land than they have the means of managing to advantage ; some in the delusive hope of acquiring those means by future savings, and others from the vanity of holding more land than their neighbors. Hence arises deficiency of stock, imperfect tillage, and scanty crops, with all the consequent train of expenses and unsatisfied debts. Whereas he who is prudently content to commence with only such a number of acres as he has the power of cultivating with proper effect is certain to obtain the full return from the soil —his engagements are within his means, —and thus while enjoying present ease of mind he lays the surest foundation for future prosperity. There is no mistake so common or injurious as that of supposing the more land a man holds the greater must be his gains, for the profit does not arise from the land itself but from the manner of using it. The best soil may be made unproductive by bad management, while the worst may be rendered profitable by the opposite course, but without sufficient capital no land can be properly cultivated. There is nothing to which money can be applied with greater certainty of a fair return for its liberal expenditure when correcbly employed than land, but on the other hand there is nothing more ruinous when the capital is either insufficient or injudiciously laid out. In fact, assuming always that the expenditure is directed with judgment, it will be found that the profib upon bhe outlay increases in more than a proportionate degree to its amount. Thus, supposing that five pounds to be the lowest, and ten the highest that can be employed in the cultivation of the same acre of ground it is more than probable that if the five pounds return at the rate of ten per cent, the ten will yield twenty, and so on in proportion. Now admitting this to be true, and it i 3 presumed that no experienced agriculturist will doubt it, it follows that £IOOO expended in the cultivation of 200 acres will only yield a profit of £IOO, while if applied to no more than 100 acres it will give a profit of £2OO. Therefore although a farmer of limited capital may not be driven to the extremity already supposed, and although he may be able to carry on his business with a certain degree of advantage it is yet evident that his profit would be increased by diminishing the quantity of his land. Many a one has been ruined by a large farm who might have acquired a competency with one of half the size. It therefore behoves a man to weigh well the charges with his means, and not allow himself to be seduced by any ideal prospect into the imprudence of entering on a larger farm than his means will enable him to manage with the spirit necesary to insure success. It is quite manifest that the more cattle and sheep that are well maintained upon any given space of ground the better it will be manured. Therefore if two farmers each possess the same quantity of land and devote the same portion of it to grain, he who can support the most live stock will not only realise the customary profit on that stock but will also grow the most grain. It is only by the union of feeding with tillage that land can be retained in a high degree of fertility. Were the system more generally adopted (especially on all poor soils) of laying down a considerable part in grass there can be no doubt that if again broken up its productive powers would be found increased through the ameliorating effects of pasturage and rest. While the gross produce would be thereby increased, it would so far diminish the expense of labor, as in many cases to counterbalance the cost of the stock. The farmer who has the discernment to make some of the various branches of grazing an essential part of his business, and thus nurses a portion of his land, preserves the tillage in constant heart without additional manure; and although the gross amount of corn may be less than if more ground were under the plough, yet the produce per acre will certainly be larger, and the deficiency will be more than made up by the

number of fat stock. He also divides his risk, so that in the event of a bad harvest the lo3s on his crops will probably be reimbursed by the profit on his cattle. It is a common observation that graziers and dairymen are the best off in this country, to which it may be added that the bane of all necessitous farmers and the ruin of land are understocking and over-cropping. If a system of farming similar to that in Great Britain were adopted here, the returns from a farm of 100 acres, laid off in a five shift system and in full working order, might be safely estimated to yield as follows: — 10 acres wheat—4o bushels at 5s

MISCELLANEOUS. A correspondent of an American journal says : " I have to-day visited a neighbor whose farm contains only twenty-eight acres. He has owned it and managed it for many years. His stock this year consisted of several horses and oxen and twenty-eight cows, in addition to a considerable number of fowls. He grows no fancy stock of any kind ; sells milk, cream, roots, poultry, and eggs. He buys some grain for his poultry and some meal for his cows, though he has a good field of corn every year. All of the pasture required for his large stock, and all the hay and other long fodder consumed on the place,,together with a good supply of apples, are the product of his twenty-eight acres of land. The great secret of his success is to be sought in plenty of manure and thorough work, managed in the most skilful manner. His cash sales for 1870 will fall but little short of 4000 dollars.

The grazier who breeds for the butcher, the dairyman who sells his milk for town use, the farmer who makes butter or cheese, and the poor man who wants a hardy, thrifty, cow, either for his family use or general purposes—each of these requires a different breed of cattle. A good beast for one may be all but useless to the -others. For the large stockowner the improved shorthorns possess such an acknowledged superiority that there is no need of enlarging upon their merits; for butter the Jersey breed is regarded as the best, both in England and America; for milk the Ayrshire is excellent; while for the poor man, who has only mountain pasture, or scrubby land the Kerry breed is the most hardy and profitable. A cow that is good for butter will be good for cheese, if the soil and pasture is suitable to the production of the latter article ; but as a rule, it is useless to attempt to make good cheese on any but a limestone soil. It may be conceded that for milk and butter some varieties of the shorthorns, or animals with a large infusion of shorthorn blood, are excellent; but it must be borne in mind that where this is the case the cattle are fed on rich artificial food. We repeat that the shorthorns for the butcher, the Ayrshire for milk, the Jersey or Alderney for butter, and the Kerry for hardiness and general usefulness as a poor man's cow, is the rule that should be followed.

As a rule it is not profitable for farmers to grind bones for their own use. The best way to treat bones on a farm is to break them as fine as possible and mix them with ashes. The whole being kept moist—not wet —the bones will after a some time, crumble. Where a large quantity of fresh stable manure is procurable, bones can be replaced by being placed in the heap. They will soon yield to the heating an 1 fermenting process which naturally takes place. Selecting- Calves eok Rearing.—Use judgement in selecting such heifer calves as are to be reared. Select only those whose mothers are good milkers, and whose sires have come from good milking stock ; at the same time, the calf itself should have those characteristics that indicate an aptitude to develope good milking qualities, viz., small, fine head, rather long muzzle, bright eyes, thin tapering neck, small well shaped-legs, long body, large hind quarters, set well behind, soft skin, fine hair—the color of which is immaterial —and above all, the milk mirror, or udder veins, should be large and well developed. The raising of bull calves for breeders had better be left to those who have time and means to devote their attention to it, and procure the best animals to begin with. Bub there is no reason why a portion of the male calves should not be reared as bullocks, either for the team or for the butcher ; and it is important that such as are reserved for this purpose should possess certain points indicative of future excel-

lence, viz., well shaped head, small ears, short, thick. neck, deep brisket, broad chest and shoulders, fine bone, long body, well rounded, behind the shoulders, straight back, wide loins, full quarters, tail thin and tapering, skin soft and not too thin. It is too often the case that animals are selected for rearing from their being of a pretty color, that takes the fancy of some member of the family, or the calf of some pet of the dairymaid, without attention being paid to its defects or excellencies. Not unfrequently, valuable calves are fattened for veal, simply because their color is unpleasant to the eye.—•« New Jersey Dollar Newspaper." American Railroads and Farmers. — During a business trip on the Erie Railroad the other day, we were particularly impressed by the frequent announcement, " Passengers change cars for the Eailroad," that is to say, every few miles there was some branch railway extending from 10 to 100 miles or more into a rich valley, so that the whole southern part of the state, recently an almost inaccessible wilderness, in now supplied with a net-work of railroads which branch off from the great trunk line like the limbs or roots of a tree. Each one of these roads, by bringing the regions through which it passes nearer to a market, greatly increases the value of every acre of land and every house for a wide distance on each side. We doubt not that it could be demonstrated that there is hardly a region penetrated by a railroad where the value of real estate has not advanced enough to pay the entire expenses of the road. For instance, suppose we estimate the cost of the railroads to average 31,680d01. per mile, or Gdol. per foot. If we confine the benefits to a strip 6i miles wide on each side, each foot of railway would then benefit 1% acres, and if taxed upon the land would amount to 4dol. per acre. The annual interest on 4d01., we will call 30 cents (100 cents, or 4s sterling, make a dol.) That is equal to 2 cents per bushels on 15 bushels of wheat, or 1 cent per bushel on 30 bushels of corn (maize), or 30 cents on a ton of hay, and so of other products. Is there a po:nt reached by a railroad where the advance in the value of produce has not been many times greater than this ? It would be nearer the mark to say that the advances in prices are enough to pay for a new railroad every year. The inevitable conclusion is, that railroads are of inestimable value to the agricultural regions of our country, and we hail with pleasure every new enterprise, no matter where itis located.— " American Agriculturist," April, 1871.

Preserving Butter.—A correspondent at Balmain sends to the "Sydney Herald" the following valuable suggestions with reference to the preservation of butter :—" 1 have read lately so much in your valuable paper about the manufacture of butter, and knowing that many of my fellow colonists are interested in the preservation of the same, the following description of the mode of preserving butter 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 supersession 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: Inro a clean copper pan (better no doubt tinned) put any quantity of butter, say from bwenty to forty pounds, and place it over a 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, say every five or ten minutes, so that the whole mass may be thoroughly intermixed, and the top and bottom change 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 contiued, 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 a 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 precation being taken to keep it from the air, or without the slightest addition of salt."

Preserved Meats.—The following is from a despatch by the Victorian AgentGeneral in London : —The best Australian brands are preferred to the best English, and by far the greater quantity of tinned meats now put on board Victorian emigrant ships is of Australian preparation, and has proved very good and satisfactory in all respects. The emigrant ship Colonial Empire, now fitting out, has been supplied exclusively with Australian meat in 41b tins. I take this opportunity of suggesting that, if the companies would have the tins stamped with the date of preparation from the inside, so that the age of the meat could be determined upon inspection and without opening the package, it would be of great assistance to buyers, and would enable me to approve of that which is supplied to emigrant ships with much greater confidence. I am informed that the principal preparers of preserved meats in Scotland are withdrawing from that part of their business, being unable to compete with the Australian companies.

per bushel £100 0 0 10 acres barley—45 bushels at 4s per bushel 90 0 0 20 aere3 oats—50 bushels at 2s 6d per bushel ... 125 0 0 20 acres one year old pasture and 20 acres new grass (equal to 40 great cattle—20 for dairy and 20 fat; or 40 acres grass for seed or pasture) 160 0 0 5 acres potatoes—4 tons per acre, at 60s per ton ... 60 0 0 15 acres turnips, carrots, &c, for winter feeding, butter, cheese, and pork 80 0 0 £615 0 0 EXPENSES. Two men at £45 each per annum £90 0 0 One dairymaid 30 0 0 One boy ... 20 0 0 Rations, at 10s per week each ... 78 0 0 Reaping 40 acres, and threshing 1750 bushels 29 10 0 Extra labor for harvest and threshing ... 10 0 0 Seed for 40 acres 22 10 0 Grass seed for 20 acres 18 0 0 Horse feed —200 bushels 25 0 0 Blacksmith and wheelright's account 5 0 0 Incidental expenses Leaving a profit of 5 0 0 £333 0 0 £282 0 0