THE FARM.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 108, 15 November 1915, Page 4

THE FARM.

There ia a record of a dairy cow which wbb still breeding at the Bge of twenty-two years. Of much greater significance, Mr R. M. Uow, an American breeder, points oat, ia the fact that a Jersey cow haa been qualifying for the Register of Merit year after year, foi four years in succession after she had attained the age of fourteen yeaiß, and in three of these teats she qualified for Class AA—that ia, abe carried a calf at least 155 days during the test. Ihe con in question is fogi Irene 2nd 146435, the mother of another famous Jersey, Jacoba Irene, 146443, who baa a record of 982.85bl butterfat in an authenticated tent for one year, fogis Irene 2nd 14643b was put on test in 1910, at the age of fourteen years, and produced 91771b milk containing 487 21b butter fat. In 1911, at tbe age of tiifteen yea" lour montns, ehs produced 95041b milk containing 5231b butterfat. Ia 1912, at tbe cge of sixteen years eix months, she produced 9270.21b milk containing 530.31b butterfat In 1914, at the age of eighteen years, she produced 99931b milk contai< ing 594.41b butterfat. 'l'he ages given were at the beginning of hjr respective year's tests, which were made under the Register of Me: it rules of tbg Americau Jersey CatUa Club, and supervised by Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station. Mr Gow states that tbia cow shows anew that constitution, longevi'y and persistent dairy capacity are united in an eminent degree in the Jersey breed. Lucerne grows well on lich loam and sand clayey toils, containing plenty of lime, and having a mellow, fairly open, or even gravelly subsoil, llayey so l, deficient in lime, may be made to grow lucerne if tbe land is heavily limed with ground limestone, at the rate of one to three tons per acre Some light sandy soil, with a clayey or gravelly subsoil, may al o be made fit for lucerne by liming. Nitrogenous manure is, as a rule, not required, but a small dreesing with nitrolim, or nitrate of lime, at the rate of half-a-hundredweight to one hundredweight per acre, at tbe time of sowing, ma'y act as a stimulus and give the plants a chance to establish themselves in poorer soils. The plant requires an ample supply of potash and phosphoric acid, and an annual application of 3cwt to 6cwt of a fertiliser mixture, containing 6 to 8 per cent phosphoric acid and 10 per cent of potash, is to be recommended.