FARMERS' COLUMN.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 89, 15 December 1914, Page 3

FARMERS' COLUMN.

USEFUL HINTS

LICK FOR STOCK

As a gord lick for sheep, horses, and cattle the following is recommended: To lewt of coarse salt add 101 b slacked lime, lOlb.bonemeal, and 41b flowers of sulphur; mix well in'a trough and keep protected from rain. It is a good plan to mix the above with molasses sufficient.to just hold it together.

TO MAKE AXLE GREASE. Good axle grease can be made with the best plumbago (black lead), finely powdered and sifted, so as to be free from grit. Gradually add it through a fine sieve to five times its weight of good, unsalted lard, rendered semi-, fluid in an iron pan by gentle heat. The mixture must be vigorously stirred all the time, and until the composition is smooth and uniform. Then gradually raise the heat until it becomes liquid, when it should be removed from the fire to a cool situation and the stirring continued until the mixture is quite cold.

DEHORNING OR PREVENTION OF HORNS.

Many l cattle-owners have come to the conclusion that horns on cattle are a mistake. There was a time when cattle had to protect themselves against wild animals, but that time is past, and the horns are worse than useless. A truck of horned cattle generally manages to arrive with the beasts more or lesg bruised by horning each other en route. It is therefore wise to prevent the growth of horns. A stick of caustic potash is all that is needed, and when the calf is a few days old a light application of the stick slightly moistened should be made on the embryo horn. Cut' the hair where the application is to; be made and rub gentdy over the spot with the stick until'it turns white; Care should be taken not to touch, any part of the skin away from the embryo horn, otherwise a sore will be made.

THE WORKING HORSE. Mr P. W. Lorimer, a practical New South Wales farmer, in...a paper he read at a recent meeting of the Agricultural Bureau, said:-- .-, "The food' of farm working horses

must be selected to give the maximum amount of work at the minimum ■ot cost. He had found that one and' ahalf bushels of crushed oats .saved easily a bag of chaff at 30 bags to the ton. Thi s would appear to be a bad financial proposition. With oats at 2s per bushel and chaff at £2- 10s per ton, it would take 3s worth of oats 'to save 2s worth of chaff, but he considered the Is well invested in .the extra work obtainable, to say nothing of the satisfaction of. having fat horses instead of lean, and of the enhanced value of strongly-constitutioned and well-conditioned animals,".

TO PICK UP A COLT'S HIND LEG

The blacksmith's method of resting one hand on a horse's'hip and using the claw, of a hammer to pick up hind foot is not always the besf and safest method, where a colt is the subject , • ■

A contemporary gives the following as a better plan: Leati the horse forward, until the hind leg to be picked up . is, well forward of the-other one. Next .stoop, down and pass the hand nearest .the horse quickly- inside the hind leg—just above -the fetlock —

hold so long as the back tendon is pulled inside. The safety of this method lies in the fact that a horse cannot kick with the hind leg that is forward, and must draw it back before he can effect damage. If a man misses his grab at the leg, therefore, there is ample time for him to get clear before 'the'horso kicks.

TO PREVENT FLIES INCREASING. The United States Department of Agriculture has found that fly development can be prevented by the use of borax. The method of using this substance in the case of stables is to sprinkle the borax by means of a flour sifter or fine sieve around the outer edge of the piles of horse manure. The manure should then be sprinkled immediately with two or three gallons of water to eight bushels of manure. It is essential, however, to sprinkle a little of the borax on the manure as it is added daily to the pile, instead of waiting until a full pile Is ( obtained, because this will prevent the eggs, which the flies lay on fresh manure, from hatching, The fly maggots congregate on the outer edge of the pile, and most of the borax should •be sprinkled there. ABORTION IN CATTLE. A correspondent of the Jersey Bulletin states that hempseed is a simple and almost costless remedy for abortion in cattle. He says: "Give a tablespoonful once a.day in bran or other feed. If the animal has aborted and is again bred, commence giving if a week or two before the time in gestation when abortion formerly occurred. [f evidence of abortion appears, commence at once with the seed, or if it has gone too far make a strong tea and drench the animal. I had a mare that had twice aborted, and concluded not t 0 breed her again, as she .was 22 years old, when an old horseman told me of the hempseed remedy. With it 1 carried her over the two periods she had aborted —Ave and seven months —arid continued its use until she foaled, though its continuation w>s really unnecessary. I had a heifer freshen two weeks ahead of time, producing a rather weak calf, and having an unfilled udder. About a month before again calving, indications appeared of another abortion, when I began giving hempseed, with the result that she went to her full time and brought me a nice heifer calf. Since, then I always keep a can of hempseed in the stable."