Notes and Gleanings.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 219, 10 September 1887, Page 4

Notes and Gleanings.

Horses after Work.- If a man, says an exchange, were to wear his wet muddy clothing after a day's walking in slush and water, it Avould be strange if he did not get a cold or rheumatism. Yet there are many ownerß of horses who will simply take them out- of harness, feed them some hay, and leave their horses to <\\-), m the cold night air. Is it to be \vo<. tiered at that they iind them afterwards to be stiff, theii legs bwollen, their heels "gi eased," and their constitutions generally upset? Directly the horeo comes in it should be cleaned thoroughly- especially about the legs, and dried completely. Very careful men wash the legs of their horses with warm water and a stiff brush, then wrap long strips of flannol~old blankets, etc. — round the legs loosely ; but if the hair is dried completely, and no draughts exist, there is not much danger. Wire Netting.— This has become one of the most useful of modern articles to the rural settler, the farmer, the poultry keeper, the orchardist, and the shcepiun owner. In wire netting we firmly believo we shall have to place our chief lelianco against the tabbit plague Many miles of wire netting will piobably be used for fencing out rabbit* during the next twelve months in Australia and" New Zealand. Tho success of Mr Williams's patent rabbit e\l- nninator depends entirely upon the u-c ot wire netting. In 1842 the whole m»n> tacture of wire netting in Europe per anni.l.l did not exceed 10,000 yards. Now the yearly manufacture is 40,000,000 yaidr. To piodu"c this there are 420 machines employed. In these machines half the wiie it. wound upon b -bbine, and the other half is coiled into spirals and placed upon spool?. This invohes stoppages every few minutes to piece the wiies and supply fresh sp ols and bobbins; but at the Milwall woiks a machine has been invented which will koep on all clay, ond will net steel wiio or any ct'.er kind, so that a continuous roll of netting may be turned out, or ne<tmg that is almost lis-id may be made. This machine will make 350 yaids of net 23 inches, wide every ten home. Chairing to Preserve Timber.— •From the fact that charcoal would endure for ages in places where timber would decay speedily the practice of chaning the surface of fence posts and other timber has been vjry generally recommended and widely adopted, with supposed satisfactory results. A writer in Wood and Iron, however, takes the contrary view of this matter, alleging that iepeated experiments with chaired timber have furnished conclusive evidence that such a process not only does not tend to increase durability, but actually promotes premature decay. " Two posts, he says, split from the same log may be sot side by side in the giound, the sm face ot one being charred and the other not, and it will be seen that the charred port will perish before the other, the same being also true of railroad ties, and all such timber as may be exposed to the alternating influences of wet and heat. It is admitted, of couise, that could the entire timber be changed fiom its perishable condition to one soiled piece of charcoal, durability would be promoted to a surpiising length of time, but the strength of the material would then be destroyed. The simple fact is that charcoal is not impervious to water, and as water leaches the limber below the ehaned surface decay will commence soon after the grain of tha wood has been exposed to the influence of the weather. — Providence Journal. Feed for Working Horses. —Dr. Stewart, the well-known writer on live stock and dairy matters, says that the fast working horse exerts the lungs more freely than the clow worker ; hence the food should be m-ie concentrated but yet digestible; it should also contain a sufficient quantify of fibre mixed with the finer matter to give masticated food a porous consistence a»id prevent it from forming a too solid mass in the stomach. Oats are precisely the kiod of food icquired to meet such a case. The husk of oats forms a large potion of the substance of the grain, while the kernel is rich in nitrogenous matter and ha° sufficient carbonaceous matter to supply all tho needs of the lungs, which are stimulated by the muscular action to greatly increased exertion. The oats contain precisely the requisite proportions of fine and coarse matter for the horse's aliment in a sufficiently concentrated condition to avoid over-loading the stomach, and are thus the best food for the fast- working horse, which needs no hay.But to get the best results from this grain it should be crushed, and should be fed four times a day, so that tho system is never exhausted for want of food. The slow woiking horse, on the contrary, the farm horse, for instance, does not require a concentrated food nor such frequent feeding, because its work is slower and the consumption of force is not so great. Lime and Sulphate of /.//Me.— Never spread lime and manures at the same time. Do not put lime into or upon the dungheap. Lime sets free the ammonia, and destroys the value of the manure. Gypsum (sulphate of lime) is a valuable manure for lucerne, clover, rape, peae, beans, cabbage, &c, upon most soils. It very absorbent of ammonia, &c, and is tho best possible thing for use in stables, byres, and earth closets. The resulting manure, after its use, ia far more valuable, and the calcined gypsum is an excellent deodoriser. For crops of legumes it is used at the rate of 5 to 10 cwt. per acre. Gypsum fixes ammonia, therefore it is good to throw upon dungheaps. Percherons as Farm Horses.— This breed of horse is highly valued in Noimandy, its native country, and in America, where many ore now carefully bred. An American farmer, writing to the Jinral New Yorker, payp : "You can't beat the Percheron grade as a farm horse. He >s patient and that is just what is wanted on the farm. Farm work is dull business, and it takes patience to stand it. The Percheron is of good size, has line muscles, and can stand a good deal of hardship, Be is easily reared, cheaply kepfe, no trouble to break, good at any kind of work and always marketable at the best price. He is the driver's favourite because he never balks, always takes a load with him when he goes, and with half a chance keeps in good condition. As a stallion he is gentle as a dog, a sure foal getter, while his size aud colour always make him popular. 1 can raise a good colt almost as cheaply as I can raise a Short-horn steer, and sell the colt for twice as much as the steer will bring." When is a Man Strongest ?— At what hour of the day is a man at his stiongest, and so fitted to do hard work with the lea«t weariness ? The question is a strange one ; and probably the answer occurring at once to most persons will be, " When he gets up in tho morning." This is by no means the case ; on the contrary, according to the recent experiments by Dr Buch with the dynamometer, a man is precisely at his weakest when he turns out of bed. Our muscle-force is greatly increased by breakfast, but it attains to its highest point after the mid-day meal. It then sinbe for a few hours, rises again towards evening, but steadily doclines from night to morning. The two chief foes of muscular- force, according to Dr Buch, are over-work and idleness?. Sweating at work deteriorates the muscles. We know that maa of th#

great workers of the world, though not all, have been early risers. But farmers should note this, that early rising, according to Dv Buch'B doctrine, ought always to be supplemented by early breakfasting. The ancient proverbial "early bird" who '•catches the worm" must have had a presage of the " dynamometric " expeii ments, and instinct ivelyputthem in practice before they were formulated in word?. An American writer recommends a special mixture of seeds to produce a Mipe* ior quality of hay fodder. It miglr le worth while for j-omo New Zealand furmer to try a piece of good ground with a how ing of the seeds he specifies, viz-j-Six quarts of Timothy, four quarts of medium led clover and two quarts of Alsike clover per acie. The smaller sue of Al&ike seeds makes them equivalent in number to the double quantity of the red, giving an equal number of shoots with the other. They come into full bloom about the same time, when the Timothy is just heading out, and when cut together at that perixl make, he thinks, the finest quality of stock hay for cattle, horses, or sheep. SoKjhum for Fodder.— A uriter '.\ho claims to have experience says; "I::. Han corn requires a rich soil, and one not H.ib'e to suffer from severe droughts, to make a really good growth for cutting for fodder cither green or dry. Sorghum, if the soil be well worked, and rot weedy, in many cases will furnish moie fodder and of nearly at good quality, especially in dry cca c onp. There is not fo much need of care in selecting the seed, and the crop, if it gets a good start, will bear droughtvery well. Itbhould be sown in drills aboufc two fcot ap n rt. The ground should be deeply worked mellow and free from v, eeds "When the seed first comeup the little plants arc hard to tell from grass, and are liable to be choked b\ weed?, hencu clean land is very desirable. It is cut, and may be cured in the samo manner asmai/e."