FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 124, 16 May 1908, Page 4

FARM AND DAIRY

There are believed to be lon niiu.imn horse, in tlie world to-day. l r or horses it is considered iliaf oat straw is the In'st, and after tli.it barley a,nd wheat ill the order named. 11l Chili the price o£ meat has advanced Ml! per cent, in (lie last three years, and the working clashes are becoming vegetarians. Young slock .should be thrifty; they should lie kept growing. Care should be taken that their growth is never checked at any time. For all practical purposes it may be taken that the hen's best laying days are over at the end of lier' second year, and this is the time to dispose of her and get a pullet to take her place. In the trying summer there were farmers who feared and worried, and others who did not; but things came out all right, and the latter saved themselves a great deal which the former suffered. Moral—work hard, but do not worry if you would live long.

Make the chickens work for their food, and <lo not ovcrfeeu. More chicks die from overfeeding than from starvation. (jive access to plenty of fresh air. The chicks need it as much as food and ■water. Alwve all, keep the coop* and broilers absolutely clean. The water fountains should also be kept very tlea.i and should be scalded frequently to ensure purity. Thi' cow-bails and yards should be elestmxl out long enough before eacn milking to permit the milking to lie tlomi iu <i clean atmosphere.

11l the selection of the heifer calve.only those of good constitution should be saved, as there is no use trying to build a constitution into a cow.

The calf should be taught to drink as early as possible, and should not be put on skim-milk until the other foods can be substituted for the fats taken out oi the milk.

First-hand knowledge is best. Tbn the s ort the farmer possesses, and will never iearn ill any other way. Pi?- VV 'H grow faster on .steamed food than on raw, but they will consuimabout equal quantities per pound of increase. . /. *

It paya to have the food for milking sows fed cooked and warm, but with other pig s it does not seem to make any difference.

Ui\e pi&, plenty of pure air, but do not -subject them to draughts of air. Ke«-p in mind the rule, "Ventilation willful draught." Dun oats (says <4 ilou*eabout," in the Timaru IVist) are coming to be recognised as providing a welcome bite between tho last of the turnips and the iirst of the gras*. and are being largely sown in consequence. With eare a good crop may he reaped even after they have been fed down fairly hard. Owr-ftM-ding and under feeding an* both powerful contributory to the failure in poultry-keeping, especially when the birds urn in voniinement. Ma-lie- and green foods are liable to bo<<hiu« -tal<« and sour in a very ishort lime, and in one or other of these, condition-. if eaten, they are most injurious to health.

Considerable general interest is being felt among dairymen in the Commonwealth in the scheme being drawn tip by the Victorian Co-operative Butter and Chee<e Factories' Association for the eompuNory grading of cream, and whi'-b will be di-i'ii-M-d at a conference of factory managers to be held nexr month. The proposal is meeting with Mippoit. not only among co-operative factory managers the majority of whom were praetieally certain to favour if. but al-o among farmer*, who appear to have at la-l gva-ped the essential feature* of | be situation. A large proportion of ihe dairy-farmers consider that thev are lowers lioth directly and in directly through the need of legislation jto prevent I lie mixture of good and bad j cream in one churning. , The output <»1 bacon pigs has been slowly increasing this last year or two. There is rooiu enough for still further advancement. Xow that several factorie- have established a name for their products ihe price of pigs has boe-n .'airly regular, and should continue so. Fanner* have, now a certain Auretv that I hey will receive a paying price for the rearing and fattening of pigs. There is not much demand for stores at present, feed being scarce with most dairymen, but iu a couple of months young pigs, as per utJiiai. will likHy reach big p r j ( . e^ —"Antiqua Ovis" in the Otngo Witness.

Over 50 Victorian farmers hav* sotlled in the OTlr-andra (No.v Smiih Wales) district diirinj* the last few month*. The area under wheat thi> vrar is expected to reach 50.000 aeiv*. compared with 34.000 last year.