FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 150, 21 July 1909, Page 4

FARM AND DAIRY

THE EXIMiKLMEXT STATIONS. Some months ago (says the Fanners' | Union AdvocateJ the Dominion secretary of the Union (Mr. E. C. Jack) wrote to the Prime Minister in reference to farmers' excursions to the <Sovernuicnt experimental farms. Speaking at Kunkura, the Prime Minister indicated that he contemplated providing excursion trains to the farm at Runj l'.ura, and replied to a former connnuni- | cation that the subject of excursions to' other experimental farms would be brought .before Parliament. The matter was referred to the Railway Department, and a reply has now been received from tiie Minister of Agriculture as follows:—"Sir,— With reference to your letter of the 14th December, addressed to the Right Hon. the Prime Minister, I have the honor to inform you that the Railway Department, after fully considering the matter, is unable to give v any special concession to regard to train* conveying parties to this Depart- ( ment's experimental farms." » It is stated that suppliers to the) Featherston Co-operative Cheese Factory were pa.id at the rate of 13 l /yd per lb for butter-fat during the past season. A farmer in the Wairarapa considers that one gallon of skim milk or buttermilk and three pounds of boiled potatoes or barley meal makes an excellent daily ration for ipigs in process of (fattening. Two gallons of milk ho considers excessive, and states that splendid results can be obtained from tire above. Young annnirls making rapid growth and cows in milk extract greater quantities of the valuable ingredients from food than do fattening animals or working horses, and consequently the manure derived from young animals and cows in milk is poorer in quality than that ■ voided by fattening cattle or working 1 horses. A study of America's agricultural live stock census shows that the horse industry is one cf the most prosperous i branches of animal husbandry. The im- > mense increase oi 048,000 horses in one s year aud a gain in the total value of I ' the horses in the United States of I 100,522,000 dollars is a magnificent showing for this branch of live stock industry. This achievement has been accomplished notwithstanding the country is , suffering from the effects of an imlusi trial depression. j "Cabbages, mangels, swedes, etc., as- } sisfe materially in fattening cattle for i the butcher," said a Wairarapa farmer, . "but for all-round purposes you can't, I b'eat plenty of good rich pastures, more I especially for dairy stock. Natural pas--a tares contain in their composition such j a variety of ingredients of all that is , x essential to the stock that they could not, be bettered. Artificial foods, of course, are excellent when grass i 6 '* scarce."

The wheat prospects at the present time are particularly good—the outlook generally is bright, and the tone of the world's markets still shows an upward tendency. As a result a large area will be sown with HiTs cereal, in anticipation of the present and higher prices being obtainable next harvest. Whether the prices now ruling will be maintained cannot absolutely be foreseen, but it is more than probaiblc that prices will keep much higher than for some years past, and that the growers who are alive to the situation will do well out of wheat if given ordinary favorable seasons.

The eohl days of winter urge all to feed in such a maimer that the hens may lie warm and comfortable. Shelter is very important as an aid in .saving heat, yet- the body of the fowl is, after all, a stove, and the heat-producing food tli4 fuel. The aim should ibe to supply all the'necessary heat; the feed, too, supplies the lion with egg material. Maize, though rich in carbon or fat, is deficient in muscle and hone 'elements. M e need not stop the maize, however, for heat is necessary; but always add something else. Meat, milk, wheat, barley, oats, bran, and pollard arc all good feed .for fowls. It is a wise plan to have a variety which gives a value as a whole. Australian Farm and Home.

Sheep oil turnips require careful watching, and a good plan is, possible, to turn them oil' every night on to tussock ground or rough feed. Considerable mortality will be saved if care is taken not to allow sheep to feed continually oil turnips without warm, dry hay or other food to counteract the watery elTcct of the turnips. Stuhhle ploughing for root crops will be carried on when the weather and condition of the ground are suitable, ami a deep ploughing is not only necessary. but advisable, to enable the frosts ami the rains of winter to thoroughly pulverise and permeate the soil. For oats, lea laad ivill also be turned no this month, and allowed to lip. in order _to receive Hie full 'benefit of frosts and snow before spring sowing. ■July is probably the most > suitable month for getting grass paddock? in ffood order, and the question of drainage fhtmhl be properly attended to, as during the midwinter month more tj-<ie is available for ploughing for this necessary work than during any other month of the year. Top-dressing of pasture land may also be carried out either with farmyard manure or basic slaj. A marked difference is always noticed in the hay crop after the ground has been fairly treated with manure. Many people believe that milk is readv-made and stored in the udder of tlic_coiw simply awaiting the milker. ; This impression is corrected liv the statement of the well-known scientist, John Burroughs, who says: "Most people think that giving down or holding up the milk liv the cow is a volunta-v act. In fact, they fancy that the udder is a vessel filled with milk, and that thi! cow releases or withholds it just as .she chooses. But the udder is a manufactory; it is tilled with blood from which the mill; is manufactured while you milk. This process is controlled by the cow's nervous system; ••vlicii she is excited or in any other wav disturbed, as by a stranger, Or 'by taking away her calf, or by any other cause, Iho process is arrested anil the milk will not tloiw. Tl:e nervous energy 'roes elsewhere. The whole, process is as involuntary as is digestion in man and ]« disturbed or arrested in about the same way. ■ j\ ■