FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 140, 22 September 1910, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY

FINE DANISH EXAMPLE. WHAT AX IMMIGRATION AGENT LEARNT. Mr. Mead (a Victorian Immigration Commissioner) gives an interesting account of a few days spent in Denmark. He received the sanction of the Government to conduct an emigration campaign in that country. He found that both Western Australia and New South Wales were actively at work there with bright reading matter done into Danish. Similar translations are now being made for the Victorian Government, and it is intended to work through recognised emigration agents. Mr. Mead found that the DSnish peasants were remarkably prosperous, and that the standard of prosperity was considerably above that of the tenant peasantry of Italy, while the people were better housed, and enjoyed more comforts. "One of the most interesting things I saw in the country, said Mr. Mead, "was an agricultural training school. This had been established and was maintained by a number of the owners of small holdings. It reecives no Government aid whatever. Its instruction was the best of the kind I have heard of anywhere. The whole area did not exceed 32 acres of land. One was a five-acre farm, which is conducted to show the best that can be done with that area. The buildings and: stock and plant, and, in fact, all the equipment and practices, were designed as the most profitable and suitable for an ordinary Danish farmer possessing five acres of land. One item of the live stock on this little plot was a herd of silk milking cows- Then there were pisrs, poultry, fowls, and so on/ Another farm of the same kind was laid out for the instruction of bigger holders. It, contained 18 acres, and, as on the smaller plot, everything was done to extract the last shilling of profit from the soil, and to maintain a decent and comfortable home. During _the winter months farmers and their sons attend this school, and observe the agricultural practices and the care of live stock on the farms, and also take a note of the buildings, and all the rest. Special classes are held for men and boys, and in the summer months the school is available for girls, who, in addition to what agriculture they want to learn, are taught sewing, cooking, farm book-keeping, and so on. They were able to show me precisely what the gross and net returns of a five and eigihteen-acre farm conducted on similar lines in Denmark would be."

DUAL-PURPOSE BULL. A FARMER'S ADVICE. Some Americans who object to the dual-purpose cow, have no aversion to dual-purpose bulls. That is to say, they employ them in various laborious duties on the farm. They find that hard work is -'a perfect remedy for vicious and dangerous bulls." Ohas. P. Craig' writes in Hoards Dairyman:—"We dp not'have any trouble with our bulls. Any one of them will walk up to you and put his ring into your hand. 'They \ are controlled wholly by the word and the whip. I have been reading a great deal about how to manage bulls. *L have.seep' recently an elaborate drawing and 'picture of a compli-| cated outfit toy which y<k were able to feed and handle your bull without ever, going in to him;.;'. They do this work 1 nicelv, and apparently, without the slightest injury;' upon 1 the contrary, they are in excellent health, and we get ser-, vice from them' which/is 6i real value. -We absolutely forbid abuse of them; They must not be fought with nor severely punished fdr' anything or upon any account, amf-Ave hive found that they are perfix tlj* tractable and anything almost car. - be done with them. We believe, furthermore, that we will prolong their usefulness. We are using seven mature bulls in our herd, and everv one of them will work. "The fact is that I confidently believe! those animals like'the work, they act as though they did ■ really it, They are well behaved, and do almost what is asked of tfiem."

A Mangaramarama milk producer ha* j ■ designed a method, of cooling his night's milk, using a trough. through which water is running continuously. Reports from the jback country of Canterbury state there has been a remarkably open winter in the ranges, and the snow that fell recently, across the plains was not nearly so deep in the gorges as it was along the fopthills. The snow melted rapidly from the winter faces, and so far very little,loss has been reported. The wheat looks healthy in the WakaInui (Canterbury) district, though the I majority of the crops are somewhat backward, and bare patches in the paddocks > j point to the presence of the grub. The I lambing seems fairly forwai'd, and twins are frequent in the paddocks along the I roadaide. The grass is short in supply,! and has been put back by the late frosts ] to some extent. Stock generally seems, in excellent condition, and a few cattle are extra prime. A MaStcrton gardener is putting down ■ half an acre of land in tomatoes this season.

Rome big shearing records are being made in Quensland this season. At Cambridge Downs 38 me;i put through 117,000 sheep in four weeks and two days. One day the remarkable average of 108'/s sheep was made. Harrison was top with 203. It is claimed that the feat is a world's record.

A clipping from'a Home paper records! the death of a hog so large that the sizej and weight given seem almost incredible, i The animal belonged tc Mr. W. Harris,] of West Smithfield, and was killed at: Springfield Manor, Milton. The hog was j a Jersey-bred Ijoar, 2 years old, -which weighed alive lOOOlbs and dressed 13361b5. It measured 2'/a feet across the loins andi was 6ft in girth. The hams are mon-i sters in size, and the vast stretch of pork, which is borne upon four comparatively small feet, makes an ordinary, porker a mere pigmy. It is said that the biggest hog so far slaughtered was killed two years ago in New York, its dead weight being 12071b5. If the figures of

these pigs have not grown in the telling they must indeed hav,e been leviathans, as "Big Jim," the well known and recently deceased draught horse in Armour's team of greys, is. only said to have weighed 23601b5. When you want anything, do not offer too much, is the lesson conveyed in a story told by a farmer in this district (says the Feilding Star)..' He owned a cow he thought something of, but was agreeably surprised when he was given £lO and £ls for two calves by her. \ Then a would-be buyer happened along and offered £25 for the cow. That was the finish. The cow-owner said he would have sold the animal for £ 10, but when i i he was offered £25 he thought he had .1 better keep her. After some pressure to' \name a price, he finally refused. Then, the other man asked him if he knew the j value of the cow, and he said he did not,, land was told the animal was worth £60! ! j The one knew the breed—the owner did not, The cow was a pedigree Jersey.