FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 262, 27 March 1911, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY

I. CHEESE I! IS IXC. Information has been received in Wellington that actual realisations of the lonic's shipment of cheese, which arrived in England last week, were: Colored (iOs, white s!)s. "These," observed a merchant to the Wellington Dominion, "are tile best prices made this season. Last week, when the (quotations were oils (id and 58s tkl, our cablegram said that the market was steady, and that it had been agreed to advance the retail price one penny a pound. The fact that Bt)s has been realised and that there is still no decline in the market makes it look as if the demand is very good. A penny a pound is a big rise, ami means more in England than it does in New Zealand. Probably the next cablegram will give the quotation for colored at GOs." NEWS AND NOTES. To learn to milk, and learn it properly, is like learning a trade, and very few. dairymen realise the importance of it. Improve your stock systematically. Careful selection and proper handling will produce a higher standard for wool and mutton. The breeder expects the. progeny will inherit the attributes of their parents,, and should, therefore, carefully select the best type of animals for breeding purposes. Temperament has a commercial value in the horse-breeding industry. Farmers, should breed for reliable dispositions, as well as .soundness and symmetrical conformation, if they expect to realise top, market prices for their horses. To working horses carrots would be advisable only as an occasional food for health reasons, but to animals at re.st and to colts they might be fed liberally in connection with some more nitrogenous material, either fodder or grain. Cow-testing is the bedrock foundation of real progress in miiK-production. Nothing in connection with the dairy industry is more satisfactory than the growing practice of keeping n ilk records, with periodical testing for b'.r.ter-fat. Horses sometimes seek to evade the action of a bit which hurts them or' causes them discomfort by carrying their head and neck (is high as possible, and by .sticking their nose out, whilst at the same time they refuse to take hold of the bit. Any food with a strong flavor should be given to the cows directly after milk- ' ing, so that- the flavor may evaporate, before milking-time comes round again. The best return of oats in the Taieri district so far this season is 90 bushels per acre, while Mr. Kirkland, of Elm Grove, has threshed, a crop.of wheat, giving the splendid yield of 71. bushels to the acre. Both sire and dam should be fine specimens of the breed 1 tlu>y represent, in order to produce the best grade of market horses. Defects in conformation of the dam are not eliminated with certain : ty in the offspring by perfect qualities in the sire. A Yorkshire farmer for a bet of £2O recently undertook by feeding to increase the weight of ten beasts by an average of not less than one stone per week for a period of eight weeks. He won hands down, as the following figures Show: The ten beasts on October 12 scaled 853 stone, and on December 7 on the same scales they weighed 082y. stone, showing a gain of 129!£. stoned or a gain of about 221b per week each beast, equal to over 31b per day. r ' Tlx 2 highest gain was 13st 71b on one beast for the eight weeks, equivalent to almost 3%1b per day, They fetched an average price of £23 7s (id per head, and it Ls interesting to know that they were not fed in a covered yard. E. Fish, a farmer near llusum, Washington (U.S.A.), owns five hundred acres of undeveloped land, covered with oak trees, which lie has fenced for pig.s. East year he fattened 500 on acorns, feeding only £6O worth of grain. From a series of experiments to test what proportion of different fertilisers could be utilised by grain crops it would appear that of the fertilising ingredient in nitrate of soda 55 per cent, is utilised, the first year. In sulphate of ammonia 40 per cent- is utilised the first year. Potash in kainit 35 to 40 per ceiit. is utilised the first year. Superphosphate 30 to 35 per cent, is utilised the first year. Of the farmyard manure it is estimated that not more than 25 • per cent, is utilised in a rotation, and the same with a green crop of manure, but a portion of the value of these materials consists in their capacity to improve the physical conditions of the soil. On the ordinary farm the manure heap should be the great source of potash, nitrogen and phosphate supply, and artificial, fertilisers should be called in only when the natural supply, husbanded with the greatest care, fails to meet requirements. The manure heap is usually a greatly abused object. Exposed to the sun's boat, much of the ammonia found in the nitrogen decomposition passes into the air, and is largely lost. Exposed to the Tain, much of the soluble nitrates, potashes and phosphates usually find their wav down convenient gullies, and are lost to the fields hungering for them. It is estimated'that fully oiwthird of exposed manure is lost. For a fully-grown cattle beast or horse, this nearly menns a ton of humus yearly—certainly an important item. 'Manure may be shedded, and thus protected. If allowed to fall into a pit, and the stable drainage permitted to pour into this, the best results are obtained, A covering of kainit will add greatly to its prase, rvation; but nature thus treated yields up its treasures to the soil more slowly; and the best results will come the second year after it is placed on the soil. When quicker action is desired, a coveriug of lime, phosphate of lime, or simplv of earth is best.