FACTS AND FIGURES FOR FARMERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 300, 13 May 1911, Page 10

FACTS AND FIGURES FOR FARMERS.

Hay made from oats when in the milk stag/makes an excellent feed for dairy cattle, iii.- i ■ When horses gnaw the hark ol tut-, or eat leaves it is because they crave .rrnss and cannot get it. ° Brush out the heel.s of a horse at „i.-ht; if the dirt is allowed to cake, scratches and greasy heels may result. \ cow may not know anything about the theorv of dairying, but most cows have .rot the practice down fairly line. The" average life of a good Holstem tow Is from 10 to 22 years, and the majority will breed regularly imtilU }CM» It is a false economy to breed from the poor cows; better sell three of them anil buy one good animal with the proceeds. II is not enough to know that a cow .rives a pailful of milk when she is fresh; we want to know what she produces in a y' lll '- ■ n i The exercise of common-sense is called for in dairying, as it is in every other department of the business of the producer. Aerate and cool the milk as soon as it is strained. The cooler it is the more souring is retarded. _ If covers are left on" the cans, cover with cloths. The dairying of Denmark results now in an export of £8,500,000 a year in the butter alone made from a million cows in the 1400 creameries of the country (says an exchange). A good dairy sire is always desired. Time and manure are two things commonly much undervalued. No one need fear that his mental or physical activity will suffer on'ihe farm. A little soot spread over the soil before onion seed is sown will prove beneficial. This is a season for big potatoes. Some phenomenal tubers weighing over 41b were grown by Mr. Sonntag, of Brockville, Otago, and Mr. Imrie, of Mosgiel, submitted for inspection two weighing 2%1b and 2%1b respectively. The dairy cow should he bred for generating in milking lines; ehe should have a typical dairy type and a strong, vigorous constitution and dairy capacity. A German paper gives an account of sawdust bread. Works in Berlin are producing about 200 quintals of "wood bread" a day. This cattle food is made by submitting the sawdust to several chemical processes after it has been fermented, and then mixing it with rye flour in the proportion of two parts of sawdust to one of flour. It is then baked in the same way as ordinary bread. The product is used for feeding horses. In the summer of 1512 several persons accused of having bewitched the weather were burnt to death, and it is recorded that after their death the weather changed to sunshine for several weeks. All localities cannot carry the Leicester successfully, but where climate and pasturage is suited for these sheep the result of the cross is always satisfactory, tooth from a wool and mutton standpoint. A remedy given for destroying ants is to make holes tfin. deep in the places where the creatures are located and pour in a teaspoonful of bisulphide of carbon, after which immediately fill up the holes. Skim-milk and butter-milk have about the same feeding value. They have more value for growing hogs than for fat production. Feed lib of grain to 31b or 41b of milk or buttermilk to growing hogs. One of the most profitable adjuncts to the business of farming is a flock of sheep. Prevailing prices for mutton, stock, and wool should make those who are sceptical on this subject sit up and think. In consequence of drainage from the manure heap, there is an enormous waste all over the country of the liquid portion—the most valuable—of the heap. Have the same person milk ths same cows as far as possible; a change of milkers almost invariably makes a cow nervous, which affects unfavorably the milk flow.

As far as may be avoid the use of milk pails with seams in them. There are now pressed pails on sale manufactured out of single sheets of metal, which arc ideal for cleanliness. The Department of Agriculture of Xew South Wales has decided to run a winter school of short courses for farmers, at the I-Tawkeshnry Agricultural College. Richmond. These are provided at the slack period of the year for busy farmers and stock-owners who can devote only a limited time to study and intensive practical instruction. They are thus afforded the opportunity to acquire the greatest amount of directly useful information in the shortest time. The course embraces a variety of subjects, and continues for four weeks. Reduced railway fares are offered students.

A Queensland paper says there is an increasing inclination on the part of the Queensland farmers with pigs for sale to sell them at auction. This has led to the establishment of an auction sale at almost every railway town in southern Queensland. It does not pay in any sense to perpetuate the qualities of poor sheep, and the cullings should be made close enbnsh to eradicate all poor animals and thus eliminate their blood for ever from the flocks. » On the first suspicion of mange the affected animal should be isolated, and care taken that no grooming utensils, niffs. etc., that have been used on affected animals are used on others until after disinfection. The parsnip is said to be one of the best of all roots for milch cows. It is a very sweet root, and its extensive use in the island of Jersey may have contributed to making the superior milk and butter qualities of the Channel Island cows. Keep in mind that the cow is nothing more or less than a perambulating milkmachine, and that the greater care you bestow upon her in feeding her proper foods and in the regularity of milking her, the better she will respond at the milkpail. The Ilolstein conies out well as a but-ter-fat maker, even where cheapness of production is insisted on. It is claimed for the bigger cow that a smaller number will yield more milk and more fat than will come from a numerically stronger herd of pretty little Jersey cattle.

The colt should be taught what is required of it in a manner that will give it confidence in man, and yet convince it that man is its master. To do this without frightening or hurting the animal requires skill, patience, and good judgment; but the result repays the trouble. Topmaking is now an established industry in Australia. Tn the Bounties Act, 1007. was included a bonus on tops exported from the Commonwcp.'th. No less.than £50.000 was made a-ailahle. covering a period of five vents. The effect of this was to put the industry (being prosecuted at Sydney) on a firm footing; and as the machinery used in the combing mills is almost automatic, requiring very little, if any, skilled or high-wage labor, there will be no necessity for spoon-feeding after the present bonus runs out. There are considerable advantages in wool-combing right at the seat of wool-production, and it bids fair to be an important industry in the course of a few years. Tops for export have been manufactured for the past two venrs now. The market at first was Japan; but latterly the Continent has been exploited, and occasional parcels have gone to England,