FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 303, 17 May 1911, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY

FACTS AND FIGURES. Speaking at the British Medical Association meeting in Sheffield, Mr A. D. Hall, M.A., entered a protest against any suggestion that British agriculture was at present depressed. In his view it wa-s thoroughly prosperous on the whole. The Victorian Department of Agriculture has imported from Holland a ton of ryegrass seed of the variety known as Western Wolth. The plant, when it attains full growth, is much higher than European rye. A sample of :i special kind of rape sailed by the grower Essex rape, has been sent to the Queensland Lands Department, wh'i-h promises to he worth more genei':il cultivation. It was grown at Christmas Creek, Queensland, a fertile spot in the south west, about 00 miles fram Brisbane, and was planted in January at a cost of 2s 8d per acre for seed, and it has now been cut at 4ft Cin in height, and, though it is midwinter. it Is full of sappy succulence, and is providing a good supply of green food for the stoek. Fifty head of dairy cnt-| tie were fed on it for a week recently,; and a considerable increase of cream was the result. It seems also impervious to frosts; on some dairy and grazing farms it would be worth experimental growing.

The use of artificial fertilisers in South Australia has had such success that the quantity consumed has increased from 'IOO tons in 1897 to 65,000 tons for the plst year in regard to cereal cultivation alone. Thousands of acres which a few years ago used to be looked upon as entirely valueless for wheat growers have been converted into grain-producing areas by chemical manures. Land which used to grow only inallee now yields up to 20 bushels per acre, and will still lead, to the opening up of a large expanse of country under which the old conditions could not be cultivated at a profit.

The education of a horse should he like that of a child. Pleasure should be as much as possible associated with the early lessons, while firmness or, if need be, coercion, must establish the habit of obedience.

During the farrowing hour the sow must be kept quiet and should seldom be approached by any person. She will not need the attention of man, and as she is extremely nervous and irritable at this time all causes of excitement | should be removed as far as possible. > For utility purposes purebred animals I are not necessarily the most profitable to stock,; in fact, from a careful study of local requirements it is possible for the pigkoeper to set his own type of pig by the careful selection of his gilts for breeding and mating them to the right stamp of hoar. The same crop on a piece of land a sucession of seasons naturally attriact insect, enemies of the crop, and a rotation of production destroys these pests as the larvae could not survive on other plants. In the maintenance of soil fertility and the destruction of insect pests rotation of crops is necessary. The growing use of the home separator resulting in the cream versus milk situation necessitates the, observance of certain rules both on the part of the suppliers and the receivers. Cream which contains from 24 to 2(5 per cent, fat, or, in other words, cream which will ! make 31b of butter per gallon, is best suited for hand churning. During the collection oF cream for a churning the cream can should stand in the coolest place obtainable in summer, while in the winter it may be kept in a room where the temperature ranges from 50 and fiO deg. Fahr. The surrounding atmosphere should be clean and sweet. The can must always be covered. Have a tin stirrer which reaches to the bottom of the can. and stir thoroughly from the bottom to the top every time fresh cream is added. Each time the can is emptied it should be washed, scalded, and put in the sunshine for several 1 hours. In order to be able to do this it is a good plan to have two cream cans. . ,

At the Canterbury By-Products Company's weekly skin sale last, week the. following prices were realised: Ilalfbred skins, 3s (id to 6s; crossbred, 3s 2d to 4s 5(1; three-quartprbred, 4s; lambs, 3s 2d to 4s; and merino pelts, Is lOd to 2s 7d.

The two-year-old draught colts should be thoroughly accustomed to the ways of work. Gradually accustom them to harness, bits, mouth pressure, and expect to take time to the task. A colt so near maturity should never be depreciated in value by bungling his education.

Nervousness and irritability in many horses are th» result of 'the same traits in their masters. Especially in the training of young things, quietness, calmness, fearlessness, firmness, ana kindness control the movements of the master workman.

The dairy factory returns for March are n good ileal below the figures for the previous month (states the Hawera StaT), this being due principally to the spell of dry weather.

The dairying of Denmark results now in an export of ,€8,800,000 a year in the butter alone made from only a million cows in the 1400 creameries of the country (says an exchange). Ventilate thoroughly, especially in the early morning, but in winter avoid subjecting the animals to draughts. When roots are fed to cows it is as well to take most of the dirt off; a little earth attaching will not be amiss, as the animal will discard what it does not want.

A Southland paper states that n farmer's wife, in a rural district, not far from Invcrcargill, had hand-milked 28 cows. night and morning, throughout the present season. Milking may lie performed with either wet or dry hands. Some persons advocate the former arid others the latter method, but taking all points into consideration the dry method is the most cleanly of the two and is that adopted by the best dairymen. An Knglish fanner writes of a sow that has had eight litters, anil has bred up seven lots of twelves and one of thirteen.

TCight weighty shire stallions, three and four years old. recently left England for tiie district Tambov Government, on the frontiers of Siberia.