FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 104, 23 October 1911, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY

CO-OPERATION IX DENMARK. [ . I There are at present in Detir marl; more than 31)00 agricultural cooperative MK-ioties, a very considerable number for a country of not more than two and a-half million inhabitants. It wa< through co-operation that the small and medium-sized Danish property was able to acquire strength, and profit by the methods of extensive cultivation and wholesale trade. Thanks to it, meat, bacon, butter and eggs have become articles of very considerable export, the value of which lias risen, in only 30 years, from 31) million to more than "DO million crowns. In Denmark there was no special legislation upon co-operation until recently, with-the exception of a few provisions in favor of the cattlebreeding societies and others intended for the development of agricultural credit. Even the present legislative movement is not due to any stronglyfelt need of the co-opsrators, but to the necessity of better regulating the limited liability societies; and, as a law has to be made for these, it was inevitable that the co-operative societies should be dealt with. The new Bill has just been formulated. It consists of 30 articles. and tends to give uniformity as far as possible to the practice of the societies. It defines co-operation as essentially economic; co-operative societies j are such as "without coming under the I head of those provided for in article 1 | of the law on limited liability societies are founded with the intention of obtaining for their members the implements or other articles necessary for their business. selling the produce of their members' industry, and otherwise favoring, but always by economic means, their economic interests." The law prescribes the registration of the society in the registers of the co-operative societies. It leaves it to the societies to establish in their rules whether they may or may not do business with lion-members. The number of members is unlimited.

BREVITIES. J The host manure-spreader—the sheep. Don't ask an underfed cow to yield a full flow of milk. Never mix fresh warm cream with that : for the butter and cheese it contains. The market is seldom overstocked with ] the best quality of butter. Dairy farming is one of the most profitable branches of husbandry. Weed out and grade up should be the watchword of the dairy farm. The secret of easy gardening is to keep the ground clean from the start. Early, rather than eternal, vigilance is the price of success in a fight with weeds. Not maximum yields, but maximum profit, is the commercial end of good farming. A whip is a poor thing to inspire a frightened horse with a sense of safety. . A ration must be palatable . Unless a cow likes a ration 6he will not eat it with relish. Nature sends moisture into the soil. Man's job is to work the surface so as to hold it. Xo matter who you are, where yon live, or your name, try to plant .1 tree next spring. A man who takes no pride in his work is of very little use anywhere—certainly 1 not on the farm. Always teach a foal to lead when it is young. It is an easy matter then; later it is a task. | ! Of all the different means by which weeds, new and old. are introduced to | our farms, the most fruitful is grass | seed. The seed drill is useful in more ways | than for the purpose for which it was originally intended. ft greatly assists in the cultivation of the land. The keeping qualities of silage in a soil are in 110 way affected by the material out of which the silo is built, provided the walls of the silo are air-tight. The Percheron Society of Amereia now has more than 3GOO active members, and is handling the business of more than 2000 affiliated breeders.

Plenty of exercise is important for the pregnant sow: it. should be insisted upon, and provided in the way the breeder iinds best adapted to his situation. Farmers who have the inclination to' indulge their desire for really high-class draught horses have about the most secure position of all. An insatiable market awaits them. The fact that rapid growth may bp made by the foals of working mares lias been repeatedly demonstrated, yet many farmers are afraid to work their best mares while they are s\ ickling foals. There is a widespread feeling that seasons arc not what they were., and, certainly. judging from the non-traditional character of the last few years, there is some justification for this opinion. If by any reason air gains access to ensilage there will be decayed spots of the fodder at this point, and this decay will continue until the spoiled silage prevents the further access of air at this

point. The use of grade or crossbred males for breeding purposes is decidedly objectionable. Their power of transmission, due to wide differences in ancestral blood lines, is almost sure to be weak and uncertain. It is fatal to the well-being of any growing animal to receive a check. This being the case, it is essentially a "penny wise and pound foolish" policy to stint the ration of the female parent. The farm hand who through thoughtlessness or laziness neglects to feed the animals in his charge is too expensive a luxury for the average farmer. The room of such a one is preferable by fur to his company. A test of depth of planting poultries has been conducted for two years at the Williston sub-station in Nort'i Dakota (T'.S.A.) Superintendent Schotlander gives the following results on

various depths of planting: A vera 5c yield per acre: Planted 4in deep, 87 bushels: planted Oin deep, 78 bushels; planted Hin deep, 83 bushels; planted loin deep, 40 bushels. The variety planted was Early Ohio, one piece in a hill and caeli piece containing three eye 1 ?. fn regard t<> distance apart to plant potatoes, !)in in rows .'lft apart averaged 11(1 bushels for lftOO and 1!>10, which proved the best yield. Potatoes yrowri under slraw gave ll(i bushels in 11)10, ;H compared with 77 when planted tin doep and not mulched. The latest phase 111 the increa-od cost of living in Paris is a threatened rise in the price of horseflesh, which ha= hitherto been 50 per cent, cheaper than beef. The importance of this commodity in the diet of the poor may be inferred from the fact that sixty thousand horses are consumed in Paris annually in the form of steaks, cutlets and sausages, while the brains are largely employed by pastrycooks and restaurants in the preparation of sueeiiTpnt voT-aii-vent.