FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 105, 24 October 1911, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY

1 NEWS AND NOTES. I It doesn't take long to clean tip the I milking yard, and tin l lime in well •■j.ch;. See iii it Uiat your fowl-house is not a foul house. Keep your lions clean and you will keep them healthy. In-case the mare dies or has no milk tin- foal may be raised mi row's milk if th>' attendant conducts the work patiently and intelligently. Choose the milk of a cow that has recently calrexl. preferably -one which gives milk low in butter-fat. for mares' milk, while rich in sugar, is poor in fat. Sweeten the milk with molasses or sugar and diluted with warm water. Give a little of this prepared milk at short intervals from a scalded nursing bottle and large rubber nipple. Bo careful to keep the bottle , and nijiple scrupulously clean. Ad<l one ounce of limewater to each pint of the prepared milk, and allow half a cupful on<e an hour at first. As the foal {.'rows, gradually increase the amount of milk fed and lengthen the intervals between meals. In a few days' food may be given six times a day. and, later, four times daily. The foal will soon leam to drink from a pail if allowed to sriick the attendant's fingers at first. On many farms one sees the results of indiscriminate- and injudicious crossing and mixing of breeds, which does not tend to the improvement of the average l Hock. Many farmers are of opinion that they can produce a sheep of a certain type without being very particular as to the purity of the breed of the slice]) they are meeting, and that, the result will be what they think thev want.

There are no physical characteristics in the bull that may be taken as infallible indications of his ability to produce females/ of milking merit. While it is possible to increase the yield of milk by improved feeding, it, is al«o possible to feed the cow past the point of profitable production. It will pay much better to keep fcw« cows, and' to see that they are properly attended to, and have plenty to eat, than to keep a large number that are continually on short rations. j

Do not permit the cow to switch her tail over the milk-pail, or slie is certain to throw hundreds- of bacteria into the milk at every flick. Hay or other fowl must not be stored in the cowshed. If hay or other food is stored in a loft over 'the cowshed, the trapdoors or other communications with the cowshed must be kept closed except during (he feeding or foddering of the cows. The final object in life is not to make money, but to use the money in developing a higher type of endeavor and of society. The richest farming regions do no necessarily have the best Miciety, or even the best living conditions; but they should have. Variety in feed and plenty of exercise are essentials to the profitable breeding of pigs for sale. Stop the horse now and again in the. course of a day's work, and give them a mouthful of water from the barrel you have carted on to the paddock for that purpose. To disperse moss in grass lands the thing is to feed the soil. Moss is a sign of poverty. Drainage may be required. The pastures should be harrowed and lime or basic slag and kainit used as a dressing. Common salt at the rate of oewt. per acre is also of service.

Milk-giving is a habit that responds to encouragement or neglect. It is a function which may develop or dimini.-h by the treatment accorded the cow. Line- of breeding which a century has developed and stamped wilh approval ought to prove xifer than the. theories of a single mini!, made tangible in a few heterogeneous crosses. We need to have a clear idea of what breeding does, of what feeding does, of what care and environment do. if we secure and maintain a profitable dairy herd. *

Thi' Wyndham Horn Id, in an article on stock branding, makes particular mention of the '-.Methvcn" system, and also refers to the great waste of wool by the use of lar or paint on the growing fleece. There is no doubt that the contention is fully upheld by practical experience, more especially in the branding of cattle on the most valuable parts of the hide. The "Melhven" system, which is a recent patent, consists of a specially imported blow-lamp to which is attached any brand or mark required. There is also a searer for docking lambs' tails at marking time: this can also be attached to the lamp. Besides, the brand and searer, there is a super-heated punch which pa«-es through the ear instantaneously. The ear is held in place by an ingenious little contrivance which holds it lirmlv against a metal surface. it is claimed that the use of the punch heated to a high temperature is more humane than the knife or spring punch. It also prevents bleeding and suppuration. Frequent, watering of the teams during harvest is a good insurance against" sunstroke.

The brood mare in foal should be handled by a firm, steady hand, not an excitable, rash hand. A horse that is too straight in his p»»lure jars himself and gets all the couch—ions of the road. Do you ever give your horse a cool batli in summer r You know-how good it feels when you bathe. If dusty hay is fed. sprinkle; with water and it will save the horse much annoyance; but better not feed it at all. Until we get perfect annuals we should search for a sire (hat in some particulars is superior to the cows in our herds. The United States. Canada and Denmark all report that their systematic testing (J f the relative milk and butterfat producing capacity of each of the cows in their herds is unquestionable the most profitable dairying reform that they have yet introduced. It is found that a cow has to earn at least from £7 to £S per year before anything appreciable in the way of a profitable return can be realised. Under the system of organised rating, herds are now quoted as havinir gone up to overages of CM). £l-2 and £l4 per head, with the improved returns steadily increasing, as the result of culling out the unprofitable producers and retaining only those which give the, highe-t net return over expenses. The Director of .Agriculture in Canada reports that he is now convinced, from the results of the system so far. that the milking capacity of lie ir herds can eventually lie raised to 20001b per head tier annum, which means a prospective additions of lT,.0!11).n()fl per annum from I lie si number ~f ows. During the operations of this letting process it has lit'cn found iu tie .■onutri-s already mentioned that man- daii-- farmers liad for years been keeping cows in their herds which did not pa working expenses. In these instances "!:, < ping cows" was noted as quite prop-rlv describing the situation, in thai many of the cows were being kept by Un<ir owners instead of the cows keepin'r them.