ABOUT THE FARM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 163, 16 December 1914, Page 7

ABOUT THE FARM.

USEFUL HINTS. . LICK FOR STOCK. As a good lick for sheep, horses, and cattle the following is recommended:— To lewt of coarse salt add 101b slacked lime, 101b bonemeal, and 41b flowers of sulphur; mix well in a trough, and keep protected from.rain. It is a good plan to mix the above with 'molasses sufficient to just hold it together. TO MAKE AXLE GREASE. Good axle grease can be made with the best plumbago (black lead) finely powdered and sifted, so as to be free from grit. Gradually add it through a fine sieve to five times its weight of good, unsalted lard, rendered semi-fluid in an iron pan by gentle heat. The mixture must be vigorously stirred all the time, and until the composition is smooth and uniform. Then gradually raise the heat' until it becomes liquid, when it should' be removed from the fire to a cool situ-1 ation, and the stirring continued until the mixture is quite cold. DEHORNING OR PREVENfTION OF HORNS. Many cattle-owners have come to the conclusion that horns on cattle are a mistake. There was a time when cattle had to protect themselves against wild animals, but that time is past, and the horns are worse than useless. A truck of horned cattle generally manages to arrive with the beasts more or less biuised by horning eacli other e*n route. Ir, is therefore wise to prevent the growth of boms. A stick of caustic potash is all that is needed, and when the calf is a few days old a light application of the stick slightly moistened should be made on the embryo horn. Cut the hair where the application is to be made, and rub gently over the spot with the stick until it turns white. Care should be taken not to touch any part of the skin away from the embryo horn, otherwise a sore will be made. THE WORKING HORSE. Mr. P. W. Lorimer, a practical NewSouth Wales farmer, in a paper he read at a recent meeting of the Agricultural Bureau, said:— "The food of fan» working horses must be selected to give the maximum amount of work at the minimum of cost. He had found that one and a half bushels of crushed oats saved easily a bag of chaff at 30 bags to the ton. This would appear to be a bad financial proposition. With niats at 2s per bushel and chaff at £2 10s per ton, it would take 3s worth of oats to save 2s worth of chaff, but he considered the Is worth well invested in the extra work obtainable, to say nothing of the satisfaction of having fat horses instead of lean, and of the enhanced value of strongly-constitu-tioned and well-conditioned animals." TO PICK UP A COLT'S HIND LEG. The "blacksmith's method of resting one hand on the horse's hip and using the claw of a hammer to pick up the hind foot is not always the best and safest method where a colt is the subject. A contemporary gives the following as a better plan:—Lead the horse forward until the hind leg to be picked up is 'well forward of the other one. Next stoop down and pass the hand nearest the horse quickly inside the hind leg—! just above the fetlock—grasping firmly at that point, and pulling the back tendon /inward with the fingers. Thus the leg can be raised and drawn forward with case, and any reasonably strong man can retain his hold so long as the back tendon is pulled inside. The safety of this method lies in the fact that a Irorse cannot kick with the hind leg that is forward, and must draw it back before he can effect damage. If a man misses his grab at the leg, therefore, there is ample time for him to get clear, before the horse kicks. TO PREVENT FLIES INCREASING. The United States Department of Agriculture has found that fly development can be prevented by the use of borax. The method of using this substance in the case of stables is to sprinkle the borax by means of a flour sifter or fine sieve around the outer edge of the piles of horse manure. The manure should 'then be sprinkled immediately with two or three gallons of water to eight bushels of manure. It is essenial however, to sprinkle a little of the borax on the manure, as it is added daily to the pile, instead of waiting until a full pile is , obtained, because this will prevent the i eggs, which the flies lay on fresh manure, from hatching. The fly maggots congregate on the outer edge of the pile, and most of the borax should be sprinkled there. ABORTION IN CATTLE. A correspondent of the Jersey Bulletin states that hempseed is a simple and almost costless remedy for abortion in cattle. He says:—"Give a tablespoon once a day in bran or other feed. If the animal is aborted and is again bred, commence giving it a week or two before the time in gestation when abortion formerly occurred. If evidence ef abortion appears, commence at once with the seed, or if it has gone too far, make a strong tea and drench the animal. I had a mare that had twice aborted, and concluded not to breed her again, as she was 22 years of age, when an old horseman told me of the hempseed remedy. With it T carried her over the two periods she had aborted—seven and five months—and continued to use it until she foaled, though this continuation was really unnecessary. I had a heifer freshen two weeks ahead of time, producing rather a weak calf, and having an unfilled udder. About a month befori' again calving, indications appeared of another abortion, when I began giving hempseed, with the result that she went to her full time and brought nic a nice heifer calf. Since then I always keep a can of hempseed in the, stable."