FARM & DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 December 1915, Page 10 (Supplement)

FARM & DAIRY.

NEWS AND NOTES. Constant out-crossing will destroy the line of descent, and result in mongrel cows of limited milk-producing powers.

Scald all the dairy utenaila every day, and if cold water is used for rinsing they should be scalded again before being used for the milk.

Use a brush in preference to a cloth or rag for the cleaning of the milkcan; with a brush all the crevices can be reached and cleansed.

The idea that black teeth in pigs are a sign of disease is, another error which will have to go. The back teeth of most pigs are black.

Get the heifer used to being handled and petted; she will then give no trouble in the early days of her experience in the milking yard.

The most economical way of applying nitrogen to the soil is by growing leguminous plants, such a? clover, lu. cerne, peas, etc.

, An abundance of humus makes a soil friable, and thus permits the roots to penetrate easily in search of moisture and plant food.

A Shorthorn "bull, which was bought for £136 10s in Scotland, is reported to have sold for over £3OOO at Buenos Ayres. '

Do not let the cows have the opportunity of wallowing in puddles at the watering places, where they will smear their udders with filth.

Do not drop the old bull till you have tested the young one; no sire can be guaranteed high quality with absolute certainty.

In the middle of last month prime wethers, in the wool, in Perth made up to 29s 4d at auction. Lambs, at the same sale, were worth 26s 3d, and best bullocks sold up to £ls 7s 6d.

One farmer with a flock of nearly a thousand sheep on his place told me this week that he had accepted 15d per lb all round for his frool. This is the best price I have heard that has been offered in Southland, says a writer in the Invercargill News.

For whatever purpose milk is produced it is most essential that it should be obtained under clean conditions and be free from contamination. Badly-contaminat-ed milk contains large numbers of bacteria, which impart bad flavours to dairy products.

A prominent New York State cattlebreeder iisos the following grain ration for calves, in addition to skim-milk:— 2001b wheat bran, 1001b maize meal, 1001b oil meal, with a little salt, and a liberall amount of charcoal, feeding all the calves twice a day.

It ha 9 been accurately ascertained that in the course of a year a well-fed cow will produce 1071b of nitrogen, 871b of phosphoric acid, and about the same weight of potash, which accounts for the high value set on cow manure for the farm.

Some up-country station-holders are beginning to experience a difficulty in obtaining suitable men for high country mustering, many of this class having gone to the front. For this reason and the scarcity of shearers this season shearing may be very late before it is | finished everywhere in Southland.—'News. At farms where milk records are kept the most suitable position for the milkweighing apparatus is near the door of the ship-on. It is then an easy matter to weigh the milk as it is being taken from the cowshed to the dairy. The keeping of milk records always proves advantageous to the dairy farmer.

The tethered cow is not so familiar a spectacle in this country . as she is abroad. The small farmers and small holders find tethering a useful means of eating up clover clean, and, where there are no fences, preventing the animal straying. Even on large farms in Scandinavia the tether is used, Saving the services of a" herd hoy and the cost of erecting fences.

Lotus major is a valuable grass for swamp land. It grows vigorously and throws out an immense amount of feed. It is much relished lty stock, and spreads so rapidly that a sowing of even half a pound to the acre will soon make a good showing. It will live under water for weeks, and then throw out long shoots which spread over the tops of rushes and other swamp vegetation.

A writer in Wallaces' Farmer (U.S.A.) advocates the following plan for ventilating grain and hay stacks:—Dig a ditch two and a-half feet wide and the same depth, throwing the dirt to each side and thus raising the ground. Cover this ditch with old boards and build the stack on it. In this way a current of air is kept up under the stack, which aids greatly in drying it out.

Clovers of all kinds are great soilimprovers. The red clovers are excellent cropa for ploughing in, and lmve thi3 advantage—that, although the beat results will be obtained by ploughing the crop in, very good results will be secured if a crop of hay is taken off and the aftermath ploughed in or eaten down by sheep. This will bring some return for the outlay, thus lessening the cost.

The influence which colour exercises on the hardiness of an animal has never really been tested. In horse-breeding the brown, the bay, the grey, and the dun are supposed to be indicative of lack of constitution. Chestnut is a common colour in horses, and in some breeds it is not favoured. The Shire, man does not care for it, and it is not favoured by pony breeders. On the other hnd, the Suffolk is a chestnut, and most of the Hackneys are of this shade.

In sowing down land to grass there are three tilings upon which a good sole of grass depends—viz., (I) a deep, firm, fine tilth; (2) freedom from weeds; (3) a good seeding of a mixture most suited for the quality and character of the soil and climate. The sowing-down of grasses with cereals is gradually superseded of late years by sowing later with rape or soft turnips, especially in the southern districts. The results of the two latter methods, generally speaking, are better, but if grass has to be sown with cereals the latter should not ,b« aeedid toe thickly.

For four important reasons the clovers are among the most valuable of forage plants: first the manurial cost of their production is exceedingly low; second, they are richer in protein than most of the forage crops—far richer than tlie grasses; third, they enrich the soil in nitrogen, as well as subsoil it, so that the following crops are almost invariably good; fourth, in permanent mowings they ultimately so enrich the soil in nitrogen that the grasses as well as the clovers make vigorous growth.

A. good treatment for a barb-wire cut in a horse is to apply a piece of cotton wool to the parts affected, after soaking it in a lotion of pure carbolic acid to five pints of boiled cool water. Keep the pad of cotton wool in place with a bandage not too tightly applied. Change the dressing twice a day, using fresh clean wool on each occasion. Keep the dressing wet witli lotion all the time. It is not necessary to remove the bandage to do this, simply pour the lotion over the bandage. Unless there is some complication this treatment should cause the wound to heal.

Many think that good table potatoes arc the best seed, and so buy such in the open market or take some from their own stock. The idea is quite wrong. Tubers that were thoroughly ripe when dug may never sprout, a? the skin becomes too dry and hard. Seed should be selected from crops about two-thirds grown, while the haulm is still fresh and green—just in the state, in fact, in which early potatoes will be dug for use. To secure the best seed, selection should be made of the healthiest-looking roots, digging these from all over the patch. It is more important to get the best of seed for the early than for the later planting, when the soil has more forcing power.

The preparation of a bran mash is an uncertain performance by the novice, and it may be found of service to Rive suitable proportions. First, swill out a bucket with boiling water, mix an ounce of salt with 31b of bran, and pour on thr«e pints of boiling water, cover over, and allow to stand for 20 minutes, in warm water, or half an hour in cold, for horse or cow. This makes a thick mash. Bran, it should be remembered, holds the heat, and always though the top may be cool, when turned out into tie manger the hottest part is uppermost, and an animal annoyed by finding it too hot at first will very likely be put off his fancy for it altogether.

There are several reasons why deep ploughing and thorough cultivation are the best means for eradicating weeds:— (1) Some seeds of weeds rot when deeply buried for a time; (2) most weeds are killed when deeply ploughed under; (3) Well-cultivated, deep, open soil are moßt easily freed from the roots of troublesome weeds: (4) the seeds of weeds moßt readily germinate in an easy-working soil with good tilth, so that the seedlings can the more quickly be killed by repeated workings, etc; (5) the seeds of a cultivated crop germinate more quickly and the crop grows more rapidly and vigorously, thus being able the more successfully to overcome the competition of weeds.

The lirst essential in cdoctiiig thorough drainage is to secure an, adequate outlet, such as a large open ditch, a creek, or other depression sufficient to hold and carry a large volume of water. The next consideration should be whether or not there is sufficient fall or grade to the land. Land that has on the average a grade of at least 2in in 100 ft can be drained, although it has been found possible to tile-drain land with slightly shallower grade than this where the land farther back is mush steeper—steep enough to permit the water therefrom to periodically flush the large shallow drain-pipes laid in the flat area.

Soot may be used for many purposes in the garden. The ground might be dusted with it once every three weeks where onions, carrots, parsnips, and any of the cabbage tribe are grown. It gives the foliage good colour, and helps to drive away insects and slugs. It may be used in the same way amongst roses, hardy border perennials, etc. Spread it 011 the ground, not on the foliage. When pot plants have filled their pots with roots they may be watered with soot water once a week. The soot should be allowed to lie in a dry place for four or Ave weeks before using. The best and only soot which is of any value is that obtained from an open grate. The scrapings from a closed range are of little or no value.

When the sheep has been skinned, instead of throwing the skin down anywhere, or hanging it over the top of a post, to be afterwards taken off in misshapen form, it is not much trouble to hang it head and tail, lengthways orer a rail, or two wires stretched about Gin. apart, pekt specially for the purpose. It should be left there sufficiently long enough for a crust to form on the surface, and if it is summer time, it should be painted over with an nnti-wocvil solution, taken inside out of the weather and kept dry, along with others, till a sufficient number have been accumulated to make up a bundle ready for market.

A drained soil, when ready to cultivate, has more water in it for use by crops tlian an undrained soil when also ready. In the drained soil there is more room for water owing to tnce being more porespace. It has been estimated that the water saved in 1111 avcraagc soil by drainage 3ft deep is about equivalent to oen month's rainfall. Two tuing* prevent rain from sinking rapidly into undrained soil; first, the scarcity 01 pore-space and second the air escaping upwards, there being 110 othei 1 outlet for it. Half the surface pores must be full of escaping air, while the other half are full of descending water. In a drained soil the air can and does escape downwards through the drains as all the surface pores, instead of half, are the water presses from above, and thus absorbing water, while they are also larger than in the undrained soil. DONT'S FOR PIGS. 'Professor ,T. (!. Fuller, Agricultural Experiment Station, the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis., emphasises these "dent's":— Don't use a scrub hoar. Don't select brood sows from "twin" litters. Don't feed the brood sow too much corn. Don't forget to provide dry, warm, well-ventilated hog houses. The colony house is vheap and efficient in case none other is available. Don't overfeed at farrow time.

Don't fatten pigs, keep them growing, lion' f ail to provide green forage for pigs. Alfalfaa, rape, clover, or rye make first-class pasturage for swine. Don't let pigs drink from mud holes and stagnant pools. Provide pure, clean drinking water for them at all times.