FARM & DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 January 1916, Page 11

FARM & DAIRY.

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In W,-(cni C;,.<;„ 1.. Ihe f.irn.civ arc iar::ely iiu-i-i-.cin.'f ',!„;,■ | i; .,.p si■.„••!.:. I'rcc Irade willi Hi,. United f.iale, for woo] find live slid: l.n-i , in'ni, d lliwii lo go on building iij, their (locks, nod it looks as if over a law urea mixed farming will become the vogue.

Kefrigeiatcd machinery is being installed in (he Canadian Pacific Company's steamers between China and Vancouver, for the conveyance of poultry, frame, and eggs. At Shanghai capons are sold at about 2s fid each, chickens Kid, fowls Is 5(1, and pheasants at about 2s each.

While ground gypsum (land plaster 1 can undoubtedly be used with benefit ia the stable to absorb or fix the ammonia soreadily and rapidly formed from the urine, experiments rnako it apparent that when added directly to the manure pile its action in preventing loss of nitrogen is extremely feeble.

About 733,000 eases of apples have been shipped from Tasmania beyond the Commonwealth up to date. The fruit has been shipped to tlie following places: —Qnited Kingdom, 631,733 cases; Germany, etc., 72,175 cases; South America, 30,777 cases;—total, 734,085 cases. The overseas shipments for the whole of last season were as follows:—United Kingdom, 5G5, 103 eases; .Germany, etc., 17,27.5 cases; South America, 115,141 cases;—total, 097,51.9 cases.

There i s a class of bacteria known as "nitrogen fixers," rather than gatherers, which take the free nitrogen from the air and stores it up. It is through the operation of bacteria that the potential energy in the soil is converted into plant food for the use of the growing crop. The conditions are mo&b favorable for their work in warm weather, and it is in such weather that the loosening of the sail by cultivation should be carried on, in order to best facilitate their operation.

A measure for checking ;the traffic in horseflesh for food, brought forward in the British House of Commons, is designed to prohibit the exportation to the Continent of worn-out horses intended for human consumption. Harrowing stories were told of the cruelties inflicted on horses, and gruesome accounts were given of the manufacture of horseflesh into sausages. Several private members spoke with personal knowledge of the shameless Continental' trade in horseflesh.

The question is frequently asked: Tf manure spread upon the field dries before it is ploughed under, what loss, if any, is there of its nitrogen? Experiments conducted to ascertain information on 'this point showed conclusively that when manure is spread in thin layers and allowed to dry out, fermentation is rapidly arrested, and that the loss from volatilisation of the ammonia is very small, and may be disregarded unless the manure is in a state of exceedingly active fermentation when spread upon the field.

Roughly speaking, one inch should be allowed for every 1000 ft above sea level. For instance, if you live at an elevation of 2000 ft your barometer would read 28.00 in., as'against .IO.OOin. at sea-level. With the aid of your barometer, you can follow the different disturbances shown on the daily weather chart. You can see your barometer falling, and thus know that the. disturbance is advancing towards you, with the prospect of rain. It is well to note carefully -when the barometer reaches its lowest point, for as it rises the probabilities are that the rain is clearing.

To arrive at the cultural value of any seed, it is necessary not only to know the percentage of pure seed present, but also the germination capacity of (he latter. And here again it is important to urge that it is not merely the proportion of seeds which manage to germinate, but rather the nature or quality of the germination, which is the real measure of the value of the seed. For example, a sample of perennial rye-grass, which germinates up to no per cent, in the course of 1(1 days, is not nearly so good as a sample which gives a germination of P0 per cent, in six days, other things'being equal.

American records in butter-fat. production arc or.lv mndc one dav to be broken the next. The latest prodigy is a Hoistein, Friderne ITolingen Favne, which has produced in 305 days 2t'.0121b milk and UKilb buttev-fat. She was milked four times a day by the same milker all throuah. and also had the same feeder. She received 171b of grain daily for thefirst six months, and this was gradually reduced to 131b. In addition, she had 201b maize silage, some beet pulp and mangolds, and till the natural grass luw she would cat. The test was conducted at the New Jersey Agricultural College, commencing when the cow was three Years and four and a-half months old She weighed, at the end of the test, 14")01b. having gained 2001b since the beginning.

Under the system of irrigation boards in South Africa, no fewer than thirty districts have been proclaimed in the (..'ape Provitice alone, the capital expci.i.ture involved being £S?7.2<X); a -turn"!):'! - of Government irrigation settlements c.vist in the Gape, Transvaal, and Orange Free State Provinces, and numerous new and important, projects are now under investigation; some- twenty-eight large drills are being used in water-boring operations on Crown lands, and boring is proceeding on nearly 400 farms, and according to the recent statement of the Union Minister for Lands, during the 12 mouths ended March 31, 1!)13, when the number of drills at work was much smaller than at; present 03 holes were completed, having a total footage of IS,•UO and a yield of 1,321,500 gallons per day.

ENGLISH FARM WAGES. The ordinary labourer in Hampshire gets 12s per week when on day work, hours 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., plus a cottage (rates free), garden, piece of allotment, wood (value about ISs), straw for his nig or else a load of dung, for his garden. Ho gets 3s (id per day when hay-making, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and 4s <!d per day harvest curt, (! a.m. to 7 p.m.. Carters receive 14s per week, plus allowances aa labourers, and £5 a.t Michaelmas for the harvest work, also, fid journey money for ovcry load taken off the farm. Shepherds

get 1!.- per weil. : allowances us the others, ill /or each lamb reared, 2s (id per score for trimming!, 3s per score for Mhcmiiw, and 0-1 -,\t Michaelmas. If they ili'lp nt hay or Irirvcst, they get extra in same proportion an the labourers. Women helping in hayniuking get 2s per day, S a.m. ;:o (i p.m.

CANADA AND THE WAR. Tlie effect of the war and recent economic conditions on • immigration into ('.mada is shown hy the animal statement of the Canadian Immigration Department, jiiM issued. Tlie immigration f the nfeal year ended March, Ifllfi, was 114,7K!1, as compared with 384,878 in the previous year, and 402,432. for tlie fiscal y.-,.i' 11)12-1;;, whMi was the high water "murk in the history of Canadian immigration. The only increases for the year were from a few' of the neutral States of Kurope.

Bulgarians evidently decided that they preferred Canada to their war-threaten-ed nation, as 4048 are recorded as having entered Ihe Dominion for the year, compared with only 1727 for the previous year.

PLANTS AND SUPERPHOSPHATE. When plants are nourished bv acidified or dissolved phosphates they do not take them up in the form in which they are applied. The moisture in the soil first dissolves the acid phosphates, and these combine with the basis of the soil. If there is a fair supply of lime in the soil, the acidity is counteracted, and we get precipitated phosphate of lime. If there is absence or deficiency of lime the phosphate forms acid phosphates of lime and alumnia, the sourness of which will only gradually disappear, and these are less healthy_ for plant food than thoroughly and rapidly neutralised phosphates, such us would be formed in a soil well supplied with carbonate of lime.

MAINTAINING SOIL FERTILITY. Taking all experiments into consideration every soil is an individual soil and every farm is an individual problem, and it is impossible to lay down general rules which will apply equally to all cases, but there are some general conclusions that can be drawn from these results. Two of the important conclusions that can be drawn are economic farm management requires, not the use of farmyard manure alone, because there is not sufficient of it, not the use of commercial fertilisers alone, but the use of home-produced manures- supplemented by commercial fertilisers so far as may be found profitable, and, secondly, that commercial fertilisers may be used satisfactorily and with good financial results —it is necessary sliey should be used regularly and in a systematic manner in connection with a well-ordered method of cropping, rather than in a haphazard manner.

WHITE LOWING- CLOVER. In the nursery of the Ruakura Farm of Instruction a clover which produced the most leafage or feed during the exceptionally dry spell of the past summer season is White Lodina. Full opportunity was given to the clovers to make a free growth, and thus White Lodino had every opportunity for the development of its exceptional rooting-system. At the Albany plots, in Nortlr Auckland, the, same development has taken place. This is in contradistinction to the results obtained with White Lodino clover in small demonstration plots, -where it is confined in closely hoarded beds, and is thus not allowed proper scope for its naturally vigorous growth and its extensive rooting system. SOIL TEMPERATURE. The successful propagation of plant life depends upon many favorable conditions being present in the soil, and by no means least among these is soil temperature. Before, the vital processes involved in growth become active a certain temperature is necessary, which, according to most authorities, lies between 4Cdeg. F. and 45deg. F., for the plants comprising the ordinary farm crops. Soil temperature is one of the essential limiting factors of plant growth; it affects three important functions in the soil, e.g., the biological,, chemical, and physical functions. The biological function comprises— Germinations, Maximum growth of the plant, Osmotic absorption of moisture by the roots. The chemical function comprises—The acceleration of all chemical actions, the solvent action of water; osmotic pressure, a rise of temperature increases the osmotic pressure: formation of nitra.tes. favored by heat; the weathering of rocks; decomposition of organic matter. The physical function comprises—The movement of soil moisture as influenced by changes in temperature: the movement of the air; disintegration of rocks; expansion and contraction due to changes in temperature. The connection between soil temperature and vital processes is most apparent in the case of "germination," for which not only is it certain minimum temperature necessary, but for several degrees above this minimum germination may be so slow and irregular that the young plant is I'uble to perish while remaining in such critical condition. That is to say. there is also a certain optimum I temperature, generally several degrees above the minimum temperature, at which germination will take place most favorably, and at which temperature the subsequent vital processes will proceed [o forma "healthy plant. It is well known to-day the important part played by soil bacteria in the nutrition of crops, and it is a point of some significance that the beneficial bncteriu are active within the s,aine limits of temperature as have been indicated for the higher plants. The. nitrification bacteria, for example, cease their work below 41 (leg. F. and above ISOdeg. F.. their period of greatest activity occurring when the soil temperature registers about (SUdeg. F. The importance, of soil temperature in the initial stages of the growth of plants has been dwelt upon, but the plant, once firmly established, is subject to a good deal of modification from this source also. The osmotic absorption of water by the roots of a plant is controlled by the temperature of (he soil, and it may happen that the ■temperature of the soil becomes so low as to temporarily suspend the absorption of water by the roots, while the top portion of the plant still continues to obtain water in a favorable atmosphere. If such be the case, the plant will live, but if action extends over any length of time, disruption of the colls takes place and the plant is killed. This is generally what happens to plants during a frost. It is not the actual cold which affects the plant 3, but (he dying-out process which a low temperature produces. Tn such a case any protection to the plants, such as the afforded by a covering of straw, dead leaves, etc., will prevent the destruction of the plant; not, as is popularly supposed, by the plants being kept so much warmer, 1 but simply that the evaporation, from the plants is reduced to a minimum.