FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 May 1916, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY.

BOIL 'AND LIME. According to English experimenters at liotliamsted any soil containing less than one per cent, carbonate of lime, on analysis, will be benefited by liming, and when the percentage falls to one-fifth per cent., lime becomes a necessity to enable the manures to exert their proper action. Without soil analysis the farmer can make a rough test sufficient for guidance. Take a few shovelfuls of soil from different parts of the field or orchard, and dry, pulverise and mix them thoroughly together. Take a few ounces of this soil, powder, and reduce to ashes on an iron shovel over the fire. Put the ashes when cool into a glass tumbler, and mix them with as much water as it will take to cover them. Stir this with a glass or wooden stick, but not with anything metallic. To this paste add an ounce of hydrochloric acid—which can be obtained from any chemist—and well stir the mixture. If a brisk effervescence takes place, it may be taken for granted that the soil contains a fair percentage of lime, but if little or no effervescence takes place, the soil contains little or no lime. Litmus paper will indicate sour soils, and the kind of plants that flourish on the lands also indicate necessities. For example, sorrel, bracken, and bog and peat mosses are intolerant of lime, white nettles, Slovers, thistles, sheep's burnet and vetches require it in the soil. An American test recommended by the "United States Department of Agriculture depends on the ready response made by beets of all kinds to liming. "Lay out two plots of land, about 12ft by 30ft each, manure cacli of the plots with equal amounts of fertiliser containing potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen, and apply lime to one of the plots at the rate of 2J tons per acre (401b to the plot would be equivalent to such quantity). A comparison of the growth and yields on the two plots will furnish a safe means of judging whether the soils will respond profitably to application of lime."

CAUSES OP SOIL INFERTILITY. There are various things to account for soil infertility. The lack of lime, for example, will induce sourness in most eases, and a disturbance of the ratio between lime and magnesia. Its absence also affects the growth of many crops, for which it is an essential plant food, particularly leguminous crops, lucerne, clovers, etc. Its presence or absence modifies the textures of the soil, clayey soils, in which lime is deficient, being generally much harder t(* work when wet and ltss friable on drying than those which are sufficiently supplied with it. Soils which are deficient in lime are less favorable for the development of micro-organisms, particularly of ths nitrifying organisms. . Deficiency in humus is a common cau3e of infertility. A soil lacking humus is less able ,£o withstand droughty conditions, it lacks cohesion, and is easily blown or washed away, and is unfavorable to the growth of micro-organisms, The remedy is.to apply vegetable matter which, by its decay, wil provide the necessary hun)us. This can be done by green manuring, by - ploughing under stubble, by the addition of farmyard or compost manure, and forth. Absence of bacteria, particularly of the nitrifying organisms, is opposed to the satisfactory production of crop. The cause in generally one or other of those discussed above. Either want, of aeration, luck of lime, or vegetable nutter, sourness, bad tillage, or drainage, etc., and when such soils are restored to good condition the development of the nitrifying organisms will proceed normally. Want of plant food is, of course, a common cause of infertility, especially in the case ot land which has been exhausted by frequent croppings without manure or rotation. Proper manuring, having due consideration to the requirements both of !lie soil and of the crop, is the reme'dy, provided that the land is in good condition; but the important fact must not be lost sight of that the mere addition of plant food is not sufficient unless the soil is in such mechanical condition that it can make good use of the manure applied. Manuring alone is not likely to be of any benefit on land that is badly drained, sour, or in bad tilth.

MILK FEVER. Milk fever, says Dr. -Alexander, of Wisconsin College of Agriculture, is curable in a majority of cases, but prevention is much easier and less expensive. A few simple measures will go far to warding oft' attacks. Here they are: Keep the stables clean, light, well aired, and comfortable. Give the cows abundant exercise and light laxative feeding before calving time. Avoid pampering. Do not milk udder out clean for a few days after calving. §ome allow the calf to take most of the milk. If one of your cows is attacked, despite these precautions, she can usually be saved by the following treatment:— 1. Inflate the udder with sterilised air, after stripping the milk away. Do this by means of a special instrument for the purpose. If such an instrument cannot be had, inflate it with a sterilised milking tube attached to one end of a small clean rubber tube, fitted to a clean bicycle pump. Tie tapes around the teats to retain the air. Inflammation of the udder (garget) may be caused if great care is,not taken to perfectly sterilise the instrument used for the operation. Also wash the udder clSan. The cow will usually get on her feet soon after the udder is inflated. 2. Don't give the cow medicine through the mouth while she is unconscious. She cannot swallow, and so the fluid may choke her. 3. Don't allow the cow to lie upon her side, as she will bloat and die. Keep her propped up on her chest. 4. Don't allow any dirt or foreign matter to infect the udder. If the cow is weak aftev she. regains consciousness give her alcoholic stimulants in the oatmeal gruel.