FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 June 1920, Page 9

FARM AND DAIRY.

(By "Husbandman.") Legumes add nitrogen to the soil, furnish good feed, and cost less to grow tliau many other crops. A' Scottish farmer recently disposed of bis clover Itay at the rate of from £ls l(is Sd to ,tl7 per ton. This is claimed to be a. record. No farmer can consider that his life has been rightly lived unless at its end lu; can feel that the land that lie has held is the better for his kind ears.

Farmers should bear in mind that phosphorus is- the element which will Rive the largest return, and it is the (nost important for him to consider.

There is no reason why farmers for 1020 should not adopt a confident policy in the direction of growing more inalt>ng. more distilling, and more feeding barley.

Young pigs gain strength from the sunshine. 1 jet them out as soon as possible, but provide protection from the direct rays of the sun, so as to avoid their backs burning. Knowing the past history of flax cultivation in England, buyers will not come forward without a Government assurance that the industry shall not again be ruined by cheap imports. Reports from the District Commissioner of the Board of Agriculture in the korth of England state that £lO a ton wis being paid there for hay last July. The average pre-war price was £4 'a ton.

In the first two months of last year Canada imported over 8000 tractors from the United States. During 1018 some 21,090 tractors were imported from America against 3693 in 1910.

,u tt ing was in progress in West Heath' several kegs of butter were discovered many fe/t under the surface. J ho butter was in an excellent state of preservation, though it had been lying there apparently for centuries.

The ordinary bad-tempered bull sel<lacs ,larm other man irritatin" mens nerves and keeping the woraentolk anxious; but the quiet, docile, "kind as a kitten" bull is the one to keep an eye on. Years may pass without anything happening to injure his reputation, but all the while iie may be waiting his chance.

Every bull should be handled and managed at all times as though he were known to be He is dangerous, whether he has shown symptoms of it or not, and some day may make the tact sorrowfully manifest.

Owing to shortage of refrigerated ■shipping it has not been possible for some time to ship rabbits from Austialia to tlu United Kingdom. -In response to representations made to the Imperial Government, the authorities lave agreed to reserve space for the shipment of rabbits, 3000 tons will be available m January and 4000 tons in bebruary. 1

Negotiations between the British delegation and tlie Danish butter council resulted, it is reported from CopenS"' an agreement'being reached Pledging Denmark to deliver "from November toi February, 1020, 80,000 casks Hmnn" P. ricps wnsiderably lower than those obtaining in the open market, I lie price of butter in Denmark in "November was 3s Od per lb.

Within one month recently four American Guernsey cows, owned by W. Marsh, aterloo, la., made records as the leaders in their respective classes. Imp, Prospects Rose des Houardes produced 13,1.j7 pounds of milk and 7->G pounds of butter-fat. Lillia of lowa 2nd produced 14,239 pounds of milk, and 773 pounds of butter-fat. Lily of the Prairie has a record of J 1,661 pounds of milk, and 620 ponuds of butter-fat. Imp Ladock Jenny's record is 15,453 pounds of milk, and 809 pounds of butter-fat.

V m ' lk tcl the Buxton • ; Co-operative Dairy Company during November were 20,000 gallons less than the previous month, and the butter output was 10,679* pounds less. Fodder or the horses cost the company £SO more for the month, while £lßl -was paid by suppliers for fodder which they secured at cost price through the factory. An application to the Railway Commissioner to get fodder through from southern lines to feed starving stock in the district at the cheap rates was refused.

i One of the. greatest mistakes in stwep husbandry, according to experiments at the I mversity at Wisconsin, is the unortunate practice of breeding from ewe lambs. The lamb, it is pointed out, makes its beat growth in the first twelve months of its life, and if it is'bred from under one year of age its growth ,'s greatly retarded, and dwarfing must of necessity result. The practice of breeding from ewe lambs, even if well-devel-oped, leads, to destruction of the flock. . SI . ZO of the individual is checked, constitution is lessened, weight of fleece is greatly reduced. Nature has not yet provided the lamb with the necessary qualities to become a mother at this early age. J

From experiments conducted at the world's most famous experimental station, Rothamsted, England, it was ascertertained the loss of nitrates through leaching amounted to 1881b per acre. This quantity could not at present be returned to the soil for less than £3 per acre. This high loss of nitrate occurred on soil under bare fallow in'the autumn. On similar soil that waa carrying a crop of grass the loss through leaching amounted to only 2Mb per acre, an almost negligible quantity. It can be seen, therefore, that so far as nitrogen conservation is concerned—and this question is of growing importance—it ]>ays to have the land in autumn occupied with a growing crop to keep up the nitrates in the upper soil strata.