AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8212, 16 August 1906, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

"~aT Frenohfprof eaaorl announoeatfa simple stomach worms Tin sheep. This is tbe administration' of a teaspoonful of benzine in a small quantity of linseed-tea or milk. BUOoeßßion, housing them eaoh night andfgjving the dose while fasting. After»a week nas elapsed tLe 1 ! three days dosing is repeated, and again at an interval of ten days. This treatment is said to be completely successful, not a single death having occurred where it has been tried. Natural herbage makes the finest dairy produce. Rich pastures, wbioh have been forced nnder abnormal conditions, greatly increase the quantity, bnt if inferior quality, and with a tendendy to impart a taint to milk; they are capable of feeding without other feeding stuffs, and aie, therefore, not so suitable for butter making as permanent pataure on moderately poor land. The water that flows over a ploughed field washes off the most soluble portions of the soil and deposits them in the ditches. When it percolates through the soil tp an under drain trie loss is reduced to the smallest possible amount. There ie some loss in under-draining water, but even this is in great part prevented by having a growing crop on the ground all the time. Among the troublesome thingß in the dairy, and one affeoting both the cow and the milker, la the presenoe of warts, more or less pendant and numerous upon a cow's teats. They are the mere obnoxious because by the act of milking they frequently oause sores, which lead to kicking oows and all the disagreeable consequences which follow. This kind of wart is easily removed by aa application of castor oil. One or two applications should clear off the 'warts and render the teats smooth, soft, and pliable. Given ten drops of theliomoepathic mother tincture of aconite in a little water after calving to every oow considered likely to have milk fever. After four hours, follow *with ten drops of belladonna of tbe Same strength, alternating the dosei every four hours till eight doses in all have been given. Should a cow have actually "fallen" give the aconite every fittesn minutes until improvement sets in, and then decrease the frequency of the doses. After many years trial this treatment has been found invariably successful. NEED FOB OAEE OF THE SHEEP'S FEET.ahepnerds who are not careful of' the sheep's feet lay up a store of trouble for the. future. Under the streps of heavy work in connection with lambing, this is work that is very frequently neglected. For sometime before lambing it is to throw an ewe, consequently tbe feet grow out of shapo in spite of the wearing the hoof gets; when the sheep gets on soft, murky ground the hoof grows apace, so that when the sheep gets back to harder, drier soil it is unable to tread evenly, and the toe does not set wear enough to reshape the hoof. . If the hoof is out of shape it is certain that there will be friction somewhere which will cause the skin to be raeed, and the germs of foot-rot will .get into the foot and oause trouble socner or later. In feeding off kale?at this season, if the weather is wet and the land sticky, there is great likelihood of lameness being set up through portions of the stem of leaves being held up between the claws, which, together with the mud, form a 4 tough cake on drying. If this iB 7 not taken out, ordinary sores come from the friction, and foot'rot is likely to follow. It does not seem to be sufficiently recognized that foot-rot establishes itself far more readily when the skin is broken than when whole, and that chafing, even in a moderate degree, can supply conditions which make it very easy for germs to enter. SORE SHOULDERS. A correspondent of a contemporary writes: *1 find that the best gall cure for sore shoulders is to • remove the cause by opening the ' face of the ooliar and taking nut enough of the scuffing to take o£ ail pressnre on the sore spot When this is done, nature will do the rest, unless the soreß have been poisoned, in which case surgical treatment will be necessary to effect a cure." The correspondent is right in saying that the remedy for sore shoulders is the removal of the cause. The fact is that there need be no sore shoulders; their presence nearly always indicates incompetence or shameful neglect on the Dart of the teamster. A little dare in fitting the collar and the exercise of a little good horae sense will usually prevent any trouble with the horses' shoulders.. One very common defect in collars, W. and especially in old collars, is flatit ness of face; the stuffing gels worked out of place and the face of the collar becomes too flat. This throws the pressure' too much on the shoulder. Very often, £too, the ooliar is too wide, espeoially at the top. A ooliar of this sore will swing, from one side to tbe other at every step, and will soon gall the shoulder. Sometimes the ooliar becomes very badly worn at the bottom end, either from the play of the neck-yoke or from some other caasej when this is the case tbe collar will roll on the horse's shoulder and will pinch him very badly; the only satisfactory remedy in this oase is a new ooliar. Very often, too, tbe fault is not ia the collar, but in the adjustment of the hames. It JBnot at all unV oommon to see a green hand work- ? ing horses with tho hames projecting an inch or two below tbe colter, bringing the line of draft almost on

the r point of the shoulder: the inevitable result if tbe bora* is at all heavy loaded is sore shoulders. Sometimes, but.. not so often, the faolt is in the other direction, and the . line of /draft is too high. Thia is less likely to gall the shoulders, hat is more likely to dtaw tbe ooliar op too tight against the windpipe and oboke the horse. Uare should be taken that the maoe does not get worked in between the ooliar and the shoulder. Many sore shoulders may be traced to thia oause. The mane should be drawn our from under the ooliar before starting to work,, and at intervals during the day. If it is troucleßome that portion should be braided out of the way.