FARMING NOTES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10131, 9 January 1911, Page 3

FARMING NOTES.

A Waiareka (North Otago) farmer the other day, after struggling valiantly for some time to remove a dock root, laid bare a long, whiplike fibre, measuring 6ft in. from end to end. "Ergot in cows, which seems'to be a foot disease in some measure akin to footrot in sheep, has made. a somewhat sudden, and, p,n & few. dairy farms, swioup appeal ~ . . ~ , w •• • -nee in the vicinity of " ~ , ~ ~ " ..area," says a con- ■ '.'-or to the Taranaki Herald, jlliere are herds of from,-CO to 80 . head of-milking ccnys in .which may be found ten or, twelve limping about with great difficulty, and evidently with much pain. The disease does not, by the nature of it, i affect the milk-giving poAvers of the k. animals, but as it makes them almost incapable of getting about in search of food, the milking value is very materially decreased. The wet ! weather just at the time when the grass is in bloom causes, it is said, the poison of the blossom to find its way into any wound of the foot, and so sets up suppuration." "Not many people know how to pet a horse—from the horse's standpoint, at any rate," said an Amori'can trainer. "Every nice-looking horse comes in for a good deal of petting. The trouble is that people don't.pet him in the right place. If you want to make the horse think he is going straight to heaven hitched to a cab or delivery waggon, rub his eyelids. Next to that form of endearment, a horse likes to be rubbed right behind the ears. In petting horses most people slight those nerve centres. They stroke the horse's nose. While a well-behaved horse will accept the uosal caress complacently, he would much prefer that nice, soothing touch applied to the eyelids." A scheme which, -i uccessful, may revolutionise methods of farming transport in England and help tho British agriculturist in his fight against foreign * competitors, is shortly to be tested in Kent. It is nothing less than an attempt on a large scale 10 place Kentish farms, villages, and towns in direct touch with London by means of rapid motor traction. In order to secure the necessary capital a company to be known as the Kent-London Motor Transport, Limited, is to be formed with a capital of ;£7o,0()0. Opera- j tions will be begim by establishing a service between the Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, and Rochester districts and London.