FARMING NOTES

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10718, 27 September 1912, Page 3

FARMING NOTES

(By "Man on the Land.") In ot tiv jiiisry rh;:r;i.vf tho weittiior pr<-\ during t:\ fan - \vee;:s, feed n:av }>o <!>' -t-r!: -.i :;.s fairly plentiful, foi- this tiaia ci" t!io y«i.\

] Though seriously retarded in their 'agricultural operations during the ; month of July and April by the <>x- [ eessivo rains that fell, farmers durj ing tho last fow weeks havo pushed on expeditiously, and Lave now nearly [ completed their task of putting in | tho last of their grain crops for the this season. | I As might have been expected, the grain sown before the months mentioned looked liono too well, particularly those on retentive soils —for some time after the heavy rains with which they were deluged. But during tho last few days their appearance has brightened considerably, and what crops are now to ho seen may be said as looking generally well throughout the district. It would of course bo absurd to attempt to forecast of the coming .harvest at this period of the year, when a large proportion of tlho grain is but showing itself above the ground. I Very little of .last year's harvest now remains in tho stack. A very large proportion of tho oat crop has long since been converted into chafT to meet the ready demand, at splendidly remunerative prices, that prevailed in the late autumn. A fow of our farmers, ruiiximi.s for still hotter prices, held their stuff throughout the winter, but they .have beecn disap- ' pointed, and in some cases have threshed what they intended to chaff. ! That some of last, season's crops nurt havo been 'heavy, was shown by tho returns of some of the settlers of Upper Mania, of whom one, Mr T.homa". secured a yield of seventy-three bushels per acre. This time of the year is always an anxious ono for the dairyman. His cows are calving, and tho most critical period in his yearly operations has arrived. Most of lus troubles start at. the beginning of the milking season. Ono of the worst troubles in connection with his Iherd, often arises from milk fever, a disease to which cows j in some districts sceni to be Strang?- , ly prone. There was a time, not long, ago, when tho chances of a. cow surviving an attack were not ono in five. But veterinary science has moved apace in recent years; and the chance? now arc five to ono that tho animal will ho saved if the remedy ho speedily and properly applied.

Though popularly termed "m:!k fever,'? this'term is a misleading one, for as a matter of fact there is no fever about this disease, the temperature of tiho afflicted animal being never more than normal. Veterinarians describe tho disease as apoplexy induced bv the act of parturition. "U was once thought by dairymen that this trouble only affected well-condi-tioned cows, but poorly eond.itionc.l animals aro equally prone to it. i' le writer of these notes has already .-em a. number of cows this season .affected with this trouble, and in every car" they were decidedly in low condi>-'.on>.

Tho treatmeent of "milk fever" is on that is now generally known to dairymen. It simply consists of .first emptying tiho udder of milk, and then by means of a. specially made pump I fitted with a small chamber, packed | with cotton, wool, through which the ( air passes and is freed from po-'-ib.j injurious germs—injecting <atmoepbe> ic air into the bladder. It is iuo oxygen: in the air that does the good, aixl better frelsuilhs 'could' be obtainled it pure oxygen .were available to tho dairyman. One injection is of ton j sufficient, but a. second may be given three or four hours after, if it be necessary. Tho utmost care must l/-> . taken to insure that the insiimmcnt used bo thoroughly clean, and its immersion' in boiling water b(i.. i e using is a wise precaution.