FARMING NOTES

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 30 November 1912, Page 3

FARMING NOTES

(By "Man on the Liwl.") SALT l-C)li STOCK.

I On some farms very little .salt fo stock is seen, This is a mistake, a cows, horses, and sheep should Innall the salt they require. The i'ae that stock requires salt is sometime homo home to a farmer by the fac that ho finds his horses and cows lick ing horse covers and collars. Some times they tear the latter in order ti get at the. sweat stained-stuffing in side. The following observations re garding salt for cows are worth notim Some experiments conducted by Pro fessor Babcock—tho inventor of th< milk-tester—at Winconsin rogardim the giving and withholding of salt t( cows, are of interest to dairy farmers He found that if salt were absolutely withheld the effect would be seer with some cows in from two or threi weeks, but some individuals went or for the most part of a year without any evil effects, but sooner or latei developed a state of low vitality, end. ing in a sudden and complete breakLlowiij though recovery would be ver\ very rapid when .salt was again given, Flic effect was worst shown at calving time, or immediately after. In general, cows giving the largest imount of milk were the first to show >igns of distress, while there was less trouble when the animals were on iho pasture than when in the cowdied . Dry cows suffered very little, uul the same applies to bullocks and doro cattle—tho salt naturally in the ! ood, or in the "earthlieks" of aninals out in tho fields being nearly sufficient for dry stock per head, but iot enough for a milch cow. The 11 ilk drains away quite a lot of salt nit of the .system and an additional ninco per head daily must Ire added :o the food of a cow indoors. Many 'ears ago the French Government •arried out the same experiments to -est the amount of salt required by he different kinds of farm stock, and ■eckoned a milch cow require* about m ounce of salt daily when in milk, icsides wliat she gets in her food. When out of doors the best way is to et her havo acres to roeit saldt to ick but indoors it must be given in :he food in the ordinary granular ! orm. —"Timaru Herald." SERVIAN HOLDINGS. The Serb is a man of primitive emo:ion and simple tastes, for whom >own life seems to have little or no ittraetions. With the exception oT Belgrade there are fe&' towns in Serbia worthy of the name. Practically he whole of the population dwells on :he land, husbandry and pigrearing >eing the staple industries. A good leal of the livelihood of the Servian armer depends on the export of pigs, ihiorly to Austrian-Hungary: and the alter State uses the trade as a neans of penalising the Serbs. Acording to Mr Foster Fraser, when ho Austro-HuTigarian Government vis lies to put on the screw, it discov;i's swine fever in the Serbs pigs and >rohibits their importation. No wonler that land locked Servia strives or a seaport of her own. A system of peasant proprietorship irevails, and to this, and the frugally and industry of tire people must >e ascribed ihe fact that Servia has •ractically no poor. Every grown nan in Servia can claim five acres of and from the Government, and this and and its produce are exempt from til claims for debt. The poorest man Servia therefore, has always five teres to his credit. SOUTH AFRICAN FARM. An interesting account of tho elect lesson in colonial farming which s being given o n Sir Aba Bailey's jstatp in South Africa is afforded by i special representative of the Ai'ri:an World, Tho estates are near Dolesberg, in the Cape Province, and :he African World says:— "On Sir Aba Bailey's estate of -10 Farms covering an area of 300 square miles, new in its eight year, stockbreeding and agriculture are to-day being carried on on a large scale, a permanent staff of 50 whites and 300 natives being employed. Tn all 1500 miles of fencing havo been done. "The stock estates carry over 50,000 sheep, the majority merinos, yielding 1250 to 2500 bales of wool yearly, 10,000 Angoras, 2000 cattle, hundreds of highbred Hereford and Lincolns, and 2000 ostriches—birds of a value of 1000 guineas per pair. The stud horses, of a value of £12,000, comprises 25 thoroughbred English stallions, GO thoroughbred mares, anc many foals. There are in all 10fX horses. "The high standard of the enterprise on Sir Aba Bailey's estate if having a strong influence on tho acti vities of tho province generally."