FARMING NOTES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 8 May 1913, Page 3

FARMING NOTES.

COW COMFORTS AND EFFICIENCY.

When fclio returns from tlio dairy iiro not satisfactory it is not at all unusual, for the owner to complain that bis cows are poor, and for his friends to advise him to obtain bettar ones. The explanation is plausible. and the remedy is easy to suggest. But, as the "Planter's Friend" points out, it often occurs that the. explanation is not correct, and that the remedy is impracticable. It is ea.sier to blame the cows than it is to carefully investigate the cause of their shortcomings, and .it is pleas-aTit-er to do this than to admit that the owner may be more deserving of blame than his cows. But easy and pleasant ways are not always the right ways; they sometimes lead those who follow thero far astray. Comparatively few cows have ever reached the limit of their possible productiveness. The great majority have an actual and a potential accomplishment—what they did and wliat they have the capacity for doing. The quantity of milk which • they vielfl is below, and in many cfw*i far bel-ow, w.hat it might and ought to lie.

HOME-OFRING BACON. A. method nf bo ma-curing of bacon to give it a n : c,;-' flavour that is much in. vogin- oin English farms, is as follows:—t'eon*!•.:'rtients : 81b of coarse salt. So;-', 'saltpetre, and lib of blank sugar, niid, where desirable, lloz of 'allspice' in,iv bt.\"used for flavouring. In warmer weather it will be necessary to giro .rather more salt and also increase the quantity of saltpetre. . These quantities must also Ik» slightly varied, according as to whether tho pig is a 1001% bacon hog or a fat sow. Wheal the increase is thoroughly 000 l and bi\,s been cut iro, connmwp by rubbing tho skin h'>le with salt until it becomes thoroughly softened and , somewhat pasty in appearance, after' which apply salt to the flesh side, rubbing it in well with tho hand; then pile up the sides an<l hams on a sloping surface and allow tiliem to drain for 48 hours, or until the blood or juices from the flesh have been discharged. The remainder of the salt, together with the saltpetre, is then mixed with tire sugar and allspice and, rubbed! less vigorously over, the flesh; the liquid from this dressing should be retained and poured at intervals over the flesh, each day, during vdliich. process the sides should he turned flesh side downwards to drain for several days, after which the bacon should be wiped carefully with a. cloth and hung ur> in a brisk wind to dry; it will then be ready for smoking if suoh treatment is preferred. \