FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume I, Issue 71, 19 December 1896, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Tin: WkATIIKU.—After another week's diy weather there arc to-day (Thursday) signs of rain, and it is to he hoped we will shortly experience) a good heavy downpour. The Maoris predict a very dry season until next March, hut we confess we have no faith in the meteorological signs upon which they base their predictions. If a Maori chances to observe a wild duck hatching a little closer to the water than usual, or to notice some peculiarity about t,he flax blossoms, or some equally relevant sign, he at once believes himself in a position to foeeast the weather likely to prevail for the next six mouths. We have several seasons noticed that the Maori forecasts have been a? wide of the mark, as they could possibly be, and, in consequence", have erase! to take much notice of tin m. Rain has fallen it) some of the Southern districts, but other of them are suffering equally wish ourselves, and we notice irom our exchanges that, even so far south as Invcreargill, the country is reported as dry and parched. The season has been a remarkably unfavourable one throughout the Southern Hemisphere, aud the prospects of farmi rs in this district, unless a plentiful rainfall occurs at once, cannot be said to be anything but discouraging. (ioon Tkkatmknt i-or tiik Cow. —A cow will respond at. the pail with abundance and plenty when treated trendy and fed and kept liberally, but if treated badly she takes tor herself fh>t the cream, and then if there is anything left gives her owner the skim milk. x x x Swink tY.VKK.—Dr Stetson, of Ncponset, Illinois, U.S.A., has had a remarkable immunity from swine fever, though he raises from 300 to 300 pigs every year, and the disease his raged all round him. The beds, pens, fetdiug-ilnors, and watertroughs are never free from the odour of eiurlo 'jarbolio acid. Dr. Detnurs. in his report, to Hid Depart mint of Agriculture, says lie thinks it possible to destroy the conditions ncejssiry to formation of glo.-i and the development of swine sehizjphytic by treating- for about three ,vceks wit'i regular doses of carbolic acid. Lit;iit v. Lli'.avy Houses. —The employment of modern agricultural machines has told agdin-it the powerful heavy draught. horse even in the old country, as the fallowing extract fiom the Live Stock Journal plainly shows : —" Harvest is coming on, and some of the Lothian far hits seem to be of opinion that a quick-stepping, active, clean-legged horse (toes better for binder and reaper work than one of the heavier hairy-legged varieties. There is an amount of heavy reason in this, because to keep the knife cutting fieely and cleanly a good steady pace must always be maintained beyond mere haulage." + -I- + \\ oiots )\ a House.—Among the remedies for worms in the horse are these : Spirits of turpentine 2oz mixed in half a pint of raw linseed oil, aid repeated once a day for thiee days. Sulphate of iron m teaspoonful tlosts twice a day in .small Kiash is easy t ) give, ami ofll n effectual. Or give savin one drachm, asafcetida one drachm, calomel one drachm, and oil of the male shield fern 40 drops ; give all at a dose in a bailor in oatmeal gruel. Follow this in 12 hours by giving aloes loz, ground gingir loz, and carbonate of soda, loz ; mi.N, dissolve iu half a pint of hot water, then add half a pint of cold water, and give at one dose. Ax A.Mincrofs IttroitT.- Professor Shelton, of the Agrieultuial Department, Queen-land, who has been making an inspection of the wheat growing districts (jf that colony, is a model of caution in his report. He says:--" The season having been a bad one, there is only a half or a third amount of straw to a give., quantity of wheat that would have been the ca'e in a nioic favorable season. Thus carting and thrashing operations have been greatly expedited. There will lie a gioss average yield equal to about three-quarters of tha; of years past." The advantage of a report of this l.ind is that everybody can make an estimate to sift himself. Popi.tiiy F.\imiNi;.--Poultry fanning should always be associated with ela'rying because the feeding of poultry is an cuteome for separated mi k and for some other waste products of the daiiy. M r Edwaid lb own re-ad an excellent paper at a recent Dairy Conference in England on "The Hearing of Poultry on a Da'ry Farm," and some valuable bits of information turned up in the discussion. Mr Wilson, a Sou: h AValcs fanner, said he had been getting Is eaeh for ducklings, and they realised 3s (i 1 each now. He said that at four months old a chicken ought to weigh olb, and 'Js b'd would be a moderate price for it. Mr Hughes, of Wrexham, saiil he got I»,.">0() eggs last year, which yie'd him £.ll, and Mr Drown, in reply, said he knew a man in Kent who rcrlised CSV front the produce of fifty hens, and he could give many instances of a prolilol 5s to (is ahead per he-?. ]>i:an Watw! i ok Mm.en Cows.—A writer in the ISou' hern Farmer advocates bran water as a milk stimulant for cows. One cow thus Healed, hesajs, gives all the milk requiicd by a family of e'ght, besides yielding I'liOlb of butter in a year. Here is the recipe :- If you desire to get a Drge yield of rich mi'k give your cows every day water slightly wanned and slightly suited, in which bran has been stirre 1 at the: late of one (punt to "2;;al of water. Von will find, if you have not tried this daily practice, that your cow will give '2"> per cent, more milk iminedj.itely under the clients of it, and that she will become to attached to the diet that she will refuse to dtink e'ear w.'.ter iinbs, very thirsty. But this mi ss she. will drink any time and ask for more. The amount of this drink necessary is an ordinary wafer pail at a time—morning, noon, and night. Tin: Potato Ke'.Ui - -Progressive farmers have long known that liming increases potato scab, without knowing precisely why ; and also that wood ashes trreatly increase the. proportion of unsaleable tubers. The Rhodes Island experiment station has ben investigating along this line for some time, and has i.-.-ued a bulletin. No. :>3, containing a very careful review of the data obtained. Among the published conclusions occur tha followiu" : —" Fxperiments for three yens show That the growth of the potato scab fungus is promoted by the presence of airslacked lime ; wood asV.es (which, like air-.-lacked lime, consist largely of calcium carbonate) also promote the scab in a high de'M'ee: barnyatel manure, owing to it.-, alkalinity, or the production of carbonates f,,,„i if, has probably of itself increased the scab. By the use of ammonium sulphate, and probably muriate and sulphate of potash, kaiuit. dissolved phosphate rock, dir.s.olved bone or dissolved beneblaek. .-oil.- which now tend to pro-ihii-o seib'ov tubers would probably be eotoc h ss favourable to the disease." Tiir. Lakoi-st I'io.ikuv ;s Tin: Wour.n. Ch ea;;o his jii-t buill for itself a new pifgery.'"which is the largest in the world. In' the language of the Wesl, it is a '• 11(1(1,000 dollar hog-!;..use,'" and 19 a . e\\ addition to the stockyards of the city. It had taken two years to build, and is capable of holding 'i-JO.IKId p'gs. for which all the most recent iniprovemeiits and a perfect water supply hive been provided. It coiitair- no few. r than thirty-six blocks of 10) pens each, on luo Hon,.-, ~i:e above the other ; it is in two parallel section.; each :{OOO feet, long, and connected with cich other by twentytwo tlvor iMwage ways, It ec-vcrs forty-

nine acres, and in its contraction 18,000,001) feet of pine, brides oak girders throughout, have been used, while between 100 and 500 workmen have been constantly employed in its erection. Seven railway Companies have sidings from which pigs will be delivered into this gigantic piggery, and for the offices of these two two story buildings have been rented, one at each siele of the "hog-house.' It has been built in consequence of the inadequacy of the old hog-house, and will give accommodation for 7'2,()00 head n ore p'gs. A Bio Chop of Al.vmiki.s -—Details are published of an extraordinary crop of mangel wur/.el grown by Mr 'flicmas Ch'-ttle, of the. Manor Farm, Reading. The seed was drilled on the (ith of Apiil, and at the first hoeing the plants were left, about I - 2in. apart, the intention being to cut out every other plant at the second hoeing, so as to make the distance between the plants '_'-bn. Owing to press of work this was not done, and the result was a thick crop of roots, even in -i/.e, and of excellent quality. Various estimates having been made as to the weight of the crop, .Mr Ch"ttle decided to test the matter, and did so by accurately measuring twelve square yards in two plots. Then after tiimming all the leaves oil'and frcc'ng the roots from soil, he weighed the produce, with the result 10.") tons ITcwt. 2f]l\ per acre. There were thirty-fire roots on twelve square yauls, and they averaged each, and no root exceeded "2(ilb. + + + Tin: Indian r.ri'K.u.o as a Milk Puooueucn. Some curious figures in relation to tho milk of Indian cows and buffaloes arc given by Ihe Live Stock Journal, as the result of trials carried out at I'oona by dairy experts. Indian cows yield less milk than animals of tho best British dairy breeds ; but it is much richer, while that of Ihe buffalo eontains a still larger percentage of solids. The average yield of tho buffaloes tested was GtiGUlb of milk, tho animals having been -lot) days in milk ; and the tho cows —presumably Indian—averaged 50211 b in 171 diys. ' The average composition of the milk of the three classes of animals is slated as follows : Indian Knghsh Buffalo, cow. cow. Water ... Si'Oo Sib 13 87"20 Butter fit ... 7-S'J -PSO »-70 Caseiui: albumen 1.00 3.03 -POO .Milk sugar ... oI.S .301 1-10 Ash o'7'J 0-70 0-70 100 10 0 100 It is the opinion of the conductors of the experiments that the Indian buffalo might be bred up to the highest standard of butter-producing beasts. Certainly, if there was not something quite exceptional about tho buff-does to-led at Poona. there is reason for this opinion, as the yiedd of milk is fair and ihe quality is quite extraordinary. Only 111 b of the milk, it is said, was required to make lib of butter, x X X NYin-.ns in Potato (Jboukd.—" One of my neighbours," says a correspondent to the Albany Cultivator, " has a scheme for clearing potato ground of weeds which I have never seen practised elsewhere. 1 fe plouehs about two weeks before planting, and lits the ground very throughly after the weeds have sprouted, finishing will) the float. He then plants with a Bobbins planter, and eight or ten days later, before the potatoes have appeared in sight, he goos over it again with a Hoat. His float i- the ordinary one, ma.de of three seantlii.es, about 10ft lohg. upon which he ride--. This levels and pulverises the earth and kills all weeds that may have escaped before or started since planting -, the result is that there is scaieely a weed to be killed by the cultivator. He cultivates with a two-horse cultivator, throwing the earth close against the plants, the result of this thorough work, even in a wet season, is that not more than a bushel of weeds could be gathered upon on IS acre li Id. The Bobbins planter puts the potatoes down to such a depth in the "l-jund (hat the floating docs not disturb the s.'ed at all, the ground being quite even and regular from the floating previous to planting. He pLnts his maize with the orclinrry two-hor-e cheek-row planter, and treat? this in tho same way, but not waiting so long, going over it perhaps within four days after planting. These wholesale methods of killing weeds save a largo amount of work and cheapen produce materially." Colonial Tinnkii Fhuit at Homi;.— The tinned fruits 6hipp?el to Loudon by the Mi dura Association are thus referred to by Messrs. Dutbcit find Co , in a letter to tin it Melbourne rcDrcseiitative?, Messrs P. B. Baker an 1 Co. :—"The [icaches put up arc very good indeed, aud it is the opinion of everybody to whom we have shown them, and our own also, that a really good trade can be worked up iu this article. We noticed that some cf the peaches had portions cut out, as if bruised or over ripe parts had been cut away. Perfect halves are required. Their value is!)?, to 10s. per do/., tins (about 1A Ib, nei), and they should, of course, be picked '1 ileiz. tins in a case. From this price will have lo be. deducte 1 freight, lauding and delivery charges, which are about 10s. lo 12s. Lid. per ton, also .") percent brokerage. We therefore strongly advi-e, if these prices are satisfactory, tint every ell'oit .should be made to work up a 1 ig trade, which we are certain can be done, and if the quality of the .-ample is maintained, there is considerable chance of our being able to get better prices when buyers become to know the article. The timed apricots, also, are a very nice fruit indeed, but the: buyers prefer larg. r fruit. Prices are Is. I'd. to ss. per dozen The apricots reserved arc what we call standard quality, while the peaches arc extra. The apricots are slightly bett. r in appearance than San Francisco fruit, hut the: flavour is not so pronounced. Coir rally speaking, bith apricots and peache? are put up .splendidly, and if the standard of the samples is maintained a good trade can be wot keel up. Wo elo not think, however, it is a ly u-e whatever sending your jams to our market, or at least such as the sample? sent, us they arc not such good qrality, and cannot compete with the better sorts that are sold here. We value the samples sent at about 3s. (id. per dozen tins." From the foregoing it it will be iiTticed that the only satisfactory sample was the peaches, the prices rea'iveil for that fruit being n inuneiative. u hich is more tlpeu can be saidfor the sales of the apricots and jams. •r . + T Cku.miilisi; Faumkks. A contributor to an Kxehange write.- :--People who ate not farmers are fund of sajing that fanners are confirmed growlers, and are never without a grievance. Whether farmers grumble of not, 1 know very well that, thev are seldom without somo good Cilise for a grumble, and (hat there is no other business so liable lo bo iitb.cted by unforeseen and undesirable circumstances, A farmer cannot succeed unless all things work together for good, or, in other words, unless he can secure a combination of favourable conditions, and many of these conditions arc beyond his power to control, For ex ample, he requires suitable weather in which lo prepare his land for a crop. If il is too wet it is bad and if 100 dry also bad. Well, the crop gels .-own. say. iu good weather, but the sea-on is l-o dry for its proper growth. or if the growth is satisfactory a northwest gale threshes it out before, it can tie reaped; or if that docs not happen, a Hood of rain will spoil it in stock, or supposing if escapes these evils, then Ihe price may be so low thai a good crop will no muro thau pay expenses If he decides to hold for better prices it is probable that, after paying for many months' storage and insurance he is obliged to sell just before an unexpected rise I ikes p'aeci ; or if he keeps it in stack he has vermin, winds, and Hood- to elauifigo it, or rotluips get it burned. When, there- i

fore, it is considered what a great number of possible ways- there are in which a farmer's patience may bo tried, and how groat and numerous are tho risks ho has to run, it cannot bo wondered at that lie is generally inclined to give vent to his pent up feelings in the form of a good British grumble. Things are nearly as bad iu connection with stock. A bad spell of weather may kill half his lambs, or when coming to a profitable age they are carried oil' by lungworm or some other lis3:.se. He grows turnips at considciable expense, aud finds that tho price of fat sheep when he is ready to sell is so little above the price given for the stores that his turnips have to be written off as au unprofitable asset ; and so on through all the various branches of the fanner's endeavours to make ends meet. COMMENTS ON THE WOOL AND MUTTON-GROWING INDUSTRY. The sheep farmers of New Zealand arc not re jo'cing in a high tide of prosperity, but neither arc they in a state of depression anel despondency. Since tho early part of last winter sheep of all classes have been bringiug f-.'.irly good prices, and soins classes e>f sheep have been sclling for more money than circumstances seenicel to justify. The wool market has latterly been somewhat di-appoin'ing, owing probably to the unsct'led state of all'airs i) the United St)tes, but notwithstanding this feature, the pa«toral industry nny upon the who'e be considered in a fail ly sound res'tion. Owing to the sheep coming through the winter iu comparatively good condition, and no exceptionally bad weather being experienced during lambing time, it may be estimated with much confidence that the crop of lambs will be above the average, bath as to number and quality. Tho prosperity of the sheep farming industry depends largely upon the fall of lambs, fat lambs being the most profitable source of income. Fat Jamb is the one fcaturo in the frozen meat market in ■which tho leading position of New Zealand producers has not been eoriously challenged, and no effort should be spared to retain that position. The (lucks of the country this s.-ason promise a good return all round, for the sheep is an animal which cannot help being productive if it is not half starved. The sheep stock generally have not been badly starved, owing largely to circumstances over which farmers have no control, so that in addition to a good crop of lambs there will also bfl a. good clip of wool, and whatever prices may be. the produce being gooel anel abundant, there is every reason feu- expecting a fair margin of profit. liy the time this paper appears in print tho wool harvest of the country will be going on apace. Shearing in the colony is not the picturesque operation it is sometimes represented to be in the olel country. It is not earrieel on iu the orchard or in the cool shade of spreading oak or elm, with a jollification to follow on tho completion of the work. The orchard is not usually a striking feature of most farms in New Zealand ; oaks and elms of any size are not plentiful, and if the trees were there the general character of our climate iu the early summer is not suitable for shearing out of doori. As for shearing festivities, colonial people are 100 much lost to the gentle amenities of life to think of associating pleasure with work. The employer is glad to get the job over and be rid of tho men. and the shearers prosaically pocket their cheques and take their departure. .Shearing is work that is very roughly done : for the shearers being usually paid by the hundred are too eager to make big wages to take proper time about the work, and employers in general are over lenient as to the quality of the shearing. As a matter of tact very few men learn hoiv to shear they generally teach themselves—anel being in too much of a hurry to make gooel wages from tho start, never get into a good style. Good shearers arc the exception anel seem to bo getting scarcer cverv season. Let anyone compare the work done by an ordinary colonial hand with that of a good English shearer, and (he only conclusion he can arrive at is that in the one case it is shearing and in the other tomahawHxg. Of course, where thero are a large number of sheep to be shorn speeel is an important consideration, but with colonial hhciiring, altogether too much is sacrificed to mere speed. It cannot be questioned that the wool clip of the country is depreciated in val.ro to no small extent by bad shearing, for there are very few shearers who do not make second cuts, and a good many shearers are regular chaff cut ten's. Sheep-sheariug machines have not come into very goner il use ia New Zealand, the reason probably being that most, of the flocks are too small for the-owners to care about going lo the trouble and expense of setting up machinery—shearing is therefore carried on in much the same way as has been the custom for centuries past. The wool from Hocks of not more than a few hiindreel each make up in the aggregate a yery considerable proportion of the wool clip of the country. I'lxcept in the case of dairy farms, there is now hardly a farm in the country, however small, that has not a few sheep on it. This is a most satisfactory anil pr mising feature of the agricultural system of the country, for wherever there: are sheep to be found the management ot the land cannot be altogether of an exhaustive character. The management of small Hocks, however, is generally by no means what it should be. A large number of small farmers do not understand the management of sheep at all. More education is badly wanted in that direction. A small farmer is very apt to icgaril his Hock is a mere accessory to his other operations, and being eonsidercel of secondary importance, the flock iu many cases gets a very secondaiy amount of attention. 'l'here is probably nei other country in the world where sheep fanning on a small scale can le carried on so successfully and profitably if gone about in the right way. It is to be regretted that so many small flock owners should be so careless with regard to the get-up of their clip. Of course a man whose clip amoun's only to a lew bales eonnot have the sinic convenience for shearing, soi ting &c, as is to befouu I in large sheds. Ilecinnot, for instance, allord to build a well appointed wool-sheel, and, indeed, such an outlay is not called for. What is wanted is that the sheep should be shorn in some place where the wool can be kept free irom straw, shall, aud other such extraneous and undesirable sub-tanc-os, |t is not nejoo sary or even desirable that a small clip should be divided into a ni'.inbcr of classes, as is eustomaty in large sheds, but it is very necessary that a line should be drawn between wool of distinctly different character, it must tell against the sab: of the wool when all sorts aud co ulitions are thrown higgledypiggledy into the same bale. Many small Hock owners do not even take the trouble to skirt the wool clean. Dags certainty add to the weight of the bale, but it may be depended upon that when a buyer finds that the weight of a bale is made up of a percentage of manure', he takes good care to make due allowance in the price. It is not meant for a moment to be said that all small sheep-owners are careless i|| the handling of the wool, but it. is a fiefc tl'.at the great bulk of the wool from small docks is very indifferently managed as regards the process of skirting, sorting, and packing. Want of convenience has much lo answer for, and perhaps want of knowledge still more. The proportion of the total wool clip of the colony obtained from small Hocks is annually increasing, the tendency at present being all iu the direction of smaller holdings, and consequently smaller Hocks. Owing to the subdivision of I> jtli pastoral an I agricultural country now going on, inexperienced men, ignorant of the practical detail.- of .-beep fanning, arc every year adeled to the ranks of sheep owno:s, aud ilicxprrj-

enco and ignorance are eleadly enemies to prosperity, whether with respect to the individual or the country. To the experienced man the management of a Hock seems a simple enough matter iu the main, but to the beginner it is by no means so simple, and he natuially make imny mistakes for which he has to pay deary. There is always one sound maxim te> go by ; never to have any more sheep than you can keep iu condition ; but tho value of the maxim lies in the application of it, and that is where the valuoof knowledge aud experience comes iu. The uinre general diffusion e>f practical knowledge on sheep fanning is badly wanted. Wo hive a luge number of practical sheep farmers in the country well acquainted with Hock management and with the peculiarities of soil and climate, and men who hive had experi enco with various breeds of sheep. If such men would occasionally take the trouble to put the resu'ts of some portion of their eexpuieiice in the shape ot short practical papers, cither for reading befoie an assemblage of fa'incrs or for publication through the medium of print, or better >t!il, for both purposes, they would confer no small benefit on tho country, and probably effect no small improvement in the general system of Hock management, 'flic circulation of practical ideas is eine of the most powerful means of progress. Unfortunately the majority of the most practical men are d'ilielcnt of putting the result of their experience on paper or of making their opinions public in any shape, and knowledge of the most valuable sort is lost to those to whom it would be most useful. —" Ovis," in N.Z. Country Journal. SWINE 11AISING FOR QUICK PROFITS. In many respects swine raising is the leading animal industry of this country, and it gives quicker anel surer returns than any other. For these (wo reasons alone it is an industry that is of the greatest importance to the majority of farmers. Some may claim that the dairy business is one tint equals that of swine raising in these respects ; but to make dairying a great success if is necessary to spend some time in building up a herd of valuable animals, and the returns at first are always slow. It might be further aided that swine husbandry can bo started wilh (ho least invested capital of any other, and that even tho poorest farmer can aft'orel to start with half a dozen swine. Returns are always absolutely sure in swine raising, for there is no loss. Shoulil the market to overstocked, tho meat is always of use to the farmer for family use, anil later the pork may sell well. Iu swine husbantlry as a speciality thero is, however, a vast difference between that anel ordinary raising of ono or two hogs on the farm. In order to go into business for money, tho owner must understand considerable about tho science of breeding and feeding. One of the great e mscs of failures in siwino husbandry ia due to general ignorance of these two points. Nearly everyone raises a few hogs, and consequently, like editing a paper, even-one thinks that ho can make tho business pay when conducted on a licger scale. Many reason that it is an easy matter to write and edit a paper, and that it is also an easy matter to raise hogs by giving them swill and tho general refuse anil garbage of the farm, with some earn to fatten them. Such people generally fail in miking money with swine, anel are tho ones that complain about the business. Another yreat cause of failure is overslocking. This may be considered from scvcril points of view. As clover, and grass are e-senlial lo the cheap production of hogs, it is poor policy to keep so many swine on the place as to make it impossible to give them their share of clover. The farm is overstocked when it is necessary to buy clover to feed them. or to depend entirely upon corn and grain. Where a farm is ovcis'oeked with swine there will generally be found plenty of inferior animals. The tendency is to pay more att ution to quantity, and the li?rel consequently soon degenerates. Overstocking in any sense of the word is unprofitable. Quick returns and quick profits should bo the aim of the swine breeder, and this is such an important thing to farmers that they should consider it well. Most of the labours of the farmers are paid for only after years of waiting. From the time thai the hogs arc brought into this world until they are killed I hey should be fed liberally so that (hey will grow rapidly. The quicker the animals mature Ihe better the meat is which they produce. Forcing is always good, provideel that it is not carried sa far as to injure the digestive organs of the animals. That is tho danger line. Forcing with rich fooel tcnels to injure the; stomach, but pleir.y of clover anel coarse feeble r counteracts the danger. —E. P. Smith, in Nebraska Farmer.