FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume III, Issue 224, 18 December 1897, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

The Wkatheb.— Notwithstanding the hope-iuspiring reports from the Meteorological Depart men t the ruin dees not conic. During the week Captain Edwin has in each telegram sent out advised that "the glassis fallingeverywhere," but although, in the early evenings and mornings it looks like rain, towards nvtULy it e'earn off again, and the much-needed rain seems as far off as ever. The aspect of the countiy is dry and parched and the the pastures are withering quickly. Advantage has been largely taken of the favourable weather to get in the hay crops ; oats intended for chaffing are also being cut. The absence of moisture in the soil is retarding the preparation of the ground for turnip-growing, especially on heavy land. + x +

What We Ark Said to be Coming To. —"The fanner's life is a busy one, and there is no time for a lazy man to enjoy himself." This has been said of farming undsr the existing system, but, according to some authorities, thero is a better time coming, when' machinery, which has done so much to economise labor will do most of the rest. In a new book by Bellamy there is an agricultural scene of the supposed future. A young lady dressed in bright colors is seen driving ih a large hindsome vehicle of pol-ir-hed steel ans brass, but instead of being on a pleasure trip in a motor car, tho lady is doing the ploughiug. a tl in wire following the machine supplying the electric power. Hand implements, such as hocH and spades, are a'so supplied with power, just as in our shearing machine, the agriculturist merely holding and guiding. But that is in the 21st century.

Reputed Remkdy for Rinderpest.— Dr. Alexander Epington, Bacteriologist to the Government of Cape Colony, claims to have invented an effective preventive to rinderpest. He found that the blood of animals affected with the disease, when treated with citric acid, and kept long enough to ensure the death of the contagion, conferred immunity upon animals injected with it. Bile treated in the same way, with half its quantity of glycerine mixed with it, acted equally well. Animals injected with twenty cubic centimetres of either preparation proved immune from infection in a great majority of cases when virulent blood from animals suffering from rinderpest was afterwards injected. Dr. Epington after experimenting on a small scale with perfect success, practised his preventive method upon a number of large herds, and the highest mortality in any herd has been a little over three per cent. His protective preparation is now being used in tho colony instead of that of Dr. Koch, as being both more certain and cheaper.

A Wide Opening foe Wheat.—At the beginning of this year it was anounced says the Sydney Mail, that the Japanese authorities were anxious that the little brown men of that country should eat frozen mutton, in order that the raco might grow taller. Australian producers would only be too glad to oblige tho Mikr.de by supplying the material to build up a race of giants. And if the Japanese leaders would only take further thought and decide to add some more cubits to their people by feeding them on Australian flonr, these colonies would very soon oblige them in that direction also. The Chinese could also be accommodated if they could be persuaded to abandon fresh killed dogs and pigs for frozen meat, and rico for good, wholesome flour. Some speculative Americans are endeavouring to bring this about, and purpose to send a commission into Asia in the hope of extending a trade in flour, which has largely increased during the past two jeais. If the people of one province of China could be induced to consumo loz of flour each per day they would take the whole of the wheat crop of the Pacific Coast. All the wheat Australia could produce could be accounted for by a comparatively small section of the Chinese and Japs were they to suddenly develop a taste for flour, With such an enormous opening for wheat waiting to be supplied, Mark Lane would very eoon lose its autocratic command of the breadstuffs markets of the worlJ, and every grower would certainly get higher prices. The Americans are going to make an effort to make Asia a factor in the wheat consumption of the world and Australians will assuredly wish them success for their own sakes.

Bitter and Milk Tests at the Lonion Dairy Snow —ln the butter tests for shorthorns, at the London Dairy Show held in October last, Mr Spencer's first prize cow, Gaiety, retained her place with a record of 531 b ooz of milk, and 21b ] Ijoz of butter for tho day—a ratio of 19'491b milk to the lb butter. Mr Even's second ow, Profit, was again second, having given 541 b 15i-z milk, but only 21b 9Joz butter—or tho high butter ratio of 24'S3lb. Dr Wi trif y was first for Jersevs, bis Lavanja giving giving 47'Slb milk, and 2lb lOoz butter—ratio, 17-881 b ; Mr Mutton's second cow giving 21b butter from 361 b 12<z milk. The only other <mimals to give over 21b of butter were Mr Bridsey's crors bred, which yielded 461 b s;z milk, and 21b 13ioz butter—ratio, 1628i1b ; and Mr John's Ayrshire Douglass, whose record was 531 b loz milk and 21b lor. butter—ratio, 2G141b. Iho milking trials are conducted on elaborate lines, quality and quantity being both duly recognised iu the calculations. The shorthorns were easily the most successful here. First honours in tho class went to Mr Even's Profit, which yielded on an average for the two days 581 b milkdaily. The morning's milk contained 3 - 9 per cent, fat, and the evening's 4-37 per cent., the total solids being respec tively 11 -70 per cent, and 12.30 per cent., Her rrcord of points was 143.5, sufficient to secure for her tho Lord Mayor's cup for the breed, and Mr Titus Barhmm's 60 guinea challenge cup for the animal, irrespective of breed, gaining tho largest number cf points. Mr Birdsoy's Marjorie scored l-iO'9 points, and took second prize, Mr Spencer's Gaiety, firct in the inspection olass and 1 utter tr st, wbb third with 129"9 points. Mr Vyse's Madeira sth was first" in the Jersiy class with a record of 126 T points - Mr Merry's Ayrshire cow Jess made 122'7 points, and won in her class ; while two crossbreds, Mr G. Long's Mancy, 134,0 points, and Mr Merry's Magpie, 131 '5 points, also performed creditably.

The Cow Pea.—The growing of the cow pea is being strongly advocated in the Australian agricultural paperß, and the following useful information was recently supplied to the Melbourne Leader by a correspondent : —"ln the cooler districts, where the growing season in short, the peas must be planted in October if a crop of seed i» required ; but if only required for green feed or for enriching the foil they may be planted in November. In warmer districts a crop mny be obtained even if planted up to December, although October would be alout the best month anywhere. The land should be well prepared, and when in good condition open with a plough, or, better still, with a Placet Jr. cultivator about 3ft apart, drop a pea evciy 10 or 12in apart in these drills, and cover in to a depth of 2 or 3in ; thegtouml maybe harrowed with a light harrow aftei wards to level off and to leave the surface toil loose enough to cheek evaporation, and as scon as the plants are up well enough to show the rows, cultivate again between them, and keep this up whepever necessary until the vines cover the ground between, which they will do before very leng. As to varieties, there are many. .Anions; the best are black, white and clay coloured. These arc all well worth cultivating. The black seems to suit most parts best, but unfortunately the supply of seed is not equal to the demand. If the seeds are required for-table purposes the white will be found best, as the colour is quite white, with a small black eye. These aro also the earliest variety. The clay coloured

is better than the white for yield of forage. In fact it is very little inferior, and, in some districts, perhaps equal to the black. Too much cannot be said about the value of this crop for enriching the soil. It has a marvellous power of obtaining nitrogen from the soil, and from the air as well. Recent experiments go to prove that this power is much increased by growing it a second year in the same p'ace, as the ground gets populated with the minute organ;sms that appear to change the nitrogen to the conduit n required by the plant " xxx S.uje Sayings he Sheep. —Tho American sheep-breeder givis the followinggood fid ice tj its realers. " Take no advice from a flock master unless his own sheep prove it good If the sheep have a fool for the shepherd they will publish it to the world. "I never >mt a lamb's throat," said the mangy cur. " No, but you have scattered the eggs of the tnp»» worm, ' replied tho pet ewe. " Single lumbs do best," as tho fox said when ho was off with one of the twins. " The scarcer money is, the more wool a dollar will buy," said the rugged rum. " I don't fcemuch use for a dog law," said tho mongrel cur ; " we are getting along very well without one." "lam a protectionist," cried the foolish flockmastor. " Well, you don't protect us," answered the sheep " you seem to be a freetrader in lungworms and scab mites." " That ram cost n e only thrco dollars," sai 1 tho simple shepherd. "He will cost you more than a record prize winner before you arc rid of him," replied the Canadian owe. ''The dearest ram is the one that sires tho poorest lambs, and the cheapest tho one that gets tho best." I'll soon be ready for tho shoddy mill," said the tramp's old coat, " and then I'll go into a gentleman's diess suit." The simple shepherd smeared his sheep's nose with tar in May to scare away the gad fly in September; *• We outnumber all" other sheep," said the scrub ram. " True,' replied the Texas wother, " and so are the horn flies more numerous than the cattle." " Ticks, tapeworms, and hunger are bad enough, without the drugs ot a fool sheep doctor," says tho pet ewe. " I Bhesred a fleece of 401 b," said tho Vermont ram. " Yes, but it lost 341 b in tho scouring, replied tho Lincoln lamb." + I- + The Babcock Tester : Its Reliability. —Tho Babcock tester is at times doubted as a certain means of ascertaining tho actual quantity of butter fat, writes " a correspondent," "but this arises on the ono hand from want of knowledge in taking the sample, and on the other a careless manipulation of tho samples in operating the machine. Those who have used the machine carefully c. n testify to the correctness. 1 have churn tested tho machine results myself, and in none of tho cases under my observation has a discrepency resulted of more than tho merest fraction. Variations in weather conditions ore well known to cause a slight difference in tho gross yield of butter from milk, but the low yields in compari son with last season's of some herds is traceable in the largest degree to overworking the cows during last winter, under unfavorable condition', such as lack of fodder. The dr.p sampling contrivance is utterly misb-ading, and the sooner it is discarded tho bettor for oil concerned. Watching the operation of separating some 500 gallons of milk at tho premier dairy farm in this pvovinco recently, the increase of the cream flow as tho vat became emptied was sufficient to prove that the bottom layers of milk would give a difference in sampling of from 30 to 50 per cent., as compared with the upper portion, just as the strippings of the cow show the larger quantity of butter. In the hands of the careful operator tho Babcock machine does all that is claimed for it. That at tho first using of the Home separator variations should occur is natural, but that is soon remedied by experience in separating, and with tho rapidly increasing use of steam instead of hand machines more uniform results are being obtained. Some farmers for a time also think they an gaining by separating too thin, but they soon realise that it is to their advantage to send nothing but tho highest quality of cream." The trouble that occurs between suppliers and creameries arises, for the most part, our correspondent continues, " from the fact that the farmer sells an unknown quantity of butter fat in his milk, but this the use of the testing machine upon the farm will cure, and I am the more confirmed in tho idea—of travelling expert testers. + + + An Agricultural Bank : A Succi s.iful Institution. The Agricultural Bank of West Australia is thus referred to in a local journal : " The ordinary banker does not regard the new settler as sufficiently ' warm ' to be accorded an overdraft. Financing with the s'oreksepcr, if judged by results, is over risky, unless practised on a perfectly infinitesimal scale. The new settler, in fact, finds it almost impossible to get assistance till he no longer requires it. So in his first seasons he is often hampered on every side, and harassed by a hundred difficulties that would disappear in the presence of a comparatively small sum of money. The Legislature saw that there was a flaw in" our industrial organisation, a bicik in the bridge that private onterpr se did not cover. The question of now to overcome the difficulty had engaged the attention of practically all the Australian Parliaments, and several more or liss experimental measures had been —and have since been —passed into law. The universal basis is some modification rf the Credit Foncier system (f Ccntinental Europe, Our own Parliament adopted a new title for the scheme and mod lied its dcta : ls, the icsult being the founding of the Agricultural Bank." The operat : ons of the West Australian Agricultural Bank, says the same authority, manifest the progress made in 2J years. A sum of 422,300 lias been paid to settlers ajid £,"0,125 lire been approved for loans The admirable part ot the transaction is that for this expenditure of £52,425, the holdings will be improved to the value of £104,180. The. recent amending act modifying some of the most important conditions of lending ,\as apparently a step in the right direction. No doubt, for a new and experimental institution, it was wisest to err on the safe s : de. But experience as well as theory seems to justify the reduction in interest from 0 to 5 per cent., the increase of the amount that can be borrowed from £4OO to £BOO, the inc'usion of practically all sorts of useful improvements among those for which loans may be made, the libctty given to the manager of the bank to take other real and leasehold pioperty as security for loans, and ihe increases to the amount that may be advanced fiom one-half to three-fourths of the value of the proposed improvements. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AND BAD COWS. The butter returns from 40 cows all receiving the same treatment aro thus dealt with in nn address given by Mr R. Crowe, tho assistant dairy expert to tho farmers of tho Rochester (Victoria) district. On analysing the table we find that it takes an averuge of 25.97 lb. of milk to make a pound of butter, or an average per cent, of butter fat of 3.5. Tho cows averaged 29 lb. of butter for the month. The supplier received Sd. per lb. for the butter, or an average of 19s -Id. per bead, and a total of £3S 15s. 4d. for the month. On comparing tho return from tho best 20 cows wo find that, it takes 25.93 lb. of milk to make a lb. of butter with the former and 26.10 lb. of milk with the latter—practically no difference, Assuming thc.t each caw would give fix times the abovo return during tho period of lactation, and that the estimated cost of a cow's keep for 12 months is 505., and that it takes 30s, worth of labor for the year's attention to each cow, we can pnrsuo our study much further. Tho estimated total cost of a cow's keep is £i per year. Tho dairyman's profit must, bo that which ho is able to secure oyer and

above what it costs him for production. Now if wo take the estimated totil return on this basis from the above cows we get an average of 174 lb. of butter for tho year, and that at Bd. amounts to £5 165., or a profit per head of £1 lGs. Tho first 20 cows give a return of 217 lb. of butter per head, or £7 4-. 8d ; the second 20 fiive 131 lb., or £4 7s. 4d. Tho first give a profit of £3 4s Bd., whilst the latter 20 jrive a profit of 7s. 4d. The former's profit i« nine times greater than the latter. Taking them in tens it takes 20.59 lb. with the first, 24.98 with tho second, 24.70 with the third and 27.84 lb. of milk with the fourth, 10 cows to make a pound of butter. The first nverago 255 lb. of butter per head, or £8 10s. • the second 178 lb , or £5 18s. Sd. ; the third 146 lb., or £4 17s. 4.; tho fourth 116 lb., or £3 17s 4d. We read a great deal in the papers almost every week about reducing the cost of production, and wonder what those pape* folks are driving at. Can it be that they txpect the farmer nnd his family, or his men, to work for less, and that the people enraged in manufacturing must work for loss w ijres ? Let us look at this table again : Wo find that it costs this farmer 8 - 27 d. por lb. to produce his butter with tho worst ten cows, 6.57 d. per lb. with the third best ten, 6-39 d. with the srconl best ten and only 3.76 d. per lb. with tho bst ten cows. Ah ! surely this is what the agricultural paper men must be driving at. They want us to keep better cows and secure a larger annual return per head from them, it would pay us, even if wo Imd to lay out a little money to do so. If tho returns of any factory company aro analysed we will find almost as great a variation in the returns secured by milk suppliers as we find between tho different cows in the above tablo. So if we are to compete successfully [with ether countries we must havo belter cows and manage them hotter