FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 324, 6 August 1898, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

During the past week the weather lias, for the most part, been exceedingly wet and cold, Btroug westerly gales accompanied by rain and hail, sweeping over the country, thoroughly drenching the land and knocking the stock about considerably. At no time during the present winter has the necessity for good food and shelter—especially the latter—been more apparent. Stocks on turnips have made very little progress during the week, the turnip fields, in many cases, where the land is at all heavy, being simply a sheet of water for several days in succession. Ewes lan bin'4 have had a hard time of it, considerable mortality being reported among the new-born lambs ; hoggets, also, unless wel.-grown and strong, have felt the ill-effects of so much wet and cold, and arc looking worse than a fortnight ago. As might be expected under such circumstances, the roads have got into rather a bad stale, and the absence of anything like an abundant supply of cheap and good road metal is once more keenly felt, as it usually is about this time of the year, and unless the weather clears up for at least a week or two, which it may do now that frost has set in, the milk carts will find it very heavy travelling to the creameries. On all aides preparations are being made for a vigorous milking campaign, which in a- number of districts commenced on Monday last, though no great supply will be dealt with until September, when the balance of the creameries in Waikato open for business. A feeling is very general among suppliers that an advance should be made in the price of milk for the forthcoming season, and also that several of the conditions under which it is received should be struck out as being irksome and unnecessary. However, though meetings will be held at most of the milk-producing ceulres to discuss matters generally and appoint delegates to represent their interests in future negotiations, it is considered that nothing beyond this can be done unlil the return of Mr Wesley Spragsr, manager for *,he N.Z. Dairy Association, from his visit to England, when it is to be hoped a good understanding will be arrived at between the Dairy Association and the Waikato milk suppliers. Farming matters ara quiet just now. Ploughing may be, and is being-, carried on, but with the land in such a sodden state, harrowing and drilling should be held over for a few days, nothing being more disastrious to the prospects of any crop than working the land while in a wet and tticky condition, the prejudicial effects of such treatment being frequently apparent in heavy lands, for several years after The markets for farm produce of fat stock continue strong, a good all-round demand. Butter and eggs have, however, fallen somewhat, owing to the increased supplies now coming in. The Value of Worms.—We do no appreciate the woith of a thing until we have lost it. Chambers's Journal thinks the farmers who own the large tract of land in Essex which was in November last flooded by salt water owing to the breakdown of a sea wall may think of this adage when they ruefully look at their sodden ground. The despised worms by their constant burrowings, kept the land well drained ; but when the sea flood came they were all killed, and the sea birds had a great feast. That land measuring 50,000 acres, is still in a spongy state, and is likely to remain so until the farmers' friends—the worms —have had time to recover their lost pesition. t X t •White Scjour in Calves.—ln reply to a question on this s'Urjest asked of the North British Agriculturist a correspondsnt of that journal wrote as follows : —" At One time I was greatly troubled with thin scourago and lost many calvec. About six years ago I got the f olio win a care from a neighbouring farmer and it has never failed : When a calf is seen to bo affected give from 3oz to 6oz castor oil or linseed oil. according to age : then next morning, two honr3 before the calf is fedthefollowing :Jozpowderedrhuburb, 1 drachm flower of sulphur, 4oz brown sugar, given in two gills of warm milk or water. If given in time one dose stops the scour, but if not repeat the second morniug, and alwayn make the calf fa&t two hours after, and feed sparingly for a few days. In very bad cases a third dose may be needed. I do not think anyone who tries the abovo and keeps his calves comfortablo need ever loss a calf with white scour." t X t The. Use ok Preservatives in Butter-making.—-The Ontario Department of Agriculture have issued to the dairy-farmers and press of that province an urgent appeal to do all that lies in their power to prevent and discourage the use of so-called "preservatives" in butter-making. It is pointed out that these objectionable preparations arc extensively used in the dairy products of many of Canada's opponents in British markets, and that the British consumer is becoming alarmed in consequence—so much so that " most radical measures are .now proposed to exclude all butters in which traces of these preservatives are found." Continuing, the Minister for Agriculture says ; " The British public has become alarmed, the press is actively discussing the matter, and public officials are now on the outlook for butter so adulterated." These remarks are scarcely literally correct. The precautionary measures in force in the United Kingdom are not nearly so drastic nor so rigidly administered as they ought to be, and probably will be ere long, but this is assuredly not for want of propositions and pleadings. Still, the advice offered to the Ontario butter-makers is sound, and if followed ia practice will, no doubt, reap its reward in due season. t t t Lime and Liming.—A bulletin issued by the Rhode Island Experimental Station reports the results of experiments conducted to ascertain the effects of liming upon the growth of various plants, including field, garden, and forage crops. It is recommended that lime should be applied to the soil after ploughing and then thoroughly incorporated with the surlace soil by means of the harrow. The object of this method of application is, of course, not to bury the lime too deeply, for it naturally lias a tendency ■ to sink through the soil beyond reach of the roots of plants. It is best not to lime just before taking a grain crop, as lime when first applied is more or less caustic, and in this state is liable to injure the crops, especially when the soil conditions induce rapid nitrification of the soil nitrogen, or the nitrogen applied in natural and artificial manures. If the soil is very sour and nitrates are not cmployed, then the use of lime immediately before these crops may prove of great service. In all circumstances, lime should be harrowed iu immediately, or it is liable to cake with the soil, and will not yield the best results. It has been found that for green crops lime might be applied to great advantage in the spring. The quantity of lime to be appliejon light, dry, sandy soils is from a half one and a half tons per acre, and on heavier soils one to three tons. One application during a rotation lasting four or five years is usually sufficient. t X t Skim Milk and Contagion.—-Farmers and all others should recognise the fact that factory skim milk, unless pasteurised, can and does cause tho spread of tuberculosis and other diseases common to our cows. It needs no new demonstration to prove that tuberculous cows can spread the disease through tho milk. There never has been a means more lilted for that purpofo than the factory system in which the milk in taken to the luctory for skimming and then returned

to tho patrons to be fed to their young calves. Tho trouble is that a single cow is thus enabled to infect the country far aud wide. Under the old system-* of home skimmings the milk was disposed of largely at homo, and there was little chance of carrying the disease to other farms. This, indeed, allowed the diseaso to spread, but at a very slow rate. Tho milk was not fed to calves on other farms. But now all of the nalves within a wide radius get a portion of the dis eased product. It is in this way the disease is keDt alive, at least among calves. It has been demonstrated by elaborate experiments that nearly all of the calves of tuberculous cows are free from the trouble at birth. The trouble is transmitted to them through the milk of their mothers. In some experiments in Ceimany hardly more, than one per cent, of tho calves showed any signs of consumption, but after being fed en their mothers' milk for come weeks 13 per cent, were found to bo affected The way then to eradicate tuberculosis is to prevent the calves from being given the disease. It will thus be seen that under proper treatment factory skimmed milk is far superior to the home product, for it can be pasteurised till all germs are destroyed. Then it can bo taken ho one for the use of the calves, and such calves will grow up on a diet free from all objections. The careless use of factory skimmed milk should be abandoned, and the careful use substituted. t X t Raising Calves Without Milk.—A correspondent to an American agricultural journal asks how to rear calves without milk, and thi* is the reply : —Give it new milk for about four days, then gradually reduce the quantity of new milk and as gradually add skim-milk to make up the full quantity of milk the calf had at firat. Also add enough flaxseed jelly to tho milk so that the fat in the jelly will equal the amount to butter fat taken from the milk in the mess that had been skimmed. In two weaks the jelly may be replaced with boiled linseed meal. In thrte weeks add sifted and cooked oatmeal or wheat middlings, and at the end of the month have the milk tapered down to 0. After the first few days keep a handful of hay before the calf, and when it begins to eat this, also place shelled corn and whole oats btfore it As all the grouud grain must be cooked and thinned with water to the consistency of milk so tho calf can drink it, it will bo seen that the bulk of the mess is kept up with water. Always feed the mess warm, and do not permit the animal to eat grass, sibage, or anything succulent aniil it is six months old ; and then the change Bhould be mado gradually. There can he no tight and fust rule about the amount of the liquid mixture to bo fed, because calves differ in their requirements. To succeed in this work required a person of good intellect and keen observation. He must watch the calf closely, and if anything is going wrong, bo able to tell what causes it and then correct ihe matter. Calves are grown without any milk at all after the first week ; but those who do it agree that to have a little milk is better. t 1 + . Fkesii v. Rotted Manuke.—About a year ago there was a discussion in the farm columns of the Witness anent the comparative value of fresh v. rotted manure, and as much difference of opinion exists everywhere as to the loss which takes place in the weight of manure during the process of rotting, the matter was thoroughly tested at one of the chief Canadian experimental farms last season. Two tons of horse manure and two tons of cow manure (80001 b in all) were taken fresh from the yards aud placed in a shed on boards laid on tho ground. It was thus kept from being bleached and washed by rains. The manure was carefully turned and weighed once a month, and watched to sec that proper conditions were preserved as to moisture. There is no necessity for me to give the amount of loss in weight at each monthly weighing ; suffice it to say that the weight gradually decreased each month, and at the end of the ninth month tha 80001 b had become reduced to 25001 b in weight simply from chemical changes taking place in the manure, as thero was no exposure to weather. At the end of the fourth month the heap had lost a little more than half its original weight, being then in a good pasty condition for mixing with soil. The question is what became of tbe weight which was lost, arid which part of tho manure disappeared ? It could not lose all that weight without losing a great d3al of virtue. It has been demonstrated repeatedly that fresh manure is almost equally beneficial ton per ton as rotted manure, and if that is so, it ia only a waste to keep manure any length of time. For example, tho four tons of fresh manure that were used in the experiment just referred to, if carted on to the land when fresh would have been equal to four tons of rotted manure, and as it loses euch a lot of weight and bulk white rotting it does not seem worth while to keep farmyard manure long on hand, especially as the weight which is lost includes a largo portion of the fertilising material. t x t Beware ov the Bull.—The bull is tho most treacherous of all the domesticated animals, and should never be trusted, no matter how quiet and harmless ho may appear to bo. Scores of violent deaths in this colony have been caused by carelessness in dealing with bulls, and no one can ever tell when the vicious naturs of a bull may show itself. They are sour-tempered, sullen brutes at the best, and when they appear least dangerous they are liable to break out into positivo viciousness and u>.ako a savage onslaught upon some unguarded person positively inflicting fatal injuries. N') one' who has anything to do with a bull fhould permit himself to imagine that he is ' perfectly epiiet " and quite an exception to the ordiuary run un the matter of temperament. Tho more a young bull has been handled and petted the more dangerous ho i* likely to be when full-grown. A strong copper' ring should bo inserted in the nose when about a year old, and this will enable him to be tied or handled with less danger. Jerseys bulls havo the name of heing more untrustworthy of those of other breeds, but for my part 1 think there is little difference, and I keep a sharp look-out upon the movements of them all when having occasion to be near them. I never yet saw a full-grown bull which had not a shifty, wicked-lojking eye, and it is never safe to turn ono's ba,ok upon them without being ready for a sudden rush. The be't plan i< to believe them all to be unworthy of confidence and act accordingly. Most of our farm animals have a sort of afftction for those who tend them and are kind to them, hut bulls are a decided exception, having no affection for anybody, and when a nasty, fit takes a bull he is just as likely to "go for " his ciHster or his attendant as an entire stramrer. It is a good plan to in : spire the children with a wholesome fear of the bull, so that they will always be careful to give him a wido berth. They should never be jeered at or laughed at for being afraid to fetch the cows in because tho bull is with them. A-farmer who doeti that should try to imagine what his feelings would bo if he were to find one of his children a torn and manclecl corpse after being compelled with rough and taunting words to drive the cows home when with a bull. The older a bull is the moro danger there is in keeping him, and none should bo allowed to run at large when more than four or five years old. A valuable pedigree bull connot be shot or otherwise disposed of like a commen crossbred one, but care can be taken to keep him within bounds and m safe quarters by himself.—Agricolu.