FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 336, 3 September 1898, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Feeding Ensilage to Cows.—An American writer siys : The old questions about tho sweet ensilage tainting milk, and the best time to feed it to lessen the bad effect seem to bo still misunderstood. The truth is, the milch cow seems to have been made on or near the ten-hour plan. She can eat anything, in reasonable quantities, that does not injure her and then let her machinery run ten hours and all taints or scents which the food contained will have been eliminated from her system. A cow can eat 401 bof turnips or Swedes a day and not taint her milk, and she can eat 101 b and taint it badly. It takes over an hour for the taint to reach the milk after the food is eaten. Cows are turned into a pasture where ihey get leeks, they are milked at nights and the milk is spoiled. The cows are kept in the yard at night and the milk is good next morning. Cows, can be turned in a pasture containing leeks and have two hours to graze after milking without tainting the milk, either with leeks or grass. t X t

Rapid Risk of the Shire Horse.— Twenty-two years ago, when the Royal Agricultural Sooiety last visited Birmingham, England had but one pure breed of draught horses, and that, Btrange as it may seem to modern show goers, was not the Shire. The catalogue for the 1876 show tells us that there were classes for Clydesdales and Suffolks, and all cart animals not eligible for those were provided for under the comprehensive heading of "agriculture horses not qualified to compote as Clydesdales and Suffolks." The Shire horses, which for many years past have constituted the leading feature of the heavy horse section of the premier show, were then recognised as belonging to no particular type. It was not long after the great exhibition in Aston Park, howevor, that the organisation which has been the means of effecting suoh astonishing reformation took root. The Shire Horse Society was established in 1879, and at once steps were taken for the formation of the stud book, of which nineteen volumes have now been published. Unquestionably the rise of the Shire horse as a distinct and recognised breed has been rapid as well as steady. Of course, the society had an ample supply of good material to work from and had really only to systematise and classify a type of draught horse already firmly fixed. Still, a brief reflection shows the society to have a highly creditable record of ussful work. As shewing the value now set upon the Shire horse it may be mentioned that £SOOO has been offered and refused for Buscot Harold, the champion at the recent London and Royal Show. t i *

Give a Cow an Annual Rest.— Some dairymen advocate the milking of a cow up to oalving, or as they say, keep her at work all the time, and we have on several occasions recorded instances of where cows have been kept in milk for over twelve months. We, however, have carefully experimented on this line, and what ire the results ? It is not the quantity of milk a cow gives in the day of the woek, but the quantity she gives in a year. Experience has generally shown that if a cow has a rest of five or eight weeks before calving, she will give more milk in twelve months than if milked continuously. An American writer says he hae found that a oow will give on generous feed about 3001 b more or less of milk during the last six weeks, and that quantity is soon made up by the better flow if the cow has had a rest. A Jersey cow was milked up to calving, and tho most she would do in the following year was 331 b per day when in flush. The next year she had a rest of about six weeks, and the flush flow was 431 b per day ; in the first ninety days she gave 6401 b more thau in the corresponding ninety days of the former year, or almost double what she had lost during her rest. Cases have been known where cows were milked up to within ten days or so of calving time, and then the milk not being good any more was not drawn. The result was that when the cow dropped the calf she did not secrete enough milk to nourish the calf, and the flow could not be established for six weeks or more, and then not as usual. These points are apparent trifles, but upon the sum of a number of just such seemingly unimportant points, depends the profit or loss in the dairy, t t t

Preserving Eggs.—Every housewife is interested in the subject of preserving eggs. Many different methods have been adopted with varying degrees of suocess, but" the best process, inasmuch as it is accompanied by the fewest disadvantages, seems to be the water-glass system of preservation. Water-glass is a substanco well known in connection with certain industries, but almost unknown to the "•eneral public. It is made by infusing silica—forjexample, quartz—with sodium or potassium carbonate, adding a little coal in order to aid reaction. The commonest grades are manufactured by fusing two parts of quartz sand with ono part of sodium carbonate and one-tenth part of small coal. Most of the waterglass that is o.a the market is used for making artificial stone, but large quantities are used for rondering wood fireproof and protecting natural stone that suffers from tho effects of the weather. In order to use water-glass successfully as an egg preservative, tako oue Dart by measure of water-glass (e.g., one 'gallon) and ten parts by measure of water that has been well-oiled and cooled (e.g., 10 gallons), and mix thoroughly. Care must bo taken that the water used is not hot, or even warm it (should be cooled down to tho temperaturo of the air beforo the water-glass is mixed with it. Place tho eggs to bo preserved in a vessel and pour the mixture over them until the topmost layer is completely covered. This is all that is necessary, and it is said that eggs kept in this solution will remain good for at least nine months. It should be pointed out, however, that the treatment, with wator-glass, as with lime, will reduce the elasticity of the eggshell, so that in boiling, when the contents ,swell,_ the shell will crafk unless the precaution is taken of puncturing one end of the egg with a fine ncodlo immediately before cooking.

The Siiortiiorn" Dairy Cow.—Upon the abovo subject a Queensland farmer writes to the Melbourne Leader :—" In countries such as Denmark, where dairying is the chief occupation of those settled on tho land, and where the inhabitants are aot heavy meat eaters, tho special dairy cow i 3 best suited to their circumstanoes. England, on the other hand, possesses t y e best general purpose cow of any country in the world. Tho Shorthorn cow, once the mainstay of the dairyman, is not only a first-class meat producer, but when bred with milk production specially iu view is inferior to no other breed in tho dairy. The Shorthorn has for so long been bred as a beef producer that its milking properties have become latent. This, however, only applies to one section of the breed. The dairy Shorthorn largely composed of cattle which are ineligible for registry in the Shorthorn herd boolc, is inferior to no breed at the pail. Her milk is not; so rich in buttor fat as the Jersey, but sh > makes up in quantity what she lacks in quality in that respect. By far tho larger proportion of the city of London milk supply is produced from unregistered Shorthorn cows, and some of the principal prizes at the central dairy shows have of recent years been carried off by Shorthorn cows. Having established her reputatien as a superior milker, there can be no question as to her smp?riority over all other breeds as a beef beast, and the cow herself, when dry, makes up sooner and better for the butcher than any other class of dairy cow. The dairymen of the South Coast o? New South Wales have shown us what can be done in the way of raising up a first-class breed of dairy cattle from the common Stock of the country by means of Shorthorn blood. It is suDposed that in the earlier days of improvement some Ayrshire blood was infused into the South Coast herds ; but, if so, its identity has longsiuco been lost, and the South Coast dairy oow of today is a dairy Shorthorn, pure and simple." t t t

The Size of Potato Seed. -There is little doubt now, says the Sydney Mail, that the oriuinal iotention iu planting pieces of large potatoes with two or three eyes in each was to ensure for the plant sufficient nourishment to keep it going until supplies could he drawn from the earth surrounding it. Many farmers would like to plant smaller pieces of seed because merely to split a fine middle sized seed potato into a couple of " dots " looks very like an extravagant waste of material. Two questions have recently suggested themselves when this matter has been under discussion. The first is, does, a potato sprout draw any nourishment from the soil before a leaf is unfolded to the sun? and the second is, how does a very small eye furnish enough food to grow to the surface ! Some agricultural chemists have given attention to the matter lately in the hope of discovering whether it is really Decessary to plant more than the eye and a little matter surrounding it. It seems to be agreed that it is impossible to decide the exact point at which the plant begins to draw sustenance from the soil on its own account, but the general opinion is that the stem is exposed to the air before the plant begins to draw material sustenance from the soil. There is auother point, however, that is important, and that is that the young plant contains a large proportion of water in comparison to the amount of dry material. The long sprouts that shoot out from potatoes stored in a barn are mostly composed of water, and this moisture is certainly not obtained from the seed. The only practical conclusion from the data we have mentioned is to the effect that the food material contained in the tuber is iu very condensed form, so condensed that, given a fair proportion of soil moisture, a very small piece of potato is sufficient to give a plant a good start in life and keep it going vigorously until it can draw from the material plant food in the soil. t t t

Mulching in the Vkgktaislk Garden. —Last year I grew my melons and early potatoes without any cultivation, and we never had any better quality nor more on the same amount of spaoo, I mulched them, as I have done several time* before within the last 25 years. In Kansas we had plenty of old prairie haystack bottoms, straw, and other coarse waste material on the farm that made very cheap mulch, and I used it on melons and many other crops there, I never knew it to prove otherwise than very profitable in that climate, where we often had very dry spoils, especially in the late summer. It would be a good plan to try mulching melon patches that are now planted, even though tho vines are beginning to run. It will save all further labour of cultivation, and koep the moistuie in tho soil, so that dry spells will be almost without effect upon the crop. Another good point about mulching melons is that the vines remain undisturbed while growing. If the ground must be cultivated and hoed, the vines are moved more or less, and their tendrils released from anything to which they may have been attached, The wind often rolls them over and over and injures them. On mulch they are able to fasten the vines firmly to it, and grow without hindrance. For several years I have been mulching the tomatoes, and find that it not only keeps the fruit clean, and in some measure prevents rot, but it increases the crop. The matter of the best support for the vines has been a puzzle to me. After reading about the use of brush for this purpose it came into my mine that pine brush would ssrve tho double purpose of supporting tho vines, and also mulch the ground. Therefore, last year, I cut down a lot of little pine bushes that were out of place and put them around the tomato plants just before they were ready to spread thenbranches and lop down. I put on enough to smother all weeds. The plan worked like a charm. Anyone who can easily get any kind of evergreen bmh. or, for that matter any kind of brush with the leaves attached, as they will bo in summer time, may do as well. Almost anyone can get brush of some sort, except the farmers on the treeless prairies. Perhaps some kind of rank weeds would do there. In any case, it pays to save labour, and have clean tomatoes up off the ground, with no weeds growing beneath or between them. The tomato plants will spread if planted in good soil, over a space from four to more than six feet wide ; and tho bush must cover that space to bo fully effective.—" Rural Now Yorker." BORACIC ACID IN BUTTER. IS IT POISONOUS ? In view of the somo what alarming statements made,by the expert witnesses of the Corporation yesterday in the course of the case in which the Birmingham Industrial Co-operative Society were summoned for having retailed butter adulterated with boracic acid, one of our reporters has to-day made further enquiries into the matter, with the object of ascertaining the opinion of the grocers generally on the question of the employment of the acid named as a preservative of food. It will bo recollected that in the case heard yesterday tho evidenco of tho analyst (Dr Hill) disclosed the presenco of 70 grains of boracic acid iu one pound of butter, or an equivalent of 1 per cent, of the whole. According to tho doctors ex - amined, tho use of the acid to this extent was dangerous to tho health of the consumer of the butter ; it was liable to affect the kidneys mischievously. It was on advice of this character that the Health Committteo instituted tho proceedings of yesterday, and the question very naturally arises as to whether this action on the part of tho authorities—the first of its kind in tho city—marks tho commcueoment of a crusade against those grocer* and provision dealers who employ the acid in the manner indicated. We have good reason for stating that so far, at any rate, the health Committee hasnot bouud itself to any precise and rigid course, nor have the authorities fixed any specific standard to cover cases that may

be brought to their notice in tho future. As a matter of fact, tho prosecution of yesterday wai instituted against the excessive use of the aoid, and as it has been for some time within tho knowledge of tho Committee that buttor, milk, ham, o«"gs, and other fojd stuffs are preserved wi'h bo.mcic acid, tho inference seems to bo that the grocer will not be interfered with so long aa ho employs the acid to an extent which is not fraught with danger to the consumer. As to where the line should bo drawn, there appears to bo a wide divergence of opinion. Ono per cent, the authorities deem to be excessive, and this, they say, loft them no alternative but to enfore the law. There seems to bo no suggestion of fraud ou the put of the vendor, and, if thero wero, it, would have tke appearance of an absurdity, sjeinir that one per oont, is an infinitesimal proportion of tho whole, and clearly one which could bring tho tradesman a poor for running any risk* there might be ; ob viously, the Committee's objectiju to the acid arises purely iu the interest of tho public health.

who tuts the acid in the hotter?

Tho grocer rjpudiates responsibility, and the middleman, the wholesale merchant, is declared to be innocent, so that, it is loft for assumption to fix upon tho producer as the individual on whose shoulders must bo laid any culpability that there may be. But is there any blamo to be attached, and is the practice of adulteration, as the authorities term it, reprehensible ? Tho grocers on 'Change, conversing with tho Mail representative, had a conversation on tho subjeet to-day, wero most emphatic in pronouncing an unequivocal negative. To put their case briefly they strongly dispute the terrible iudictment levelled against boracic, acid and well, they beg seriously to differ from tho*e medical experts. As one of the grocers remarked, 'Those figures ! Seventy grains ! The public does not gauge these things too precisely, you know, and I suppose that after reading the report of the oaso in the Mail last evening Birmingham will be solemnly convinced that to eat buttor is to court slow poisoning. Well, take it that on the average a man eats a pound of butter in seven or 10 days ; that means that he assimilates eight or ten grains of the acid per diem. Now, look at me. I'm not a delicate customer (the healthy glow of his rosy cheeks confirmed this assertion at a glance), and for moie than a fortnight I've been taking 25 grains of tho 'poison' every day.' ' Sacrificing yourself on the altar of trade interest ?' ventured the reporter. ' Well put it that way, if you like,' was the choery response. ' I've done it just to show that the proportion we employ is harmless, and I've had as much as 40 grains at a time. Doctors, tx>, do not hesitate to prescribe 20 grains per day in some cases, and that for a patient ! 1 Noxious to health ' they say ; why, the salt they would have us use for the purpose contains more poisonous elements—chlorin3 and the like. lam quite prepared to believe that 70 grains in the pound was excessive for the preservative purpose—one-half per cent, would have sufliced—but the kidney disease and skin complaint theory I really cannot swallow. Some of the statements made yesterday wore gross exaggerations; they were—but there, we grocers are going to talk this matter over among ourselves, and I shall have more to say later."