FARM & GARDEN NOTES

Waikato Argus, Volume VI, Issue 411, 18 March 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM & GARDEN NOTES

Feeding Value of Roots. -Last year an cxperimenc was undertaken at the Mincsota Experiment Station to determine the value of potatoes, mangels, ami sugar beets rrspeetivelv as footl factors in fattening lambs. The result showed that in feeding lambs potatoes compare favourably with mangels and sugar beets in producing increase in weight, but they are a mora costly food than the other roots named ; that, because of the greater co3t of potatoes as compared with mangels aud sugar beets, they should not be grown as food for lambs where the latter can be grown successful y ; that, judging by the results obtained in this one experiment, sugar beets arc a more valuable food for fattening limbs than either potatoes or mangels. Gaelic and English Sheep Dogs.— In the Highlands of Scotland it has long been the standard rule with shepherds to keep two dogs, and occasionally a young " reserve." One dog is taught in English, the other in Gaelic. By this means a couple can be kept working at the same time, and on different parts of the ground, without any danger of confusion. The almost invariable rule is to give the gathering dog English and the driving one Gaelic. Gathering is by far the more important branch, because the dog has to use his eyes well iu searching hollows and to put his judgment into play when the sheep have broken ground and difficult paths to negotiate. A firstclass gathering dog may change hands at a pretty high figure, hence the importance of training him in English. Northern Shkep and Pigs for Cantfrhury.—Althongh very little publicity is given to the fact, a large number of North Island sheep continue to arrive at Lyttleton, and are sent to the factories for export. On the 15th inst., at the Addington Market, samples of both ewes and wethers from the North Island were on offer. They were large-framed, coarse animals, showing a good deal of the Lincoln breed. They realised very high prices as compared with Canterbury-bred sheep, and it is moro than probable that the buyers were attracted by their size and weight more than by their quality. The advent of pigs from the North Island is more welcome than the importation of sheep, as for some considerable time the supply of baconers and porkers has fallen considerably short of demand. The line, which was brought down from the Wairarapa by Mr. Donald, showed that quite as good pigs could be grown in the north as in Canterbury, The consingment met with good competition, and sold at prices which should be satisfactory to the vendor.—Lyttleton Times.

Galled Shodlders.—At this season of the year, when farmers' horses are put at ploughing hard ground, their shoulders arc very liable to gall. 1 lately came acroßS a farmer whose horses are never affected in that way, although he is noted for working his teams severely. The teams had just returned from the field, and the farmer was engaged at one and his man at the other sponging their shoulders with cold water. This is done every time they come into the stable after hard work, and freedom from shoulder abrasions, aud consequent comfort of the animals, is the natural result. When farm horses come in from labour, iu the spring especially, it may be observed that they try to rub one shoulder and then the other against the stall. The wear at this point causes the animal to feel exceedingly uncomfortable, and humane men will not withhold from them the cooling, soothing influence of a little cod water. Nine times out of ten a galled shoulder is produced by poor fitting collars or bad grooming. With a collar that fits a horse good,currying aud brushing every day, so as to remove all tho dirt and sweat from his shoulders, aud washing the shoulders with cold water, to which salt may be added, will keep a horse's shoulders from being galled. It should be considered a serious fault for a man having a team in charge to permit the shoulders of the horses to be galled.

The Tam worth Standard. —The following is the standard of excellence for Tamworth adopted by the National Pig Breeders' Assoeiotion of Great Britain, and formulated with a view to the production of the highest quality of bacon : —Colour : Golden red hair in a flesh coloured skin, free from black. Head : Fairly, long snout moderately long and quite straight; face slightly dished, wide between ears. Ears : Rather large, with fine fringe, carried rigid and inclined slightly forward. Neck: Fairly long and muscular, especially in boar. Chest : Wide and deep. Shoulders: Fine, slanting and well set. Legs ; Strong and shapely, with plenty of bone, and set well outside of body. Pasterns : Strong and sloping. Feet : Strong and fair size. Back : Long and straght. Loin : Strong and broad. Tail : Set on high and well tassled. Sides : Long and deep. Ribs : Well sprung and extending well up to the flank. Belly : Deep, with straight underline. Flank : Full and well let down. Quarters: Long, wide and straight from hip to tail. Hams : Broad and full, well let down to hocks. Coat : Abundant, long, straight and fine. Action : Firm and free ; spirited. Objections : Black hair, very light or ginger hair, curly coat, coarse mane, black spots on skin, slouch or drooping cars, short or turned up snout, heavy shoulders, blocky build, small heart girth, elephantness, wrinkled skin, inbent knees, hollowness at back of shoulder. The Importance of Good Mares.— The Live Stock Journal and Almanac for 1599 as usual contains a large amount of useful information. Almost the first article of value to the farming community is one emphasising the importance of the mare inbreeding. "Everyone who has had much experience," says the writer of the article in question, "in the breeding ot horses, or who has paid much attention to the subject, is well aware that a really good brood mare is a mine of wealth to its owner." These be weighty words, worthy of all heed by the breeder of good horses. lam afraid the average colonial breeder fails to recoguise the importance of the dam in breeding, too much importance attaching to the sire. A great many seem to have the ilea that the dam does not so much count, so long as the pedigree on the male side is all right. That this is a serious mistake all experience will prove. Mr Albert Muntz, who writes the article I refer to, asks : " Why have our horses deteriorated ?" He replies by stating that during the past 40 years foreigners have been draining the country of ita best mares. We cannot say the same thing for New Zealand, as good mares ,nave been few and far between. Although some very good entires have been importer! these have unfortunately been mated with inferior mares. The general result is that the attempt to improve the breed of horses has been kept back generations behind what it should be if first class brood mares had been imported in the first instance. The difficulty experienced by buyers of remounts for the Indian army shows that we are allowing what might be a remunerative export trade to slip through our ringers. The uncertainty of breeding from nondescript mares is witnessed every foaling season at the farm. Sometimes by a rare good chance a foal showing breeding is drooped, but as a rule a mongrel of no] particular type is the result. With such a suicidal policy in vogue i; is not matter for surprise to hear farmers say that it will not pay to breed horses. It will pay, and that handsomely, if the right type of brood mare is bred from, and the foal sired from a good entire, Of course in time by careful selection any particular breed of horses can be improved all along the line, commencing with inferior mares ; but the process would be materially shortened if a start could be made with good mares. " Success in horse-breediog," says Mr Muutz, "depends upon the selection of marcs and the study of mating."

SI'EYINO Cows—This operation in order to prolong the milking period has been practised in European countries for many years, and is now engaging moro attention than was over previously the c"so. Cows that have been spnyed shortly .after calving, and while the flow of milk is at its best, will remain in profit for two or throe yeara if care ho taken to provido them during that period with plonty of succulent food. When skilfully porformed tho operation does not cause a great amount of pain or inooveuienco, while its effects are tho modification of tho character of tho animal, and changing tho direction of the nutritive forces Cows operated upon becomo very docile, fatten easily, and give more milk, of a bettor quality. To prolong tho milking period, however, the animal must be liberally fed all tho time. 11 will not do to depend upon parched pastures if the period of profit is to bo prolonged. In localities where speying is practised it is claimed that a gow that has boen operated upon will give during the year following 280 gal to 300 gal of milk moro than tho animal that has not been spoyod, the two receiving similar care and food. But this is very problematical. Thero is likely to bo a considerable increase on account of tho absence of a break in the period of profit, but hardly to tho extent claimed. A decided advantage, however, is that the milk gains considerably in butter-fat, and its composition remains constant, not being subjeot to the effects of ruts, gestation or calving. These points are important to tho farmer who sells tho milk according to its quality to the butter factory. When is a Dairy Clean ?—The safest answer to this question lies in describing when a dairy is dirty, and dangeronsly dirty, too (says New York Farmer). When woodwork in a dairy gives off a smutty, musty, fusty, acid, rank, and spoiled buttery smell it is dirty. When tin vessels, such as pails, cans, dippers, cups, and skimmers, after being "thoroughly washed," give off a sourish smell, or shows dark lines of matter in the folds and seams of the tin, they are dirty, and the dirt of just such a sort, and in just such places, as to encourage the bacteria in the air to drop down upon it, to crawl into it, to feed upon it, and to multiply in it until they swarm in it and are ready to launch themselves into tho milk put into those vessels. When the windows, walls, floors, and fixtures in the dairy are unpleasant to the smell when tho room is up, there is dirt present, enough dirt to have an effect upon the flavour und other qualities of the milk and of the butter made from it. When a vessel from which milk is removed shows a layer of black sediment in the bottom, smelling with unpleasant suggostiveness of the barnyard, there is dirt, plain, straight, unmistakable dirt thero, dirt that is unpleasant to think of as a component part of milk, that is to be used by humans as food. No dairy showing these things in any degree can really be called "clean," or decently clean or healthfully clean. Hardly any other occupation on earth makes such demands for cleanliness and oilers such difficulties iu the work of securiag cleanliness us the milk and butter and cheese industry.

Hojie-Made Cheese. A correspondent of the Melbourne ' Leader ' inquires as to making cheese upon a small scale, finding that the directions usually given refer to large operations. To make a cheese of about slb weight, replies the ' Leader,' you will require 5 gallons of milk. Keep it at a temperaturf; of from 90deg to 93deg Fahr. until it is sufficiently acid or soured. To ascertain this take two wineglassfuls, or 4oz of milk, at the temperature it is intended to add the rennet at. i.e., 82 deg Fahr. to 85deg Fahr. ; and one teaspoonful of rennet extract (Hansen's or Bornekow's.) If the milk coagulates in 20 to 22 seconds it is sour enough for renneting. Add 1\ teaspooufuls ot the rennet extract now to the 5 gallons of milk at 82deg Fahr. to Sodeg Fahr. Thoroughly and gently stir the milk and rennet; cover the vessel with a double fold of cheese cloth, and leave the curd until firm enough for cutting—generally about 40 minutes. Use a long knife and cut it lengthwise and crosswise, vertically, aud afterwards horizontally into uniform sized cubes. After settling, stir the curd carefully for a quarter of an hour until the curd is the size of peas, and is intermingled with the whey. Theu commence heating, which usually takes about 40 minutes. Apply the heat by placing the jar or vessel in a vat or pan of hot water ; raise the temperature to lOOdeg Fahr. The curd is recognised as being sufficiently scalded or heated when it is shotty, hard, sinks quickly has an acid smell, and answers to the hot iron test. Draw off the whey, and allow the curd to cool, and when dry enough to mat, 2 per cent of salt should be added. Hoop and press. Bornekow's liquid annatto is useful for colouring, and may be added to suit the taste at from 3 to 5 drops per gallon of milk,

How To Prevent Smut.— All old farmers know how to prevent smut iu wheat and oats, but many of the young ones have still the secret to learn ; and it is necessary, therefore, sometimes to repeat a threadbare story. The blucstouo process has been found to give the best results.- It consists of soaking the seed in a.solution of copper sulphate, commonly called bluestoue. In treating the seed use cold water, adding lib of bluestone finely powdered to each gallon of water. The liquid is prepared iu a large tub or barrel, and the grain dipped in a bag. The seed requires to be thoroughly soaked, and the bag is then lifted on [to a strainer, where it remains for a minute, the liquid expressed being put back into the dipping tub. This process is repeated until all the seed has been treated. To hasten the drying and prevent much swelling of the seed it is spread out on an airy floor, and if convenient may be dusted with a few handfuls of dry slacked lime. As each bushel will take up a portion of the solution it must be replenished from time to time, adding both water and bluestoue in the proper proportions. If thcs<; directions arc followed this method gives very good results. Some interesting experiments to determine whether smut has a poisonous effect on animals have lately been carried out in Germany. Animals of various kinds were selected, and the poison was administered in different ways—dry, moistened, soaked, by itself, and mixed with other food. The results showed that horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs can take in large quantities of smut spores for a considerable period without suffering in health, while mice, sparrows, and fowls contracted inflammation of the stomach after being similarly treated. None of the stomachs to which the spores were administered were able to destroy the germination of the smut excepting fowls.

The King of Fodder Plants. —The value of lucerne as a fodder plant is being more widely recognised year by year (writes E. D. in tho Australasian), the ability it poeesses of responding to ovory passing shower during tho summer months being not the least of its qualifications. Thero has been so much raiu this summer that a spring of grass has taken place, and the lucerne fields do not now at'ract so much attention as they do in ordinary seasons, on account of the contrast they usually furnish to the parched natural grass paddocks. Nevertheless, the wealth of fodder they are now producing is so greatly in excess of that obtainable from other vegetation that the good qualities of lucerne stand out as cleanly as they would in a dry season. Lucerne comes early in the spring, grows vigorously under normal conditions throughout the summer, and last" well into tho autumn. It is not usually reckoned a winter grower, but those who have had most experience of it as a fodder plant freely assert that during three seasons of the year it will giv« more satisfaction than any ofchor pasture, while in the fourth season—that is, during the wintwjmonthH —it is Justus good as any of the cultiv

ated grasses and better than most of tho nativo ones. If properly established in tho first instance, and free from fodder a parasitic plant that lives on it it will not require renewing for many years. Wherever it has been sown it has impoved the <aluo of the land dy pound* "sterling per aero, and its grazing capacity by two or moro sheep por acre. Iu the irrigation districts, where a supply of wtiter can be obtained in tho spring and summer months, luccrue can be relied upon to product) large quantities of fodder, and, if grown in small paddocks, and cut instead of grazed from three to fivo orof.B per annum of about one ton per acre each may bo harvested. Whether used as green feed or converted into hay or ensilage, it will givo equally good results, iu fact it is what its admirers claim it to be—the king of fodder plants.