FARM AND GARDEN.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4623, 16 January 1894, Page 2

FARM AND GARDEN.

' The Farmer. Select your seed potatoes from c 'lanls which produce a good weight, f uniform size- .The increased pro- i uction for which we are working bus nnch to do with seed selection, i Natch this in advance. Asa rule, pasture grasses which < live the best permanent results are < hose which come to maturity Blowly. Keep the cultivator moving, and I et in the air and sunshine to the i mrface, and you will gain as if you ' laid a big bill for fertilizers. It costs no more to keep a pood ! ininial than a. poor one, often less. | Fhe pig ordairy cow is a machine for ransformitg the rations into pork or I nilk, Keep those which do this most i jconornically, v The 1 growing and ploughing under ; at green crops is one of the most, i natural ways of adding fertility to the roil as well as one of the most economical, '■■ Supply your harvest bands with oat-meal'and water; there is nothing so good for a drink when healed. The firemen in the stoke-holes of great ocean steamers have found its value in the tropics or the Red Sea, Jn breeding, other things being squal,' the more vigorous animal tends to impress itself on the progeny, A moderate, quick walk, either under heavy load or empty, exhausts the anjmal less than a snail's pace. The animal is a uiaohine for converting farm products into meat.and the more food eaten and digested the better the returns in the way of flesh, ' Good wide mangers will not only be found convenient in feeding, but with nearly all classes of stock they will save feed, Horses in Melbourne. The following are prices ruling in Melbourne on the 28rd ult.:—Extra heavy draughts, subject to trials, £ls to £2O; light draughts, £lO to £l3 j medium draughts, broken, £6los to £8; do,, unbroken, £ i to ±'s; Indian remounts, £lB to £18; stout phaeton ponies, £lO to £l2; ordinary saddle and harness horses, £4 10s to £6 10s; country lots averaged £4 Is, £7, £8 9s6d,£B 856d,£7125,£0 lis Gd, and £9 2s, eaoh lot respectively, The Premier Herd of Great ; Britain. It is hut a few. years since Scotch Shorthorns wero tabooed from every English herd, By sheer force of superiority, from a butcher's point of view, tho Oruickshank shorthorns forced themselves to the front, and now some of the leading English breeders are exclusively using sires of the Cruikshank blood, and many of the most notable triumphs both in breeding stock and fat stock shows have been won by shorthorns of that blood, In consequence of age and infirmity Mr Cruikshank sold hk herd, and his mantle fell on Mr Duthie, of Oollynie, who took tip, and is now most successfully canying on, the work brought to such, a successful issue by Mr Cruikshank. The Oollynie herd now holds the proi[d position of being the best herd in Butaiu. At his recent sale Mr Duthie obtained an average price of £SO IBs for his. season's drop of bull calves, ind it is not too muob to say that no alter breeder in any country could, iriifhese times, command such an average. All the leading Scotch, most of tho English,' together with many of tho; Irish and American Shorthorn breeders, were represented at. the sale. Tho dayt.of extreme fancy prices for Ihorthorns have gone, and it is to be hoped, in the interests of tho breed, Inevar to return, Animals of the wry best blood are now available lit prices within tho means of a'mojt' every breeder, andwhilo prices remain bo improvement will go on Jipace,— Qutxwbndcr. poulthTnotes. Liver disease is caused by ovirfeedin?. Lime is a good purifier fot the poultry houso. Use the whitewash brush freely, , t t A little fresh meat in the absence of inseots is good for fowls of all ag-js. Poultry can be kiyi in small nns if their keeper understands the business and is scrupulously clean and • careful; •'' '\ The ponl/ry business takes lots of work and attention, A lazy man is bettepofft of it. \ ■ ,Work quietly and gently among four fowls, never allow them to be frightened. Tame fowls look better, lay better and are better all round than wild ones, If we wish to got the best returns from laying hens we must give them gentle and agreeable exercise. They may be fed on the best and most varied kinds of food and all their other wants regularly and abundantly supplied, but unless they get exercise they will return but a small proportion of their real value. _ The old slock can be got into condition to secure early moulting and consequently early laying, Sunflower seeds or whole linseed boiled to a jelly wit) not only cause the old feathers to aheij easily, but will also encourage tbojro.wth of the now ones. .Forward young birds of extra quality should bo trained for the show pen, JNo matter how good a bird may be itlloos not look much if it flies into Vhe opposite corner of the pen and hides all its good points, Spepial attention is required in givinglgreen food and clean cold.water to our feathered pots. Sun warmed water and want of green food oausos more deaths than all other causes this hot weather; Pat hens cap be disponed of for market f toolold far laying daring autumn land 'winter. Unless extra good layers, common hens at throe years are, past tlieir prime as layers, but theirjstookijwill bo stronger than from young biras. Maize, |wher|fed by itself, has a tendency to fit|en hens rather than ot producing tire more profitable egglaying results,if Hens should be fed on bulky yd,' the same as cows, jflowipg grain as a compliment to the ration rather pan to feed it entirely —hran, pollaril, and plenty of green stuff with a little wheat, oats, buckwheat and mafae produce variety; and nolte the henspell out well-ijri* mlturalkt. !