NOTES ON FARMERS' CATTLE.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1276, 2 September 1880, Page 3

NOTES ON FARMERS ' CATTLE.

Milkers.— To develop milking properties, or to perpetuate, them, Meed with bulls descended from milkingfarnilies. Keep the cows constantly ip iftilk fois from nine to ten months, , giving ' plenty of good stimu^tingi and > milk r produoing- food, Heifers- must come in iyoung-r-my Jerseys do at two, years-f-ap4 VA. kept, in milk ten months with their first , calf\ that , the milking organisation may be kept in full play for. as long a period as possible. SEBvidis 1 of Gows.— lt may not be posBible to force, nature into' any particular channel, but ,t|ie experience of breeders has set|lea upj>n the practice of taking advantage|uf the first period of the cow's readiness— not always £he ,fir4t coming, in season— to bqsure the production of, a heifer. ][ ItTis noted tha,t c wheri a bull with tlie he^dj there are more heifers than of the othdr sfex, owing to' the service the earliest mdjnerit' they are 1 5n season. Clows 'not. as a general rule, be served ""the first time they come round after <£alving] but Tbe put off until they' are again in season, as they are more likely to stalid the service and less* likely to'be injured. Aft* 4*4 * service tie or shut up the cawj.aad'Qo aqfcilet her mix with the herd for 24 hours. 'J CALtts.^Alfter the calf 'has been with • the dam ft i couple of days, if there is no sign of garget .in. the bag of the latter, teach it to feed, from the pail and to be led famffia T rty With the halter. If the ' dam's (^bagjs'b.ard and will not yield to , the han^d-riiboing, let the' calf in to suck and bnnt 'fchtee times a day until the' hardness id removed, s^rippiug the teats well after eacK nursing. ' . Bull' calves reared at the paij" at a y«ar old will jshow; a finer' head dewlap than li allowed to nufse, as ip the latter perf oriaa^ce they are obliged to hold their ( heads down and necks stretched out so as' to occasion too much loose skin. They should have |good milk every day until turned 5 to ! grass, and at a year old have a ring in 1 their nose. A calf of either sex will talke from' the first to tlie third week, four td'sii quarts of milk daily ; from the third to the; sixth/ week, six to eight quarts; from the sixth to the eight 10 to 12 qfiarts, Ko«p ( before them a little box which, they cannot t tread in, some wheat I bran and give them ac es to a little fine, hay after they are a month old, A mixture of, wheat bran, ground oats, and Qil raeal^ allowing;' a douple of quarts a day to each calf; is excellent food for the youngsters as ,they grow, and will assist in weauirig them from the milk when that is needed for other purposes, or keep' them in condition when skimmed milk is substituted fort fresh,' as it is on most dairy fauns after three or four weeks. No. matter how fine the breed is, the calf must be raised on rich nourishing f6bd to ! develop its milking qualities as well asfits growth, and an animal stinted during its first years, in- its natural food seldom' recovers. Cleanliness is of the first importance and freedom from vermin. I see now before m,e a cow of the best pedigree and the riphegt of milkers, whiph has never developed, in size and form, and has re<maiued weak, and poor because, whilst a growing .heifer, she waa neglected, and the lice and dirt allowed by a careless stableman ,to overrun her. Salt, in a small quantity once a day is better for all the animals than large quantities loss often, and ajittie sulphur mixed with it — .say one-half to three-quarters of a pound to each cow during the winter —will do them good, and sulphur well rubbed through the hair will keep off ihe lice from cleanly herds 1 Tvhen the cows are well fed, bedded and <j& r<^d. Be^oee Calving. — Heifers fed for three monifts before calving with a littld ' oil mealin addition to their' other fodder, acquire,'it is 1 said, a larger development of tne milk' vessels and yield mo ie milk afterwards than if fed' as usual. The general practice among farmers and some breeders is to feed high up to. the moment of calving, but I have found this a dangerous practice with Jersey*, having > lost several . fine cows in too goad condition, from puerperal fever; and I- consider it safest to withdraw, pt least two weess before parturition, all food except hay, and a little oats i or roots. Mbait ob Fat? — There is a general agitation in the live stock papers looking to ithe. production of beeves, sheep, and. hogs yielding a fine quality of marble meat rather than huge masses of indigestible fat. The present tendency of fat stock shows is decidedly favourable to the rearing of animals of less service to the table^ihanto the lard-rendoring industry. BrtEEDJJIO EQB THE BEST RESULTS. — Ihe bests females should be u*ed as well as the best males, and especially in the case of in-arid.,-iri breeding,- which, is only allowable m case^na other sires' of- equal excellence are to be had, , and the breeder is striving to attain .certain uniformity of excellence. Thebesi mate, in reference to the , particular case, may not be the best animal of the stock- fiom which it is desired, to purchase, bee use he should pre-eminently , possess points which will j either improve or sustain those of the females which he^stokerye. / The properties which a male should possess are relative, not absolute : f orabsolutely good points should be possessed by the female. The te&st defect .in .the female, from accident or inherent weakness, Bhould be the instant signal for her removal from the,herd> , The aim of the breeder is that the stock shall possess finesymraetery — shape as it is commonly , called — robust, constitution, a disposition to attain early maturity, which insures good quality of flesh, and, in milch cows, deep milking- qualities. Selection of a Bui^i.— ljfe should be of ' moderate size, coupled with as muchfinen^sVof bone* and limbs as is consistent with vigour and energy, together with fulness of caxoass and ripeness of points. In addition toj these, let hiui be of as pure blood and of as long ancestry as possible, and for the dairy, of the best milk or butfcer,*-took.--.2W« and 'Country Journal. ,

The Municipal Statistical Bureau of Beriitv announces that the population of that city at the end of 1878 amounted to I,oBl,33a persons, of whom ,1,060,057 were civilians, and 21,173 military perThe steel despatch-vessel Iris has broken down while on her trial trip in the Channel, her enginea^bariog suoountbe'd to the severe tests imposed upon them. The Bishop of Manchester recently said, at Ashton-under-LyndHhaii there was no, harm in a duke having his ,£lOO,OOO a year if he made a good and worthy use Ofd£. TA T A ■ - i ■ t-v. , Ms Bishop, the Englishman who was condemned some years ago to a term of imprisonment for high treason, has, on a petition from his relations, been pardoned At a late sale in Fans a book by a modeW bindet] Trantz-Bauzonnet, a master of the" arf'bi inlaying, sold for 5 £6flo, of ; wnAAi' at least 4500 was paid in respect qf % binding'; • - - ( '