Papurau Newydd Cymru

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Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

9 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

FIELD AND FARM.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

FIELD AND FARM. FOOD FOR THE PIG. The feeding of pigs so that the greatest amount of profit can be got out of the industry is riot thoroughly understood, and any information of » useful and reliable nature must always be wel- come. Hence we quote Professor Henry, who says that when lib. of maize meal is employed with from lib. to 31b. of separated milk, 3271b. of the milk saves 1001b. of meal, or, in other words, by the employment of the mixture in the propor- tion suggested lib. of maize meal becomes equal to 3tlb. of the milk. As the quantity of milk is increased per lb. of maize meal so is its value diminished. For instance, when the quantity of milk is increased from 21b. to 51b. per lib. of maize, Professor Henry found the lib. of meal was worth 4Mb. of milk. When 21b. more milk was added, then lib. of meal became equal to 5flb. of milk and again adding another 21b. the difference was but slight. What Professor Henry has found in the United States Professor Fjord found in ansther direction in Denmark, although, unhappily, Fjord's work has closed, for he is no longer in the land of the living. The result of his experimental feeding was tnat lib. of grain, not maize in this particular case, alone was equal to 61b. of the milk, but it is believed that the average quantity of the milk employed by Fjord was larger than the quantity of milk employed by Henry. In Henry's inves- tigations, taking the average of the whole series, lib. of meal was worth 4flb. of milk, so that, after 4 all, the difference was not amazing. If we take maize as worth £ 4 a ton, and we fix this figure for the purpose of argument, as well as for con- venience in calculation, the American feeder finds that the separator milk is worth 15d. per ten gallons, or, practically speaking, the same price as that which is usually fixed by the English feeder, lÙd, a gallon. Dealing with the whole of the series of experiments conducted by Henry, i.e., from the first in which lib. to 31b. of milk were employed, to the last in which 71b. to 91b. of milk were employed, we get an average price of lid. per 1001b., or a fraction more than Id. a gallon. LAID CROPS AND COSTLY HARVESTING. A large proportion of the corn is too badly laid for the use of reaping machines in cutting it to be feasible, and, where labourers are short high prices will have, in many cases, to be paid for cutting, tying, and shocking wheat or oats by hand. Much injury to the grain, and particu- larly to barley, will also result from the laid con- dition of the crops. FEATHER EATING FOWLS. During all seasons of the year (remarks "E. T. B. but especially at this time, many poultry keepers are greatly troubled with what is termed feather eating, and this may be due to either a disease or merely a bad habit. In both cases it is annoying, and it is frequently difficult to cure. If the culprit can be observed in the act, and it is not a valuable bird, it is better to kill it at once, otherwise there is great liability of it spreading among the other birds. When fowls feather eat it gives them a most unsightly ap- pearance, causing them to look bare and ugly. Sometimes the hens will all attack the male bird, a.nd commence to pull his feathers out, and far from objecting he seems to enjoy it, and cer- tainly allows them to do so as long as they please. More commonly, however, the whole pen begins pecking at one another's feathers, with the speedy result that the appearance of the birds becomes most disagreeable. Apart from this mere fact of appearance, however, it shows that the birds are not in a natural state, and require attention. One of the most frequent causes of feather eat- ing is that the birds are confined in too small an area, and are unable to obtain sufficient exercise. Frequently it will be noticed amongst fowls that are kept in runs in gardens, and it arises from the fact that the birds are idle, and have nothing with which to occupy their tfihe, and as a consequence commence plucking a.t one another's feathers. It is a good plan, when the fowls have to be kept in a very limited space, to hang up a cabbage or half-mangel just out of reach of the birds, so that they have to jump up in order to reach it When a covered shed is attached to the poultry house, it is a wise plan to cover the floor with chaff or straw, especially during the cold weather when the birds cannot get about very much, and amongst this the afternoon corn should be scattered. This will give the bird3 work picking about for it, and unless they work they will have to go hungry. Another cause, and by no means an uncom- mon one, is due to the presence of an insect at the root of the feather, which irritates the bird. and in order to overcome this the feather is pulled out. The remedy for this is a simple one: dust the bird well with some. disinfectant powder, in order to get rid. as far as possible and as quickly as possible, of the cause of the irritation. The bare parts, if any there be, should be bathed with warm water, and if a little sanitised vaseline rubbed on. If the fowls are kept in a thoroughly clean state there will be no trouble in this re- spect, as feather eating, when due to this cause, can only take place upon birds troubled with vermin. DUST SPRAYING. I Dust spraying has come greatly into favour of late in the United States, and many who have tried it prefer it to liquid spraying. The various insecticides used commonly in liquid form are all applied in a cloud of dust, dispersed by a machine constructed for the purpose. The worker, it is said, with the wind in his favour, can envelope a whole fruit plantation in dust with much" less labour than he has to apply when he uses liquid spray, and a similar claim is made for dust-spraying potatoes and other neld crops. There is no carting of water, nor is there any trouble with clogged nozzles, while the mixing of the ingredients of an insecticide is much easier when powder is used. Moreover, it is said that the dust does not burn the foli- age, as liquid often does, and that an excess of the former does not harm. The worst of the plan is that it must be carried out when the foliage is damp with dew or -rain. PERMANENT GRASS. I Among the experiments of which the results are given in the Eleventh Annual Report of the Agri- cultural Department of the Durham College of Science are some for testing various mixtures of seeds for permanent grass. The soil is a strong loam on the Boulder Clay, and it was in good con- dition as to fertility and freedom from weeds when I sown. Eight mixtures were sown in 1896, vary- ing in cost from 13s. 2d. to 43s. 7d. per acre; but some varieties of grasses in some of the most elaborate mixtures failed to establish them- selves. The mixture that has given the best re- sults, taking yield of hay and condition of herbage both into consideration, is one made up as follows: Perennial ryegrass, 9-31b; cocksfoot, 4'91b.; timothy, 3lib.; meadow fescue, 131b.; rough- ptalked meadow-grass, O-Dlb. cowgrass, 2-31b.; alsike clover, 2'llb.; white clover, 5-61b.; yarrow, 031b. The total weight was 411,,Ib. per acre, and it was e-scimated that this quantity contained twenty million germinating seeds, and the cost was 23s. lid. per acre. The average yield of hay in 1897 and 1898 was 45§ewt. per acre. Apparently the pasture has been grazed since 1898. The condition of the herbage was tested in 1902, when patches were fenced off to allow of botanical analysis. The cocksfoot has increased in the new pasture, while rough-stalked meadow-grass is con- sidered not to have proved useful. It is added that the large proportion of meadow fescue and white clover have proved beneficial. It will be understood that the mixture might not be suitable for any but heavy land. —

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