November, l\il3 



TtiK (JAUDEN AND FIELD. 



Balanced v. Unbalanced 

 Rations for Dairy Cows. 



With a view to deiuonstrate the 

 loss which may be sustained by 

 dairyircn who supjilv their cows 

 with unbalanced rations, the iol 

 lowinj^ experiment was made by 

 the Illinois l^xporiment Station. 

 Two lots of 9 cows i)rodueino- prac- 

 tically equal quantities of milk 

 and butter iixt were treated for 131 

 days in every way alike, except in 

 the rations fed. The treatment for 

 several months previous to the 

 commencement of the experiment- 

 al period had been the same for 

 all the cows. 



The ration fed to Lot i was 

 a well-balanced one foT cows giv- 

 ing 4olb. of milk daily, and had a 

 nutritive ■ ratio of 1.6, while that 

 fed to Lot 2 was deficient in pro- 

 tein, and had a nutritive ratio of 

 I. II. 



The following conclusions were 

 reached : — 



The quality of the ration affects 

 the physical condition of the ani- 

 mal, and the physical condition 

 vitally affects consumption! and 

 production. The cows on the un- 

 balanced ration lost greatlv in flesh 

 during the test, and their subse- 

 quent production was reduced. Lot 

 I, which received the balanced ra- 

 tion, produced approximately one- 

 third more than Lot 2, receiving 



tltn imbalanccd ration. Thirteen 

 cows on a ration with a nutritive 

 ratio of I : 6 produced as much 

 as eightc-en cows on a ration with 

 a nutritive ratio of i : 11. Be- 

 cause of the lack of protein in 

 the ration fed to Lot 2 the other 

 nutrients wtre not used to the 

 best advantage. This shows in a 

 striking manner that an excess of 

 carbohydrates cannot be made to 

 take the place of a deliiciency of 

 p'rotein. 



Take Care of the Farm Egg. 



With the view of determining the 

 causes of the enormous loss in 

 eggs, and, if possible, working out 

 methods for its elimination, ex- 

 tensive experiments were carried 

 out by U.S.A. Dept. of Agriculture. 

 The production of spots, blood 

 rings, and rots is favoured by the 

 conditions obtaining during the 

 hot summer months. The greatest 

 deterioration in fertile eggs oc- 

 curred in the experiments which in- 

 cluded a Certain amount of natural 

 incubation. Both fertile and in- 

 fertile eggs taken from straw-stack 

 nests gave the greatest numbec of 

 spots ; this was the only case in 

 which a large num'ber of infertile 

 eggs deteriorated to such an extent 

 as to be tmfit for food. Infertile 

 eggs, regardless of where they 

 may be kept, are more resistant 

 to deterioration than fertile ones. 



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WMY BUY WATER? 



BICKFORD'S 



"Our Jack" 



ARSENATE OF LEAD 



and 



BORDEAUX 



is old in POWDER Form. 

 Use . . 



SOLUBLE RED OIL 



for 



WOOLLY PHIS. 



Manufactured by A. M. BICKFORD & SONS, LTD. 

 Currie Street, Adelaide. 



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The haiilia/.anl methods of poultry 

 man:ig(iiicnt on farms are respon- 

 .sible for two-thirds of the 'total 

 loss in fertile and inf'v-rtile eggs. 

 The pro<l notion of the infertile egg 

 seems to be the greatest asset in 

 the attempt to produce high qiiali- 

 ty market eggs during hot wea- 

 ther. Jvggs of high (pialitv would 

 be producvd and much loss prevent- 

 ed if egg ijroducers would observe 

 the following rules :— (a) Give the 

 hens clean nests ; (b) gather eggs 

 at least once daily ; (c) keep eggs 

 in a cool dry ptucc ; (d) market 

 eggs at least twice a week ; (e) 

 kill or sell all mature male birds 

 as soon as the hatching season 

 closes. 



Farm Notes. 



Seaweed is considered to have 

 some value by farmers of <he At- 

 lantic States of U.S.A. It is ga- 

 thered by farmers and fishermen, 

 dried and baled as we bale hay in 

 Australia. In this state it is 

 eaten by shee]), T;attle, and deer, 

 and when boiled and mixed with, a 

 small quantity of any cereal meal, 

 is said to be of some value as a 

 pig and poultry food. 



As an instance of the variation 

 in yielding capacity of an ordin- 

 ary herd of shorthorn cows, the 

 following, recorded by the Edin- 

 burgh and East of Scotland Agri- 

 cultural College, may be quoted:— 

 The highest yielded by a single 

 cow was 1,505 gallons in 47 

 weeks, the low<est being 478 gal- 

 lons in 39 weeks. In the following 

 year, the figures were 1,224 gallons 

 in 52 weeks and 438 gallons in 26 

 weeks. 



It seems only reasonable to urge 

 on every stock owner the advis- 

 ability and even the duty of 

 acquiring at least some funda- 

 mental knowledge of the more 

 common diseases to which liis 

 stock are always liable, and a 

 very limited amount would en- 

 able him at once to see whether 

 or no professional aid was neces- 

 sary. It should also p'rove la. safe- 

 guard ag'ainst the dangers of ignor- 

 ant blundering, of which the fol- 

 lowing is a striking example : — A 

 valuable draiught mare was sufier- 

 ing from simple colid, and the 

 owner gave a dose of spirit of tur- 

 pentine in linseed oil, which was 

 admiiiistered through the nostril, 

 with the result that she died in- 

 stantly from suffocation. 



