THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



Thirty-fi^e other herds in the 

 hundred whose owners were pa- 

 tronisinor ^ creamery, earned less 

 than 4/ for every 4/ spent in feed. 

 The losses ran all the way from 

 id. for the 4/ to 2/6. 



In these 35 herds there probably 

 were, of course, some profitable 

 cows : that is, the owner of the 

 herds could have weeded them down 

 half or three-fourths ])crhaps, and 

 found the remainincr cows a profit; 

 but as the herds stood, there wero 

 so manv poor ones that the herd 

 ate their heads off, even though 

 some were able on their own 

 merits to more than pay. for their 

 food. Probably the very best of 

 the herds in the hundred — ^those 

 that produced from 8/ to 9/ in re- 

 turn for each 4/ worth of feed, 

 could ha\'e been improved by weed- 

 [n<r out a few of the poorest pro- 

 ducers. But the test as a whole 

 shows that in a hundred herds kept 

 for dairv purposes in as good a 

 dairv State as Iowa a little more 

 than one-third of the herds fail to 

 ])av for the feed thev eat, while a 

 still larger percentage in the hvin- 

 dred 1)arelv pay for it. This is 

 surelv no profitable dairying^ and 

 the situation affords an excellent 

 opportunity for owners of herds 

 to investigate their producing ca- 

 it^- ind n-et rid of the unprofit- 

 able cow. 



4 



Developing Milk Cows. 



To make a good milk cow de- 

 I)ends not upon heredity alone, l)Ut 

 also upon the development of the 

 heifer from calfhood until her own 

 second calf is dropped. Until that 

 point is reached no very definite 

 judtrment can be formed of the 

 success that has attended the ef- 

 fort to develop the milker. Begin- 

 nine with the heifer as a calf, the 

 feeding should be of a kind that 

 w4ll afford jjlenty of nourisihrnent 

 without encouraging a tendency to 



put on fat. The calf must never 

 be stunted on the one hand, nor 

 must it lay on ilesh on the other. 

 This will imply the use of a large 

 proportion of nitrogenous food as 

 compared with the carbonaceous 

 or fattening elements. The profit- 

 able milker must also have a large 

 and very fuUv developed digestive 

 svstem, and must be capa!L)le of 

 utilising advantageously a large 

 proportion of coarse food. This 

 will require early feeding of coarse 

 forage when grass is not available 

 to the full extent of the aninxal's 

 capacity to consume, and the 

 growth of this capacity should be 

 encouraged. 



A great mistake m.ade by many 

 who seek to develop heifer calves 

 is caused by their desire to have 

 the calves look well, but a heifer 

 calf which is being developed as a 

 milker must be expected to look 

 somewhat rough and ungainly ; 

 not rough in coat, necessarily, but 

 rougjh and angular in the points 

 which the growing frame presents. 



A heifer calf desigTied for the 

 dairy should be bred just as early 

 as possible, so that the maternal 

 function on which mdking capacity 

 dei)ends may be established early 

 and divert to its own development 

 some of the vital energy that 

 would otherwise be devoted to 

 growth and lltsh-making. — Nebras- 

 ka Farmer. 



^> 



Plump Seed Wheat. 



Manv good practical farmers will 

 say that shrivelled seed is as good 

 as plumpi We have heard it scores 

 of times when the question of 

 plump grain for seed has been dis- 

 cussed. Quite often a farmer will 

 go further and tell you that onq of 

 the best crops he ever had was 

 from shri\elled grain. Quite so, 

 but as he had not sown plump grain 

 alonirside for com])arison, the only 

 deduction was that under favor- 



Manufacturer of 

 Patent Ba:thheaters, Baths, Wash- 

 troughs, etc., 



These Heaters are very largely 

 used by the Government, Public 

 Institutions, Hospitals, and lead- 

 ing Citizens of the State. They 

 are High Recommended and giving 

 every satisfaction. 



139 O'CONNELL STREET, 

 NORTH ADELAIDE. 

 'Phone 3190. 



able condition^ good crops may be 

 obtained from shrivelled grain, a 

 faict which no one denies, because 

 that is so people forget that under 

 such favorable coiuditions immense- 

 Iv better crops would be reaped 

 from i^Iump, well-developed seed. 



It is a matter of history tliat 

 after the great red rust year of 

 the sixties, there was practically 

 nothing but badly-shrivelled wheat 

 available for seed in many plcuces, 

 and there are scores of farmers 

 who tell how they got good crops 

 from the shrivelled seed. No one 

 wants to argue that shrivelled seed 

 cannot produce good grain, but it 

 is reasonable to say that under the 

 same conditions plump, selected 

 grain will produce so much better 

 crops, and so much finer grain ; 

 that it is very profitable to pay 

 extra, or take extra trouble, to 

 secure plump, good seed, for like 

 has a tendency to produce like. 



A great deal of our wheat is 

 grown under conditions ordinarily 

 called precarious. Our seasons are 

 less reliable than those of many 

 parts of the world where wheat is 

 grown. Hence, on account of this 

 uncertainty of our climate, the 

 vicissitudes that probably confront 

 our wheat crop at the outset of 

 any season, are exceptionally great. 

 Now, we know that in tiding over 

 the untoward circumstances of cli- 

 mate small and weak seed stands 

 a poorer chance than large, plump 

 seed, a maicli poorer chance than 

 under favorable climatic condi- 

 tions. That is the great and spe- 

 cial reason why in such a climate 

 as ours we should give particular 

 attention to the quality of our 

 seed. Under our conditions this 

 attention is likely to yield a maxi- 

 mum of i)rorit. The same amount 

 of attention to the same point in 

 a countrv where the climate is 

 more uniform and reliable would 

 not be likelv to be attended with 

 an equal amount of profit. 



/. J. RICHARDS & SONS. 



CARRiAGE, BUGGY 

 SULKY & MOTOR BODY 

 .BUILDERS. 



THE LARGEST PBIZE TAKERS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 



Two yea.s' guarantee with all new Vehicles. Tyreing included. All mn 

 ierial kept in igtock until naturally seasoned. Write for Cataloguea and 



Prices. 



INSl'ECTION INVITED TO OUR SHOW-ROOM AND FACTORY. 

 Eatahliahed in 1666. 



Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide. 



