510 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



April, 1914 



The Self-Sucking Cow. 



The self-sucking cow is possibly 

 the most aE;-_e:ravating animal to 

 deal with that is to be found in 

 all the lists of domesticated beasts. 

 It \yould seem to the person not 

 familiar u-ith the persistency and 

 determination of this class of 

 cows that it would be a very 

 difficult matter for the cow to 

 suck herself when friven perfect li- 

 berty and entirely unobstructed. 

 This is not the case, however ; the 

 cow can soon acquire the habit of 

 milkino- herself, and then tax the 

 inorenuitv of the most inventive 

 genius to devise obstructions or 

 appliances to prevent her from do. 

 ing so. 



Whv a cow gets the habit of 

 sucking herself is not fully under- 

 stood. Some attribute it to lack 

 of water in the T>a.sture, and she 

 uses this means of quenching thirst, 

 others attribute it to a too full 

 condition of the udder, which 

 causes pain and imeasiness and the 

 cow licks the teats as a means 

 of relief, and thus gets a taste 

 of the milk and relieves herself by 

 suckine. Others still attribute it 

 to leaking teats, and the cow gets 

 a taste of the milk in this wav 

 and becomes a sucker. It is safe 

 to sav that none of these excuses 

 will answer all cases of self-milking 

 in 'the cow. It is perhaps account- 

 ed for more correctly bv accident, 

 or anv of the above reasons may 

 anplv, and others not mentioned. 

 It is an tmnatural habit acquired 

 bv certain cows, and is very hard 

 to correct, is all that most per- 

 sons c^n say. 



The followincf are some of the 

 I)lans iMit in operation to keep 

 cows from continuing in this 

 habit :— 



A popular method is to place a 

 halter on the icow, havin[r the band 

 over the nose studded with sharp 

 nails pushed throuc-h from the in- 

 side. When the cow attempts to 

 suck herself the nails will prkk her 

 flank and udder and prevent her 

 from grasping the mammary or- 

 phan. 



Another plan is to put a bull 

 ring in the cow's nose and hang 

 tw-o loose rings in it. These will 

 not prevent her from feeding, but 

 when .she attempts to suck she 

 cannot '/rasv the teat. This plan 

 has succeeded where numerous 

 other ones have failed. 



A simple and often effective me- 

 thod is to put a girth round her 

 body, back of the forelegs, and a 

 halter on her head, and connect 

 the two bv a rod, passing between 

 the forele?-s. It should be fasten- 

 ed quite close up to the cow's 

 bodv, but it should be suspended a 

 few inches from the halter. 



Condition in Horses. 



One often wonders whether the 

 " condition " in which horses are 

 brouo-ht un for sale is reallv as 

 ef?ective in increasing the price, as 

 the vendor supposes. The averasre 

 man who has anvthirifT- to do with 

 horses knows, or onn^ht to know, 

 that fat does not mean working 

 condition, and should, one would 

 think, be able to iudore of the 

 «italitv of th.° animal lin the condi- 

 tion in which it would be seen 

 after a few months' work in the 

 team. But the facts that animals 

 fllw3- '' pr.° rrot up for .sale, and 

 that breed^w anim'als shown at 

 a'Ticultural exhibitionvs are fatter 

 that +'V.p-.. oncrht to be if the pur- 

 pose of their existence be alone 

 considered, show that the average 

 purchaser, like the average judge, 

 will not pav much rep^ard to meril: 

 unless it is dothed in an attrac- 

 tive dress. It seems verv foolish, 

 for thp fat nut on for sale pur- 

 T^oses hfls to come off a""ain before 

 the animal can be said to be reallv 

 in condition for his work but it is 

 no use isrnoring obvious facts. The 

 conclusion we come to, therefore,- 

 is that it is " wise man who offers 

 a fat horse for sale, but a foolish 

 man who buvs the animal. 



Apart from fatness, however, the 

 seller can do a ?^i"eat deal to im- 

 prove a horse's appearance bv care- 

 ful grooming and trimming, and 



TRADE 



An unooverfd Galvani/.ed Iron Roof is the best conductor 

 of heat, but the effect of a hot Run can so easily be 

 overcome by the application of 



Kind's Oomipo 



99 



MARK. 



Iho ron f-coo'in g paint which is used exclusively byt 



your own Government. "■■■'^<m ""^'55 



48 lb ''tinsT(coverini.''c»p»rlt.vt72n fq. ft,, wi<h 2Vonti>), 7/6'each 



Ohtniiiable from all hardware Stores or 

 KINO dt CO., Waxmouth St., ADELAIDE 



on the principle that it is of noj 

 use hawking stinking fish, it ij 

 both leiritimate and wise to Id 

 the animal offered for sale be mad< 

 as attractive as possible to th* 

 eve of the purchaser.— Exchange. 



<$> 



Prolificacy in Pigs. 



Among pigs in general, the range 

 in number of pigs per litter is 

 wide, running from three to 

 eighteen. Averages are from six 

 to ten, depending on breed, family, 

 or strain within the ijreed, age, 

 feeding, and handling of the sow 

 and on t^ie \'igour of the service 

 boar. 



The relative efficiency of old and 

 young brood sows was tested out 

 at the Iowa experiment station. 

 Fifteen gilts bred at eight months, 

 averaged seven and two-thirds pigs 

 per litter. Sows twenty-four 

 months old averaged nine and ithree- 

 fifths pigs per litter, and aged sows 

 averarred ten and three-fifths pigs 

 per litter. 



The larger litters are unqjiestion- 

 ablv an advantage. Litters of from 

 three to five are too low, and the 

 'sow that can do no better after a 

 fair trial should be discarded from 

 the herd. If an average sow, how- 

 ever, can savfe eight pigs, this 

 number will be found to take care 

 of a normal milk flow and will 

 make bigger, more uniform ])igs, 

 and in most cases be more profit- 

 able to the farmer than an abnor- 

 mally large litter of ings small in 

 size and low in vitalitv. 



^ 



To make handy chaff scoops, cut 

 a kerosene tin in halves from cor- 

 ner to corner lengthwise, double 

 down the edges to stiffen them ; 

 you then have two scoops deep in 

 centre, shallow at edges, requiring 

 no handles. They will clean out 

 corners of bins, etc., and prove very 

 u.sefu] for chaff, bran, crushed oats, 

 etc. 



. ^ 



Manv ca.ses of so-called colic, 

 and others of reneral imthriftiness, 

 are attributable to faulty teeth. 

 The convstruction of the horse's 

 stomach is such that the food m.ust 

 be digested bv the frastric juices 

 and pas.sed out (|uickly, if he is to 

 p-et sufficient to eat. ' If the food 

 is not presented to the stomach in 

 a thorou"hl - masticated condition, 

 and well mixed with saliva, delay 

 in di'Gfestion takes place, and over- 

 loading oif the stomach, w^ich 

 should be about two-thirds full for 

 rapid digestion. 



