July, 1909 J 1 



between the bark and the wood before 

 the latex can accumulate there. If, as is 

 contended, the pricker-cut is closed by 

 coagulated latex prematurely, then the 

 latex would remain where it was beiore 

 pricking, in the latex vessels. It is im- 

 possible that it should flow internally 

 into the solid tissue.* 



The insertion of the metal channelling 

 is a weak point of the North way system. 

 It would surely be possible to devise 



Plant Sanitation. 



some method of building up a channel of 

 clay or some similar material round the 

 base of the tree. It must be remembered, 

 however, that this mateiial must not 

 contain any oil, etc., which would soak 

 into the bark, since if this occurred the 

 tree would be effectually ringed, as 

 happened when Smearoleum was applied. 

 The tar oils (?) in Smearoleum soaked 

 through the bark into the wood and 

 stopped the upward flow of water; 

 consequently many of the trees treated 

 with it died. 



LIVE STOCK, 



SELECTING LAYING STOCK. 



By H. V. Hawkins, 

 Poultry Expert. 



(Prom the Journal of the Department of 

 Agriculture of Victoria, Vol. VII., 



Pt. 2, February 10, 1909.) 

 There are a great many methods adver- 

 tised in various pamphlets and papers 

 stating that, if you will practise this or 

 that method of selecting as laid down 

 in the paper, you will be able to deter- 

 mine the drones from the workers. The 

 writer has tried a few of these so-called 

 certainties, and has come to the conclu- 

 sion the trap nest is the only accurate 

 test. It is by selection and keeping re- 

 cords, that advancement is made along 

 this line. 



Each hen has her own individuality! 

 ie., certain hens lay eggs that are in 

 nine cases out of ten hatchable. Some 

 hens lay well, but, although their eggs 

 are usually fertile, they will not hatch 

 whether set under a hen or placed in the 

 best incubator. The chicks develop to 

 a certain size, in many cases being fully 

 formed, but die in the shell. Again, 

 many hens lay eggs that are seldom 

 fertile. 



In selecting birds one has several ob- 

 jects. The saying "that the hen that 

 lays is the hen that pays " is often heaid. 

 The majority of those engaged in the 

 poultry business consider egg production 

 the best end of the business. It is often 

 the surest. There is not the same amount 

 of risk attached to it. At the same 

 time, if people are foolish enough to be- 

 lieve that Mr. So-and-So can supply eggs 

 from hens, tested by the so-called new 

 system, which have produced 300 eggs 

 per annum, they have more faith in the 

 advertiser and the hen than the writer 

 has. 



There is no doubt that certain char a c 

 teristics should be looked for in a good 

 laying hen. She should be low set, and 

 stand on a pair of shanks fairly wide 

 apart. The head should be nice and 

 clean cut with a full bright eye. In 

 other words, hens should show feminine 

 character and not wrinkled and sunken 

 features. Hens of the latter type should 

 be discarded; in short, masculinity in the 

 hen is a bad sign. A hen with a large 

 capacity for food, i.e., has a large crop 

 {craw), is usually a payable bird to feed. 

 The smaller the sack of food she takes to 

 roost at night the fewer eggs will she 

 produce. Dairymen know that a cow 

 must have plenty of room for food in 

 order to produce a large milk yield. 



The advertised systems serve one pur- 

 pose, viz., by examining the lay bones 

 the amateur knows which bird is about 

 to lay, or is laying. Should the lay 

 bones be relaxed to the extent of about 

 three fingers (closed) the bird is laying ; 

 if they are almost in contact, that is the 

 hen to market, but so much depends on 

 the time of year one wishes to sell table 

 fowls. 



DAIRY-FARMING : WILL IT PAY 

 IN CEYLON ? 



By P. Geo. Schradbr. 



(From the Ceylon Independent, 

 22nd January, 1909.) 



{Continued from last issue.) 

 Buildings.— I do not believe in sink- 

 ing a lot of non-interest bearing capital 

 into palatial buildings. I say leave it 

 to the cows to provide for the building 

 of substantial permanent buildings later 

 on — surely it is not asking too much 

 from them, in asking them to provide 

 comfortable houses for themselves and 

 for those that tend and look after their 



* Specimens sine* submitted by he Editor of the " Times " prove that the rubber pads can form 

 before pricking. 



