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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER .  December  19,  1901. 
ture  of  Corn  for  heavy  horses  is  perfect  without  a  certain 
proportion  of  bran  at  any  time  of  the  year. 
Bran  is  not  fattening,  but  it  is  not  fat  that  pulls  the 
waggons  and  the  ploughs.  At  any  rate,  athletes  are  not 
trained  on  such  lines.  Weight  and  beautiful  appearance 
do  not  weigh  much  in  the  scale  in  a  trial  of  endurance.  And 
we  should  like  to  hear  the  opinion  of  some  hard-worked 
horses  as  to  the  kind  of  food  they  themselves  considered  to 
be  most  sustaining. 
A  case  which  came  before  our  notice  some  years  ago,  and 
has  been  mentioned  in  these  pages  before,  we  think  is  worthy 
of  repetition.  A  man  undertook  a  large  contract  for  the 
marling  of  a  considerable  extent  of  sandy  soil.  He  had  a 
large  number  of  horses,  which  he  fed  upon  cut  hay  and  straw, 
with  the  addition  of  a  liberal  allowance  of  Corn  or  meal. 
He  tried  a  variety  of  grain  and  meals  mixed  and  otherwise, 
the  while  keenly  observing  the  working  powers  of  his  teams. 
Before  the  contract  was  finished  he  was  using  no  Corn  what¬ 
ever,  but  an  unlimited  supply  of  bran,  the  hay  and  straw 
allowance,  of  course,  remaining  the  same..  After  a  long  and 
exhausting  journey  or  day’s  hunting  one  of  the  safest  and 
most  reviving  things  to  give  a  horse  is  a  bran  mash.  If  it 
is  good  in  emergency,  why  not  as  a  staple  article  of  diet? 
The  modern  cowkeeper  depends  largely  on  bran  as  a 
food  for  his  cows.  Its  nitrogenous  nature  is  most  useful  in 
encouraging  the  flow  of  milk,  and  where  the  supply  of  hay 
has  to  be  purchased  bran  might  be  used  in  considerable 
quantity  now  that  there  is  little  difference  between  the  prices 
of  the  two  articles.  For  calves  nothing  in  the  way  of  food  is 
more  suitable  than  bran.  It  is  rich  in  flesh  and  bone  forming 
matter,  and  it  may  be  gradually  substituted  for  half  the 
linseed  cake  allowance  after  the  milk  diet  has  been  with¬ 
drawn.  The  same  argument  applies  in  the  case  of  young 
nigs,  but  where  a  large  supply  of  skim  milk  is  available  the 
bran  would  be  hardly  necessary. 
Without  milk,  however,  pigs  should  certainly  have  an 
allowance,  mixed  with  other  meal  in  moderate  proportion. 
The  reason  why  coarse  sharps  make  such  an  excellent  food 
for  young  growing  pigs  is  the  fact  of  its  containing  a  good 
proportion  of  flesh-forming  material.  Flour  is  the  fat  and 
bran  the  lean  meat,  while  sharps  are  between  the  two.  We 
should  not  give  bran  to  young  horses  out  at  grass  in  winter. 
They  require  something  of  a  more  warming  and  fat-forming 
nature,  such  as  Barley  or  Maize  meal,  or  a  mixture  of  these 
with  crushed  Oats. 
Cows  both  before  and  immediately  after  calving  will  be 
much  benefited  by  a  diet  in  which  moistened  bran  is  pre¬ 
dominant.  There  would  be  fewer  cases  of  milk  fever  if  all 
cows  were  so  dieted  for  a  week  or  ten  days  before  calving  ; 
but  bran,  though  good  for  milk,  is  not  a  producer  of  butter 
fat,  so,  if  butter  is  the  chief  object,  oil  cake  must  be  gradually 
substituted  as  soon  as  all  danger  of  the  fever  is  past.  A 
great  point  about  bran  is  the  fact  that  the  greater  part  of 
its  nitrogen  and  phosphates  are  returned  to  the  soil  in  the 
shape  of  residuals,  which  are  highly  valuable  for  manurial 
purposes. 
Work  on  the  Horae  Farm. 
For  a  week  we  have  rung  the  changes  on  frost,  snow,  and 
thaw,  with  an  almost  continuous  gale.  Little  can  be  done  on  the 
land.  We  have  seen  horses  ploughing,  but  thought  they  ivould 
have  been  better  at  home.  The  export  of  Potatoes  is  rapidly 
extending,  and  is  now  occupying  all  available  hands  on  many 
farms.  It  requires  great  effort  for  the  occupier  of  a  200  acre 
farm  to  sort  and  deliver  three  or  four  miles  into  boat  as  many  as 
50  tons  of  Potatoes  in  four  or  five  days.  Yet  such  is  being  done. 
Up-to-Dates  are  not  beating  everything.  A  neighbouring 
grower  is  delivering  8  tons  per  acre  of  Findlay’s  “  Challenge,” 
whilst  retaining  4  tons  of  seed  and  2  tons  or  more  of  offal.  Not 
bad  for  such  an  early  variety.  It  is  whispered  that  some  of  the 
seed  is  going  back  Fifeshire  way. 
The  weather  is  all  against  the  storing  of  Swedes.  It  is  worse 
than  useless  to  touch  them  when  frozen,  apart  from  the  dis¬ 
comfort  experienced  by  the  men  carrying  out  the  work. 
I  he  frosts  have  much  reduced  the  top  carried  bv  Swedes,  and 
it  is  certainly  not  necessary  to  cut  anything  off.  We  have  with 
the  greatest  success  pied  Swedes,  untopped  and  untailed,  and 
tins  season,  when  the  roots  are  neither  large  nor  over-sound,  we 
strongly  recommend  the  system  to  our  readers. 
Really  well-fed  cattle  are  selling  very  well,  notwithstanding 
some  market  reports,  and  the  Christmas  fat  stock  shows  have 
been  anything  but  well  supplied  so  far.  The  margin  between 
tat  and  poor  cattle  is  greater  now  than  it  has  been  for  some  years, 
aii-i  s*lr®wd  men  are  realising  their  fat  beef  and  buying  in  stores 
whilst  the  golden  opportunity  offers. 
Lair  on  Turnips  has  been  bad,  and  ewes  are  still  kept  prin¬ 
cipally  on  grass,  which  is  fairly  plentiful,  though  there  may  not 
be  much  nutritious  quality  in  it — certainly  not  so  much  as  it  has 
in  some  seasons.  Old  winter  fog  is  sometimes  almost  as  good  as 
hay,  but  not  this  year.  Whilst  ewes  keep  all  the  more  healthy 
on  grass  they  must  not  be  allowed  to  get  too  low  in  condition, 
to  prevent  which  nothing  is  more  useful  than  6oz  to  8oz  per  head 
per  day  of  well-ground  cotton  cake  and  malt  culms  in  equal 
proportions. 
Hoggets  are  doing  well,  but  as  roots  are  scarce  and  disappear¬ 
ing  fast  an  increase  in  the  cake  allowance  here  is  certainly  called 
for.  As  Christmas  approaches  and  the  cold  strengthens  the 
young  sheep  need  more  dry  food,  i.e.,  cake  and  Corn,  which  may 
be  gradually  increased  until  Candlemas,  when  lib  per  head  will 
no.  be  too  much.  As  the  days  begin  to  lengthen  again,  with  the 
increase  in  the  cake  we  must  not  forget  the  weekly  dose  of 
brimstone.  The  heavier  the  work  of  the  stomach  the  greater 
need  to  keep  the  blood  in  pure  condition. 
A  Land  of  Sugar  and  Milk. 
( Concluded  from  page  478.) 
Continuing  his  description  of  the  natural  resources 
of  Queensland  and  New  South  Wales,  our  correspondent 
says: — “The  New  South  Wales  Creamery  Butter  Company 
have,  we  are  told,  a  very  equitable  system  of  dealing  with 
the  suppliers  as  a  first  payment,  and  suppliers  of  milk  receive 
monthly  not  less  than  2  5-16d.  per  gallon  for  milk  tested  3.6 
per  cent,  of  butter-fat,  and  in  proportion,  according  to 
quality,  on  this  basis  :  Suppliers  of  cream  receive  not  less 
than  6d.  per  lb  of  butter ;  and  should  the  prospect  of  the 
British  markets  warrant  it,  the  first  payment  is  increased 
from  time  to  time.  Such  monthly  advances  become  absolute 
payments,  and  are  not  subject  to  any  reclamations  in  the 
event  of  an  unprofitable  market.  Upon  realisation  of  the 
season’s  butter  in  London,  a  further  payment  is  made  to 
suppliers  according  to  the  prices  obtained.  Thus,  if  butter 
realises  100s.  per  cwt.,  the  price  paid  to  suppliers  for  milk 
is  at  the  rate  of  2  15-16d.  per  gallon  ;  at  112s.  for  butter,  the 
farmer  is  paid  3  7-16d.  per  gallon  for  milk.  A  similar 
schedule  of  prices  is  adopted  for  cream  suppliers  ;  if  the 
butter  realises  100s.  per  cwt.,  the  supplier  is  paid  7  9-16d.  per 
lb,  and  with  the  London  price  at  112s.  per  cwt.,  the  supplier 
gets  8  13-16d.  per  lb.  The  next  largest  concern,  that  of 
Messrs.  Foley  Brothers,  has  a  different  system  of  dealing 
with  its  clients.  To  all  suppliers  of  milk  or  cream  a  deduc¬ 
tion  of  3  per  cent,  is  made  on  each  account  from  September  1, 
1901,  to  March  31,  1902,  the  fund  so  formed  being  left  to 
accumulate  until  the  original  accounts  come  back  from 
London,  and  are  placed  before  suppliers,  duly  audited,  and 
all  profits  through  shipment,  together  with  the  fund  collected, 
are  handed  over  to  the  producers  in  their  entirety,  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  the  amount  contributed  by  each  one  In  case  of 
loss,  the  fund  alone  is  drawn  upon  to  make  it  good,  and  any 
further  loss  is  paid  by  the  firm.  These  terms  seem  to  give 
the  milk  producers  ample  satisfaction,  and  the  prompt 
monthly  payments  give  the  dairymen  a  great  advantage  over 
the  sugar  growers,  who  only  get  a  return  from  their  cane 
crops  once  in  two  years.” 
DOG-MUZZLING. — From  the  Secretary  to  the  Board  of 
Agriculture  we  have  received  the  following  notice: — The  Board 
of  Agriculture  desire  to  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that  their 
muzzling  orders  hitherto  in  force  in  certain  districts  in  South 
Wales,  and  their  orders  imposing  certain  restrictions  on  the  land¬ 
ing  in  Great  Britain  of  dogs  from  Ireland,  have  now  been  with¬ 
drawn.  There  are  now  no  districts  in  Great  Britain  to  which 
muzzling  orders  made  by  the  Board  are  applicable,  and  the  free 
movement  of  dogs  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  is  per¬ 
missible.  In  order  to  prevent  its  re-introduction  into  the  United 
Kingdom  and  the  possible  re-imposition  of  muzzling  orders,  the 
Board  have  felt  it  to  be  their  duty  to  issue  a  new  order  entitled 
the  “Importation  of  Dogs  Order  of  1901,”  which  requires,  in 
effect,  that  every  dog  from  abroad  landed  in  Great  Britain  after 
March  15  next,  shall  be  detained  and  isolated  at  the  expense  of 
its  owner,  upon  premises  in  the  occupation,  or  under  the  control, 
of  a  veterinary  surgeon  for  a  period  of  six  calendar  months  from 
the  date  of  landing.  Without  a  licence  no  dog  from  abroad  can 
be  legally  landed  in  Great  Britain.  Prior  to  the  date  named  the 
landing  of  dogs  will  be  authorised  on  conditions  substantially  the 
same  as  those  now  in  force. — T.  H.  Elliott,  Secretary,  Board  of 
Agriculture,  4,  Whitehall  Place,  London,  S.W.,  December  12, 
1901. 
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