RURAL TOPICS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2148, 2 August 1907, Page 1

RURAL TOPICS.

Of late years a great deal more attention has been paid to dental surgery amongst horse practitioners, to the universal bonifit of the animals, but there must still exist somo thousands of horses which work in pain ovory day in consequence of troubles connected with their tooth.

A recent deputation to the Minister of Agriculture urged that Mr. D. Cuddie, Chief Dairy Commissioner, should be sent to London to watch the New Zealand dairy interests in the metropolis. The Minister had formerly promised that an agent would be appointed to take npJ the important work of observing the condition in which New Zealand butter landed aftor its long voyage. Mr. McNjab promised to give the wishes of the deputation consideration.

Reports now being received show how seriously tllo lambing season has ben affected by the dry season in New South Wales. On many runs the lambs wefe destroyed as they were dropped in order to save the ewes, and on many others the percentage was extremely low. One station owner in Sydney last week, stated that of 10,000 ewes he had lost 3000, and had only about 100 lambs alive. . This is doubtless an extremely harsh case (remarks the Herald), but when the figures for tho year are published the increase in our flocks is likely to be disappointing.

. Professor Aiken gives tho following reasons why salt should be regularly suplied to farm stock. 1. Because in the blood of animals there is six or seven times more sodium than potassium, and the composition of the blood is constant. 2. To keep animals in good health a definate amount of common salt must be assimilated. 3. The oxcess of potassium salts in vegetable foods causes by chemical exchange an abnormal loss of common salt. This is proved by the fact that the craving of an animal for common salt is most noticeable when tho food contains a large proportion of potassium salts, such as wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, beans and peas. 4. The addition of salt to ' animal food increases the appetite, prompts the repair of tissue by its searching diffusion through the body, and stimulates the rapid using up of its waste products. 5. Boussingault’s experiment showed that salt increases muscular vigour and activity, and improves general apearance and condition.

Ail ugly feature connected with the activity of the tick pest in Queensland (says the Sydney Morning Herald) is the shattering of tho illusion that aftor a district had been infested for a few years the cattle became immune. The pest made its way from South Australia across the Gulf country of Queensland and on to the east coast down to the New South Wales border, and it was the experience of stockowners that as the tick moved on the cattle no longer suffered, even though they were infected. But tick fever has now manifested itself from north to south. Most has been heard of its ravages in the south because more small owners were affected, but great damage is being done among the herds in the far north. For them there is not the same remedy available in the shape of dips as for the smaller holder, as wild cattle are difficult to treat. As any movement among tho cattle is most dangerous, it means that as soon as fever appears all operations must cease and the cattle kept as quiet as possible. This is all that owners can do, unless they believe in inoculation. At the present moment ticks are very quiet in southern Queensland, just as always happens during the winter months; the pest requires warm, moist weather. '

There is a very geuearal impression among stockowners that sorghum is a particularly dangerous crop to grow,' from its tendency to poison animals to which ’it is fed. ‘As a matter of experience (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph) ■■ it has been proven that sorghum “poisoning,” ill nearly every" case, arises from administering the fodder in too large quantities; that does not alter the broad fait as to the prevalence of the impression, or the existence of the disease. And those who hold the idea will be interested to know that Dr. S. Avery, of the Nebraska Experiment Station, has found a new way pf effectively treating cases of poisoning of this 'description. He has shown that carbo-hydrates act as an antidote to the action of prussic acid and the prussic acid glucoside. The presence of sugars in the first place retards the action of the enzyme in liberating free prussic acid; and, again, prussic acid unites with sugars to form less poisonous additional products. This sounds highly technical, but the practical application lies in the suggestion that when an animal is found to be suffering from sorg-

hum poisoning, it should be given a strong solution of glucose syrup, or molasses; or, again, a large quantity of milk. Actual experiments have shown that an animal could be given a large dose of pure prussic acid, up to three times the fatal dose, if glucose were administered simultaneously. Farmers, therefore, have an easy method of treatment available, and it is further suggested by way of preventing the possibility of poisoning that any fodders likely to set up stomachic inflammation should first be sprinkled with molasses.

That portion of the food (says i The American Fertiliser) whidh v is ; not digestible passes into manure, in many cases being nearly one-half of the whole! A ration composed of 121 b of corn fodder, 81b clover hay, 41b malt sprouts, and 81b cornmeal bran, is considered a. ration for one cow for one day. ■ As cows differ in size, preference of food, digestive capacity, etc. any fixed quantity can only be an estimate. Of the quantitics mentioned, the total dry matter is 261 bin 100. This moans that for every 1001 b of such food allowed, 741 bis water. Of the 261 b about. 161 b are digestible, or utilised by the animal for nourishment. Ihe remaining 101 b is voided and passed into the manure heap. For every 1001 b of food given, therefore, the farmer loses, as water and manure, 841 b. The water passes away, while the manure is retained, but the actual value of the wholo is based upon its relative proportion of digestible matter, and the greater the digestibility of the foods, the larger the benefits derived. The Penns-1-vania Station is credited with those results. Bran, ground grain, malt sprouts, etc., serve to supply deficiency in the coarse and bulky foods. For instance, the 121 b of corn fodder mentioned contains 8.15 per cent of dry matter, -31 -pier cent of protein, 4.21 per cent of carbo-hydrates, and .07 per cent of fat. The 81b of bran contains 7.26 pier cent of dry matter, .30 per cent of protein, 4.24 pier cent of carbo-hydrates, and .33 pier cent of fat. Comparision thus shows that although the proportion of corn bran is but two-thirds of the corn fodder, yet it contains but little less of dry matter, nearly the same amount of protein, and exceeds the corn fodder in fat and starch. The ration given (of the four substances) is composed of one part protein (nitrogenous matter) to seven and seven-tenths of carbonaceous material. Wheat bran differs from corn bran, but as wheat is not now ground extensively as flour for home' use, while corn mills are on every farm, the feeding value of corn bran should noti be overlooked.

A TRIP TO THE EAST. THE WRESTLING SCHOOL. ’ If the victories in the past of old ■ England were won in tho football field, then it is equally true that the victories of the Japanese have been made possible because of their gymnasia, says Coo-eo in the Lyttelton Times. The tjme that tho average young Australian gives to lounging around street corners, or actively to rowing, cycling, etc., the avorag young Japanese givos to the gymnasium. They never seem to tiro of making themselves as supple of limb and hard of muscle as possible. Even I in the great public parks it is not an uncommon thing to see young men I performing difficult evolutions on a I trapeze. But especially do their I tastes run in the direction of wrest-1 ling, and with this knowledge in view I paid a visit to tho wrestling school 1 of Professor Kano, in Tokio. The I principal apartment in this school is a room about 120 ft long by 60ft I or 70ft. The floor is,i,covered with tatamis; not ordinary mats, but mats I from two to three inches thick. These I mats not only deaden the sound of I the wrestling, but save the wrestlers I from many an ugly bruise and severe I fall. They also give an interesting I appearance to the ball, and are res- I ponsiblo for the rule, rigidly enforced, I that visitors shall take off their boots. I About three o’clock two wrestlers e-n- I to ltd this hall, and having prostrated I themselves to tho audience, and then I .most respectfully bowed to each I other, they proceeded to demonstrate I their art. In appsarenee the two I nu r were most unequally matched, I fan; one being much shorter and light- I er than the other. This served to I

awaken sympathy at once in the .breasts of the- lady visitors for the lighter man, while the gentlemen thought that their opportunity for seeing an all-round fair contest was at an end. Not many moments were needed to show that the sympathy was wholly misplaced; while the little man was being apparently crushed in-the embrace of his opponent, in the twinkle of an eye the heavy man was broken across the thigh of the smaller man and sent with a crashing thiul to the floor. It was truly wonderful to see the variety of ways in which this was repeated. The heavier man sometimes scored, but it was very evident that lie was the learner, however clever; and the other, the teacher. It would he impossible to describe the different movements of the limbs by which one man sought to bring the other into such a position that he could work hiy will, and the ease and rapidity with which his opponent foiled the attempt ; but so soon as an opportunity was given, like a flash it was taken advantage of, and the vanquished one lay prone upon the floor. It was soon evident that in some of the contests the man who was first down was I not always the defeated one, for as I he fell he often by an adroit move- I ment sent his adversary headlong or I drew him to the ground, and by a I sudden movement placed himself on I top of him; hut before one had the I time to admire tho skill with which I this was done, tho whole thing was I reversed, and he who was for the I moment beneath was now on top. Sol the struggle proceeded; arm, leg, I back, were all made to contribute I their strength. Sometimes tho uien seemed as if tied in knots, and- ulti- I mately the viotory was won, not by I superior weight, or even physical | strength, but by the one who had the widest knowledge of tho art in which I ho was engaged. The contest did not I cease until tho vanquished one signi- I lied that lie was beaten, by tapping I the floor or the side of his -opponent. I There was nothing approaching bad temper manifested in the combat- I ants; and as each bout concluded, I the competitors did not forget to bow themselves to the mat in their desire I to do one another honor. By 4 I o’clock in came numbers of youths I and boys from different schools and I colleges.- Some of these were mere I beginners, but others of them had | gained considerable proficiency in I the art, and gave a - capital exhibi-I tion of skill. Those who rested sat I round and watched the others for I -points, and the utmost decorum pre- I vailed. I

Tho events of tlie year in the wrestling world in Japan ate the big ■matches between representatives of Tokio and district, and those of Osaka and district. Over these events excitement runs high; the contests are witnessed by many hundreds of people, and the winners are most popular. Many of these wrestlers are men of enormous weight and girth. The professionals do not marry while following their art,-and usually at thirty years of age they retire from the arena, as pofessionals and take upon themselves the cares of domesticity. Needless to say, In all the ■colleges and schools the youths of botn sexes are taught to make the best use of their limbs for offence and defence. At the Technical School at Usaks the young men may be seen clad _ in armor dealing each other teirihc blows, with weapons like oldfashioned swords, and the skill with which many of these blows are ward-, ed off must give quickness to the eye and steadiness to the nerve. To tile average European the police in Japan appear like so many good-natured boys out on a holiday. Their swords make them appear smaller than they are, and their smooth faces appear constantly illuminated by a smile as they instruct some perplexed one' or direct the traffic where the roads meet. But woe be to the European who would turn one of those unassuming little men into an adversary. With the greatest ease in the world one of. these men will march off with to the police station an offender twice his own size. They are most carefully instructed in the art of the gymnast, wrestler and sword fencer, and the wrongdoer who sets himself in opposition to their will soon finds to his cost that the police of Japan are very different men form the big police of the Southern Cross type. The wrestling schools are favored by both sexes. To an extent undreamt of by our girls do Japanase master the science of the gymnasium. Tlieii skill, their powers of endurance, their nerve, are astounding to those who have not witnessed their training. I have son a young Japanese girl catcli with her feet a cask which was thrown to her as she lay upon a table; this cask she spun round in every conceivable fashion with her feet; then she raised the cask np and put a smaller one under it. This she repeated until she had six small ones and one large cask on top, all supported in the air with her feet. Then the pyramid was lowered, and a small hoy got inside the cask, and tho whole was built up as before ; and when this was done, the hoy came out of the cask climbed on it, and stood upright, the whole being suspended and balanced by the girl's feet as she lay on her hack. The gymnasium is the explanation. I have seen some extraordinary things done on the trapeze in Australia, but I had to come to Japan to see tills business carried to perfection, and that by a people whi physically appear inferior to us. The practical benefit of all this physical training has already been made apparent, to the nations of the world. When the allied forces marched to the relief of Pekin, the Japs were first on the march, and first to enter the stricken city. At that time both English and German miliary _ experts were impressed hy the mobility and sustaining power of the Japanese troops. But the larger exhibition of these qualities was given in the recent terrific struggle between Russia and Japan. The Japanese were constantly doing something that the Russians did not reckon upon. and they were always appearing where they were not’ expected. The battle of Yalu was won because the Japanes tramped through a shallow jparfc

of the sea. and gained a position that was not' considered in danger. Somo parts of Port Arthur’s defences were regarded as being unscalable, but tho Japanese wore found there at the right moment, and that ip spite of shot and mine. It is their quality of endurance that makes t’ho Jap-

Wlneso a power to be reckoned with I in the future movements of the natI ions. It is impossible for any other nation to predict what they can do, I or what they will do, for no other I nation possesses a corresponding numI her of men who know how to got I the greatest amount of power out of the human body, backed up with inI tolligence. A race of clerks and I millionaires will in case of conflict go down before the Japanese like a I fleet of Sampans before a typhoon. I For three years every Japanese youth I is under compulsory military service, I I lint boforo ho goes into the military I barracks at’all ho has largol.v brought I his body into such subjection that I lie can got out of it the .maximum I of agility and endurance. So when I I there is added to this, military train- I I ing, there is a combination that nat- I I urnlly produces tho finest infantry I I in the world. I I Both Australia and New Zealand I I should profit by Japan’s oxamplo in I I this respect. A groat deal to much I I time is given to sports that do not I I make for physical development and I (lie cultivation of endurance and I agility, notably horse-racing. Many I of our other sports only tend to lop- I sided development, as cycling, and I even football. To render the best I sorvico a -man needs a straight back I as well as big calves, and a good eye, I with steady nerve, as well as sound I lungs. AVe seem to be immersed in I business and money-making, as if I these were our surest preventatives I : from all futures ills. I am satisfied I that could some of our youth see I i what 1 it is possible for a Japanese I , youth -To accomplish through the | ' gymnasium, they would be fired with I 1 a determination to emulate the Jap- I 1 anese cxamisle. Public encourage- I tnenfl would do a good deal to foster I this spirit, and to make such an ob- I c jeet a laudable one. Such encour- I c agonient would not provoke the quar- I relsome element, for a more peaceable, I affectionate lot of people amongst I ’ themselves than the Japanese it I would be difficult to find. Back to I the gymnasium 1 I

,t lof skinning any animal was 'objec- ° I tionable and should not bo exhibited £ I before children or women in a delit I cate state of health, e I Mr. A. H. Proctor, for the de- ' I fence, said the pictures represented jj I tho hunt, capture, killing, and skin- . I ning of the animal, r I Tho complainant replied that he > I did not (object to the hunt, but to , l _ I the skinning, which lasted twenty b I or thirty seconds, i I Mr. Proctor suggested that the ‘ I scene “had been sko.wn to bishops, . I dukes, and duchesses,” who had not . I complained. I Mr Hoskins said that would not I I alter his opinion that tho scene was I I revolting. I Mr. Montague Sharp (chairman of I the Bench): Do you hold, Mr. Proc- I I tor, that it is illegal to applaud ? I I Mr. Proctor: No, Ido not. I I Mr. Sharps: Then, why should it Ibe illegal to hiss ? What about I I people encoring when they become a I I nuisance to others? I I Mr. Proctor: The complainant’s I hissing was heard in the gallery. I Mrs Hoskins, in her evidence, said the skinning of tho hippopotamus I was so objectionable she could not I I Xqalk at it. I Mr. Sharps: I think you had bet- I I ter settle the case between you. I I understand there has been a bit of I feeling, and I won’t say more. If I you two legal gentlemen put your I | heads together, and agree to mutual expressions of regret for the hissing I and the putting out, and each side pay their own costs, I think that will I be a satisfactory ending. Eventually the case was disposed I of on the lines suggested by the chairman.