Agricultural.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 86, 2 March 1876, Page 7

Agricultural.

• J I S____LL%AItMS.

Almost every steady agricultural : x laborer is ambitious to become a farmery r yno matter } ,upon how .small a Jscalp. In 'this country, his Ambition is both praiser „,;. worthy, .and reasonable, but, in; older centresi'of , population. , such., a desire , /would j_Ot only be 'considered presump- ,.., tubus. in ihe extreme, ! but .would be , /about , t as far beyond his reach las. the 'Premiership or the Woolsack. / In the colonies, every man who can work has • a'fair^chance of improvirig'his coriditiQn .'/arid ;this -is 1 one^ of the :^ri_dary causes of "'the -the great'ehergy so often 'displayed '"by the populations of new countries. There 'are those who Tegard small

= fa.mers as- the rhost-valnable class of . iany> merely, viewing the -matter, in the abstract, -and overlooking -actual cir•cunistances. A . small farmer cannot ;get. a "comfortable living unless he is placed near- a-town, and the fand natu* ■'-■ rally fer tile; If he "is very- far from a / or: a railway; the cost of carriage •eats uprhis' profits. If his land is poor,; his acreage-is not sufficient for hijs sup-port/a-fact-of which many of the small , farjners .on/ the Canterbury Plains are palnfully/awa re - ar !.t9P many of our Kjokatpos* rely! altogether upon grain, ■ :and the consequence is that when crops -. are /bad,! or prices , low/ many if them are "rubbed, put," and the place ; that knew them -knows them no more. ; They "have not' enough 1 lahd' to make ; it ,worth their while to keep sheep, and it is too , dry for cattle, so. that (to. use a homely

Tnetaphor) they are, compelled to, carry all their eggs in one basket, and one unfortunate jolt of the market-cart pro.- . duces. the-mostLdisastrous results. A man who depends entirely upon grain is so crippled, by .brie, bad, season that he findsjit /very up-hill work .indeed to re--cover lost ground.

Iritheir eagerness to become ; independent, ihany laboring men start business/bh their own. account before! they :■ Qiave i! saved. enough t money -to buy the I necessary; farming; plant, and by doing so ;huve but a very sinail chance of success.' No mari can be blamed for wishing .to.establish a home of his own as soon as-possible, but undue haste often Results in thejexchange of one; kind of ; seryitude for another of a more, galling •description. The dilapidated appearance -of many" -of the farms throughout the country sufficiently attests the truth of this -remark. It would not be amiss for country capitalists to consider whether they are altogether- free from blame in this; matter. ; For instance, how many large'landholders are there who provide accommodation for. married men upon their estates ? If those' who- have the vnecessary capital were to adopt the Eriglish : plan of-building small cottages, "they ; would experience less trouble in getting their woik done. Sirigle men •can roll up their swags. and decamp at •a moment's notice, but more dependence 'can be placed upon iharried men when they; -have, 'quarters; for; th,teir : families near their work. Most married laboring men are. compelled to. go into the 'country toworkias single, men. Although they may be earning very high , wages, it!, is ndt unnatural that they should wish to iive ;with : their families, and they are'thus induced to enter upon * 4f cockatooing," ; ; before- they ? . - are half "prepared. It is a very bad thing for the country large, for the land to be occupied by men Who/ ! haye not the or the knowledge to manage it properly. Land might almost as well be allowed to reniain in its native state as produce three or four- crops, each one being i poorer than its predecessor, and and;. then; becomes a waste of ; sorrel. Unfortunately, it/is not only the small farmers who adb]Jt Vthis system* . ThepaSt bf producing^ gmn is often 'times so - great _ iri; the case bif the large grower .hat ; *T_e profits are found to re-p_-_erit;a minus quantityy while theex/pen'se, of grain . growing/ on a greater in proportion to the nupaber of bushels. The small farmer cannot Tie very prosperous, unless •he turn^l-is attention ta the cows and pigs as Well as. grain. Itis surprising low. soon. a; few cows will increase to a : fcefd witK proper management, antl it is quite unnecessary to say anything about 'the fecundity /pf sWine.. „ By devoting more ofih-.r-Qand. to the cultivation of foofl for catt_e ; and pigs, many of the small faririers would find their circumstances materially improved, corn harvest, comes- bn!t. once in a year, and its profits /are! in/too many cases !be■spoken hy debts of .the foregoing cattle and pigs yield their returrts throngh every sea.on ---^OanteT--Hiry Times.-

r " The teak y^Te&dna ykiidis) and the -of the East In-: * dies> the- 'Mora '(Mora vitceisa) arid the ; green heart . (Nectandra- "-'■ Rodeii), of British, 6uiaria, the iron bark,' to which* may Be added rriany other species* of Eucalyptus* froni Australia, a»je all ; stronger atimoer-than mkf in .Mstance ) Both to breaking and to crashing weightThe Science anijl Art /Depp^nfc pub- - .Wshedin.lS^ jof '^ the' -ftrerigth-bi- British^ Colonial, arid [other.! •- - woods," naade-by - the^laterGaptr-Fo wke,' - rR^E^-fl-^pwardsJof 300^ specimens of, : ,^^GO^i-feren^kirids of timber/; 'Tlie en-^j / /gi?^s^ this : ; a-einit i£/:tSe_hiiS_Bst'l%p^(^.ic|n of! «cie_itific;«-el_idd^s; of the higbest/rank.i

TK^lrjapJbar^gjiyes,^; breaking weight -_fc_tlyl_&_ipp^ weigh| cpf 1 13|349^' pounds/ against ./a k breakihg-%eight-of 42^6 arid a crushing weight of 4280-gounds for. oak, the pieqepfof wbpd.ekpe^mentedpn ih each, instance being 2 inches square, and 19 inches" long;**" ~The ""specific gravity of the iron, bark is/1204 in^pecimens both from Queensland and New South . Wales. That of the iron wood of Jamaica is 1254/ '■■' At the bther/extremity of the" scale, the Dedoaf Tha, from East India, has, a specific. .gravity. of Q,260, being only 0,010 inorb than of cork. This enormous range in solidity is not '-more % remarkable that the woriderful ,variety;in texture, color, marking, scent, and other qualities, of the costly and precious woods which fill the virgin forests of our as ye. undestroyed colonial territori-S.-^r* Edinburgh Review.

. TttE Labgest Oak, in New Zealand. — We learn from the 'Rangi-

tikei Advocate ' that an interesting discovery was made the other day by Mr Aberhethy, Traffic Manager of the Fox'ton;and Palmerston Tramway. Whiles out. in, the bush, a.few miles from Foxtori, Mr Aberhethy came ! upon a veritable of the English oak . The tree is about fifteen inches in diameter, and grows perfectly straight for . some twenty feet from the ground, and garnaled, as.is generally the case with the oak % We are given to understand that about forty years ago some of the first Missionaries gave the Natives a lot of seeds of various English trees, and it is generally supposed that this is the product, of one. of the acorns thus distributed. The. appearance of the tree would denote this as being its age, allowance being made for its quicker growth- in New Zealand than in the Old Country.

A horse's mouth is easily opened for examination by introducing a finger by the side of the mouth into the space between the nippers and the molar ;teefh, when he will move his tongue, to get quit of the finger, and show as much of the nippers or lower teeth as to see what you want- Sulky horses require to have, their lips held asunder, j and vicious ones will strike out with a fore foot when their mouth is..me*ddled with. !A cow's: mouth cannot be examined without first holding her nose, and it can only be done by Stratagem. Some have a way of curling up the nostrils when held, that their pressure against the holder's fingers renders- them powerless ; but, a steady pinch of the thumb nail against the septum of the nose -will make any cow give way.

Crops in the Auckland Province — If what the local papers say is true, the harvest through "^ the Auckland province will be alriv;s."a complete failure this year. The * Bay of Plenty Times ' of a recent date says : — lt is with very great regret that we have to announce the almost total destruction of the wheat crop in this district. In, the early part of the season there was every promise of an abundant yield, and the expectations of farmers ran high. The incessant rams experienced during the last two months, however, worked sad havoc On several holdings in this, neighborhood cattle and horses have been turned into the fields, the returns not being, calculated to recoup the cost of reaping. We learn from a gentleman who arrived from the coast yesterday ' that a similar course has been adopted by many of the natives residing along the coast, and that there is every probability of great distress among the several Bay of Plenty hapus during the coming winter. Great fears are also -entertained for the safety of the potato crop, which the floods througliou't the Bay of Plenty are calculated to have materially damaged. Altogether the agricultural returns are reduced to a minimum, The * New Zealand Herald ' of February 4t_i, compares the different state of affairs of the Auckland and Canterbury provinces in the following words': — While we are hearing from atroose every part ot onr own province of entire or partial loss of the grain and grass crops, from the continued wet weather, from , Canterbury we have accounts of an abundant harvest. Throughout the province, oaits will average 36 bushels per acre, wheat 30, and barley 28. But for the unseasonable Tains of the last few weeks, the crops in this province would have been con--siderably aoove the average. Bone Dust for Poultry.—" Agricola," in the ' New York Tribune.' says that ** a. j hens, turkeys, geese, and ducks, are not provided with incisor, canine, nor molar teeth, it is folly to feed' bones to them unless the hard subrstances;,aTe first -reduced to; small fragments.^ Fresh/ bories- are valuable feed for poultry of any sort, provided the " fragments are so small z that the j birds can Jswallow them. , Cnce in .the crop i of : a fowl, r bits ot bone : ;will soon ibe

j changed into soft and- palatable! food. IQur pwii practice; .rip ; to have aldish in the kitcheri' specially jo receive the -hones -that 'ia.. puirchased- w_th the! beefstake, m_£ton r -and. other meat. 'Then

every day these -pieces are taken to a \ chpjjpjrig-blocl^ !and /w^thr £n '- olid: axe, having Vsharp ontting edge, they are :or^hed_-'^tk-the..iheaa.c^.;tl)e^xJ9jrad_ cut into pieces riot larger than .kernels ofLndian corn,, tlie fowls devour! them with^.kyenbus appetite. Bones are worffi more -tb-feed fWjs than the! same. >:ffu_h_b__^df ol* prime grain." For' a. chopj.ing-block a small log about two ;ffie.t long, with square ends, is placed on one end, as tiie end of a block is far;

-bett_rfor._u._h a purpose/than the side ..ot aJog^., .Bones. are^usuaU^qast pu^of, "back dbo,r br.ln agar lj>aje ; jb~arret to feed worthless dogs • but ' if v prepared ' fbr fowls as suggested, every pound is worth two.or-three cents, which will be returned geperopsly in the form of luscious eggs arid juicy meat for the Itable.i