Agricultural and Pastoral.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1620, 16 October 1874, Page 393

Agricultural and Pastoral.

When to apply Lime.—A gentleman asks whether it- will do to apply lime in winter; Our experience is decidedly in favor of putting it on in winter. It is a singular fact that,cold water dissolves lime better than warm, The best season for getting; a solution of lime into the soil is during cold rains. It takes 700 parts of cold water to dissolve one of lime. Hence we must have the lime at the • surface at the time of the greatest rainfall. It is better to spread it on a frozen surface, because it will become dissolved beforeit sinks into the soil,» ..-..„„ .„,... Shoeing and Bleeding.—A farmer thus writes to the Clutha Leader :—A suggestion may be made regarding shoeing, which may be of service to the general blacksmith. As it is the object of the artist to copy and assist nature in all her operations in the animal economy, a simple hint may not be deemed obtrusive. The horse, in raising the fore-foot for extension the stress is put upon the flexor muscles—in particular the flexor2>f<ii«-jtcrfpmm, the tendon of which is inserted into. the.posterior pnrt of the os pedis, or boiie of the foot. The longer the toe of the shoe, and straighter, the greater leverage is required against the unyielding edge of the toe. By keeping the toe a moderate length, and turning up the toe of the shoe a little, it allows the foot to be more easily rotated, consequently less stress is thrown upon the flexor muscle and tendons, and more .particularly upon the tendon at that part where it passes over the navicular bone; it thus lessons the tendency to navicular disease, and if so affected this mode of shdeing will give great relief. Bleeding is the taking away a certain quantity of blood from some par-ticular-vessel of the body. The parts most frequently resorted to by farriers arej the jugular vein, the plate vein, the thigh vein, and,sometimes the vein at the toe ; small quantities may. also be taken from the palate and other parts. The utility of bkediug depends upon the following circumstances :—lf the horse stands much in the stable, is full fed, and has little or no exercise; when his legs are swelled, and his eyes look heavy, dull, red, or inflamed ; also when he is thriving, and rubs off his hair; and in all inflammatory fevers ; aud in falls, bruises, hurts of the eye, and strains accompanied with inflammation. . A horse should never be suffered to bleed upon the ground, but into a measure, in order that the proper quantity may be taken, which, in general, is from two to four quarts, according to size or strength, and habit of body. What Varieties come true from Seed ?—A correspondent asks the editor of an agricultural journal the question given above. He queries still further, and says —"An apple seed produces-an apple tree, but aßaldwin apple seed will not produce a Baldwin apple tree. Wheat of any variety produces the same 5 seed of a scarlet variety of verbena will not always produce its like. "Why this anomaly?" The "why" of the matter cannot,,be told, but a.few general rules may. be useful. Seeds of plants found in the wild state, in the native habitats, almost invariably produce a progeny identical with the parent, and many species, even after they have been subjected to Jong years of cultivation, never appear to change.seemingly in the slightest degree. Other ; species under cultivation quickly develop, varieties entirely different from the original, and become what is technically termed " broken." Thus the original species of our well-known verbena is indigenous to South America, having a comparatively small scarlet flower. From this, and probably some other species hybridized with it, we have the gorgeous and varied coloring of the variety of to-day. But it took many years to produce these', for wc can well remember in our early gardening i days there was no white, and the furore that .took place in the floricultural world when verbena tenicroides, the first white, appeared. j It was far from being an attractive plant, but the color, was novel, and single plants were sold by the florists of that time at a price tha't? would now buy a hundred. Theverhenaythen,' is one of the geniis whose species have giVen'uS innumerable varieties. The chrysanthemum/ dahlia, fuchsia, geranium, ' pausey, petunia, the rose, and many others, . are also' f amiliariexamples where the original species has■„'*broken," from what may be termed its., primary, condition.Jnto .every 1 changing variety..,! Thus changed it is probable that their seedswill never produce two! individual planfs.'exactlj- alike any more than two identical humariiaces or forms arcpro'du'eed. It is that all species of' auimalsand vegetables, under long years of domestication and 1 cultivation, would ultii mateJy " break " from '<the origiual type, though we know.that in somesnecies this tendency' sooner; developes than in others. It -1 is not to' bp/wondered:'-at 1 .that ! 'amateur h.n-ticulturisfs. arc \ puzzled at' what 'looks like inconsistency .in : naturer-Avhy she re.fuses to produce alvvays again tlio Baldwin apple or liarcripe peach, the,striped petunia . or the double carnation, yet gives back productions seemingly identical with the parent.

in ! corn or wheat, tomato or cabbage, or in.' flowers mignionette or alyssum. Seemingly-, for jit may be doubted if they, are identical, only that the variation is so, slightly marked th^tlt:escapes notice.. Many whose experience.in such matters" should.,have taught them.'jbetter are always confounding plants raised from ' cuttings or, slips with those raised from: seeds, and cannot see why the plant raised from the slip or root/ of a white dahlia, or the tree raised'from" the graft of a Baldwin apple, should be 'HiWays} identical with the pliant or:tree from ; 'which, they are taken; while the iseeds-taken{{from•• either Would not i produce [the; same.: • iAny cutting from>a root or,a branch, whether rooted itself or, [engrafted on, another, stock (except in rare cases,of sports), will be identical with that of the prgin.al'form from which.it was taken; in fact, it is only a separated part of the same plant;''while the phut raised from seed is a distinct individual. • '