Local and General.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 22 March 1913, Page 2

Local and General.

— —.. _ .U the Weraroa Kxpcriineiitnl I'arm this year I lie manager has plantid several dilfereiit kinds of in,it plants. including turnips. \\vde-. n.angidd-. kale :i:.d b> >t. Three small lots of the plants have been fenced off. and sheep turned in. This has been done to obtain an idea a> io what, rcols the sheep prefer. The first thing the -lieep at; 1 i.'li \va.-> llii , silver licet : next the inan--iilds. and hr-t ibe kale. After this t'le manag. r inieiid.- lo ;. : i,i i.i ,re ol these piots and then turn sheep in on each different crop, to see which food they do the best on. At present he has some lambs (which he lately purchased) on a plot ■of beet, and these animals will be weighed every week to mark their progress. There has always been an idea amongst fanners thai soft turnips were better than s\vede> for lambs, the theory being that swede:; would be too hard lor their younu; months, but at the Kxpenmenta! Kami this \ear the lamb.-; have ' eaten the swedes right out before even inaki'tg a start on the turnips: notwithstanding ilie fact that they are crowded into .a very small pen. and that the lurnips are not more than a yard away from ihc swedes. The returning ollicer for the .Muckley Drainage District (Mr Jl. K. Lodge) notifies that an election of live trustees will lie held on Wednesday. Dili April. The County Office. Levin, ha.s been fixed a,s the place at which nominations will be received for these offices ol' trustees, and the last date on winch nominations will be received will be Wednesday .'Sid April. The starlings have a strange habit in this district (writes The Chronicle's naturalist). We do not know if they do it elsewhere, but here, in the -summer, as at present, they may he seen (lying of em evening, in ihini.-- ; :mds. westwards io most. in the manuka on the sand hills: and in the'winfor they fly to the north and roost in the swamps. Tf seems strange that these birds should select tlie driest place in the sunim.'T and what is probably one of the wot:osf places in NVv Zealand as their sleeping ground in the winter, •Vt the Wriaioa J'.sjiei lnicnlid .'aim tin.-- \i ;w ihcre. i* an extensive, y.sleiii ol dr.iiiiing in ing carried out u the oiciiai d. I'Ih; lirain.s aL present are oj;ea. l.ut jir Dry.sdnle inormed a Chronicle reporter thai .hey nuclide:! laying pipes, lie .said ihey also intended experimenting with explosives and comparing the re.sulU and the cost. The ground is especially, .suited to the u.se of explosive.-* having a clay subsoil. A demonstration of loosening the ground with explosives for treeplanting wa.s given at the Farm on Wednesday, by Lieutenant-Colonel Loveday. A charge of I'oz of orupLito was buried in the ground at a lepth of two feet, and discharged. It blew a hole in the ground about .'ighteeu inches deep by about, three leet wide, and so loosened the ground that a walking stick could be pushed in for a distance of two feet without trouble. Colonel Loveday informed our reporter that eruptite cost just i penny per oz.