Local and Genera.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 27 March 1913, Page 2

Local and Genera.

'Ilk l laud in this district is especially suited to the growing of horse beans. due fanner near Levin lias had beans grown in the same paddock fi:r live years in succession. and this year tlie crop is hotter than ever, the I jeans in places growing as hitch as lime loot. No manni e.-. e.cr been used. Shannon residents are invited \o attend a meeting to he lield in he publie library next .Monday, when a report and balance sheet, will be submitted in respect to Shannon Public Li hr U'.v. On the same occasion a committee will be elected lor the year 1!)]3-U. Ihe llaxmill at Poroutawhao formerly run by .McDonald and Hevan. and now owned by Hoss Brothel's, ol' !'ox tun. resinned work on Tuesdiv and will continue indefinitely. A« the. mill is a fairly one. the result to the district should be of marked benefit. hi oonne.-iioii with the destruction ■:i the luggage van on file Napier express. one lady, a visitor from Auckland. .arrived in great di.'tress, as her baskets and boxes contained dresses and valuables which she estimated at .just under CIOO. On making inquiries at the railway station, however. she was both astonished and delighted to iind that her luggage liad. by mistake, been left at Palmerston North, and had to reach iis destination safe and sound. On general pnnciples. every farmer is ready to admit thai cat lie need salt. Hut from a real, practical standpoint, going far enough to institute a regular system lor supplying it. a large proportion of farmers pay only irregular attention to :l. The Wisconsin Fxperiuuint Stalion went into this matter deeply and thoroughly to find the real necessity for salt. The lesult was that it was found thai when salt wa.s kept a nay from cows lor a longtime, say. several months, a condition of low vitality ensued, which, if continued too far. resulted in a complete breakdown. \\ hen salt- was supplied the cows recovered at once. Ihe time oi breakdown conies generally right after calving, and the best, cows showed this tendency the most. The experiment of bringing herring ova to New Zealand has failed, owing apparently to the extremely severe weather and the terrible ■•.tonus which ravaged the .British coasts during the second week in •January. .Mr Anderson, curator of the Portobello hatchery, accompanied ay Dr. Williamson, of the Scotch Fishery Hoard, was in Plymouth from ■January o till the date of the sailing of the Waimana. Writing on •January 8 to Mr G. M. Thomson. AT.P.. chairman of the Board, he says: "Jt Im.s blown hard ever since 1 got down .There l are two days vet. hut there is a big chance of missing the herring ova. as all the fleets are hung up. Wo are trying nil over the in.sido sheltered waters. Do not he too disappointed if a final lot•or states that I have to leave with■iiit the ov,a." The Waimana' arrived at Sydney on Monday. ;nid Mr \nderson telegraphed to the hatchM'y: ''Forty lobsters. 10 oralis, '200 'lat fish, no herring ova."

Some amusing happenings al the Gear Aleat Company's works during he filling of the boards by ''new -hum" butchers wevo told to our reporter, by a butcher lately returned io Levin for his holidays. Alany of the new men were put off at first through not being able fo find a reasonable excuse for cutting the -areases about. Not so one Greek 'isherman from Parainata. who went bo Petone and secured m hook: he had an excuse ready every time. He bad killed one sheep, and through being more used to scaling fish, did not take too readily to butchering. He cut the sheep badly about the kidneys, and when asked by the boss 'iow it happened said ho thought ; t must be a Southland sheep, ,and chat the kea bird had been tryii.g '■o get at the kidney fat! He had taken so long to kill the sheep thai the carcase was set and stiff, whereupon the "boss of the board" told 'lim he was not fast enough, but 'he Archipeliigian countered by say:ng the carcase was frozen, and was iust ready for export! What is more, he i« still-working there, and ; s getting handier with the knife.

Counsel (to witness in bandages): "Ave you married?" Witness: "No; I was knocked down by a cab last week." Mr R. ALeCallum, AI.P. for AYairaii, speaking at a social function at Christchureh. said lie felt that next session would lie conducted from a party standpoint on different lines from those of last session. Sir Joseph Ward would undoubtedly be offered the leadership of the Liberal Party, and under Sir .Joseph's guidance he expected to .see the party consolidated and to see it accomplish the work of an Opposition, that of criticism, in a manner worthy of it. He looked to the future hopefully.

Improvements on Oturoa property that should result in a marked increase in productiveness mre being carried out by Mr 11. Nicholson. Since September last he has erected a five-roomed house on the farm, and has been steadily at work clearing the land from its manuka and gorse growths. He hopes to have all the manuka on the flats cleared away by the end of next year, and two-thirds of it down by March next. He intends to use a medium swam]) plough for the work of turning over the land whereon the manuka has been cleared.

Not a pound of Canadian butter has been shipped to Great Britain to January 21. since Inst March, the Dominion Dairy Commissioner pointed out to n congress of dairymen at Kingston, Ontario. Farmers in that province, he said. have. 10(5.000 fewer dairy cows than in 1911. and this was due chiefly to the distressing scarcity of labour. Canadians consumed about seven million pounds' worth of milk and milk products more than they did 10 years ago. but while they recognised the importance of the home market, it was to be hoped they would share in international trade.

Now that the machinery for the printing of the Australian notes is arriving, no time is to be lost in putting it together and proceeding with the printing of the notes. It is anticipated that the first note will be printed next month. A commencement is to be made with ]0< notes, and these will be printed at tho. rate of 8000 a day at the outset, working up to about M.OOf) a day. The 10s note has a picture of the Goiilbitrn weir on the reserve side, and all the other notes bear characteristic picturos of Australian life and industry. When the complete series of notes is in use and the old notes disappear, the complications I bat at. present exist will be almost "iitirely removed, for banks and business people will have only one set •if notes to deal with.

An interesting account, taken from an American Consular report, is giv"ii of the way in which mangel tops are preserved in Germany for winter feeding. The method is described as that of taking out a kind of pit o feet or (5 feet wide, and 2 'Vet deep, and as long as Is required, but necessarily on dry. well-drained 'and where the water -will not lodge. When the roofs are pulled and topD'.'d the leaves are carted into the pit orcparod for (hem and trodden down. After the pit is full the tops are covered with in layer of straw, and on tins a covering of the soil that was ! brown out. AYhen the fops are treated in this way they nro kept until th»v are required for fodder in 'he winter, at which iinie the pit is ■tinned at one end and the tops are 'akon out as they are wanted, as long '■s the supply lasts.

Two Frenchmen are reported to have made .a discovery which may possibly revolutionise- the science of farming. They began by experimenting separately with small quantities of salts of zinc and manganeso. They used these curious minerals as manures. In both cases remarkably good results were obtained. The crops were increased by the salts of zinc and also by the salts of manganese. When, however, the two wore employed together, an extraordinary increase of fertility was obtained. Instead of getting, say. a hundred good sound roots in a given -.pace, the experimenters obtained 284. Great expectations have been roused throughout France by reason of these discoveries. The master of the school at Taringaiuiitu. near Tauniarunui, on resuming duties after last holidays, -was informed thai three of his .scholars were not returning to school because i bey had got married during the \acation (writes a Tauniarunui correspondent). They were native girls ivho had been in attendance only seven months, and during that time they had made surprising progress. as they had reached the second standard, although they did not know their letters when they began. They lived five miles from the school and v-et they never missed a day, wet or fine. They have married young natives working in tho Taringamutu Company's sawmill yard.