Farm and Garden.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 95, 14 August 1908, Page 4

Farm and Garden.

Soiling wi'li brine avoid:- the risk of having streaked butter. Six big American agricultural implement makers have con'.bimd together to get control of the Russian market. The earth is like a lampwick, full of pores, and the moisture is drawn up by the sun, as the flame draws up the oil. Leaving the ground open and. rough promotes the escape oi moisture ; closing up the top with fine dirt closes up the pores, so that the moisture cannot escape. It is not necessary to keep a large number of sows to supply alb the pigs needed for feeding on a single farm. Sows should raise on an average eight pigs to a litter. In Paris the authorities are going to build a Palace of Agriculture as an agricultural centre for France. It is to be a building worthy of the importance of the industry. It is a mistake to think that any land, no matter how rich it might have been in the beginning, can be cropped year after year and not show signs of loss. Continual growing of any one crop on the same land will in a short time bring about a diminution of yield. Onions require rich soil, and it is important to see that they are kept free of weeds, especially at the start. The art of landscape gardening is included in the curriculum of most of the leading universities of the United States of America. The apple has more phosphoric acid in easily digested shapes than any other fruit, and forms an excellent food for those engaged in much brain work. A good many farmers consider oats a dangerous feed for chickens, believing that the sharp, pointed hulls will damage or even pierce the fowl's craw. This is usually a mistake, although, occasionally, where very stiff or hard pointed oats are used trouble may be caused. People would eat large quantities of apples if they realised what a splendid food they are. They excite the action of the liver and promote sound sleep. The earnings of a cow are simply interest or dividends on so much invested. Good milking is of great importance for it develops the milk-secreting organs. It is a safe plan to discard all cows that naturally develop undesirable traits. Much of the bad flavour in butter is due to the over-ripening of the cream. A poor process of manufacture will spoil the product from the finest cream ever collected from milk. The best milkers are those that are loosely built from last rib to hips and roomy in the flank. A cow with good digestion will ensure profit to the owner, It is a mistake to omit the morning milking during the time of scant production, as some farmers do, as it invariably results in still further and permanent loss.

Beekeeping for Farmers. All farmers ought to keep a few colonies of bees. But the bees must be managed so as to give little trouble. For this I suggest (writes a Californian apiarist) a large hive, as the Dadant, Jumbo or Draper Barn, arranged for producing extracted honey. The frames in the brood nest must be provided at the start with full sheets of foundation to avoid over-produc-tion of drones. The surplus apartment, or top floor, can do with only starters in the frames, that is, narrow strips of foundation, instead of full sheets. No honey suould be taken out of the brood nest, but that in the upper story can be appropriated. If possible it should be extracted from the combs, and the empty combs replaced in the hive. If not, the honey may be cut out, comb and all, and used that way, leaving a strip lin wide along the top bar to start the bees again. In the autumn see that there is plenty of honey in the brood nest. If not feed with sugar syrup or honey. Protect the hive against the winter cold by packing well around them, or put them in the cellar. I prefer to put them under an open shed for protection against rain and cold, putting plenty of straw around them; but where a large number is kept the shed method would be too expensive. Swarming, with bees according to the common custom, is a great drawback, as it occurs just when the farmer is busiest with the most important work. However, here is a way to manage without much trouble. Have a queen trap adjusted to every hive, making sure that there is no hole in the trap bigenough to let the queen escape. When the swarm issues, the queen is caught in the upper part of the trap, and the swarm returns to the hive. As soon as possible destroy the queen, or take her away if they want to use her elsewhere. If left too long in the trap she may succeed in getting back in the hive through the entrance in the trap. To catch a queen throw' a cup of water over her, or plunge both trap and queen into water. A wet queen cannot fly and run fast. Replace the trap carefully. A few days later the colony will swarm again, with a young queen just born. This time the queen is not removed, but put back in the hive. The hive is opened, and alllthe queen ceils destroyed. The trap is now replaced, because some queen cell mayhave been overlooked. In that case swarming would occur again. If in the following three or four days, no swarming takes place, the trap maybe removed to let the young queen come out and mate. If the weather is bad, the removing of the trap should be deferred until after two or three days of good weather. Keeping bees by modern, advanced methods is like raising chickens with an incubator. If one knows how to manage the incubator, doing the right thing at the right time and in "the right way, he will succeed; if not, he will fail completely.