THE FARM.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume III, Issue 297, 14 October 1881, Page 4

THE FARM.

WATTLE CULTIVATION. Mu. ,1. B. Armstrong, in an excellent letter to the editor of the Catdc.rbtmj Timex, recommends with much earnestness the cultivation of wattles as a new industry for New Zealand. The writer quotes figures at length, the result of which goes to show that the cost of thoroughly working a wattle plantation of 100 acres, allowing a fair margin for incidental expenses, might lie safely estimated at L7OO for eight years; during the last three years of which time a yield of upwards of 1200 tons of hark (for tanning purposes) would be the probable result. At tire low price of four pounds per ton the gross income would he nearly LfiOOO ; therefore after adding to the cost of cultivation the very liberal allowance of over LI ,500 for stripping and carting, the nett profit is set down at something over L 2500. The figures referred to are not imaginative on the part of Mr Armstrong, but (pioted by him from the report of Dr. Sehonhurgh on the Adelaide Botanic Darden. In his report that authority strongly recommends the cultivation of the wattle in ■South Australia. The trees require but little attention ; in fact it may be said that the cultivation of 100 acres of wattles would interfere only to a very small extent with the other duties of the farmer having the land at his disposal. Of the three varieties (the black, the broad leaved, and the silver wattle) Mr Armstrong recommends the. first on account of its being better suited to the. climate and soil of Canterbury, though in bis opinion the second is the most profitable variety, in places suited to its growth. After mentioning that wattles will grow in any well drained and particularly in loose sandy soil the writer describes the method of sowing as follows—

The ground should be ploughed about four inches deep in drills ten feet apai t. In the month of September the seeds should be dropped into the drills eighteen inches apart and covered not more than a quarter of an inch. After the plants have come up they should be thinned out to a distance of five'feet, and later on to a distance of ten apart, (treat care should be taken that the seed is of the true kind (acacia doeurrens, black wattle), and that it is sound and good, as wattle seed varies much in quality. Before sowing, the seed should be placed in hot Witter and allowed to remain for some hours. The fact that considerable attention is being devoted to the subject in different parts of Australia should stir up our agriculturists to make the experiment. Jt is'well known that the black wattle grows luxuriantly in all parts of New Zealand, though so far it has not been cultivated except as an ornamental f ree.

The following will bo interesting to horticulturists ; —A gentleman anxious to ascertain the effect’of transplanting by night instead of by day, made an experiment, with the following results : —Mo transplanted ten cherry trees while in bloom, commencing at four o’clock in the afternoon. Those transplanted during daylight slieil their blossoms, producing little or no fruit, while those transplanted in the dark maintained their condition fully. He did the same with ten dwarf trees after the fruit was one-third grown. Those transplanted during the night perfected their crop and showed no injury from having been removed. ith each of these trees he moved some earth with the roots. The incident is fully vouched for, and if a few similar experiments produce a like result, it will he a strong argument to horticulturists, &c., to do such work at night. A gentleman informed us recently (says the Tapauui Courier) that having a suspicion tint some oats lie was about to sow might contain obnoxious seeds, he took (he precaution to put the whole lot through the fanners—a tiling he had never done j before. The result was that from twenty I hags of oats he obtained half an American | bucketful of sorrel seed and other weeds, j This would hesuHieicnt to cover fifty acres, j and that easily accounts for the red patches often seen in a Held of corn, runners would do well to attend to this matter. An American Farmers flub, lately reported an experiment in more frequent milking, which we quote from The Si/rucuxc Journal,-. —“ The cow with which lie experimented dropped her calf when twentytwo months old, in February, ISSI, and | gave thirty.two pound s of milk per day with two milkings, ten days after the calf was horn. A change to llirec milkings a day was made, with an increase in ten days to forty-two pounds. The milk was set | by itself for fourteen days, and from the i cream twenty-one pounds of well-worked j butter was obtained. The feed was corn j stalks from which the ears had been taken I and green-cut bay, timothy and red j clover well cured in the cock, cut and j mixed together and ted three times a .lay, together with one pound of linseed meal and four pounds of Indian meal. Water tempered to (>5 degrees was given three times a day. He aided that Professor Arnold has stated that increasing the milking from two or live times per day will increase the percentage of cream from 121. to 171..”

We do not know just how the hotter is constructed, hut it is evident from the ollVets of handling it that the different fats of which it is composed have an arrangement is as deliniteastliedillereut parts of an vj and that hreaking this arrangement as fatal to preservation in the ease of globule as in that of the. egg. It is a matter, therefoie, of the lirst importance to keep the craiu of the huttcr sound it it is tube preserved any considerable length of time. To do tins churning must he done in a way that will not wear out tin: grain by friction, lmt evesy impulse made upon the cream should operate on all of it at once and alike. It will then all comeat the same time, and the granules will not lie broken, nor a part of them worn out while the rest are churning. The President of the Matau Agricultural and Pastoral Society (Mr. George ’lnglis) made some sensible remarks at the annual meeting of the society. Mr. Inglis said that it seemed to him that the mind of Unpeople in the district was that the society should take a step in extending its operations to include all the ilill’ercnt objects in connection with farmfng, . viz., shows, ploughing matches, bird poisoning, reading essays, and anything which may crop up : such, for instance, as the butter factory. If the society should see its way to take a step of this kind it would do away with a good deal of the trouble of holding public meetings, and selecting committors for the different objects mentioned. Mr. Inglis then suggested that a committee be appointed for the year, to meet once a month; ami every three months, or oftener, a full meeting of the society he held to discuss essays read at each meeting, or any other business that may come up. If a small committee was appointed to keep up the mouthy‘meetings, mil make all nriangements for other meetings, it would be su Hi - uiont ai a standing committee, and any member of the society to assist the emumi the in the work of the show or ploughing matches. Hu entrance fee ot LI for membership could he charged. It was resolved that the matter be kept in the hands of the working committee, and, if thought necessary, they could bring the society under the Agricultural Sovietfw