THE FARMER.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1113, 16 November 1883, Page 4

THE FARMER.

On light soil it will be found that a light dressing every year will prove more beneficial than a heavy dressing less frequently applied. Sandy soil will be benefited by dressings of clay and muck, and clayey or mucky soil by applications of sand. Some of the most productive grass lands have- been brought into that condition by applying a heavy dressing of three or four inches of sand to mucky .soils and then seeding to grass. When the grass roots fail, it will be necessary to reseed, but as long as the grass roots are in good condition, top-dressing- will prove very beneficial. By the frequent application of dressing to the surface of onr grass lands a scurf will be formed which will be of great advantage in resisting the ill effects of drouth, and the production will be increased.

Dug in fair weather, potatoes will soon become dry, and when they are so, they can riot be gathered up and put into the shade too quickly. Exposure to the sunlight very soon produces a chemical change, which renders the tuber unfit' for use. The starch is changed to grape sugar, the tuber becomes green, loses its crispness, and when cooked, is neither mealy nor agreeable to the taste. * If dug early, it-may not be best to store them in the cellar at once, lost they gather moisture and rot. They may be spread in a cool shed or barn and covered with straw, until the weather becomes cool enough to put them in the cellar with safety. The shrinkage on potatoes between the time of digging and the following spring, amounts to from ten To. twenty per cent, and this should be taken into account in marketing them. The best lawns we ever had, says the American Agriculturist , were sown with “ Kentucky blue-grass ” and “ Rhode; Island bent” (a variety of red-top). In both cases, a small amount of “ white clover” was added. For strong soils the former, and for light and sandy ones the latter, will no doubt give satisfaction. In buying grass seed for a lawn look well to its quality. Some seed of “Kentucky blue-grass” (the same ns “ June grass ,? ) sells for twice the price, of others, and is worth four times as mvich. Chaff does not always cover seed, and the samples should be carefully inspected. The advice to use from three to eight bushels of seed to the acre is founded upon the uncertain quality of the seed. Probably four bushels of fairly good seed would be ample. West Andover, Ashtabula county, Ohio, is said to have the largest creamery in the world. It works up the milk of 1500 cows daily.

Now oats are not good feed for horses. They relax the bowels, and often, if the change from old to new is sodden, the valne of the oat ration is almost entirely lost. As they shrink a good deal in drying, the old oats, though nominally dearer, are usually cheaper, as well as better feed, than the new crop. Many farmers mix red and white wheat for sowing. The plan is not a bad one where grain is sold to mills or kept for family floor, but when sold to shippers one kind only is better than two. The advantage of mixing is that in some seasons the white and in others the red yields best. If there is any difference, the more productive wheat will gradually run out the other. In a bad season the red wheat is safer to produce a crop, and, as it brings a higher price, its sowing is gradually taking the place of the white varieties.— Boston Cultivator. BUTTER PRICES IN ENGLAND. From the latest issue at hand of the Farm®', published in London, England, we get the following quotations of bntler in that city : Home counties, fresh bntter, per dozen lbs, firsts, 15s (3dol 63sec); seconds, 14s; thirds, 12s. West of England bntter, firsts 14s, seconds 12s, thirds lie. Irish bntter -—Carlow firsts, f ob, per cwt (112 Ibs) free of duty, 106s, Cork, firsts landed, J 10s ; seconds, 99s ; thirds, 935. Friesland bntter, 310s, Normandy, 310s. Jersey, 965. At Liverpool the prices at the same lime for American I choice creamery was 92s @ 102s. I SWEET'Oft SOUft ORB AM.- , ‘ . Says a writer in the “TherVj is ft difference of opinion current ar the quality of bntter made from i sw ’ eet or soar cream.. It is nnfortuna' e opinion is so easily 'influenced ag j g j among those persons whose ’j US *i ness jt j is to inform the public throo g h the press, * and that', consequently mischief is frequently douft by . . misleadrriF those . who be instructed. , are persona w ho never made a pound of hnttor, 'who will write with j great authority up-jn such a subject as . this, which is important, because it affects the market value of the bntter ; for sweet cretin bntter sells at a lower ! price than that from sour cream. ■ Now, the fact is, ns it appears to the writer, who is and has been es- ■ gaged in bntter making for some years, I that sweet cream bntter is deficient in flavonr, and that while it will acquire flavonr in a few days, yet th® flavour is not the true butter flavonr,. but is due to the products of decomposition, which] comes on very rapidly, and will spoil tbo s bntter ift j* week unless it is highly/-j and,preserved with care; while-1 bntter from cream that has been wpehedijl into acidity will have 'the aromafefcj sweet;. ! and peculiar nntty flavonr which gives* to it its valne, and which wiilheontinne fopa considerable time, ht is ranch as the flavonr of a fruit is. developed by its natural ripening, while a fruit plucked before it £s ripe does not ripen at all, but decays.**