THE FARMER.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1116, 23 November 1883, Page 4

THE FARMER.

Speaking of agricultural matters in New South Woles,, the Sydney Mail says :—The pastoral! districts are in that which may be, described as fair condition. The late rains are having effect, and stock are being moved from the droughty to the well-favoured districts. The Coast and central districts are pleasingly verdant, cereal crops being well forward, and- grass growing luxuriantly. As early as the time of Alexander II of Scotland, a man who let weeds go to seed on his farm was declared to ho the king’s enemy. In Denmark, fanners are compelled to destroy all weeds on their premises. In Franco, a man who permitsweeds lo go to seed, which may endanger neighboring lands, can bo prosecuted. In South Australia crop reports arc of, a much more favourable .character than last year. The hay hat vest commenced at the end of last month, and promised an excellent yield. Wheat is also looking well, rust - being comparatively little beard of. Referring to the different-seed wheat's,, a correspondent of. an. up-country paper says: “ The Californian wheat which was sown is not doing so well as the New Zealand seed. It has not stooled out at ■ rill compared to the wheat adjoining it. The New Zealand purple straw stooled splendidly in many places ; as much ns 85 stalks may.be counted from the one stool, and all of which has a very good sized head for wheat. .From the present aspect I wotild say, .Unit 15 or 16 bushels may be expected.” R • ■Sherirlivg is now in full swing in the western) districts of Victoria. ■■ It is reported' that: the clip is wonderfully good, both as regards quantity. «nd quality, and . promises to bo .the mostproductive obtained for many years. When harness-becomes rusty give a hew coat of grain black. Bi-fote applying this, Wash the grain side of the leather with potash water, cold, until all the grease is removed. After the leather is quite dry apply the grain black and then bib and tallow. This fastens the colour and makes the harness flexible and soft. Grained harness can be cleaned by a cloth moistened with kerosene, but should be immediately washed and oiled afterward. Washing harness with warm water and soap soon injures the leather. All varnishes, and blacking containing varnish, are injurious. In animals which have reached the age of three years, the horn has a ridge or ring at the. base, and a new one is formed every-;year below the old one; bnt the number of these rings cannot bo relied upon in estimating the age, as it sometimes happens that in an ; o ! d animal the rings are so blended that they cannot be counted. In young cattle the horns are thickest at the base, and taper to a point; but when the animal has reached either eight or ten years a narrowing often takes place at the base, obliterating several rings. —American Cidtivator,.

There arc about 4,000,000 farms in the United States. There are- five States each having over 200,000 farms, viz., Illinois, Ohio, New Y ork, Missouri and Pennsylvania. Who can calculate the ' added ' agricultural wealth, prosperity, and happiness of the nation that would result from a resolve on the part of a majority of the farmers owning these 4,000,000 farms to annually make some improvements upon the ways and methods of each preceding year? ■ More thorough cultivation, better improvements, and above all, better care of them ; better fences, better barns, belter stuck, better homes, more home enjoyments, more social gatherings, more family picnics, in which the help is allowed ; to participate; more products about the farm for the boys and girls to have personal interest in ; more good books and papers; more smiles and fewer frowns; more forbearance; less impatience; more pleasant words at borne; more time and sunlight in the parlour; and no room about the bouse or anything about the farm “ too good ” for father, mother, boys and girls to enjoy.— Ex. SWEET OR SOUR CREAM. A high foreign authority on dairy matters' expresses the following opinions in regard to this question; “ First of all, the cream must bo taken from the milkwbilc it is perfectly sweet. Twelve hours in summer, and twenty-four in winter, should be the maximum lime which the milk should stand before the cream is taken off. Many people will say that a great deal of cream would thereby be left in the milk. Then I sny, take a second skimming, but do not mix it with the first. Churn both separately, and then, judge for yourselves whether you do not get first-class butler from one and second or third class butter from the other. Another important point is the skill of the skimmer. Only cream should bo taken off the milk, and not a particle of skim milk with it, if yon can avoid it. Every drop of milk contains a certain proportion of curd—that is to say, unmade cheese; and this curd gives that rank flavour and strong taste which are characteristic of bad butter,.

“ Now, if we follow the cream, taken carefully off the milk after twelve or twenty-four, hoars’ standing, according to the temperature, let it be pul into a perfectly clean jar, well closed, and kept in a cool place free from bad smells. The cream taken off the next day in the same manner may be added to it, and so on, and the small farmer need not churn more than once or twice a week, and will make excellent butter if be takes care thus to get his raw material the cream—perfectly pure and sweet to begin with. Many people will tell yon that you ought to churn the cream while it is still sweet. My opinion is contrary to that dictnm, and I base it on my experience of the dairy practice in foreign countries, especially Normandy and Denmark. “ In Norman ly, most of the" farms are very small, and butter is made once or twice a week, the cream being skimmed sweet and afterwards ripened, as I haye just described, In Denmark,

on the other band, the dairy farms are generally very large, say fronv'so to 200 or 300 milking cows, yet even on those farms (he sweet cream is carefully ripened before it is churned. Now, ns Normandy sends us the best fresh jbutter, and Denmark sends us the best keeping butter, it is quite obvious that up to the present point the process of manufacture is the same in both cases. Let me formulate it ; The cream must be skimmed while it is perfectly sweet; it must contain no skim milk, and it must be ripened before it is churned. —Prairie Farmer.