AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 5, 29 April 1893, Page 11

AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS

'A German agriculturalist claims to have solved the problem of preserving milk in a solid state for an indefinite period. He converts skim-milk into a powder which is soluble in four or five parts of hot water. Chicago salts down and exports 3,000,000 cattle annually, paying the growers 20s per 1001 b. A correspondent of the Australasian declares that shearing-machines, as at present' constructed, do not pay, and says his researches have revealed that machines can be made so that one horse-power will work fifty machines, and that they can be produced so that the cost to the sheepowner shall not exceed £5 per man, all ready to start work. The .Kilmarnock Farmers’ Society claims to be the oldest purely agricultural society in Great Britain. Among the original members were the Fail of Glencairn, Gilbert Burns (a brother of the poet), Thomas Lawson, and others mentioned in the writings of Bums. ■ Twenty years ago an agricultural estate in Essex, aggregating 555 acres, was bought for £21,000, and £5,000 was afterwards spent on improvements. The property was recently sold for £4,950 —a big drop. The imports of eggs and poultry into Britain in 1892 amounted to about £4,350,000.

Running a dairy without a thermometer is as inconvenient as running a household without a timepiece. The good workman must have good implements to produce the best results. An inherently lazy man has no. use for a small farm. More than anything else it demands a “ man of affairs,’’ eager to try, quick to learn, and with a knack for all kinds of work, Muscle alone will not accomplish the desired ends. There is a patriotic charm in fostering and admiring our native blessings. Trees planted about the home on the farm give a person a better standing in the community. They show energy and thrift. Their absence indicates narrowmindedness and a lack of progression.

The fruitgrower who uniformly grows the best fruits is the man who can successfully develop' a home market for the' same. Good fruit never goes begging for a market.. It is saleable anywhere. On the other hand, it is the - great quantity of poor fruit in every market that makes a glut, anfd.often makes low prices even for the best. The farnS may not yield big profits, but is there any other calling so sure to give a man a living ? Give your farm credit for furnishing you a home rent free and for a thousand and one necessaries and luxuries -which you would have, to pay cash for in a city.