MISCELLANEOUS.

Southland Times, Issue 1684, 3 January 1873, Page 1 (Supplement)

MISCELLANEOUS.

Pabasites Osf Poultry. — Powdered sulphur is the cheapest, handiest, and best thing yet discovered for killing parasites that infest poultry, and especially sitting hens. Many people complain that when their chickens are a week or two old, they droop and die, from the attacks of lice," which literally cover the heads of the birds. If examination is made earlier, it will be found that the insects have taken up their abode upon the chickens' heads while still in the nest, for they forsake the hen, preferring the chickens. But a remedy can be applied with little trouble before hatching begins. A week or so after the hen has been given her clutch of eggs, sprinkle them and the whole of the nest and the straw for a little distance around it with sulphur when the hen is off. The night following attend to the hen herself. Disturb her just enough to make her bristle her feathers, and then dusfc sulphur well down to their roots. Go over her whole body thoroughly, excepting the parts in contact with the nest, and lift each wing and scatter a pinch, and attend to head, neck, and tail. It would not injure the hen in the least, nor the chickens when they are hatched. Repeat the operation at an interval of a week (though perhaps one application may be sufficient), and in all likelihood you will not find the slightest trace of vermin upon hen or chicks afterwards. "Use two small handfuls. It coats little in either money or trouble. Tobacco*, snuff, grease, carbolic powder, &c, are not to be compared with sulphur for this particular purpose, and the best dust||bath for the hen is not to be relied upon alone.

Eenotating Crops. — All crops rich in nitrogenare renovatingcrops. Clover, turnips, peas, vetches, all contain more than threetimes as much nitrogen as maize. All the cereals, such as wheat, barley, oats, maize, and the grasses proper, are comparatively poor in nitrogen, and their roots are not provided with the power or means of taking it up in large quantities from the soil. There is no proof that clover arid other renovating plants take nitrogen from the atmosphere through their leaves. The facts all point the other way. And yet these plants do get a large amount of nitrogen from a soil that will only produce fifteen bushels of wheat per acre ; and from a soil that, when supplied with 751bs to lOOlbs more nitrogen per acre, will produce, without any other additional plant-food, thirtyfive to fifty bushels of wheat per acre. "Whatever the scientific explanation of these facts may be, one thing is clear : If we want to raise,- and continue to raise, large crops of wheat, barley, oats, and corn, we must devote a considerable area of our farms to the growth of clover and other renovating crops. And, so far as possible, these renovating crops should be retained on the farm. Sell the cereals, sell hay if need be, sell straw if you must ; sell anything rather than clover and other renovating crops. The object of raising these crops is to take up the nitrogen that is diffused through the soil, and concentrate it sufficiently for wheat and other cereals to get hold of it. It is poor farming to grow wheat and other cereals without rotating them with clover and other renovating crops. The nitrogen is in the ground, but the wheat cannot get hold of it until the clover has gathered it to the surface. Keeping Fbuits. — The following rules for keeping fruit are from the proceedings of the Eoyal Horticultural Society: — 1. As the flavor of fruit is so easily affected by heterogeneous odors, it is highly desirable that apple and pear rooms should be distinct. 2. The walls and floor should be annually washed with a solution of quick lime. 3. The room should be perfectly dry, kept at as uniform a temperature] as practicable, and be well ventilated, but there should not be a through draught. The utmost care should be taken in gathering the fruit, which should be handled as little as possible. 5. For present use, the fruit should be well ripened; but if for long keeping, it is better, especially with pears, that it should not have arrived at complete maturity. This point, however, requires considerable judgment. 6. No imperfect fruit should be stored with that which is sound, and every more or less decayed specimen should be immediately removed. 7. If placed on ihelves, the fruit should not lie

more than two deep, and should be used. 8. "Where especially clear and beautiful specimens are wanted, they may be packed carefully in dry bran, or in layers of perfectly dry cotton wool, either in closed boxes or in large garden pots. Scentless sawdust will answer the same purpose, but pine sawdust is apt to communicate an unpleasant taste.