Notes and Gleanings.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 245, 10 March 1888, Page 5

Notes and Gleanings.

A Rabbit Exterminator.— Reporting on the public trial of Stenhouse and Smith's rubbitexteiminatov held abDungree station, Awatere, Inspector Blundell says : " I look upon the trial as being an entire success so far as it went, and I believe the machine can be used to advantage on level country where labbits burrow and the natural enemies have not been turned out. It is well-known that a very small percentage of of the rabbits live in burrows, and as it is | only these that it can destroy, the machine cannot lay claim to be a rabbit exterminator, and I do not for a moment expect that the sheep farmers will adopt so suicidal a policy as to use it when they are going to heavy expenditure in introducing and breeding the natural enemies."

To Produce Lean Pork. — The pig ia ! specially disposed to become fat ; when, therefore, the production of more fleshy pork ie desired this tendency must be counteracted, and this may be accomplished in two ways : first and foremost, by devoting strict attention to promoting an increased development of the muscular tissues, which is to be obtained by exercise. Simply speaking, one should seek to adapt the rearing and care of the breeding stock, ac also the young animals, somewhat mote to the animal's natural mode of life. With a strict carrying out of this mode of procedure constant exercise in the open air and a lees exuberant style of feeding ; with the substitution of such kind of food «c contains the most suitable nutritive conditions' for the formation of albuminous matter in' the muscular tissues, it will be possible in several generations to transform the present race, with its strong disposition to accumulate fat, to that of a fleshier race.

1 Wrinkles and Quality of Wool.-* Not long since Professor McMurtrie, of the Uni veieity of Illinois, read a paper before the Illinois Sheep Breeders' Association upon the structure and strength of wool. Speaking with reference to the characteristic wrinkles of American Merinos, he said :— ■ " In the examination we have made, very considerable attention was given to the fineness of fibre upon the top of folds in the Merino iskih, as compared with that pro* duced upon smooth «kin. In the former we find many fibres more or less resembling hairs, and the averages of all samples show the fibre to be much' coarser upon' these parts than else whet c—oftene — often as coarse as the fibres of the ordinary coarße woolb. The introduction of such wide variations in the quality of the fibre. raises the question, thatit.seems difficult for breeders to decide, can the disadvantages be counterbalanced by increase in weight of the- fleece due to the wrinkles or folds ? There is at any rate no question of the following fadtB<t i. Wo6l from the tops of wrinkles is much' coarser than that' from i between them and from* smooth; skin. i ; , 2. /The > coarser : fibres are aboufc,^ coatee asthe ordinary coarse wools? 3. f , ,The /fibre*' niceAhiore or 1 lesV 1 'hajry^aire stiff ana- harsh, ' lacking in^pliability, ;r and < hence, undesirable ' in tine 'gdbds.'^&JThe' wool .upon the wrinklesas much';leeß dense, and' is, shorter than that on smooth skin. There may be cohditions'of breeding, efac'h: as hardier' conatitution, heavier fleece/etb:,; that muflt!be-taken into consideration in tihe; improvement of 'commoh fldokrf,- r bufi.ithe' iresultSf just idescribed'' ( fehow* that''W^efs < •of.finewools shodldßeriouBiy M 'COn»iderth*; deairtbility . ot excluding fromVtlicir flock* : ; these greatly wrinkled animals,"

Short Wheat Crop in Canada.— lt is doubtful whether Canada has grown enough wheat) for her own consumption this your. In Manitoba (says a Home paper) it has been estimator! there will bo a surplus of 6,000,000 to 7.000,000 bushels, but the deficiency in Ontaiio, compared with the average produro of the last five years, amounts to nearly 11,000,000 bushels, while the quantity grown in Quebec is even less than usual. During tho eeven financial ars ended in June 30. 1886, these grosy oxpoits of Canada were 52,579,707 busheis of wheat and 2,952,354 Lartoh of Hour, while the imports for the same period wero. 31,859,692 bushels and 2,948,530 harrols. Tho net oxpoits for the period, all reckoned as wheat, wero 19,759,311 bushels, or at the average late of 2,822.759 bushels rer annum, which is considerably less than the deficiency for the cm rent year. From these figures ir seoms likely that Canada will this year be a wheat-impoiting country.

Tin: Hiissian Fly in England. —In a recent issue we colled attention to the c*tablibhmcut of this dive plague in Cheat Britain, and meed the advisability of Home legislative action being taken to guard aguinbb tho introduction of the pef-b into New Zealand. With a view of keeping our readers' attention alive on the subject we quote the following irom an English paper of recent date :— lt ye do not wake up soon, and devise come concerted plan of action to eradicate tho Hessian Fly, it will bo proving itself our waster with most disas- | trous plainness. Miss Onnerod, tho able entomologist to the Royal Agricultural Society, has for some timo past been endeavouring to convince us of the danger and the strength of this tiny foe. Tho. fly and the chrysalis were both seen in England last year in a few ibolated instance", but tliis year reports are coming from several parts of England and Scotland, including districts in Suffolk, Herts, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Hants, and Perthfhirc ; in Herts especially the attack is reported assevcie. Whoa an attack of this description, which was only talked of in one or two places last year, broaks out almost like an epidemic *o suddenly as this, otic may well be alarmed for the future, and there i:r> little doubt but that we may soon be in as serious a position with regard to this grain pest as are the fanners of Canada and the States. When it once gets a footing its ravages aie infinitely more costly than those of any insect depredator of which we have hithetto had experience. The turnip fly is comparatively innocuous and unoffending, because we can sow our turnips again if they happen to be devoured, but we cannot sow a second grain crop, if the first is destroyed when almost lipe. The only approved remedies are to plough in the stubble immediately after harvest, and so bury the crysalids, or to burn the stubble and then plough in the athe 3 . Nothing can save an infested crop. All cavings and dust from under the thrashing machines should be burned when they are found to contain theerysalids. By taking a little trouble now a very possible loss in tho future may be minimised.

Making the Best Ma> t urk.— -The prevailing idea now is that only cheese-paring economies can postpone the final and utter extinction of farming,and therefore economy in the use of farm dung is a very fitting subject for a note. It &;eras that the very valuable information on the lospcp which dung undergoes by exposure, which the late Dr. Voelcker contributed to the 17th volume of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of Enyland ie not neatly co well known as it should be. Progressive tenants and landlords have, by the introduction of covered yards, already cflocted a great saving of the most valuable and most easily lost constituents of dung. In modern farm homesteads the trickling rain no longer robs the manure heap of its fertility. The urea, which is the chief nitrogenous constituent of the manure, is not permitted to decompose and disperse itself through the air in the form of volatile carbonate oi ammonia. The goodnes* in, so to speak, bottled down, and the whole bulk is induced to ferment and decay until it is soluble, and in a fit condition to apply to the land. Bub many an intelligent man, through carelessness or throTfgh ignorance, recklessly throws away the fertility which cost him a pretty penny when he bought it in the form of cake, entirely because he leaves the newly-made manure in the rain. No sane man would put his bags of nitrate of soda, or his heap of guano, in the rain to spoil, but too many sacrifice the farm dung in the came fashion.

The Rabbit Difficulty.—" Those who live in towne," says the Oamara Mail " know but little about this rabbit difficulty. They do not realise adequately that there are tracts of net overfertile country in which rabbits are almost masters of the situation, and would be quite, but for a large annual expenditure of public and private money. The question is the most serious one with which colonists have to deal, and it ie appreciably touching our pockets by the diminution in the circulating medium that it is occasioning. But, even if we settle the question of who is to pay to abate the Nuisance, what is to be the death agent ? Some blind scientist suggested the introduction of pneumonia, but the Lancet denounced the suggestion and applied to it theaxiom, ' Uunse£, like chickens, come homo. to roost,' meaning that the experiment would endanger human life. Now Pasteur ie sending chicken-pox miorobes to Australia and Professor Watson. prefers the itch. It behoves the colonial authorities to be careful what they are about, or. they may introduce something worse than the rabbit pest. "