FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 164, 17 December 1914, Page 6

FARM AND DAIRY.

INTENSIVE FARMING. That the working people of England fully appreciate the opportunity which gardening gives of obtaining a supply of vegetables and other produce for home use and for sale is shown by the fact that there are throughout the country S(!(),0l)0 allotment gardens under one acre, and there would be-far more if land were, made available in the neighborhood of villages and towns not at present served. The Field states that in Hampshire there, are scores of men makC3O an acre from strawberries. In one case a six-acre corn field which did not pay was cut up into quarter-acre allot- | incuts, and now returns a rental of £3! i , per annum, the value of the fruit and I vegetables raised annually being £4OO, I These allotment fields -are Tjy no means ! things of beauty, in fact, they disfigure j the landscape, especially when sheds • and other rough structures are dotted over them, but thev increase the comfort of many homes, and all'ord the people n means of spending their spare time healthfully and profitably. PROFITABLE ROADS. The United States Department of Agriculture reports'that 100,000 dollars spent to improve roads in that country in 190!) had in two years been the influential factor in increasing, by 45 per cent., that country's freight shipments of j agricultural and forest products. In the two years.dairy products increased over 140 per cent., largely due, it is said, to better road conditions. In addition to increasing that quantity, it is estimated that the cost per ton mile before road improvement was 20 cents, and after improvement it was 12 cents, the total ] saving in one year being 41,000 dollars. In other word's, the country's investment of 100,000 dollars returns a divi- | dend of 40 per cent, annually. In another { part of Virginia it was found that the size of the load was doubled and the time to market shortened by good roads. : Because this saving does not take the ■ form of cash put directly in the farmer's ' nocket, there is a widespread tendency to believe it is a fictitious profit, while, . as a matter of fact, it is just as real ' a source of profit as an increase in the . price of wheat—it cuts down the cost , of doing business. English journals are giving much siie.ee to the question of the probable losses incurred by nursery and seeds- '. men, bulbgrowers fruitgrowers, and ' others connected with the cultivation of .the soil, not only in Germany, but \ in France. Holland, Belgium, Great Britain and elsewhere. The seed trade of

Germany has been of great proportions. Immense quantities of flower seed;} grown bv such noted firms as Ernest Benary, Haage, and Ssmidt, Ileinemaim, Dippe, and Lorcnz are sent to England, America and to Australia. The. catalogues of these firms may be found in many New Zealand seed shops, and in the hands of private amateur growers of -: plants. The German-grown asters, [stocks' wallflowers, phloxes, and many ''•other popular plants are considered to U>e of superior quality to tiiose grown \*.n Great Britain. There are some very 'large nurseries in Germany. That of - Spath's, near Berlin, is probably the largest in all Europe. For many years pajsit the German flower farms have grown larger anl larger. Many of the scions of the prinicpal seed firms in England have from time to time been sent to Erfurt or to Quendlinburg for

a probation, in order to learn things about the seed-trade which could not be learned at home. Not only has there

in seeds, plants, and trees, but in gurbeen a large trade done with Germany, deuing accessories, llower baskets, jardinieres, etc., the business done has been very great. '