AGRICULTURAL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 165, 6 April 1871, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL.

HOW TO NSCURS OOO') O ITS FOR Seed. — A correspon lent of tbe "Country G-ent l mm " wi7s : — ' Place you" oats in a heap on tbe mi Idle of the t'lresbin^ floor, on tbe end that the wind blows to. G-Jt you a milking stool and a small scoop— your wifo's flour scoop wiil do— and throw the oats, with a s'i^bt turn of the wrist, to the other en I of the floor, .against a gentle wind. A little practice will soon enable you to throw it in a half circle and at the same distance. Sweep off now and then, if you have much, tbe utmost circle for seed, the light oats for feed, and the weed seel to burn. You will now have seed oats worthy to sow, without buying at five dollars per bushel. I have seen oats grow in Sweden until I was forty yea \s old, but I never saw a heavy crop where th j sc;ed was not selected as above."

A Nkw Method of Making Butter. — A singular method ol"o l " making butter has recently come into rather extensive use in France, based upon the lact that cream is changed into butter by being simply buried in the earth. The theory of this result, says the "Grocer," is not very intelligible, though the fact is stated to be beyond question ; and in Normandy and other parts of France, butter is prepared on a lar/e scale in this way. The process consists in phcin^ the cream in a linen baa: of moderate thickness, which is caie 'ully closed ; then burying the bag about a foot and* a half deep in the earth, and allowing it to remain from 21 to 25 hours. After the expiration of this period, the cream is found to have become hard, and it is then broken up by means of a wooden beater into small pieces, and sufficient water poured in to wash out the buttermilk. To prevent any mixture of earth, it is advisable to enclose the bag in a second 0113 of larger size and courser quality. This method of making butter saves a good deal of labour, and separates tbe butter more perfectly than the ordinary process; and it is said that butter thus prepared is of a more excellent, quality.

Measuring Hay Stacks. — To the height of ths eaves from the bottom of the stack, in yards, add half the height from the eaves to the top, multiply the sum by the breadth, and the product of that by the length ; this will give the contents in cubic yards. The weight per yard varies according to the description of hay, the state in which it wa,s got, and the length of time it has been stacked, some, being 6st. or 84lb. to the yard, and some old hay exceeding 1036. By -care" an obssrvation an almost accurate estimate of the weight may be arrived at. Wintering Cows. — A certain far-

msr carries the precision an:! exact routine of the counting-room, where ho has amisi3d a graat fortaas, to the farm, and what he knows is valuable, bscui33 he can give his knowledge in figires. For instmce, he siys he can winter a cow in ths bssS condition%nd at tb.9 greitst profit on this dailyration : — Flay, 151b3. j meal, 8 quarts ; carrots, 4 quarts. He fssd? about equal meals morning, noon, and nighs. Agricultural knowledge, like all oth<&F knowledge, without the press to^coih it into currency, is like silver or -gold in the lump. It may be pure and solid, but unless made into coin it will not p iss readily frorr hand to hand, and so benefit thj community b/ being circulated.

RsairDiES Against Rust iy Wheat: 1. Keep tbe land free from the seed of the parasite by weeding out every plant on whicn the formation of the spores of the rust becomes apparent on the outside, of the plant. Every such plant must be torn out, mowed down, or burned ; but on no ai count whatever should such plants be used for feed for cattle, as the undigested seeds of the parasite would be brought back on the land with the manure. (Besides the black rust tiken with water is very dwge.'.nis to ca f tte fesding on cereal plants, and under some circumstances death miy resu't from its use.) 2. After rust has made its appearance on a field, tbe grouu.l ou^ht not to bo ploughed for a year, but should remain fillow; itmijfnt be grazed, and the plants mowed down in time. 3. Lind on which tbe seed of rust has taken a firm hold outfit for several years to be- planted with roots, turnips, potatoes, peas &•*., crops which are not attacked by rust, as these plants do not supply the conditions necessary for the existence of rust. Very essential for the extirpation of the rust, and operating for that purpose, are also the following conditions: — 1. Sound rational agricultural management, which will produce healthy, sound, quickly growing plants, which are capa"de of offcjrinjr a much more successful resistance to the attacks of the parasite than plants which grow weakly, uneven, or too rank. 2. Selection of the best and heaviest seed corn, which, ought to be very often changed, according to localities. 3. Selections of such sorts and speci ilities of wheat as experience h is showed to resist strongly the attacks of the rust parasite. 4. Careful pickling «»f the seed with bluestone. The pickling should consist of Gozs. of blueston3 to four bushels of seed. Tie grain ought to be entirely immersed in the pickle from twelve to twentv-'bur hours, according to the weather. By these means all the spores of rust which adhere to the grain are destroyed. 5. In the neighbourhood of tbe land such varieties of the grass must be destroyed as might offer breeding gnmnd to the rust parasite.

Por.vroES. — The farm3r^£rotv3 y $ certain variety of potatoes year after * year, until it fails to produce the same zood crops it once did. He sends a lew bun Ireds of miles for new seed of/| the sime v.iriery, and it will at once, anl without adding anything to the soil, produce as good crops as it ever did. We have beard agriculturists deny the possibility of this, but wo think that most practical farmers know that this is tbe really the case. Yet surely the same variety of potatoes requires only the self-same elements. ■ P iere has been no other difference but the change. »So also in the tnitter of >n mure. People sometimes find benefit from phosphates 1 , or guano, or some other comnereial fertiliser. But in a few years it turns out to be no better than brick dmt; butany other kind of manure will have awoaierful effect. We knew a man who used to raise enormous crops in his vegetable garden which was an nu illy manured from his horse stable. It failed at last. Even weeds "seemsd to despise it. Ha changed from hors3 to cow manure, and aj[ uhi won lerful crops rewarded him. Ci^enically there was not much difference in the manure. The change was more than all. It is well to remember this as a general ) rinciple. Natu e'o.-esV<uang\ Then is i seeming contradiction, for we speak of the c.rtainity of Nature's laws. But those who know her best know that s^e has laws that seem contradictory. The same elements that makes fire largely mikes water, which is the enemy of fire ; and some of her most harmless elements will often unite to make her most deadly poisons. At any rate, constant as she generally is, we know she sometimes likes .a change. — "Exchange."

The " Wanganui Herald " is accountable for the following : — Pedestrians near St. John's Bush, on Sunday afternoon, witnessed a curious spectacle. The whole of the road for about two chains was covered with caterpillars, all heading in one direction. They had come out of a field of oats on the left hand side of the road, and were on their way to "fresh fields and pastures new." The oats bore palpable evidence of their depredations, the whole of the green leaves being eaten off, and had not the oats being too ripe still greater damage would have been done. A couple of ducks finding their way on to the road. came in for a good meal, and fast and furious they gobbled away; Several curious individuals surrounded tbe ducks and timed them, the result being, that one duck ate fifty-one 'caterpillars the first minute, and forty-seven the second ; the other managing j/Mfck. up forty-nine and forty-six, Mm '