TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8204, 7 August 1906, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

Those who have the oauae of women's suffrage at heart (says f'A.8.0." in Public Opinion) cannot but regret the tactics that have been adopted by Miss Billiagton and her sister "suffragettes." The breaking-up of meetings and the creation of unseemly disturbances outside the residences of Ministers are methods that do not oommend themselves to anyone of common sense. Speaking at. the meeting of the Women's Liberal Federation on Friday, Lady Carlisle expressed the general feelicg when she said that she was profoundly shocked to see so-called women suffragists fighting the polios, and poor women brought from East End with babies in their arms to take part in the silly soufflle, and making an impertinent mockery of their womanhood.

Tbe Victorian Government Statist, in the "Victorian Year Book, 1905," just issued, dealing with law and crime, shows that a slight increase nas taken place in the business of the low*r Courts, but in the Supreme Court there was again a falling off in the number of writs issued and causes entered for trial, although tbe number of causes which actually „came for trial wp.s only two less in 1905 than in the previous year. Ttie divorces granted were less by 12, but there were 108 more insolvencies. The police in 1905 numbered 1,495,whi0b is rather more than 12 to every 10,0t)0 of the population. The only Australian State which h&s a lower proportion of police tnan Viotoria, is South Australia, with just two less to a proportionate number of people. In 11880 the number of persons convioted and sentenced in the Courts was 45 in every 10,000 of the population, while iu 1905 the number had fallen to 32, which is equal to a reduction of 30 per oent.

It is curious to note, says an English paper, how frequently marine casualties- occur in groups, bow—so to speak—there is a run on one particular species of disaster. At one time it will be nitrate ships that go badly, at another grain steamers will have a rough time; some years ago fires on cotton steamers were a feature of the Loss Book; last winter steam dredgers earned for themselves the bad opinion of underwriters. Now it is the turn of wool ships from Australia and i\ew Zealand. It is but a short time since the sailing ship Pitcairn Island was lost by fire at sea, for which disaster underwriters had to pay out something like £IOO,OOO. Next tbe s.s. Wiiimate was reported put'into Teneriffe with cargo burning. It was thought that the fire had been extinguished, but when she bad been three days out from the Canaries another outbreak was observed in No. 4 hold. This steamer has just arrived at Plymouth, and the captain reports that the wool consigned to London bad been smouldering off and on for ten days. The s.s. Perthshire was another similar case, and now we have the trouble of the s.s. Gothic, which also arrived at Plymouth with her wool cargo on Are, and which had to be beached and fllled before the fire could be extinguished.

News received by reoeut mails state that Mr William Dittmer, the Hamburg artistjwbo, during his stay of several years in New Zealand made a speoial study of Maori myths and Maori life, has arranged

for both a German and an English edition of (hiabook, "The Tohunga." The book ia both written and illustrated by Mr Dittmer. The illustrations, which I have myself seen (says h correspondent), are remarkable for cheir fantastic originality and beautiful line work,, A proof received from Germanj by • the last mail shows that they are being reproduoed almost like the original etchings. Ir? Germany the book is to be printed by the great firm of Breltkopt and Nertel, of Leipsig, the moat famous Arm In Germany. The English edition ia being undertaken by Messrs Routledge. Sir Joseph Ward was so im pressed with the book when he saw it in London that he at once, on behalf of the Government, ordered 200 copies of it. Judging from proof, specimens to band it will fce the moat interesting and artistic publication regarding Maori lore that has yet been issued from the press. It is quaintly conoeived and quaintly executed, the spirit of legends as carried out in the line drawings being quite unique.

Doubts have been expressed by some agriculturists as to the efficacy of the Bprde iux mixture as a blignt specific In this oounection it is or interest to note that Mr Henry Burrell, of Peilding, has this season raised a splendid crop of potatoes (Northern Star) totally free from blight, by using Bordeaux mixture, and adopting proper methods of cultivation. He planted forty acres of ground with eight tons of seed, and acting on the advioe from the Agricultural Depart ment he procured a "Strawson" sprayer from London. This fixes en tbe'.baok of ai dray, and requires two men to;work it. The crop was sprayed on December 12th with Bordeaux mixture, that is, 41b bluestone, 51b soda crystals to forty gallons of water. Two men sprayed ten acres a day, and sixty gallons of the mixture sprayed one acre, at a total cost, inoluding labour, of about 5s 6d per acre. As the plants grew stronger, Mr Buirell increased the bluestone to 61fc in place of 41b. In all he sprayed the crop six times, or once in every ten dajs, as near as the weather would permit, the last time being February 23rd. "1 Ra<v no sigpa of blight until about February Ist,'* sajs Mr Burrell, "when the leaves beoame spotted, but it did not spread down the stem, consequently tne tubers are sound and quite free from blight, and the srop is turning out fifteen tons to tbe acre. I am confident that it wbb the spraying whiob saved the crop, anrl I intend to treat the same next year, and start to spray as soon as J can see the rowß."