FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume I, Issue 34, 26 September 1896, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

A Potato Test.-Willi the idea of demonstrating what sort of potatoes are best adaoted for growing in this color-, y the Normandy (I'aranaki) Horticultural Society is endeavouring to procure samples of s.'cd from tho different parls of the woild. The Agent General was oomrnuniVited with, and he has now replied that, in response to a circular which ho sent out. i number of prominent English seedsmen have undertaken to forward samples to the Normandy Society, which will have lo be planted, and the product exhibited at its March show, and the result communicated to the donors of the secel. x x x Tin: Moxr,Y Tjikrk i* is Exroirnsfi RABIUT3.— That there is money to be made by exportim,'rabbits is proved by recent experience in Victoria. At the halfyearly meeting of t'tic Hamilton 1 reserving Company, a satisfactory balancesheet was presented. The sales realised .£20,112, nearly £IO,OOO was paid away inwnges, £OOOO odd for material and export charges, and a profit of £2202 was shown : 9(30.000 rabbits hid been dealt w-ith. The directors recommended a dividend of -2s on the 10s shares, with .CjOO carried forward to the reserve fund, rtoOO set apart, for cooling chambers, and £2OO to the trappers as it bonus.

pASTBEURISINfi ArTUANeT.s.— Pastcunsing appliances were in strong force at the recent Royal Society's show (England), held at Leicester. A large numberof both pasteurisers and sterilisers were shown. According to exhibitors, the machines entered as sterilisers were intended to destroy till bacterial growths by heating the milk to 2P2eteg Fahr, or slightly more : while the pasteurisers stopped at a, temperature of about ].".() deg Ivhr to lliOdeglvhr., at which heat the germs of such diseases as consumption tire staled to be destroyed. A considerable amount of ingenuity was shown in the construction of'thesc machines, and the cost of the different forms of apparatus varied from CIS 10s, to 17:? 10s according to gallon capacity of working.

PasteubisatioX —We cannot all'orcl (writes the Melbourne Leader) to lag much longer behind Dcuoiaik ami other leading dairying countries in the latest developments. Wc have already described the advai.e s made connected with the priccss of milk pasteurisation forlowed by the use of a cultivated ferment. From the Pritish Medical Journal wc nenv learti that Professor Conn's bacillus No. 41 is bdug applied very extensively in America, and, from all accounts, with n-rcat sueci.ss. At the biological laboratory at Long Island, New York, it is being cultivated with the view of supplying it to the dairies and butter factories" of the neighbourhood. Itapplication to butter making hns b»en atVended with great improvement in the industry, a.id is described as revolutionising the'biisiness, its introduction into the cream giving it a finer flavour and keeping properties. This is practical bacteriology, and if we want to keep our nualitv of butler up to such a standard as will command the highest London marlict prices we cannot afford to much longer ignore it.

Tiih CitiCAfto Catti.i: Yards and St,.u"<;hti:uin<; Kstaumsiimexts.—Thus writes " l'ruui " in the Australasian : " A friend who has had many years' experience in live stock io Victoria has lately returned from an extended ramble round the world. Among other places, ho visited Chicago, where ho stayed some time, and spent several days in the cattle-yards and slaughtering establishments. The pigs be saw brought to market attracted his attention more than any other stock. Ho describes them as being very much superior to the pijrs raised in Victoii.i and mostly of Poland-China breed. They are lengthy, deep pigs, excellent for making bacon, and have niiieh mote flesh moat to the fat than is usual with the pigs brought t) market with us. They wi re all curt fully graded, and tlo animals in each pen were as like each other as so tunny peas. The cattle he saw were av< ry mixed lot. About, one-fourth would be equal to ours, and the rest varied from inf crier to verv bid. The worst cattle are u-cd for i reservii g, and the workmen engage.l iti the business arc t-inguLirly expert iu cut ting off every particle of flesh from tbo bones. All the cattle nr* sold bv weight, and the seder takes care to give Lis cattiea good drink before putting them em the weighing machine. The sheep bo saw he describes as being of a very inferior description."

Small Faiimkks.—Misa K. Crossman in an article on " Farming iu Canterbury," writes :- -••The prospects of small farmers eeitaitdy are not bright, ii we are to believe their own Eccnuiit. A few years ago it paid well, and " gentlemen's farms "throve ; and now again things lie not as bad as they were a little while back. The risks, of course, are much the.' sum; all the wen Id over, intensified in New Zealand by the unsettled nature of the country and tho belief that ii does not pay t'o take the trouble Lvigiish fanner-' do. Put there certainly arc great compensations for the many drawbacks. JFor the average man or woman life on a pr. spcrous farm like s'jmo of those North Canterbury farms must be almost, as near an ideal as one can cxpicf to reach. There is plentey of hard work enough to secure health, and appetite, and that keen relish of life that Ihe indolent never know--yet there need nofbe incessant drudgery ; books, conversation tbo society of iK-itfhbours, ai'J even some artistic pursuit - music or painting—are not beyond the reach of the younger people. And though there is hard work, there are times of leisure which can scarcely be .secured amidst the constant interruptions of a town life. There is, above all, the sentiment of home—a permanent abiding place adorned, if not created, by one's own industry, full of associations and hopes. This s.-nfiment (of which xiost colonial householders have no knowledge) is of itself valuable enough to make up for many disadvantages

A SIIOKTIIOKN D.UJIY BhUOKD. — At IliO Inst nnuuiil uicetinpf of tlio American Shorthorn Breeders' Association it was decided to establish a dairy record, and a cownittec was appointed to deal with the matter. In the cour.se of their report the commute; states that the nver.igo butterwaking capacity of the milch cows of the United States." as shown by the most authentic rot-urns, is about 1301 b a year. According to a very high authoiity a cow that will not produce 2001 b of butler per annum cannot bo profitably maintained in a working dairy herd. A cow (lint will yield 2oolb pea- year is recognised everywhere as a profitable animal, judged hi rely from the standpoint of (he value of her milk. A cow, therefore, that Bomcs up to the 2001 b level and at the same time has the size and fleshing i-ipacity ordinarily found in the short hoi h must perforce be a cow that can be maintained at greater prolit than one whose value depends entirely upon her dairying qualities. Th'i committee tccommeud that a s ivcu days' test be made three months after calving. If a now then yields 7'721b butter in sewn c.onsecutivo days her probable capa-ity as a butter prodnci r lor a year in 2771 b, the a\crngo period of h.clalaioM )>• -iu-j e-|i-niited at N-| in.. nth-'. As tins is 771 b above the paying average, it. seems char that (he product bn of 111) a day for (even consecutive days will supply piima facie evidence that we have hi lea-t. a 2001 b cow. The recommendation is therefore made that only such cowh as reach or exceed Ibis average should lie employed to breed from for dairy purposes. I*he bulls should also be lho progeny of Usted cows, duly i ertilicd by Ihe a.-soii ilion. liycairying out these recommendations the association hopes lo to able to eslablisli UU ideal dairy Murk ol thol'ihorus,

New Zkalaxu Ciiksiiirk Chkkse. —A water in a recent issue of the Farmer and Crazier (Melbourne) contrasting the manufacture of cheese in that colony with tint in New Zealand, sees no reason why Vielorian dairy farmers should not produce as good an article as (hose in New /calami, lie advocates the manufacture of "Cheddar" and Cheshire cheese, and thinks that there will be no need for New Zealand cheese, the article referred lo serves as a warning to New Zealand divry fanners that the time is probably approaching when Victoria will be exporting large quanlites of cheese of good quality as well as of bu'tir. -!- -!• -IThk Victorian Stuck Tax : _ It Cuts Pack. —In the course of an article dealin <r with the hardships which graziers suffer under the Victorian Stock Tax, the Pastoralists' Revi-w mentions that with regard to sheep, Victorian growers in most districts are now of opinion that crossbreds arc more payable sheep to breed than Merinos, and of the former sheep, one of the most valuable, fmni its all round excellence, is the ha'f-brcd Lincoln, or, as it is generally and erroneously described by butchers and wool-buyers, the Comeback. To produce these sheep to perfection, the grower must have an even line of wellbred merino ewes ; and, as evenness of type, both in wool and carcase, is an essential point in the crossbred, the ewes used should be from one flock, and tint an even one. Before the imposition of the Stock Tax, the almost, universal custom of the Victorian farmer who desired to breed crossbreds was to get a line of well bred merino ewes from a good Pivcrina Hock, and if he linn selected even an absolutely pure Lincoln ram to put to them, the result was an even lot of half-bred sheep. 'I he trouble in crossbreeding from mixed lots of ewes is that the carcases vary too much to please the butcher, and the llecccs are too dissimilar to suit the wool buyer. + -I- -IFi;i:i>iNi; Dairy Stock.—A Tasmanian dairyman, -Mr Thomas Hogarth, of Invalidate Junction (.-ays the Atgux), had certain milk contracts in Launoeston which entailed keeping over '"() cows in full milk all the winter, lie tried various crops, such as mangolds and other roots, for a number of years, but has now come to the conclusion that rye cut "recn is the best winter food lotdairy cattle. The eows are turned into a crass field at 7 or S a in., where a good load of rye is waiting them in forkfuls ; at '2 or :! p. m. they have another load ; at 4 they went into the stalls for milking, whore as much hay as they could cat till mot-mag was already in the mangers. They went into the .stalls full of green stuff, and did not eat as much hay as a novice would expect. Mr Hogarth generally begins to cut rye c.irlv in May, when grass fails, and has it till grass comes, towards the end of September. The secret of growing rye is to summer -fallow the land, work into a tilth in September, and stir with a scarifier occasionally all the summer. By so doing the" moist tin is held in the driest of summers, and you can get a braird with the first autumn showers. Sow in weekly patches from third week in February till second week in April. Where a pasture containing clover can be closed for the season and cut for hay to feed with the rye, the milk is plentiful anil rich above the standard. There is less labour and more piofit in this plan, Mr Hogarth says, than any hw has ever tried. An aero of rye will carry three of four cows tl.rough the winter. + -I- -!- Thk Victoria* Cnor Pro*vi:cts.—Ths Leader of September sth. says. —"Our agricultural reporter, who has just concluded a tour through the Uoulbnru Valley and North-Eastern districts, finds that 'the present condition of the crops in those localities is not nearly so critical as in the Loddon and Campaspe district. a description of which waft given last week. Vegetation of till kinds is backward, but g'. od rains within a fortnight or s> wili s-mi ensure fair yields, the o.'ops being still healthy although pro-grei-siug very slowly. If the drought is prolonged during the present month, howover, the consequences must bo very serious, as, except in one put ion of the north-east, the Wungaratti district, the rains have not bven sufficiently heavy to soak- the subsoil, and for that reason there is no reserve l of moisture for the roots to draw iii'on, therefore the crops are bound to go ofr quickly as soon as the warm weathi r sets in (Jrass has not grown salisfactoiily durir.g the winter on sec unit of tlia pivpalei.ee of high wind- and frequent sharp fro»K while wat.'f for stock is already scarce in many places, and farmers are appivhonsivc of being reduced i > sore straits during the summer. A good downpour now would allay nil fetus, and if is to bo hoped that such will be experienced. The rains which fell so copiously in (heconst districts reached the wheat growing areas of the north in the form of light showers, which will bcin fit the crops in the sandy soil of the mallee, but will do little good lo those on the clayey soil of the plains. A distressing feature of the sc:.s>n is the heavy losses of dairy cuttle that have taken place. Farmers in the north have come to count upon mill; as a steady and ns-nred source of income, alir.ost every locality hiving its creamery or butter factory; bill instead of |.lio season being now in full swing, very little milk or butter is bi ing produced, and it will be a. very difficult matter for land owners to fill up (he gaps caused by deaths in their dairy herds. ABOUT THAT ROLLER. 1 went over to Tom Slade'.s lo look at it. Tom said Sam Steele had taken it and was using it, so there was nothing for it but ride on as far as the "Narrows. When I got to the farm I was I old all hands were busy diilling in the wheat. J rode to the paddock r.nd tied up my horse, which I found out afterwards was a silly preceding as the drill and harrows were working at the othir side of the paddock. The soil being soft and loamy madeitheavy going, nore especially for it f.it man. This cxtrlion caused the perspiration to just start.. 1 told Mr Steele 1 wanted to look at bis njw roller and write a ivporf on it or iiny tiling el.-e he had on the place worth reporting, lie said I could look at the roller as long as I liked, as for anything else he had nothing worth looking' at; as su.in as it was lit, to look at be thought it ,vas fit to sell ; he always found it did not pay a farmer to keep things to look ar. Whilst 1 had been speaking two horses had been changed, one from the drill— a white faced brute—and put into the harrows, tine? the one out of the harrows had taken his place in the drill. I did not know why they had been changed. '.'.Now J am ready," said Sam ; ho mounted his roilor that was fastened on to the back of the harrows. This roller was a hollow drum of wood, made of battens, with a triangular piece in front, a brace from each end meeting in front at. the end of a short pole with links, and a hook at the end to fasten on to the harrows, or a double-furrow plough, or the; bads of a drill. As Sam told mo to look, he started off quite lively at, about four miles an hour, that wdiite facet! Li nto pulling double at the reins, the otlur one nearly as bad, and I, like a blooming as. slatb-d to walk lifter them. When we •rot, mar II e other end I tried to put my hand on the seal, but somehow just as my hand was about to test, that blooming horse got away again, and 1 did not like to be too mix ions sodid one round like this, and wanted Sam to let 111'! try the seat and feel how it went. He said I had belter get Tom Slade to make mo one. and I could .-.it. on it all day. I would httvc liked him to slop for a minute—] was getting warm I can fell you. li' I got oil' I he track of the roller | sank a couple of inches. I began to tell him how the spirited propricl .r of I'm; A la: l • Will going to report em till the ilie bes,t farms, in tli-j Wuikilu; how

Woodbinds had been done, Pencarrow had been done, Charley Storey's had been clone. Not a stop, only that white-faced brute walked the faster. I cotill only hear Sam say somebody else will be done directly. When I got about three parts across the paddock the second time I paid I woidd stop tili he came back, lie shouted back that I might stop as long as I liked and keep the birds away. When he i?o! to the end he turned along the headland down by the fingerpost corner, down by the road fence to the gate, unhitched, and went home, leaving your respected reporter at the far end of the paddock like a scarecrow. Ho turncel and shouted, " want to sir. on (he roller, do you ? We>ll, sit on it till I come back from dinner, and keep it warm " If I had had a match in my pocket I would have made it red-hot for him by the time he eatno back. As for myself I was glad to sit anywhere, take off my boots and empty about a quart, of dirt and stones out of them, shake my socks, throw away my paper collar and wipe the perspiration from my neck and face, and make a vowthat if I ever had to follow a fct of barrows I would ride. Yon had better send another fat roan to finish this report —Sam ain't done harrowing yet.—(Contributed).