FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 348, 1 October 1898, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

The weather continues dry. Some fair showers fell towards the close of last week, freshening up vegetation and moistening the land; but since then westerly and southerly winds have prevailed, the temperature falling during several nights to slight degrees of frost, being followed by unusually hot days. The indications are in the direction of an early and dry summer, and it behoves agriculturists to make such preparations as lay in their power to avoid any ill effects, should such eventuate. No time should be lost in getting in tho balance ot crops yet unsown, aud there is more work in this direction than many suppose, the late turnips keeping farmers back with the grain scwiug. Land intended for turnips, where not already ploughed, should be turned over as soon as possible, nothing being so good for sweetening the soil aud conserving the moisture as lying for some time in the rough furrow, particularly when ploughed into a solid depth of clay, from five to six inches. Any land ploughed early, and whioh now shows, here and there a green edge of grass and weeds shooting up between the furrows, may be disced about once a week; dry, hot weather being chosen for the work. This plan has the advantage of effectually getting rid of weeds, and also works tho land up gradually into fine condition ; requiring only a stroke of tho tine harrows and the roller before drilling.

All springs and other watering places for stock about tbe farm should now be cleaned out and carefully fenced so that htock may be prevented from trampling into, and puddling them, nothing being so disastrous to the water supply from a spring as trampling by heavy cittle during dry weather. Many a good spring has been completely stopped up in this way, and it is not uncommon to see the water supply, thus checked, seriously diminished for ever aftor. For little value has hitherto been placed on the bountiful supplies of water originally found by the early settles on most Waikato properties, stock being allowed iu many instances to trample at will through them, with the result that many valuable springs have ceased to run, the water supply being diverted to other channels. With the advance of the season the stock markets are very active, a lafge business being done, and prices, generally speaking, are well maintained. Horses have more than held their own, draughts being particularly brisk of sale, the demand arising partly through the increased cropping now going on throughout the provincial district, and also to an enquiry emanating from the West Coast, Buyers from the Wellington and Wanganui districts were present at the late horse fairs, with the result that a large number of good horses, chiefly draughts, have been railed to Auckland for transhipment South. At the recent hoggetsale fairprices werefully maintained, only a slight decline from last season's prices being witnessed, and this was almost wholly confined to secondary and poorly - woolled sorts. This buoyancy iu the local market augurs well for the pi ices that are likely to rule during the ensuing season. The second hogget fair takes place during the coming week, and full prices are anticipated. In the produce markets values fluctuate from day to day, potatoes, as indicated in last notes, are moving downward, though locally good seed is difficult to obtain. Eggs arj plentiful, and iu brisk demand at about (id per dozen. Butter is still scarce, buf with the warmer weather will be plentiful in a week or two.

The dairying industry in its different phases is attracting a considerable amount of public attention just now, the action of Waikato milk suppliers in combining their forces and forming a Union being, no doubt, responsible for a good share of it. Much surprise is expressed by Waikato settlers at the attitude taken up by the manager of the New Zealand Dairy Association iu declining to recognise the Union as being representative of the suppliers, but no doubt matters will be capable of explanation and adjustment before long. In this connection it is, perhaps, doubtful whether the Milk Suppliers' Union has taken exactly the correct steps when approaching Mr Spragg on the subject. It can scarcely be expected that the Dairy Association or its representatives would be willing to take as granted, and without authoritative information, all the steps that have been taken by Waikato milk suppliers to hold meetings, form a Union, draw up rules and appoint Mr Butler as secretary, and yet, judgi' g by Mr Butler's letter, this is what the Dairy Association is expected to do. It would, perhaps, have been better had the first communication to Mr Spragg been under the hand of the chairman of the meeting of delegates from the various dairying districts, giving full information respecting the creameries interested, the formation of the Union, and the appointment of Mr Butler as secretary. This would probably have prevented the rebuff from Mr Spragg, who is, undoubtedly, correct in declining to attend a meeting of milk suppliers upon the invitation of a gentleman who is not a milk supplier himself, and of whose appointment as the repretative of milk suppliers has not been authoritatively made known to him. It would be very regrettable if any.unr.ecessary friction between tbe milk suppliers aud Mr Spragg should occur : but we have no doubt that when the latter has been properly placed in possession of the facts, a better understanding will be arrived at.

Exporting Cream to London'.—Some four months ago a quantity of cream was shipped from Syducy to London. According to advices received in Brisbane by a late mail, the cream arrived at its destination in fairly good condition. In reporting on it, however, an expert expressed the opinion that ic would have been better had the cream contained a greater percentage of butter-fat. It is intended in the near future to make a similar experimental shipment from Queensland. The cream will be separ ated aud shipped with as great a percentage of butter-fat as possible.

The Grass Grur.— It is. stated that the grub pest which has been very prevalent in grass pastures has now commenced attacking die wheat fields, and already several farmers are making serious eo'npli'nt over its ravages.— Ellesmere Guardian. t t t Unique Records.—Two unique records were rcciir.y csiab!i.-hed at Mr Reuben Withell's " White House '" farm. Brooksidc, Canterbury, as follows :—A hare gave birth to four leverets, and the next day a Minorca hen laid an egg with three yolks, each of which were perfectly formed and distinct. Mr Withell informs us that the hares are becoming a serious nuisance to him, as they nibble and destroy the bulbs and roots transplanted for seed purposes. t t t BM.CKBKRKIEB AND CALIFORNIA!! THISTLES. Blackberries and Californian thistles were touched upoj by Mr W. C. Buchanan, M.H.P., in speaking on the Noxious Weeds Bill. I had, he said, several chains or blackberries along the line of fence, and they towered three parts of the \v, y as high as the electric lights overhead. I had them cut, burnt, grubbed up, and ploughed, and they have never been any trouble since. Similarly with the Californian thistle, a plant which we have agan and again been told was impossible to eradicate. To my great disguet I found about a dozen patches of this thistle on my property, but on thinking the matter out I came to the concluciou that, in the same way as a man is drowned if his head is kept under water, so it would happen with the Californian thistle, if prevented by frequent aud persistent cutting two or three inches under the surface from putting any leaves above the surface. I therefore detailed a thoroughly reliable man to visit these patches on a given day in each week to deal with tho thistles a 3 I have mentioned, with the result that in one season the whole question was practically settled. The experience I have detailed shows, that where the area is not excessive, there is no insuperable difficulty 'in killiug out these weeds.

A Sad Experience.—The Administrator of the Victorian Government, speaking at the Royal Agricultural Show, remarked :—"1 took a dive into sheep-breeding, and on the principle of the breeder that the fittest Mirvived, I got mine pretty fit, because my pastures were incapable ot making them very gross, but fit as they were, my neighbours' dogs were very much fitter, and raced the heads off everything they did not eat. (Laughter). I did make another try on a humbler scale. I took a shot at towls. I understood that anybody could do with fowls. All my friends told me that the best kind were Lingshans and Plymouth Rocks. I obtained these, because they filled the eye, looked well ou the table, and because I was strongly assured that they never left off laying, except for the purpose of practical joking. (Laughter). . . My Plymouth Rocks developed the legs of Scots Greys. (Laughter). Ido not know how to account for it, unless it be that loyalty and the military spirit penetrated the poultry. (Langhter). It may be that the development ot Caledonian legs is with a view to eulistment in the Scottish Regiment. (Laughter). I am afraid the gentleman who sold me the anima's palmed off on me a Presbyterian rooster, instead of one of the Plymouth Brethren. (Loud laughter). , As for the Langshans, they turned out equally bid, and the late Sir James Patterson's watchword is now realised in my establishment, because there is a fowl in every pot." (Laughter). t t t

Feeding Young Calves.—The calving season'is again approaching, aud as most of the milk is now sent to the factories provision for rearing the calves should be made. Skim milk and grass are not sufficient to nourish the young things upon. To make up for the butter taken out of the milk in the shape of cream, some supplementary feed should be given with the skim milk. Linseed, oilcake, bran, oats, and peas arc all good. The linseed should be boiled, or well scalded, and mixed iu a syrupy state with the milk. The other grains mentioned should be crushed and fed dry as a mixture, about equal pirts of each. No fixed quantity per head 'for feeding need be mentioned. It lias been found desirable to allow the calves to take as much as they care to eat up clean. Handfuls of nice green hay will also be relished after the calves are about a fortnight old. The calves are better without grass until they are three months old. Opinions may differ as to the relative advantage of keeping calves in the stable all the summer, and allowing them the run of a small pasture paddock, A grass plot, with no shade from the sun, and where flies are numerous and diligent, is not the best place for calves. A few roots pulped or sliced form an excellent addition to the grain ration aforementioned from the time the calves are three weeks old. No matter where fed, in the stable or out, each calf should receive only its allowance of milk, and reguhrly. The distention of the stomach from over-feeding is very harmful. The old-fashioned method of feeding calves iu the yard from a single trough had better be discarded for more sensible and economical conveniences. Feeding all from one trough is unsatisfactory, as the big and greedy individuals get more than their share, while the weaker ones get barely enough.* The construction of small bails for the calves against a fence in the yard will make it easy to give every calf its own share, in its own pail, uud thus avoid the respective evils of gorging and starving. t X t Farm-yard Manure.—How is it asks a Sydney Mail Commissioner, that so little care is given to saving stable and yard manure on the farms and stations of this colony ? A conception of the actual money value that is involved in this neglected by-product is furnished by some calculations made at an American experiment station. According to these estimates the total value of the manure produced on a small farm carrying 4 horses, 20 cows, 50 sheep and 10 pigs, during seven winter months, amounts to amount £SO. In Germany, in the case of large farms, where a careful system of book keeping is pursued, it has been found that stock-raising is not profitable unless the manure is carefully saved. Farmyard manure's most valuable ingredieut is nitrogen, and not only does it supply to the soil a certain quantity of this most costly ingredient; but it also promotes, as has recently been discovered, the process of nitrification- one of the most important, from the agriculturist's point of view, of all the natural processes going on in the soil, whereby the stores of plant food are being prepared for use. The reason why farmyard manure occupies a unique position as a fertiliser are several. For one thing, it is what is commonly known as a general manure—i.e., it contains a proportion of all the constituent foodelements of the plant. It forms, indeed, the nearest approach to a perfect manure that we possess. Again, its action is not merely as a direct manure ; it further possesses properties which do much to ameliorate the physical condition of the soil. Indeed, it may be doubted whether the mechanical influence exerted by farmyard manure on the texture of a soil is not really more valuable in very many cases than its direct action as a supplier of plant food. What further especially recommends it as a manure is the fact that it is admirably adapted to all conditions of climate, soil and crop. Tbe last reason why its importance is so great is that it is a by product ou the farm, and that it may be regarded in the light of a part of the farmer's capital, which he cannot, therefore, afford to neglect.

Phrenitis, or Mad Staggers.—lt will be reinembeicd that a short time ago our Ohaupo correspondent tupplied us with an account of a case of ' mad staggers," which occurred at Loehiel. The account has gone the rounds of the Press, and Mr J 11. Johiistonc-Treuiary, of Patea, supplies the following hveresting description of tin.' o'isosrt to 'he Farnn-'ki Budget: —Having observed in a northern paper recently an account of a horse in the Waikato district having developed the very uncommon disease known as mad staggers, a brief description of tho disease may be interesting to those not already acquainted with it. Staggers are of two kinds—i.e., mad staggers and sleepy staggers. In the latter case, quietness and apparent insensibility in the animal are the predominant features. Mad stag2?rs, like many oHier diseases common in the hiuse, is the result of carelessness. The animal is allowed to indulge ; u a large corgc of and th°n allowed to drink an unlimited quantity of water. The ivm't is that the corn swells to such an extent as to distend tho stomach to the uttermost, and severe inflammation ot the lining thereof is the result. The brain sympathises, and the horse speedily becomes acutely phrenitic. The signs that announces th«: advent of mail staggers are always alike. The lid is raised and the eye assumes an unnatural brightness ; the nasal membrane reddens, the surface becomes an hot as it was previously deficient in wwmth ; the movements are quick and jerking ; the breath is rapid, sharp, and drawn with a kind of panting action. The whole appearance being altered, tho characteristics of approaching frenzy can hardly be mistaken. The horse in this state proceeds to do all manner of things which he would not do in a healthy state, such as breaking through houses, fences, etc. During this disease the glaring of the eye is not due to malice, but anguish ; and although the body is strangely distorted there is no desire to injure. I would ask who, contemplating such a picture, could forbear speaking the word which -should grant peace to the sufforer, although the order necessitate some violence to the feelings of him who is invested with power to command. It may be mentioned that a quart of raw linseed oil, in the early stage of the disease, given at intervals of six hou'.'S, until relief, will sometimes be found efficacious. THE PRICE OF HORSES. In a recent number of the Field appears a report of a sale of the Earl of Lonsdale's horses, from which we make the following extract : The catalogue was made up of 85 lots, consisting of 2 en'ire horses, 14 harness horses, 6 hacks, 21 hunters ridden by Lord Lonsdale, 9 ridden by her ladyship, 26 by the hunt servants, and 7 young horaes—which, with the exception of four, were sold absolutely without reserve. It was the most memorable sale of any that has been held for years past, and brought up memories ot tho dispersal of the horses owned by Lord Henry Bentinck and Lord Stamford, the former a master of the Burton, and the latter of the Quorn. The highest price of the afternoon was for one of Lady Lonsdale's, CE lipus, by (Sdipus, which after a smart contest, fell to the bid of 760 gs. of Mr P Whitaker, the master of the Oakley, the average of fifty-four hunters being £290, the average of ninteen of Lord L'msdale's being £.'iSo. The hunters ranged from 45 to 760 guineas ; young horses from 40 to 140 guineas and the hacks from 105 to ISO guineas. The question naturalty arises, how is it that we cannot obtain even relative prices in this colony 7 Is it beeause we cannot breed che horses, or is the market overstocked ? Here we have an ideal spot for horse breeding, a climate that cannot be excelled in any part of the world. Our thoroughbreds and cross country horses compare most favourably with those of the mother land. Why then should not our hacks and hunters ? It would probably take some time to bring these animals up to the English staudard : but we have the blood, the breeders and the climate, and it can be done. The average pric-. for a first class hunter in this colony is from £25 to £3O, rarely if ever reaching 45 guineas the lowest price realised at Lord Lonsdale's sale. We do not know what the cost of shipping to the old country would be but there certainly appears to be a fair margin for profit. Surely this matter is worthy of the consideration of our breeders, and wc should be pleased to receive and publish their views upon the subject. THE ORCHARD AND GARDEN. WORK FOR OCTOBER. The Orchard. —Pruit trees arc now showing signs of returning vigour. Attend carefully to disbudding, rubbing off all useless buds. It is better to do this now than to allow the tree to expend its energies iu the production of useless shoots, only to be cut away in winter. Look to the mulching of newly-planted trees, and see that they are securely tied to the stakes. It happens occasionally that some of the young trees will throw blossom buds, and will make every effort to perfect the fruit. This is very injurious ; it weakens the tree much. They should be picked off as soon as they are seen. Examine grafts, and where the clay has cracked or fallen off, fresh must bo applied. Vines will now be making rapid progress. Two or three buds may appear on a spur ; rub all off except the strongest. Shoots sufficiently advanced should bo stopped one or two joints above the fruit. Kitchen Garden.—Keep asparagusbeds clean of weeds. Some will be fit for use this mouth. In cutting aspar&gus cut level with the soil—never under. Prick out celery sown in August. Sow brocoli—Walcheren, Early Malta, or Snow's Superb White. Sow cabbage, cauliflower, savoy, and Brussels sprouts. Plant out cabbage and cauliflower. Sow hardy cucumbers in open air ; plant out those raised in pots. Sow vegetable marrow and pumpkins. Sow French beans, scarlet runners, aud case knife beans, broad beans and peas. Sow tomatoes and capsicums ; plant out those sufficiently advauced. Sow turnip, spinach, parsnip. Keep the ground well stirred between the growing crops. Earth advancing crops of potatoes.