FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 354, 15 October 1898, Page 6 (Supplement)

FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Tine weather has continued stormy and blustrous duriug the past week, westerly winds prevailing almost without intermission. The heavy gale which swept over Waikato on Saturday and Sunday Ust was the most severe experienced this season ; and its disastrous effects upon all fruit trees exposed to it further emphasised our recent remarks upon the necessity for shelter, the young fruit, in many instances, being torn off wholesale. This is to be regretted, as plums and peaches were promising well, the show of bloom being particularly good, and this class of fruit was none too plentiful last season. The steady downpour of rain, however, which followed Sunday's storm has been of incalculable benefit to the district, the land being soaked to a considerable depth for the first time for many months past, nud vegetation of all kinds is now showing its beneficial effects. A few more such welcome visitations would ensure the success -of the grain crops, that represent such a large share of the Waikato farmers' labour for the past three or four months. Just at present the young grain is looking very promising, wheat especially stooling out well and forming strong and healthy plants, the somewhat dry condition of the land which has hitherto obtained being eminently suitable for wheat. Oats, however, were in need of the late rains, and in exposed situations were showing the effects of the continued cold winds in the brown tips of the plants. Early potatoes, wherever showing the rows distinctly, Should be scarified and hoed without delay, nothing being so advantageous to the crop as stirring aud weeding the land before the potato plants have developed an extensive root system, and if top-dressed with lewt. or so to the acre of Westfield potato manure or other quick fertilizer, the haulms soon close up the rows, thus conserving any moisture and smothering weeds that have survive the hoeing. The markets for fat stock keep strong, a good demand being witnessed locally and in Auckland for fat sheep and cattle, which circumstance has shown its influence in the improved demand lately manifested at the local sales for forward stores. A noteworthy feature of the present season, and useful as indicating how quickly any want in the farming line is recognised and supplied, is the largely increased number of pigs on sale this season, as compared with previous years. Every local sale has its full supply of pigs, mostly young, well-bred animals, and which, owing to the wretched prices ruling for young cattle, are fast taking the place of calves as consumers of the skim mi'k from the creameries. The financial difference, also, to a milk supplier in raising, say, a dozen pigs worth, at the end of the season, about £2 each, instead of the same number of calves, difficult to sell at 10s each, is easily understood, and we are not surprised to learn that a number of milk suppliers arc not rearing a calf this seaßon. In this connection, there can be no question that for years pa«>t, Waikato dairymen have fed too many calves aud too few pigs, and the late further decline in young cattle may be productive of more good than evd, if it is the means of directing the attention of our dairying settlers to the profitable returns obtainable from pig rearing and feeding, an important field of enterprise, which has been comparatively neglected in Waikato, but developed to a large ex tent in other parts of the colony. To this may be added, tint the establishment of additional baccn factories in the district is a satisfactory sign of the times ; a cash market being thus available to our settlers, almost at their own doors, and practically, throughout the year.

Butter and eggs are in good demand, the former being mote plentiful locally. Eggs have risen a penny in Auckland, and at the present prise, 7d per dozen, are in unlimited demand.

The Tamworth Pig.—The value of the Tamworth pig for crossing with the Berkshire for bacon purposes lias, says the Christchurch Press of the 22nd, often been mentioned, and one of the best results of the cross was seen at the Addington saleyards on Wednesday. A very prime baconer, said to be a little over 10 montlis old, was offered, and 80s was bid, but this was refused, and the pig was bought at a higher figure for show purposes. t 1 t

The Production of Milk.—Tbo Farmer nnd Storekeeper says that a cow, giving a large quantity of milk, Las been slaughtered, and every drop of milk has been gathered up, and the largest amount e\4r found was about lour quarts ; hence milk is largely made during the time of milking ; and the cow must be placed under favourable conditions at the time, or you do not get the regular quantity of milk. Do not think that the milk is already there, and all you have to do is to draw it out. Only a small portion is in this state. Most of it is there ready to be changed into milk, but it is not milk, and we must have things favourable for the cow to make this change. t i t

A Savack Attack by a Horse. ~ When a number of ladies and gentlemen were returning to Southbridge from Huston, (says the Ellesmere Guardian) they were suddenly attack 3d by a horse in the vicinity of Hill's Koad. This animal ran up against the traps and considerably frightened the horses the party were driving. A daisy cart was forced clean off the road into the fence, while the occupants of another trap were compelled to leave their vehicle at Mir Shepherd's, and walk to Miltown. No amount of whippin if or stoning deterred the beast who took command of the road. He afterwards came into Southbridge and jumped a fence into Mr Marquand's paddock, and when " wanted " to bo taken to the pound deliberably " wont for " his drivers with open mouth. The animal belongs to Mr Harnett of Hill's Road, and had

escaped without the knowledge of its owner who claimed him that, same day. t X t

The Value ok Bats to Gabdenebs. —lf any bat- aro found about your bam or other buildings (says a wiiJer in » Home paper) onouvage their treseuoi.', ' DrC. F. Hod"., „f (,'i.rk Univcisity. Worchestsr, Miss., in 1\ ■ Country Gentlennn, say.- th.t, in an orchard near his home he found niuo grubs of the codlin moth in one minute. Chancing to visit another orchard not a mil* from the first, be found only four giubs in an hour's search, - The owner of the farm said that in an old barn near lived In to 100 bats, and his apples were always five from worms- The naturalfst caught the bat and offered it sumo of the grubs which were greedily accepted. The codlin moth flips only at night ; so does the bat —yood circumstantial evidence that the bat is a useful friend to the apple grower. Dr Ilodne took half a dozen bats homo and kept them in ibo parlour. They made their home in the top folds of the window draparies, flying about at night and sometimes in tbo daytime. Fro-n time to time nttfuls of night-flying insects were released in iho room and never a bug remained in the morning. The bats took everything from a spider to a polyphemus moth. One morning the doctor couutcd while a bat devoured 08 house flies.

The Adto Bacon Cubing Process.— Mr Philip W. Hayman, a wellknosvn curer of Copenhagen, has decided to introduce this system at his seven factories, two being in Sweden and five in Denmark. It is claimed that auto-cured bacon is richer in flavour, is more easily digested, and keeps sound and »weot, even during the hot weather of the summer months, longer than that cured by the dry salting method, and, further, tho auto process, by rotaining instead of abstracting some of the most nutritious constituents of tho flesh, increases the ■weight by about the same percentage as dry salting lessens it. By this process bacon oan be cured and made ready for the market in five hours. The bacon is cooled in the usual way, and then placed in dry cylinders, each one at tho Ystid Factory, we are informed, beiug capable of holding 200 sides. The lids of tho cylinders are then firmly secured and made airtight by water pressure, all the air is pumped out, and a specially prepared cold brine is admitted and forced into the bacon. Tho process takes about five hours, and the bac m is then ready for sale.

A German's Ideas.—The writer of " Along the Track," in the Melbourne Leader, tells the following little yarn : " A worthy German's ideas upon dairyfarming are thus taken down by an ' Along the Track' contributor verbatim : ' When I first begin to keep cows,' he says,'' I make a big fool nf myself. My neighbours were all de same way, and so none of us got any help All der time eberybody say, '• You must have a big cow, so when you can milk her no more she will sell for a good price to der butcher." But I notice dem fine butcher cows make no profit whendey give milk, like the real dairy cow does. That means I must throw away 1001 b or may be 5001 b of butter so I can have 2001 b or 3001 b more beef after a goot many years. I notice none of dat kind ot farmers make much profit on their cows. Den I say dot kind of dairy business is a humbug, and the fanner that keep the butcher cow humbugs himself several years, aud then the butcher humbugs him at last. So I get a bull what has more butter in his blood than beef, and when my neighbours ask me whpt for I say, " I keep cows what are best for the creamery, not for the butcher." ' " f t t

Benewinc Pastures on Stony Land. —Some hints on treating rough, stony land aro given as the result of experi raents conducted at the Missouii Experiment Station. Paddocks that are so rough that they will not pay for tillage frequently become almost useless. The native grasses give way to close feeding, and the weeds frequently take their place. Moss is very prevalent in these stony lands, and all know what a helpless business a place is when large patches are completely covered with moss and weeds. The soil is nearly always acid and ut til tho acidity in removed no cultivated grasses have a chance. A simple way of determining whethor soil is aeidis to procure a piece of blue litmus paper, open up tho .soil with a spade, and press the earth against the paper. If the paper turns red the soil is acid and sour. Lime is required, and should be followed by a spike-tooth harrow or any ether agitator it is possible to work in the paddock. The moss and weeds are thus loosened up and the soil is also stirred to some'extent. The lime may be depended upon to settle the acid, and if a mixture of grasses suitable to the district is fown a little later they will soon begin to thrive. If the paddock is a fairly good one it will probably pay to broadcast a commercial fertiliser, one with a high percentage of potash will give the best result*. t t t

A New Pest in English Orckakds. Moat of the upple trees all rouud London—unless they have special attention —are just now iu a deplorable plight, writes the Dady News. For many seasons past they have been subject to attacks of small caterpillars—tne larva* o f Ypouomenta coguatellus or padellus. In many localities every leaf has been reduced to a mere brown skeleton, and, of course, the young apples all drop oil. An entomologist, writing a couple of months ago in the New*, points out that now is the time to deal with the pest, which of late years has been slowly exterminating apple trees from the gardens of London suburbs, and will inevitably destroy all that are not looked after. The little nuisances having done all the mischief there is for them to do, arc just now in the cocoon stage of their pernicious existence, snugly tucked in bunches in the nooks and corners of trunks and brandies. Now is the time to wreak vengeance on them. Where they can be reached they should all be smashed, and where they cannot, brunches should be cut off and destroyed, or the tress should be syringed with an ounce of Paris green mixed iu 10 gal or 15 gal of water. If they are left a little longer, the small moths will come out and lay egg 3 lor next year's devastation. t X t

Lucerne Growing.---A resident of the Ellesmere district having written to Mr Murphy (Secretary of the Canterbury A. and P. Association) re the sowing of lucerne, the following reply was received:—lf your land is cleau you can sow the seed broadcast at the rate of 15 to 20 lb per acre, but not less than 15 lb. 1 would prefer the latter quantity. If ihe land is not quite as clean as it might be, then I would sow it in drills nine inches apart with 10 lb to 12 lb per acre. It is a great mistake to siii't the seed as ic is rather delicate while young. 2cwt of superphosphate and lewt of blood manure per acre is a fair dressing the manure must be drilled in with the seed, or harrowed in if sowing broadcast. Bonedust is an excellent top dressing for lucerne. ]f sown in drills, the hoe can be used to keep the weeds down for the first growth—after the first growth the lucerne will take care of itself. There is no crop which will give a better return (or the care bestowed upon it, but it must be well done or let alone. I should recommend trenching the land —that is, running a subsoil plough after the ordinary plough, loosening up the soil for 10 or 12 inches —but not turning the subsoil on top. Of course spade trenching is the best of all. I spade trenched 2 feet deep .\ }f an acre 5 years ago for lucerne. I sowed it in drills nine inches apart, and gave it two hoeings. Last summer 1 cut it five times —the first four cuttings were two feet long each cutting, and the fifth 18 inches. I

did not water it. I recommend cutting it in October. Filially I would say (hi it well or let it alone. t I +

Chemical Dkstboction ok Weeds. —Everybody knows how troublesome a weed is the charlock- {>Sin>ipi/t nn'cnsis), how r ipirlly and completely it lakes poss" siou of a Held in whioh it i- hlloivivl to obtain a looting, ami how difficult it is to eradicate At, the last meeting of tho French Society of Agriculturo, Mr Aimc Girard, tho celebritod agricultural chemist, announced that cereal fields eould bo readily freed from the weed, without the least damage being done to the urain, by treating them with a o per cent, solution of sulphate of copper. The explanation appears to be that tho salt is absorbed by tho tissaes of the charlock, whereas it dors not affect the difficult, permeable cuticle of wheat or oats. A drop of wator deposited with suitable precautions on an oat leaf retains its spherical form and with a little care may even be removed without the leaf being moistened. On the other hand, a drop placed on a charlock leaf forthwith extends and enters tho tissues. The same thing happens when a solution of isulphate of copper is employed. Hence the charlock is poisoned, and perishes at once, while tho grain escapes. This seems a very simple and cheap method of weeding a field of wheat or oats. If, however, M. Bernard, who took part in the discussion of M. Girard's paper, is not astray in his conclusions, an even simpler and cheaper plan may be pursued by using sulphate of iron, instead of tho copper salt. He used a mixturo of sul phate of iron an 1 water, consisting of 20 or 30 kilogrammes of sulphato to the hectolitre of water, and found that from fields sprinkled with this fluid charlock disappeared entirely, the cereals being uninjured. —Revenue Scientific)ue. t t t

Resebves of old Wheat.—The London " Standard " of July 25th says :—As an illustration of the narrowness of the raargiu between the supplies and consumption of wheat during the current cereal year, the " Corn Trade News" states that the reserves of old wheat in exporting countries at the end of the current month will amount to only 9,000,000 quarter/*, as compared with 17,000,000 in 1897, when the quantity was regarded as extremely small, and with from 22,000,000 to 32,000,000 quarters in the four preceding years at tho same period. Iu importing countries including cargoes afloat, the reserve of old wheat will amount to about 0,000,000 quartern, or but a little more than half the usual quantity held at the end of July, though a million quarters more than that of last year. In this estimate no allowance is made for tho extreme shortness of invisible reserves (those held by farmers, millers and merchants, away from the ports). Considering that the consumption of wheat in the world is not far short of a million quarters a day, it cannot be. imagined that business could be carried on with reserves much under the 14,000,000 quarters thus allowed for all countries at a time when very little new wheat will have corno into the markets. The wonder is, hawever, that the supplies of 1897 - 98, consisting of a very small reserve of old wheat and a deficient crop of now, havo held out at all, and it is only because the recent high prices attracted wheat from thousands of small and unrejognised stores that the mills have been kept goinjr. Stocks of old wheat held by English farmers at the pre sent time are probably smaller than they havo been before for a century or two, as recent official returns of sales in tho statutory markets are the smallest on record.