FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume VII, Issue 532, 23 December 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

The weather ha« been fine during th" week, and coming after the late rain it has caused a renewed gr>w»h of grass, and will help to fill out the grain which i. now coming into er. Taken altognther, it has been a magnificent season for growth, and rarely has feed been so plentiful a*, this date, even the loadsides forming, in many instances, a good iiastinage tor stock. In most instances tlie weath r has bien similar to that experienced 1 »st year, but the rainfall is lighter, and if we have only moderate showers with lots of tunshine for the next few weeks, the harvest will be a good one, the grain being well headed, though the straw is shorter than is usual in a dropping season Ploughs, harrows and drills-are now at work on most farms get'ing in the first instalment of the turnip crop, for which purpose the weather is very suitable With good turnip *eed, and this can be easily testid by placing a few seeds in dan p flannel, from 8 to 12 z. to the acre is quite sufficient to ensure a full crop, heaver seeding generally resulting in strnll badly shaped rootsofpoorquality. If the land inteudel f»r turnips has carried a similar crop the previous season, and is therefore more likely to be infested with insect peats, it will be advisable to dress tho turnip seed with turpentine. This is done by adding a taspoonful of turpantine to about 3lb of seed and stirring it well until the seed has a damp glistening look. If it i. covered with a cloth until the following day the seed will be quite dry and fit for Übe. The turpentiue dress n i costs little, and is a preventative against the fly ; moreover the vitality of the seed is not injure', though some experienced growers believe that it keeps the plant back a day or so in its first appearance above ground. The markets have been brisk during the week, the approachiug holidays having their usual effect upon some lines. Fat stock are selling steadily, best sorts advancing a point. Stores of all descriptions, inclu ling aged cows, are in brisk demand, the phenomenal grass season having a good deal to do with it. Grain is unchanged, wheat showing no improvement, in fact the late small advance has beeu practically lost agaiu. Oats are rising, chiefly at Southern centres, but local rates are bound to fellow suit. Potatoes are steady at about £4 per ton, good keeping lines being wanted for export. Poultry of all sorts are in demand; fat fowls and turkeys making very full rates. Butter of good quality is in better demand, and eggs have taken another jump up, 9d to lid per dozen being obtained at auction. All fruit is selling well and likely to do eo for some weeks, the general scarcity of English plums being a feature of the present fruit crop.

A Useful Wrinkle.—"A Woolclasser" writing to the Hawke's Bay Herald says :—As to telling when wool is dry, it is to the expert a very easy matter, and if you correspondent will try the following simple means, he will find it so :—Put four nails (3in) into a board for legs, and place a bit of tin about 6 inchee square on top, making a miniature table. Put a lighted candle underneath till the tin gets hot (not red hot). Then put a lock of wool on top, and hold a mirror about three inches above the wool. If the wool is wet, a moisture will apoear on the glass; if very slight or none, the sheep are h> to shear. Feeding .Cattle for Fat Shows.— Mr Rider Haggard has for some time been writiug artcles to an English magazine on ' A Farmers Year, ' and in one of his articles he passes this opinion on fat phons and feeding show stock : To day I went to Norwich to see the Agricultural Show. I cannot pretend that an agricultural show held under a roof is a particularly pleasant place to linger in ; there are too many smells and too much noise. The Red-Polled classed were strong, tho fat steers being, some of them magnificent animals, As was to be ex. pected the executors of the lamented Mr Colman took a large proportion of the prizes, Out of their great herds they are able to pick and choose ; moreover, in such establishments the rearing of cattle for show is almost a business. From birth till they appear upon the bench evory delicacy which they can be persuaded to eat is orammed down the throats of these pampered animals, together with liberal draughts of new milk. Hood tells mo that when he was in the service of a gentleman in the Shires they reared a Shorthorn steer that took the first prizes at some of the largest shows in England. In addition to all his other nutriment, this creature was accustomed to have a bucket of new milk given to him every day, with admirable results in his condition. Such treatment means a large expenditure, with a very problematical return in the way of advertisement ; indeed, as I think I have said elsewhere, I doubt whether it pays the small man to compete at these great shows, however good may be his stock. ' Agricola. Moles For Australia.—Mr E. J. German, of Nangunir, Berrigan, writes on this subject as follows :—Knowing the interest you take in all matters that affected the agricultural interests, I crave space to touch upon a subject that I think is worth looking into. I refer to the introduction of mules into New South Wales, or rather the introduction of some high-class jacks, that we may breed our own mules. One of the most serious difficulties that confront the wheatgrower in this warm climate of ours is the high rate of mortality among his working horses, and the big parcontage of bad ' doers ' and 'jibbers] amongst those that survive. A sudden chill after being overheated, an over supply of grain in tho feed-box, or a big drink of water are a few of the many ills that the average farm horse is subject to, and which in many cases result fatally. Mules are tougher, they can digest coarser and poorer food, they live and work to a much longer age than horses, and can stand a greater degree of heat. In '97 I attended a State fair in Sacramento. It was one of the biggest affairs of its kind that they hold in California. One of the features of the exhibition was the large Spanish jacks and big upstanding mules. I saw a pair of mules there fully 17 hands high and built in proportion. I would imagine that they could pull as big a load as the biggest of our heavy horses. From conversation I had with some of tho farmers I mot I gathered that mules were valued more highly than horses in tho States, a good mule being worth 150 dollars. Seeing how important it is that our wheat-growors should bo in a position to competo with tho rest of tho world, as LDndon rules tho wheat market for us, now that we have a surplus for export, I think our Government might import, say, half a dozen high-class jacks Thoy would not cost more than a couple of thousand pounds. I consider tho wheat grower deserves quite as much encouragement as tho dairy farmer, as be has a much harder ' row to hoe. ' If leased to porsons in agricultural centres the jacks should give a good return for tho capital invested, I am' aware that experiments are being made with mulea at the Hawkes bury Farm, but in my opinion there is no noed for any experiments. If thoy have proved so successful in America, they are uot likely to prove fuilures here.