THE YEOMAN.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume II, Issue 57, 1 February 1868, Page 3

THE YEOMAN.

THE OSAGE ORANGE PLANT. As we have received several communications requesting information as to the preparation and sowing of the seed of this plant, we applied for the benefit of our readers, to Mr H. H. Jackson, who has kindly furnished us with the following letter : (To the Editor of the “ Wairarapa Mercury.”) Stoncstead, Jauuary 30, ISCS.

Sir, —As the Osage Orange is creating a great deal of inferest just at present, I will give you my experience of it so far. After reading Mr Crayne’s able letter in the MBECtriiY on this subject (speaking highly of it as a plant for live fences), I applied to Mr E. Pearce, merchant, of Wellington, to procure me five pounds of the seed from Sydney. My wishes were promptly attended-to, and in August I received the seed, half of which I at once steeped in luke-warm water for 40 hours, renewing the water night and morning. I kept the seed while soaking in a calico bag as more convenient for moving when changing the water. After soaking the seed as described, I Mthg the bag containing it in a warm kitchen for a fortnight, dipping it night and morning in a bucket of warm water, at the same time opening the bag to jet. the water run well among the seed and shaking it to prevent them sticking together. At the end of the fortnight I found them nearly ready to burst, so on the 6th September, I commenced to sow them, and they began to come up on the IGth October. I sowed the seed a third too thick, expecting some of them too miss as most imported seed generally does, but to my agreeable surprise they all seem to have struck. The seed resembles an apple-pip and the seed leaf resembles that of the apple seed leaf. The transformation from the seed leaf is slow after which they start to run up quickly ; mine arc now nine inches in height. The thorn appears directly above the seed leaf.

I am Sir. yours &c., H. il. JACKSON.

Hawke’s Bay Boiling Down Co.—We hare tauch pleasure in observing that the buildings in connection with the future establishment of this company, were commenced yesterday— Messrs. Miller and Lindsay beingthc contract ors. The laud leased by the'company is nearly opposite the Big Bush, with frontage fo the Ngavnroro river, and is considered to be well adapted to the purpose. The manager, Mr Norcott Atkins, is a gentleman of lengthened experience in Victoria: and nothing seems wanting to the success of the scheme but a fairseason, such as will give the sheep-farmer some chance of getting his stock into suitable condition. Were the works once in working order, and other circumstances moderately favorable, a large amount of capital, at present firmly locked up, would be released, and be available for general circulation. It is expected, we observe that boiling down will commence about the middle of February, “ Hawkes Bay Herald.” Certain Cube for the Aphis-on Garbages.—A'correspondent of the “Bathurst Times ” gives the following remedy for the “ cabbage blight.” Should any of our gardeners, or others having 'gardens, he induced to’fry the experiment, we shall be happy to give the result publicity in our columns. Here is the recipe : —Take off the bark of the wood known as 'stringy bark, and of boxwood’chips with the

bark on—equal quantities ; to this add almost as much of the plant, known as “ Old man,” or •‘Lad’s Love,” and boil together for two or three hours. With this liquid wash the cabbages that are infested with tire aphis. Two or three applications are sufficient to rid them of this post. The correspondent adds that during the past year he had some of the finest cabbages in the district, whilst his neighbour’s could scarcely manage to rear a single bead.

SIIEKP-SHEAKIXG BY MACHINERY. Wo have long been of opinion that no machine would ever be invented that would take the place of the old-fashioned and time honored slrecp-sbears. This opinion, wc believe, is generally entertained at the present time. Such is the nature of the work to he done, such the irregularities, such the moveable and moving condition of the surface of a sheep’s body, that the idea of taking the ilcece from it by a machine has been regarded as entirely impracticable. Of late however, wc have been obliged to modify this opinion very much. Mr It. T. Smith, of Nassau, N. H., has inventcd--and patented a machine, to which we have given two trials tire present season, and have never been more pleasantly disappointed in the working of any labor-saving machine we have ever seen.. The machine is irot yet perfected; it is just where the mowing-machine was when it was first tried ; but wo arc confident, as were many intelligent and competent judges who witnessed its operations—that Mr Smith has got hold of the right principle, and that ultimately he will make a complete success of his enterprises Yon can shear as closely as yon please—so closely as to give the skin a reddened look, or you can leave the “ stubble” of any desired length. N6t only will it shear more closely than hears, but in a practised bant it will do it more evenly. It does not cut the sheep so badly as mqn generally cut them with shears. We saw it take the wool from the neck of as rinkly a buck as is generally found in any flock of merinos, making hardly a scratch. We predect its perfect success. The old shears may now be hung up alongside of the old scythes, except they may be needed for “ tagging,” and to clip around the buck’s horns. Go and see it all who can. 'lbe thing itself will pay‘anyone for a considerable amount of trouble, to say nothing of the work it does. It is among the wonders of modern inventions.—“ American Mirror.”

Lilliputian Enemies.—Under this title 0. E. Sprague describes, in the “American Journal of Horticulture,” the various species of fungi known as rust, smut, "bunt, and mildew, which, are of the simplest structure. Though the individual plants are infinitesimally small, they reproduce with such wonderful rapidity, and in such amahing profusion, as to destroy whole crops by'their ravages. Their mycellium penetrates the soft tissues of their prey, and on reaching the surface breaks forth into an ‘eruption which allows no cure. A piece of glass, on which lie spread thousand of their spores, would exhibit to the eye a faint mist, and yet this mist will increase into a black cloud, which envelopes and destroys a field of nodding grain, Experiments of all sorts have been resorted to to prevent the attack of these omnipresent parasites. But their occurrence is mainly due to atmospheric influences. Their spores arc everywhere, and can be called into germination by circumstances favorable to their growth, either moisture or drought. All fungi arc more or less meteoric in occurrence. Season upon season may pass without a single notice of them, and then, owing to favorable influences, often beyond our recognition, they spring broadcast into lfie v hn£l luxuriance. Dr Berkeley says the surest remedy is to steep the seed grain in sone solution, which at once washes off a portion of the spores, and poisons the rest; many remedies have been proposed, as simple water, salt, lime, sulphate of copper, corrosive sublimate,‘‘arsenic. The best, perhaps, is sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) in solution,'dried off with quicklime.

New Mode op Smoking Hams.—The author of the Australian Cookery Book, Mr JE. Abbott, writes to the Pyrolignite Company, speaking highly of the pyrolignite acid; it is more popularly known as essence of smoke, and the mode of its f pplication is thus dccribcd by Mr Abbott: —“ After the meat, or fish has been properly pickled or dry salted, leaving no part untouched, and subsequently dried with oatmeal or pollard, and hung up ; the meat will then acquire a sraokey flavour and will bo effectually preserved from the fly that breeds the jumper. Hung beef cured in this way should be especially fine flavoured.”