GLEANINGS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1271, 6 January 1883, Page 4

GLEANINGS.

Tlti) sparrow is, only, insectivorous when it its though itccui'ding jto Dr (Junes, .this business occupies' nearly nil ot ..tlie sjiavrovns days except in winter, the fact remains that the bird is j.i'lncipally granivorous amlfrugiyorous. ,:.' ■'•• To show the inlluence of tlie male upon his progeny, wo give the testimony of a Michigan breeder, who says' that out of I'4o IctilVeJi from .common ~ cows, and by a polled bull, all but two" were black, and all were hornless. England, as a whole, bus about five cows per hundred acres, ..while: the Netherlands have 44, Belgium 42, Prussia 24, and France 22 per hectar, almost equal to 250 acres,' There -is ' one cow to every four persons in Holland, one to every 54 in Belgium, while our own English iimlliuns; keep , but 1,881,000. '•'-''• V 1

Hie practice of thinning potato vines to two stalks in the hill, .when they exceed that number, has boon' Diurnal .with a correspondent of the American Cultivator, and his father before him for fifty years. This is done at. hoeing time—the superilous (weakest),- stalks being treated as weeds. The effect is, as may be supposed, an increase of large handsome tubers; The object of cutting seed to single eyos is in part to prevent overcrowding and competition of stalks.

A few weeks ago there were purebued in Great Bi'itiun'7B HerebrJ and Polled Angus cattle for America. These and later purchases were shipped from Liverpool, Tlie Journal of Commerce of that city says it was the largest shipment of thoroughbred cattle ever made at one time "from" it British i port, The cattle consisted .of .205 .head in alt, and comprised 70' Hereford.-; and 138 Polled Angus cattle consigned to different breeders in the Uuited States and Canada. Every year im re and moro of England's favorite cattle are finding their way.; into the United States. "" !; The Due d' Aumale has commonced bis series of shooting parties at his splendid estate at Ohantilly; they are said to have a political significance. That does not change the sport however. The duke has a staff of six men solely in charge of the. pheasants, ot which 4000 are bred- ; annually, and in their early youth,; 1000 eggs 'per day/ to say nothing of chopped meat, are required for their six meals. A few years ago tho Prince of Wales was among the invited. An awkward sportsman wounded a beater. The Prince, hearing the yells, went to the nian and said, '! My friend, I am a doctor; drink this and then keep that,"

so saying lie gave the wounded man a pull from his flask of brandy, and a IOOf. bank note. Since, the beateis deplore the absence of " the English doctor."

The full term of .three years had nearly expired, and they were discussi i ■ ■; t'u breakfast table the certainty nun ihey must move and the uncertainty as to where, when the young miss of the parsonage drew a heavy sigh. "Oh,'lwas thinking,what a mistake mother and I made when we married a Methodist minister."

A low phaeton, driven by an elegantly attired lady, and with a trim and neatly dirH colored boy perched on the seat 11! ~;ii • Was •passing' through thesir.etsofftow York, when it was espied by an old negro woman. " Brefß de Lord," she exclaimed, raising her hands as she spoke, " I never 'spected to see dat! Wonder what dat cullud gemmen pays dat young while 'oman for.drivin' dat kerrige 1 I knowd it'cl come, but never 'spected to lib to see it, Bis nigga's reiwy to go 'way now!"

As an instance of the amount of trouble and expense to which ladies go to appear to the best advantage on the lawn'on Cup day, it appears, according to a Melbourne paper, that among the cargo of,the s.s. Austral which arrived a fcw'jdays before the race was run, -was {L splendid silk dress consigned to Lady Voge], and. valued at £3OO. Sir Julius being very anxious to get the dress off the vessel, and knowing that in the ordinary course, of events he would to wait at least t^b/or three days! before he could get' the '.parcel, waited upon' Ihe' Commissioner of Customs and asked him that the parcel might be landed from the vessel at once. Mr Graves being fully im. pressed ; of the.'lmportance of Lady i Vogel's appearing becomingly on so auspicipusan occasion giatitedSir Julius Vogel's request," on •condition that the duty—iso—was paid first. This request Sir Julius gladly acceded to, and the dress was landed at oiice, and a load of anxiety was therefore taken olf Lady Vogel's mind.

: The mi thod in which Japanese newspapers are conducted is often amusingly naive. A'■ recent issiio; of the Kichi Tichi Shimbun—which,-' like all ' its native ; contemporaries; not in columns but in aquareSjCarae out with one square blank, the'empty space being covered with a'number of straight lines. The editor apologised 'for the •'extraordinary, appearance of the; paper, informing his readers that at the last moment he found that what he had written was all wrong, and had to be taken out. He had not tiuieto iill up with anything else, and there was' nothing to be done but leave the space with nothing in it. The Countess Waldngrave having, given birth to a, son and heir, the title 1 . ofViscountfihewton becomes revived in the person of the new-born dnf hi). His title was borne by Earl "Waitlegrave's father, who was a captain in the Scdts; Fusilier Guards, and was wounded at the battle of Alma, bying in. consequence, on, the 7th .October,, 1854, at Scutari, where he was interred, and wheie his widow, the Viscount (Mewtbh, who still suvhes, erected a monument to His memory. Tnc infent Viscount Ghewton is, a grandson of Lord Chancellor Selborn.

The'waite of the wild cocoons gathered in the wools of China, Japan, and Austialia is made into a felt one half the size, of hair felt,,ii'ndiis'iiced : fiiiii"the mauufacture of hats imd fur furnishing purposes.' It has iho peculiar bright colour of Bilk, and.ii/iii!|Boinciiincß;Uied with hair, .»Wi"co'ibu,"and' other subitttMl. i ■ i '■; ■•;.i-J ,i-.;'.;