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Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 14, 1 June 1872, Page 2

It is apparently (remarks a. London paper) as dfficujfc for ordinary people to kjgep straight physically a» morally. The difficulties of. physical steadiness; have been Very fully illustrated by Dr. Carpenter, who bases his theory of the ordinary phenomena of spirit-rapping, and a good many other familiar miracles of household marvel-mongers, on the demonstrable muscular aberration due to unconscious mental bias. Professor Wilder, of the Cornell University declares that the art-of \srilking straight is one of the moat difficult which can. be cultivated, and the accomplishment one of the rarest. He- declares that a person never goes in a perfectly straight line for any distance, but always turns to one side or another, and unless checked by landmarks, describes a circle, and returns to the point from which be started. The deflection Is generally, if not always, from right to. left, and he ascribes these physical deviations from rectitude to a cause which moralists may easy parallel, a conflict of the economy arising from unequal development, the one side of the body always tending to overmaster and outwalk the other. It is a received opinion among American hunters and woodsmen that people who lose themselves in forests or on far-stretching plains, thus travel in a circle, turning to the left. One of the American papers gives an account of a. lounger in the editorial office, who. bad been in the habit of sitting so long,, that when he died his shadow was found fixed upon the wall That Connecticut man who sat on a keg of gunpowder and touched it off has not been able to concentrate his thoiights on'any subject since—he was. so scattered by the shock, as one might say-. " Cast-iron sinks," is the announcement on the. sign of a suburban plumber. "Well, who said it didn't?" was the inquiry ef a countryman, who read it aver three or four times, and chuckled when he thoright life saw the point. "Oh ! yes," said a fair critic, with that vivacity of speech and manner in which the "geatler" sex indulge when picking a friend to pieces—." Oh, yes!. Henry would be very presentable, if nature hadn't tujnedup m much of his legs, to make his feet." r Mark Twain thinks that soda-water is not reliable: fora steady drink. It ia too greasy. The next, morning after drinking thirty-eight bottles he found. himself°fuii 'of gas> .tigliOs a balloon. H& hadn't an article* df cldihing that he could.wearexcept his umbrella.

,PACTS FOR FARMERS, For a cheap paint or pigment for gafei or rough out-door work'generally, there is nothing beats the following for either iron or wood, and it has the grand recommendation of cheapness, as it can be made for about a shilling a gallon •—• Coal tar, one gallon; aqua fortis, three ounces ; turpentine, half a gill ; linseed oil, one pint. Stir well when mixing to prevent lumping, and keep the mixture, which improves with age, in a tightly corked cask. Apply it in hot weather/and, if possible, when the railing, or whatever it nifty be, is hot with the .snn. Two or three coats .'or iron, and an extra one for wood, last many years, and a single coat afterwards will renew the beautiful black glons. Among the remedies said to be effective in pleum-pneumonia. i« one easily tried and which is not likely to harm if it fails. The agent is kerosene oil, and as much of it as possible is poured into the palm of the right hand, which is then brought with force against the nose of the diseased unimal. The blow and the oil combined cause the animal to curl up its nos'rils and to inhale some .of the oil, which causes active sneering, and seldom fails to bring on a discharge of the diseased matter and immediate relief to the patient. The process baa to be repeated, and, it is said, lian cured many cows which were apparently beyond recovery. The principle of the remedy appears to be, that this oil (or, perhaps some other agent maybe equally effective) when inhaled into the excites active coughing, whereby the diseased mutter contained therein becomes ejected and the lungs are restored to a healthy stale. Bma.ll potatoes are worth little or nothing as a saleable article, but are made excellent use of for fattening c?ittle. An entelligent farmer gives the following account of the way in which he utilises them : — u We have ju»t slaughtered our second beast fed on potatoes —a bullock two and a-half years old, the meat or quarter of which weighed over 700lba net; hide, l)91b. Six weeks ago we dressed a cow, the meat weighing over (iOOlb.; hide, 771b., and the quality of meat is very fiue, so said by others who see and eat of it, besides our own experience. The main food was small or cull potatoes, from September to about November 1, once a day, and then alternate ; twice; a day since, morning , and evening, with soft and small corn rmbbings at nu-'ht, and the cull potatoes, one-quarter bushel each, in the morning. 1 and also two or three of our farmers in this vicinity have fried and carefully observed this potato feeding and valuable fattening beef property for several years, and it never secins to fail or disappoint. Cattle never i-eem to lose their fcorii relish for that vegetable, ar.d it has fattening properties to all cud-chewing animals fully cqu .1 to corn. How many fanners make little account, of small-sized potatoes, except it be for swine, when they nrt! of little value unhss properly boiled and mixed with bran or other fetd. There is no ■mistake in potatoes for cattle or sheep, either for fat or milk.

The question whether manure is best spread on (he surface or ploughed under, still continues to exeiio ureal interest ;unoug writers on agriculture in England and America. The general conclusion fceer.is to be that what js best, under some circimstnnces is not best under others, and that no rule is applicable to nil cases. Coarse or unroited manure should l)t-ploughed under ; well rotted or fine manure is utilised by being , harrowed in with the seed. An excellent system is to spre: d the manure, if not too coarse, on the surface of sod, and plough it under In thin way the manure is worked into the soil, and is absorbed xeady to feed the young- plant when required If spread upon the surface too early the heat, will evaporate much that is valuable, and it. is better to do tin's work when winter is approaching, and thus avoid the danger. The sum of the matter may be stated as follows: Manures which contain nitrogen likely to evaporate should be cohered with earth; those which are slightly soluble may be spread on the surface ; very soluble manures it wo Id bo best to plough in as they would be likely to run off in the wash. The richness of barnyard manure should not be put much deeper than the seed. The best results are got by ploughing in offal. In manuring for grain, and especially for wheat, it is best always to mix the fertilizer with the three inches of topsoil in which the seed sprout and through which most of the roots are spread.

Sorghum Sacchahatum.—This is an ex" ceedingly useful forage plaut, yielding a large amount of green food during the summer season, when grasses are very short, and green food generally scarce; it is especially of service to dairy-farmers, and its bighly nutritious and saccharine qualities should recommend its culture to a much larger extent. Sow twelve pounds per acre, in drills, which is the best method; if broadcast, twenty pounds. Cocksfoot. —This is a very large stronggrowing variety, which yields a laige quantity of herbage, and, from the rapidity of its growth after cutting or feeding off, it is a very desirable grass to introduce into all paatuies. It may be sown either alone or mixed with other grasses. Qnimtiby required per acre—thirty pounds to forty pounde.

SUGAK-GKOWING ON THE MURRAY. "We ("News") hare examined a sample of about three tons; of sugar just manufactured by Mr. Thomas Snowden of Porfleefc, with machinery constructed upon bis own premises, of the sort now known as '' cheap mills," and find the sugar, to be a good merchantable aitiole, worth about £33 per toil. We understand that nearly twenty of these mills are now in use on the Manning, and that in almost every instance they have given entire satisfaction —a result sought in vain from larger and more expensive establishments. The great advantage seems to be that the farmer does his own, work ; sometimes dispensing entirely with hired labor, and in other cases employing one or two men only, it is also greatly in favor of these mills that they are usually erected in immediate contiguity to the canefield, and thus an enormous amount of labor is saved, and a serious expenditure of money avoided in the way of freight or carriage. In numerous cases that have come to our knowledge, planters are now making arrangements to extend their fields, and some say they are done with maize, planting for e\ er. We are not surprised at this latter couclusion, in view of the fact that although Sydney buyers are now in the district the highest price offered is Is 7d per bushel—a price that will net to the grower, who has rent to pay, less than labourer's wages. Theie can be no doubt that the confidence of a large proportion of the inhabitants in the practicability of sugar-planting on the Manning, has been greatly strengthened during the past season, and that, if during another season the returns should be as satisfactory, but a short period will elapse until we shall become large exporters of an article for which there is an almost unlimited demand in the Sydney and Melbourne markets. The cane now being cut is, of course, out of season. It should have been crushed last October, when the juice marked 10 to 11 by saccharometer; whilst at present the strength does not exceed 7 to 8.