FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 91, 28 November 1872, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Clover and timothy seed arc very easily raised and saved, and one acre of each will bo found amply sufficient for sowing a hundred acres. Each cijop should be grown by itself; on good soil timothy would be better to be cradled and put into sheaves for convenience in threshing. Clover for seed should be taken from the crop cut in the fall when the seed is ripe. No damage will occur if the clover should become wet; when dried it will thresh out easier for it. While giving botanical evidence in somo thistle prosecutions, Dr Daniel Bunce, curator of the Geclong Botanical Gardens, stated that an infallible way to destroy thistles was, just before the bud began to form, to cut the root through with a spade about two inches below the surface; also that the practice of cutting them above the surface waß an utter waste of both money and labour, as thistles thus treated invariably spring up again with a greater number of heads than before.

The Journal of Chemistry gives the following prescription for preventing horses being teased by flies : —" Take two or three small handfuls of walnut leaves, upon which pour two or three quarts of cold water; let it infuse one night, and pour the whole next mo.-ning into a kettle, and let it boil for a quarter of an hour. When cold it will be fit for use. No more is required than to moisten a sponge, and before the horse goes out of the stable, let those parts which are most irritable be smeared over with the liquor, viz.: between and upon the ears, the neck, the flanks, &c.

If many English farmers are right, then we must admit that with us cattle intended for the butcher get far too much exercise. In England, some fanners who produce the best beef dig a pit, say six feet deep and ten square, aud into tliisthe bullock is lowered and a shelter is built. It is then supplied with all the roots, hay, and meal, it can digest; the needful quantity of water is also furnished, as also an abundance of dry straw for litter. The droppings are trampled under foot as the animal moves about in his narrow cell, and gradually by their accumulation rise to a level with the surface of the ground, by which, time the animal is usually.ready for the knife, and yields a rich and juicy flesh, and leaves many tons of excellent manure firmly packed in the pit. Mr G-. W. Stebbins, in writing of inventions for economising labour, says:—"A machino is yet wanted by which the problem of economical ploughing by steam would be solved. With it any farm or road work now done with horses would be done with no cost for keep when not in use. Can such a thing be made ? Is the act of walking anything more than a mechanical motion ? Let me briefly indicate my idea of such a machine. The legs should bo levers, with the fulcrum at the point at which they join the body, and with a knee joint below. Then suppose the upper part of the lever to be thrown forward ; on drawing it back and bending the knee at the same time, a step would be taken ; then the motive power should force the top of the lever forward again, while the levers on the other side would be taking a step. The point of contact on the motive power should be moveable up and down the top of the lever; of course the higher it should he placed the greater would be the power, and the lower the faster it would move. This arrangement would serve to guide the machine, by moving one side faster than the other. The body should be jointed or flexible to facilitate turning. It should also be flexible in order to move easily over uneven ground. A somewhat nice adjustment would be necessary to preserve the balance of the machino while taking a step. This might be overcome by moving a weight from side to side by machinery. Undoubtedly there would be difficulties that do not occur to me, but I feel sure there would be nothing that might not be overcome. I send forth my crude idea, hoping it may stimulate some practical inventor to give us the penected machine."