FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 297, 7 April 1874, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

The best and cheapest way to make bone dust is to mix the bones with fresh horae manure, and keep it wet. ThU .process requires a year's time, but it is by far the moit profitable. No farmer who keep* a hono need bo puzzled do know how to reduce his bones. The compost thus made is quite strong, and should be freely diluted with muck or loam. In fact, muck or decayed Tegetable matter of some sort should be mixed with all strong manures. Economical farmers and others are often put to their wits to arrange for smoking tho small quantities of meat they require for their own households, and to have at the same time a safe place to keep such meats away from flies. Barrels are occasionally used to smoke meat in, and they do very well to give the flesh the smell and flavour of smoke, but that is all. Long exposure heats the meat, and often repeating the operation is apt to caut,e decay at the centre, the smoke not penetrating, and the warmth affecting the meat. We are inclined to adopt, at least to make trial of, the following suggestion, and propose it to our readers as susceptible of such modifications as may be deemed expedient. Get ode of the large oasks in which hardware is imported, though any hogshead will do. They are made of heavy, hard wood, thick and strong, and very strongly hooped. The heads are easily removed, and the casks may be made tight by tightening the hoops. We mention these because they are cheaply obtained. Take out one head, and set in it a number of hooks, upon which to hang the hams, shoulders, or sausages ; cut a hole in the top in which to insert a 2-inch tin pipe, extending half way or more to the bottom, and replacing this head, take out the other. If thelposition of the hoop is such that it can be done, a door may be cut, through which the interior may be reached conveniently. If we dig a channel in the ground some eight or ten feet in length, and lay a course of three-inch drain tiles in it, putting in a piece of old stove pipe in which to make the smoke-fire at one end, and turning the last tile up perpendicularly out of the ground at the other, the smoke will be bnlDciently cooled in its passage through the tiles, not to affect the meat. Should the draught be too great or the smoke too warm, a flat stone might be laid over the end of the tile, and an inch above it, being supported on stakes or bricks. The cask may be BOt over this ; the smoke will rise and fill it, the tin pipe drawing it off when filled down to its end, and providing a draught, which, if excessive, may be checked by pressing the conical top on tight. Should a door be cut it would be necessary to have it closed as snugly as possible, and if one cannot conveniently be made, the plan is still feasible, for by a block and tackle the cask may be lifted and held upright, the meat put in or taken out. The cask should be set in a cool shed, or outbuilding, with au earth floor, so that iv warm weather, when it will remain some days unopened, the earth may be brushed up around the chine" to keep flies and insect* away more effectually. The question lias often been mooted whether or not much cream would be lost if null were set to rise iv deep vessels. Experiments have given very diverso results, and what the reason was nobody knew. Thorough cooling of milk as soon as it comes from the cow, not by immersing the cans in cold water or putting ice in the milk, but by passing through a cooler, is found to check all tendency lo sour for a long time. On milk thua treated cream will rise through the depth of a foot, or more, as easily as through milk three inches deep, sot warm from the cow in ordinary pans. The cream is removed by a eimplo dipper. It is made of a half oircle of tin, bent arouud the centre of the circle, und the straight edges lapped and soldered, with a wire for a handle. This is dipped into the milk after wetting in water ; the cream parts around it, aud flows into it when the edge sinks low enough. Thus, all is easily removed. The dipper is useful for taking grease from a pot of hot soup, ana for any other purpose when a light liquid is to be removed from a denser one. The method of milk cooling above alluded to recommends itself to all who sell milk, or set it for butter. A rather interesting letter, supplied by Mr Allport, has been published by tho JDunolli/ Express, on the cutivation of barloy } and as fanners are giving considerable attention to the growth of thi» grain, the remarks of the writer will afford some interesting information. Mr Allport says :— "In answer to your inquiry, I submit the following : — Barley likes a friable soil ; or sandy loam suits it best. On such soils it will yield large crops of splendid grain, where wheat is almost a failure in dry seasons like the present. In the Colac, Breae and Cressy districts I found the wheat deficient in,' quantity and quality, and the barley splendid— 30, 40, and 50 bushels to the acre, and on the same farms wheat only yielded 10 bushels per acre. The above district it very dry, there being no trees for miles ; the firewood is fetched from Capo Otway forest; the soil is light volcanic, evidently from some of the extinct volcanoes to be seen in the neighbourhood, and has been subject to the action of water at some very early period, bo that is almost like a large river flat. The sample of barley accompanying this letter was grown there ; one form grew 2000 bags of the same quality. Of the kinds of barley, Chevalier stands first, and is the only kind that will command a certain market. Cape and Orogon are malted sometimes when there is a scarcity of Chevalier, but are used principally as horse-feed ; consequently the price of oats ami maize rule the price of the feeding barleys. Chevalier barley always sells at a better price because it is used for malting. The price has varied during the last four years from 4s 2d to 6s 6d for good grain. Chevalier barley on good ground requires very little seed, because the plants tiller so much more than any other kind. I have seen from 25 to 40 beads on one root from one grain sown early on good soil. Barley requires much care in threshing, not to thresh it so as to break the barley, or even to break the skin. Broken barley is one of the greatest faults a malster has to contend with ; it is better to have the «wns left on, than to thrash it too closely, as when much broken it is useless for malting. There is an advantage in freight of barley ov«r wheat, wheat being 601bs and barley 501bs to the bushel. In conclusion, I will condense a few remarks to guide a grower :— Cape and Oregon barley for horse feed ; there is a variety known as the skinless barley that is very prolific, and for homo use is the best too, but not known in the market. Chevalier requires less seed because the plants tiller more than any other ; I have seen good crops from four pecks sown to the acre. The land must be light, and well pulverised. Should be sown when the soil is dry. Should be reaped before the grain is quite bard, to prevent shaking. Should be pickled in lime-water to prevent smut."

In to-day's paper, says the Hatoke'a Bay Times, will be found a report of a caao of some interest to farmers, in wbioh a labourer, who sued for £5 wages us ft haymaker, failed to recover on the ground that he had broken hit agreement— it having been explicitly agreed that in the event of hii going off drinking, and thereby imperilling the hay, he should forfeit his wages. The case was defended on principle, and the Resident Magistrate gave judgment in favour of the defendant. In another column wo quote from the Otago WUiiets of the 21it February, a report of a case of greater magnitude, in the Province of Otago, which is in many respects a parallel to the one heard in Napier on Friday. In both cases it wai the attraction of races which drew the men from their work, and the breach of agreement wae of a very similar kind in each instance. In the Otago case, the sbearert, numbering about forty, were cait in damages to the amount of £120, and were further informed that if the caie had been brought in a different form, they would hare forfeited their wnges from the commencement of their work to tbe date of the breach of agreement. Caset like these tend to prove that the tyranny of labour it at mercilesi and miichievoui at the tyranny of capital ; and matter* and tervantt alike would do well to profit by tuch counsel at was given by the Alexandra Evident Magistrate. A gottiper in the Melbourne Town and Country Journal relatet a good ttory : — Did you overbear of tuoh effrontery ? A young gentleman who it tbe son of a very rioh Melbourne merchant, had the cbeek to tell his father the other day that ho panted to marry a governess. Considering that bit p»r«ht had married bis own cook, it did nob seem bo the youfch, that there were rocks ahead. But he was mistaken. ' Mar«y tb« governess,' cried the old gentleman in a rage ; ' I'd sooner fee you run away with a barmaid ! ' « But itn't it better to marry & governess than a, oook ? ' retorted the son rather severely. 'No fear/ w» 6 che reply, ' tbe one would save you a lot of sjonej", tie ofhoi would make you spend it.' Whit true, ideas of otoaomr.

Tbo fepot-ter of an Inib papar, after being oagagei three day I in writing reports of races, attended church hue Sunday evening, where the blow-boy of the organ was uifquaj to the task. The result wss the following report : — ' 4. one moment the organ would be galloping to keep up wfy tho ohoir, and the next minute the choir would get up a tremendous burst of speed to catch the organ. Finally, tht,two started off side by side as they went into the doxology,' ( but as they reacbod the latter part of the second line, and ver» going finely and squarely, the wiud of theWgan gaye out completely, and the choir had to finish the ribe alone, wHch it did in excellent time.' ' - The President of the Institutiou of 1 Civil Engineers, ai a recent meeting of that body, said : — The rise ol prices in tho labour market had greatly aflfeoted railways, "both in iheir construction and working. New works cost ftom 30 to 40 per cent, more than , they did a few years ag>, and took / nearly double the time to complete. In the tolliery and iron districts of the north of England it was diflcult to get men to do night work. Owing to this, to the rapid development of traffic, and to the adoption of the blocksystem, id had been necessary to remodel the old mineral nil way*, 1 work whinh it would take a long time to complete.. From information received, I believe that a Dank of Victoria origin, carrying on business in colonies to tb# westward, it now going east for the first time. W* shall soon hear of the extension of its transactions to, and the, opening up of branches in, Now Zealand. Iks enterprise', deserves success — JUgles. The T. C. lately engaged a smart and cleanly China boy ' to help his better half about the house. One day the old ' lady was out when the T.C. came horn* tired and hungry. ' Hastily he went to the larder, and there,, oh, joy ! he di»> ' covered a piece of roast beef and lettuce- salad all cut up. ' He tackled the beef at once, and, to lose no time, told theChina boy to mix the- salad, an operation that Mrs T.C. had taken great pains to instruct him in. The boy went into the kitchen with the salad and the necessary ingredients for dressing it. In a few moments a most mysterious noise came from the kitchen, — it was a sort of fu, fu, fiz, fiz*. Wondering what caused it, the T.C. went on tiptoe to the kitohen door. There he saw the wretched Mongolian, with distended cheeks, blowing an oily spray through his nostrils on to the salad. The T.C sent that salad to a siok friend H and little A Wing's hand may at time* be seen rubbing v certain part of his person as if something was wrong, there! — ban Francisco News-Letter. A dry-witted soldier of the 10th Vermont, during the war, was heard to pray once, when th* bullets were falling iv sho wers, as follows: " Oh, Lord, make m* thin as aknife." In connection with the recent royal marraiage, the following may prove interesting to our readers : — " When the bridegroom ii presented, the whole house is in confusion %. all the relations, friends, and neighbours on both sides are invited to the house of the bride. When all the expected company are assembled, the match-maker comes in, leading the bridegroom by the hand, and, going straight to the head of the house, presents him. The father first) then thfe mother, kisses him. The bride's father then leads the young man to a table covered with a white cloth ; on the table is •» silver salver with a loaf of bread on it, and on the bread a ult-cellar with salt. Two rings — one of gold, the other of silver — are placed on a small silver tray before a golden image of the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus in her arms. With this image they bless the future couple. All the company stand ; the mother holds the bride, completely dressed in white, by the hand, surrounded by all her dearest friends and companions. All bow before the ,'image. The father takes the image, the mother the bread and salt ; the young couple then kneel under the image, and the ceremony ii repeated. After this the father and mother of the bridegroom do the like. Then comes the giving of the rings. The bride's father gives the golden ring to the bridegroom, the silver one to the bride. They are now affianced to each, other, and give each other the first kiss. When the cere* mony is over, the company enjoy themselves, they chat, laugh, eat and drink, and separate, after having fixed theday for the marriage. During the interval between this, ceremony and the marriage, the bridegroom spends all his, evenings with his bride, often Ute-a-tite. The marriage ceremony follows. It is also called the coronation, because, during the ceremony, a crown is placed on the heads of theaffianced. Then the priest offers them a cup of wine, of which tney both drink, as a sign of the union they havecontracted. A solemn procession is led by the officiating priest, the bride and bridegroom following him, round the desk placed in the centre of the church, upon which is laid the Bible. This is meant to represent the joys which await them, and the eternity of such ties. During the public celebration of the marriage the rings worn by the young couple are exchanged ; the husband now wearing the silver one, the bride the golden. From the church all the company invited go to the house of the bridegroom's father. A week afterwards the husband and his wife return to church, when the priest lifts the crown from each of their heads. This is the final consecration of marriage. In a circular issued by the Berlin Medical Society it is stated that it is the deliberate conviction of its members that systematic instruction in gymnastics for young g4rls of all classes of society is desirable, " even more so for girls than for boys, since the physical condition of the fsmal* is calculated to affoct in the highest degree the constitution of future generations. This example we (Medical Times and Gazette) hope will be followed generally in this country. It is a matter of the highest importance, and really, as far as the well-being of womankind u concerned, as essential as intellectual education. ' Ah,' said the inimitable and ever-original Stubbs to a. hearty greeting, administered in the form of a slap on the back, ' you remind me of Jack B in Sydney, 3D or 40years ago. Jack was always in the small debts court He hadn't an appetite for breakfast unless he had been served* with a writ the day before. I had erected two handsome lamp pillars in front of my place. They bad fine bold mouldings, and just after tber erection Jack backed against one of them accidentally, and touched the projecting cornice. Turning sharply round, the bystanders were amused by hi* exclaiming, "At whose suit ? At whose suit?" '