FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 353, 18 August 1874, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

An English gardiner suggests what seems a good plan for ridding plant houses of ants. It is at least safer than scattering poison. Bits of dry, clean sponge, sprinkled over with sugar, are placed in the vicinity of the ant runs ; they quickly fill the interstices, and may be dipped into boiling water for a few seconds, and again used in the same manner on a second crop. Bones with a small portion of meat attached prove also an excellent bait, and bottles containing a little sweet oil, placed near the nests, will entice ants in considerable numbers. Lice on poultry are among the greatest draw backs to the pleasure and profit of the poultry yard ; they are especially troublesome in small yards and and coops where the fowls cannot have free access to green food and dry earth. Various remedies have been tried, and it has been found that kerosine oil is a very effectual and safe one. It is applied with veiy little trouble ; pour it from the can upon the perches where fowls roost, and when the hens are ready to brood, saturate the inside of the box before the clean hay or straw is put in with the eggs. It is very much less trouble to apply the oil than to use a wash of tobacco, or to go through a proc -c s of white-washing once a month. A method of preserving green fodder, such as turnip-tops, beet tops, or other succulent vegetables, valuable to daily farmers, has been in use for many years in Europe, by which this green fodder is kept in good condition for six or twelve months. A trench two to four feet deep is dug in a diy spot in the field, and the tops of the roots, carefully gathered when free from rain or dew, are thrown into it. They are very compactly pressed down, and when the pit is filled some straw is laid upon the fodder and the earth is heaped over the whole. In this manner this product, which is generally wasted in a great measure, is utilized. On one occasion the writer saAv one of these pits opened in the spring which had been filled and covered up tbe fall previous. The fodder, which was leaves of sugar-beets, was as fresh to all appearance as when gathered, and the cows to which it was fed ate it with avidity. Salt is generally sprinkled upon the fodder, and aids in its preservation. It would be worth while when root crops are being gathered to preserve the tops in this way as an experiment. The principal requisites are to pack away the leaves when dry, to compress them so completely with earth that all access of air is prevented. It is by the exclusion of air that they are kept from decay.

Monsieur Thiers, when ho was in London, went to see St Paul's Cathedral. Ho was stopped at the door for the customary fourpence. This he obstinately refused, inquiring all the wlnlo, "Is it not one cathedral?" He was made to understand at last what the demand nas for, Then lie said, "Ha! now I comprehend. Dere are so few great men hi Enjland dat jou make de pcoplo pay to see den). It ii very jhcup."

An instance of | radical Christianity nrliicu may be ol u*e io tlio tract makers. On Monday a httlo follow wilh a withr red leg, who sells matches, slipped from the kerb in Collins street, and broke -lm crutch. Thero were some ready sixpences about for a new prop, but the boy still wept, |fc ho was unable to reach his home Just then a shoeless, fiatless urchin, with the daylight shining through the rents in his breeches, came up and said, " Wln-ro do ye want to go to ? " and being informed, at once hoisted th • cripple on his back. I noticed eyes m stern faces suffusing as the little creature staggered away under his load, and more Limn one Ibyatander realised better than ever before the story of the 'Samaritan. This one wasn't 12 years old, and I ha\e heard worso sermons than he preached practically —Argus. A. little boy, having heard a beautiful story about a little boy and a hatchet, and how, because the little boy wouHn t tell a lie, lie, in time, got to be President of the United States, was very much impressed by it. Now, it happened that on the last day of March, he was just 10 years old, and his father asked him what he would like to ha* lor a birthday present. Very naturally the boy s answer was, A little hatchet, if you please, popi.' The father bought bun a little hatchet that very day, and the boy was so delighted that he actually took it to bed with him. Early the next morning he got up, dressed himself, took his little hatchet and went out into the garden. There, as luck would have it the first thing that caught his eye was his father s favorite cherry-tree. 'My eyes!' said the little boy to himself, « what a time my father *ould make if a fellow wore to cut that tree ! ' It was a wicked thought, for it led him into temptation. There was the tree— tall, straight, and fairjust the thing for a sharp little hatchet. And there was the hatohet— strong, sharp, and shining— just the thing for a favorite cherry-tree. In another instant the swift strokes ot an axo were heard in the still morning air, and before long «mall boy was seen running towards the house. Eis father t him at the door. 'My boy, what noise was that I heard just now ? Surely you have not been at my favorite cherrytree ? ' The boy stood proudly before him, but with downcast eyes and flushing cheeks. ' Father,' he said, ' I cannot tell a lie. That cherry-tree is ' ' Say no more, said the father, extending his arm. 'You have done wrong my •on, and that was my favorite tree, but you have ipoken the truth. I forgive you. Better to ' Thit was too much. The boy rushed into his father's armi. ' Father ! ' he whispered, ' April Fool !' haven't touched the cherry-tree ; but 1 most chopped th« old apple-stump to pieces. 1 ' You young rascal, you!' cried the father; 'do you mean to say you hkven't chopped my cherry-tree ? April-fool your old father, Will you? Toko otfyourcoat, sir!' With a supplied >sob, that little boy obeyed. Tben, ihuttiug his eyes, he felt hi» father's hand descend upon his shrinking form. My •on,' said the father, solemnly, as he itroked the little •boulder, 'It is the Ist of April. Go thy way. —American paper. An unpleasant affair has just occurred at Covington in Kentucky. Colonel Terrell, "the well-known Covington journalist," having occasion to call at the office of Mr iiarvey Myors, one of the prominent lawyers of Kentucky,^ and Widely eiteemed for his learning and bioad humanity, had the misfortune lo shoot that gentleman dead with ti Derringer pistol. It seems that Colonel Terrell s temper was rather ruffled on account of certain proceedings brought against him by Mrs Terrell. He has on raoro than one occasion threatened to whip or shoot all the lawyers conBrned in the case, aud his behaviour towards them has for some little time caused some anxiety to his and their friends, for the Colonel is not altogether & comfortable character ; he has, indeed, the reputation of being a " dangerous man, who hat been living for many years at pistol point with mankind." Mankind has also been living at dagger point with the Colonel, and although ihe was known always to carry Derringers and a revolver on his person, be was a few weeks ago stubbed by a young man named Francis, whose father had deen " ihown up " in the Covington department of the Commercial, u a peculator in office and false to his oath as a justice of the peace. Colonel Terrell had a very narrow escape of hii life when thus stabbed by Francis, and the wound is so imperfectly healed that he has been obliged for several weeks to sleep in an armchair. The diicomfort and inconvenience he has endured owing to his casualty has, it if alleged, embittered his temper, never a good one, and " induced a deeper indulgence in the bottle," to which the Colonel, even Before the wound was unfortunately addicted. The divorce suit, coming at top of these other troubles, has not mended matters, and there seems to be % general impression that he has some excuse for his excitement. At the >arne time, much sympathy is expressed for Mr Myers, who has left a large family. Tho gallant Colonel is at present m custody. — Pall Mall Qazelte. They tell about a man who refused to get up and light the fire, and his wife said she would'nt, thoy remained in bed 37 hours before tho matter was settled. Our sympathies are, of course, with the woman, and we may be permitted to entertain a regret that it did not occur to her to perform a great deed of self socrafice upon this occasion. How noble and beautiful would have been the example set her husband— how touchingly would she have shown her wifely devotion— how keenly would she have made him feel his meanneos— if she had risen and made the fire— if •he had risen, we say. and made a fire under the bed, in order to rout him out all of a sudden ! A woman who thrcwi away such a chance as that is false to her duty and t^p her sex.