FARM CHAT.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1276, 2 September 1880, Page 3

FARM CHAT.

Ligurian. $ees. If farming is to be succesf uly carried on in this country, it-is 'of Wy gfreat importaac^itoTTave the right s.ortk«f bees. In -4he report of the Local -Industries Commissioners, presented to the Assembly, it appeara that Mr Hopkins, of Grahamsrfown, jfcnd' Mp Wren, o~f Kfemtwra, both;, strong!^ recommend' the introduction of!? th\ Legihjian,* Bee, not only as the best; honey producer, but a$ a fertiliser; of' I ployfer andother flowerB,fjwbich Are out s of, the reach of the .ordinary bes. ' The Ligurian bee (apis liqnsi ica) has a tawny abdomen, with the rings .bordered' with black. It is common to Italy and Greece, and Virgil sang its praises." It is stated that this bee' piercfs Jth§caliC6s, at their bases, % of those flowers ;which are too --] ltfig" for. it. ,to -penetrate into easily^ and thus gets^-pogeesaion of the honey, whilst the comtijon bees pass these flowers over. It is considered that of the common and Legurian, the latter is the more intelligent of the- two. iMr Wren is prepared to introduce these bees if liis expense's ' and ' a fair ambiint of remuneration are paid him. > He is of opinion 'that with the expenditure.' of ,£SOQ , the Government might procure them, by sending him or any otter competent; person |bo America.f or the purpose.- Much, however, as the country might -be benefitted by Italian bees, in the present impecunious state of th.c. Government, £500 seems a lot of money; and no doubt' the object might be accomplished at a' far easier rate by contract, • „ i

'Auckland Butter.* Upwards of a hundred kegs of butter were lately s-old by auction in Auckland at from 2|d to 6d per lb. If there had not been, purchasers of the article for exportation, it would have had to be used in the soap factorial That butter is so wretchedly bad as only to fetch 2^d per lb. does not speak well for some of those who call themselves dairy farmers. There evidently wants some light thrown on the subject of butter making and churning. Where lies the blame of so inferior a product? ' Is if in thtfeows^he feed, the dahy-maid, or the keg's? Perhaps it may not be generally knbwn that rancid butter can be' purified, and no doubt the stuff that is aViipoed off! to London from ■ Auckland will be so manipulated that it will be transformed into a not unpleasant article of diet. A writer in Land and Water gives the following advice upon this subject in answer to a correspondent of that' journal: — " If her butter is very bad," premises the write*-, " I cannot promise that the following plan will entirely restore it; but I can at least describe a process which I once watched at an agricultural show, where a machine for washing butter was at work, and where some very horribly odorous butter was in a few minutes rendered edible. It did its work very quickly and by the simple turning of a handle, and the same sort of process might be accomplished by means of a wire sieve or a strainer anywhere. The butter was forced through affiuelyperforated receptacle into a large tub. of fresh cold water. It came rapidly raining down in a fine capilliform shower, lying upon the clear water in a tangle of golden filament, singularly beautiful, till the , water was all covered with them. When the whole lump had been thus transformed into yellow threads, they were stirred and beaten about in the water with a wooden beater, then oollected and pressed into a fresh lump of greatly im* proved appearance, and again forced through the machine in another shower of delicate filaments. This process was repeated several times, till the butter had been washed literally through and through."

Pigs and Peas. It is a pity that Captain Runciman, in his recent paper on " Swine," spoilt what was, otherwise an instructive and interesting essay, by advising that peas be grown, and pigs turned into the standing crop. I was glad to see that at least one member of the Club did not fall in with the idea. The particular pea recommended, ripens pretty early ; us it has to be sown early to escape the ravages of caterpillars. And how a ripe crop in this fickle climate is going to keep good for several months, I cannot imagine. A far better plan would be to reap the peas, and feed them unthrashed to the pigs in covered yards, when the straw would make manure. In Australia, it is a common practice in some districts, to grow fodder expressly for pigs to harvest. Maize is the crop principally grown for pig harvesting ; and it seems that tho animals soon get accustowaed to the work, and break down juat the quantity of stalks that will furnish their proper quantity of food, and thus waste none or very little. Undoubtedly this must, save a good deal of expense for labour both in harvesting, and in afterwards serving it out to the animals. But although maize will stand in the field much longer than peas without being injured by the weather, such a system of pig-fanning may be gravely called in question. There is probably no food better than peas for finishing off pigs fer bacon ; but then it will not do to havo the pigs ready to kill before suitable weather arrives for, the7fpnK^s of curing. By the 'by *it is worthy of notice^ how ths temperature effects the growth ami • weight? of Swine. A case h recorded as follows,: — "Dnring a very' inild'week there , was an inore&se of one pound daily in the weight of ' the pig; It then turned suddenly quite cold and remained so during the next week, at the end 'of Which' 'the pig weighed exactly the same 'that he did the week before. During the warm week, ithe food consumed after supplying the fuel necessary to kefep up the animal heat ajad 'supporting respiration, afforded a surplus sufficient to produce seven pounds of flesh and fat, while during the 6'old week, the wriole food Consumed wks required to support animal heat arid respiration. Yeoman.

Ja^E (muler nine, tq her governess) * ; '.f. f Hiss BTuuj;, wlien ma a'jKs you to have sotne *m6fe "wine to-day at dinner, do, please, say " ' Yes.' " Governess i " Why, what do you wish me to take inctre wine for?" Jane: "" Oh, I only want to see ma's face ! " The Jewish coagregafclon at Dunedin have aocepted tepderp for building a new synagogue, at a cost of £3,326,