SCOTCH DRAINAGE SYSTEM.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1461, 12 November 1881, Page 4

SCOTCH DRAINAGE SYSTEM.

Mr Lmvsox, a Forfarshire farmer, writes as follows on the drainage of Angus and Meaius: — "Befose the Government loan in 1846 was available for drainage operations a good deal had been done in the two counties to dry the damper soils. Government money, however, was largely talcen advantage of, notwithstanding the rather unfavorable conditions on which it was obtained On ' almost every estate assisted by the Government loan, the tenant had to pay interest at the rate of 6] per cent on the outlay, which included a "sum equivalont to aboat 8 per cent, of the amount for superintendance, charges, &o.' Thus only £92 out of every £100 was available for cutting, purchasing pipe.s, and filling in drains. Mr Lawson observes that ' although this system of draining 1 cost from 8s to 12s per acre annually for interest alone, besides carriages, it was steadily persevered in, and by 1868 fully one-half of the arable laud in both counties had been got over. I may here mention that though the Govemment grant was the medium through which the greater portion of both counties has been drained, those who principally took advantage of it were the proprietors of entailed estates. The usual practioo •was for the tenant-farmer to drive all the carriages, and pay the' fall amount of the interest on the loan, which at the end of a nineteen years' lease wa,a nearly re-

deemed, thus giving the landlord a farm thoroughly drained. The improvement was worth quite as muob, if well executed, at the end of the lease as at the time of its execution ; while in a very few years -ifter tho debt was extinguished. The Government and Improvement Companies' loans constituted a legal burden, and weie eagerly taken advantage of by tho proprietors as being- a means of impioiing their estates without dipping into thoir own pockets ; tho tenants, as I have already indicated, being left to bear the whole expense, and at the same time to extinguish the debt.' A great deal of the laud in other counties has been drained by similar means."

j The spread of the mowing machine is woncleiful. One firm alone makes over 30,000 of them every year, and it is estimated that there are now 200, 000 of their machines in existence, capable of harvesting annually 60,000,000 acres of grain and grass, an area equal to that of the States of New York and Pennsylvania. We\r and Tear O¥ Coin.— lt is estimated by the Deputy-Master of the Mint that out of the total gold coinage in circulation, amounting 1 to about one hundred millions sterling, not less than 40 per cent, ia light to a degree which renders the coins no longer legal tender. It is to be observed, however, that a sovereign reaches thij point when it has lost threequarters of a grain of its weight, worth about l^d. The estimated "life "of our soveieigns and half-sovereigns is about 18 years. It is satisfactory to learn that although sovereigns are occasionally found which have been tampered with, our gold coinage doe not, as a rule, suffer from fair wear and tear. It appears that the Bank of England is accustomed to send light gold to the Mint for re-coinn?e at tho rate of neatly 1,000,000 per auuiun. The San Fiancisco News Letter observes :— Mrs M.icUay, of the roat Bonan/a Mine, is said to have determined on taking up her residence in London for tlii: soiion. Tiie splendour of this lady's diamonds will create expectation and closure loception, Mrs Hicks, the last great foimle millionaire from America, was adopted by the highest circles ; but her successor, who was pronounced ' too rich tor anything but subscribing to clunt'cb,' was nude over to the middleclass society, which she declared she vastly preferred. Mrs Mackays diamonds arc pronounced to be the wonder of the aye. With sublime indifference does this lady regard the brooches, the necklace^, the earrings of others. She idorns herself with chains of diamonds reaching in rows from shoulder to shoulder, diminishing at the waist, then expanding again clown to the hem of her tunic, so that she appears one blaze of fire as she stands beneath the light of the chandeliers. Phlscuvisg Flowkrs. — Flowers roay be preseived with tulphur, by the following protcs* ."—Procure a moderate-sized box (a tea-box will answer), and across the top, on the inside, taok two narrow strips of wood on opposite sides, upon winch rcstu thin rods tor th« flowers to h.mg from. Have a small door cut in quo side at the lower p.nt, which rnuit open iind olos, by meiins of two hinge-'. It h absolutely essential that the box Oiould be pfifcotly nir-tisfhc Arrange tic flower- in clusters of two to a do/en, according to tho M/e. Tic them and hang tho (iusfeis to tho rod, but not. nc^r enough to touch each other. Put a sr-ovtl of live coals in an iion pan, spreading them over the bottom. Place it in tho box, and spi inkle over the coals two ounces of sulphur. Then place the lid on the box. The small door is kept open for a few minutes. Glance in to see that there are no flames, but only the fumes of the sulphur. Close the door, throw a thick blanket over the box, and leave it for twenty-four hours. Upon exposing the floweih to tho air, the colour which has been bleached out of them will return. Should you desire to brighten them, it can be done by the application of a little paint. As tho success of this experiment depends entirely upon the exclusion of the air, the box must be as airtight as it can be made. The room too, in which the box is placed must be perfectly dry.