AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1560, 4 July 1882, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

A NoKFOLK farmer has sent the following letter to the secretary of the Farmer' Alliance, with preraission to publish it : — After so many repeated applications for my subscription, I feel I must write you the cause why I have not paid it. It is not because 1 ilo not believe in the Fanners' Alliance, but simply and solely the- want of money. Perhaps you may say the subscription is too small to make that excuse. That I admit ; but in these times one is obliged to cut clown cveiy expense, and then can barely got enough out of the land to pay imperative demands. I am a tenant-farmer, and began business four years ago. We laid our money into the farm, which we supposed was going to pay its way and a little to spare. My wife and myself have worked hard, and still lost money. If you ask me what has been the cause of ill fortune in tanning, my reply is, mainly high rent and tithe. Many have complained of the bad se.isous, and would make out them to be the main cause of the depression in agiieultuie ; but I maintain that, with theoidin.uy seasons whkh wo; have had of late, business farmers, with fair rents, no tithe, ami no so-called poor rates, would have been .ible to pay their way. In my opinion many fauncis have made a great blunder in the wholesale use of artificial manure. After living fifteen years on heavy land, foui of which have been in business tor myself, I have proved that in nine causes out of ten their use has been a heavy loss iv the farmer ; but ] suppose the fanner" s loss in that case has been the makei •» gain. I wish they would kindly ictuin me only half what I have lost by the u-,e of their manures, For the futui e faunei *• had better attend to making thcii own farm-yard manure better, and l.c\ th- u land down instead of giowint; pu.is .uid beans ; and keep nioie thecp, then I think they will be much better oil. Mr C S. Read, after his icturn fiom America, said that " if English fanneis rose as early i:i the morning, worked as hard, dressed ;m shabbily, and lived a.s close as the Amei ican farmers, they Mould suceed lvtfcei." Now I have lived witli and worked with several Ainciicnu faimeis, but I did not see that they -worked harder, drcsted more shabbily, and lived closer than many of my neigh boi .s.wdmj .self. If he had said, give English tanners a chance as Americans, viz. — cheap land, free fiom tithe and poor rates, with si-ciuity, freedom, and compensation, and then advised us to get up early, work hard, dress shabbily, and live close, I .should have believed his doctrine. So long as English farmers aie burdened as many of them now are, good seasons may come and go, but they will be much richer. If seasons have everything to do with it, as many landlords tell us, I should like to know where the wealth is now that the farmers accumulated during the good seasons proceeding 1876 or 1877.

Mkat Pie.— The mashed potatoes, seasoned with salt, butter, and milk, and line a baking dish. L.iy upon it cold moat of any kind ; add salt, popper, catsup, and butter, or any cold giavy ; put in a layer of potatoes and another of meat in the same way till the dish is fall ; have a layer of potatoes on the top. Bake it till it is thoioughly heated through. The new pure cash syhtcm now being initiated by G. and C. will certainly pro\o a benefit to the public . It has been a great success in Sjdney .md Melbourne, and when strictly carried out the customer ■who buys at an establishment where the goods arc marked \o\v toensuic .1 rapid s.ile must be a erf at gainer. G. and C. sell their drapen, millinery, and clothing at Mich pi ices foi cash as gives the buyer the advantages of a shareholder in a co-operative society, without the risk ofbcii'B called upon to bcaraportion of the loss should the 3 ear's business prove unsatisfactory. Garlick and Cranwell will aim to retain the confidence which the public have hitherto shown them, and are determined to give the pine cash system a fair trial; whether they gain or lose the first year Country buyers on remitting t.ish with order will be supplied with goods at i o-oncrahc pners; just the same as though the\ m ide apcrsonal selection. Furnishing goods, such as carpets, floor cloths, bedsteads, bedding and general house furniture, the largest poition of which i? turned out at our own factor) , willbc marked at the lowest rcmuneiative prices, and a discount of five per cent, will be allowed to those who pay .it the time of purchase. G. and ( . having realised the entire value of their stock diving their late cash sale, the present stock is m waydw avd cm u>r y bough i. — An inspection in\ itt'd — G\ju ick avd Cranweli., City Hall Furnishing- Arcade Queen street, Auckland.