RURAL NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1956, 20 January 1885, Page 4

RURAL NOTES.

Evi ny farmer owes to his l>iotliei faron-isa knowledge of each event that oecuis to linn, in his business, ami would be of interest to him — Farmeis 1 Review. Muli") aic much more economical tlian horses foi faun woik. They eat one half less, will do a3 much work, and will live a half longer. With these rl ita do tour own lignniik'. — Farm Journal. Fanners should band themselves into a <lefi nee association, shoot all trail hounds and btiay dogs they find on their farms, and defend any claims fo> compensation. — London Agncultural Gwette. . If as much money was spent in developing the walking g.'iit of our noises as is devoted to bringing out their tiott ing, p icing and muring qualities, the real value of our hoises would soon be very materially enhanced. — National Stockman. Mr James Tefft manufactured last year 1000 gallons of sjiup fiom the five acres of sorgluin on his Kansas firm; fed "a l.tigo number of hogs with the skimming and lesidue," and threshed out 123 bushels of seed worth as much as corn for teed, and, ground into flour, equal to buckwheat for cakes. — New York Tribune. The effect of seed producing on fruit is one that deserves the attention of growers. It is commonly, if not generally, the case that flints— pears, apples and oranges for instance — winch productfew or no perfect seeds, are either larger in flesh, or more abundant in crop, or oftener productive than such sorts of the same fruits as produce many meaty seeds. It appears to ba an unsettled question whether the fertilising of pistil late sorts of straw bemes increase the number of berries or only the number of perfect seeds.— New York Tribune. Thvnv<; the Vitality- of Sekds —The vitality of seed may be tested by placing a sample of almost any of the largest kind of seeds or grains upon a hot pan or griddle. When the seeds are good and the vitality is perfect, the specimen will crack or open w ith more or less noise ; on the other hand, if the seed is not good, or vitality is defective, it will remain still and burn. TJiis is a quicker and suier plan of testing need than to plant in the eaith or in warm water. To test them in this way it is not nccessaiy that the seed be perfectly diy, although they should not he too moist. Tin. l»\Ksvir —The parsnip is one of the most disiiable, as well as the most wholesome of vegetables. It flourishes best and produces the largest, longest and smoothest roots when grown quickly in very rich deep soil. If fresh manure is Uivon the loots will become forked ; or, if the seeds aie sown in a sh illovv or poor soil the ioots will be of small si/c, tough, forked, and almost worthless Oiif ounce of seed will sow about 101 feet of row. As the seed is thin ami bcile like, it does not usually retain it* \ itality o\ er one jc.ir. The roots aie as good for cattle as for huinui beings, being more nutritious than almost any other root. OoostHFUiUFS. — The gooseberry is propogated by cuttings, and should be transplanted in autumn, the tiees being ranged in lines. The trees should be formed with single stems a foot high, and the suekeis, if any spring up from the root, should be carefully removed. The ground on which the bushes stand should be forked over once a year, but only slightly, so as not to disturb the root?. Manuie should be applied either as a top-dressing or in a liquid form. It is also beneficial to throw a handful of weeds, straw or bush hay round the stem and on the main branches that are exposed, to shade them from the sun.

A coniiFsroMJENT of the Pall Mall Gazette has cilled attention to the alarming mortality among bishops' wises. It appoars that at present there are six bishops who are widower", five who have boen married twice, and one, the Bishop of Liverpool, who ha? been married three times. It is not likely that even these alarming statistics will permanently detract from the value of a bishop in the matrimonial maiket ; but a few plausible theories on the subject might be interesting. Connfcticut is raiding up a corps of agricultuial lecturers, who are going about the State and laying solid foundations of enlightened practical agriculture. Not men with breech-loading blunderbusses of scientific names, firod by broadsides into gaping audiences, but plain, pratical men, outgrowths of the people to whom they speak : if liberally educated, educated for, not above, their hearers, speaking to thinking audiences qualified for criticism. Report* are again cropping out that serious financial difficulties are impending in the produce markets at Liverpool and in the shipping trade there. As regasds the Jattcr, one company of American liners recently called an informal meeting of its creditor?, and revealed its inability to meet its engagements in full. No formal act of hankiuptey, however, lias been committed, and none may occur, Secret liquidations appear to be on the increase there as well as in London, to tne great embarrassment of bankers and the serious in juiy of those who honestly desire to pay their way. Cases of poisoning by tinned provisions multiply. Lately a do/.en persons in Glasgow who ate of the same lot of canned mutton weie taken sick, and one boy died in consequence, as a surgeon certified. Latest advices from Merristown, Term., announced the death, after excruciating suffering, and despite the use of every known antidote, of the three Outline children, who had canned blackbf rrirs for supper, and the mother was past help. The father did not taste the fiuit and so "escaped with his life." Bakm viDs, in the opinion of the Shupi Commission, aie non essential to public convenience, and their employment is attended with social consequences often the most disastrous. The Rystem is therefore condemned in emphatic and uncompromising terms. That young giils are not absolutely required to serva liquor in hotels is proved by the fact that the piincipal establishments in Melbourne employ barmen, and in America the absence of young Hebes from their old haunts has not been regarded a? an irreparable loss. It is, however, the moral aspect of the question which calls for serious attention. Attractive young women of agreeable manners become ipw facto decoys to the young and thoughtless of the opposite sex, and frequently to the elderly but foolish. The evidence adduced before the commission showed cleaily that muncious hotels in Melbourne arc brothels in disguise, in which no woman could be engaged without detriment to her reputation. Thus, v lule on the one hand barmaids arr said to laigely recruit the ranks of fallen women, on the other they serve to drag men into intemperance and profligacy, the same terrible fate overtaking both— social declension, disgrace, and ruin. The report forms a powerful indictment against the liquor traffic. It is incontrovertible that licensees employ girls in their ho f els simply to improve business, and they 'do not always pay attention to thu antecedents of the person whom they employ. It has been asserted that 80 per cent, of tho barmaids of Melbourne have lapsed from virtue, and 10 per cent, arc of questionable reputation, and that the balance, though respectable, are liable at any time to succumb to the demoralising influences of their surroundings. Under all the circumstances the legislature can have no other alternative than to carry out the recommendations of the commission, with the qualification that the prohibition shall not apply to the wife or daughter of the licensee. Cav't Prp\ch Good —No man can do a jjood job of work, preach a good sermon, try a lawsuit well, doctor a patient, or write a good article when he ferls nmcrabio and dull, with sluggish brain and unitrung nerves, and none should make the attempt in such a condition when it can be so easily and cheaply removed by a little Hop Bitter*, look for