FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2519, 1 September 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

A Daniel Come to Judgment.—Nitre is sometimes used to take away the turnip taste from milk. A case was tried some time ago in the west of Scotland, where nitre was supposed to have been added to milk. The dairymen pleaded not guilty to using nitre, but said that he gave his cows rock salt. The magistrate fouud the man not guilty of using nitre, but guilty of adulterating his milk, inasmuch as by giving cows rock salt they were made thirsty, and drank more water; and thus the milk was diluted by an extra quantity of water.

A Sensible Suggestion.—A traveller in Norway said : The horses here have a very sensible way of taking their food, which perhaps might be beneficially followed in other countries. • They have a bucket of water put down beside their allowance of hay. It is interesting to see with what relish they take a sip of the one and a mouthful of the other alternately, sometimes only moistening their mouths, as a rational being would do while eating a dinner of such dry food. A broken-winded horse is scarcely over seen in Norway; and the question is whether the mode of feeding has not something to do with the preservation of the animal's respiratory organs.

An Insect Desteoyer.—M. Letelier said in the "Journal of the Paris Horticultural Society, ' that it liquid formed by boiling 63 grains of red American potash, and the same quantity each of flour of sulphur and siap, in 1 j pints of water, was excellent and efficacious in destroying insects. If it is required to be stronger, the quantity of potash and sulphur might be doubled ; but the soap must remain the same, Upon immersion, insects—ants, caterpillars, ■ cockchafers, grubs, &c.—were instantly killed ; while the solution occasioned no injury to the plants. The liquid will destroy anta aud grubs when it is poured into their places of resort.

Grain • cleaning Machinery in Russia.—A Mark-lane corn merchant some years ago sent out some seed grain and a grain cleaning machine to a Russian landowner, whose first use of the latter was to clean a quantity of rye. This he had some difficulty in selling to a Jew dealer, who ultimately gave him his price, provided he might have the rubbish which had been taken out of it into the bargain. This being agreed to, the dealer immediately had the whole mixed together again, and sent it off for shipment. Tho grower said he had obtained all the experience lie needed of the uses of grain-cleaning machines; and, if we may judge from the condition iu which Russian grain comes to England, they have not yet found favour in tfiut country. Medical Properties of Vegetables. —Spinach has a direct effect upon complaints of the kidneys. The common dandelion, used as greens, is excellent for the same trouble. Celery acts admirably upon the nervous system, aud is a cure for rheumatism and neuralgia. Tomatoes act upou the liver. Beets and turnips are excellent appetisers, Lettuce and cucumbers are cooling in their effects upon the system. Onions, garlic, Ibplcs, olives and shalots, all of which are similar, poesess medicinal virtues of a marked character, stimulating the circulating system, and consequently increasing the saliva aud the gastric juice, and producing digestion. Red onions are an excellent diuretic; and the white onions are recommended to be eaten raw as a remedy for insomnia;. They are a tonic and nutritious. A soup made from onions is regarded by the French as an excellent restorative in debility of the digestive organs.

Feeding Young Pigs.—A. correspondent wrote: Young pigs at a month old should be fed with skim milk and fine wheat middlings, the latter of whioh may be bought for 10s or lls per sack ; and the keep of a farrow of young pigs will not cost more than Is each per week for the first month, when they should be taken away from the sow altogether, if not before. The time for weaning must depend a good deal on the condition of the sow and the quantity of milk she has, and other circumstances. When the pigs are two months old they should have two feeds of barley and oatmeal per day, with some plain skim milk at midday, as they will probably be thirsty in warm weather. The food should be mixed thin at first. The barley find oatmeal may be given separately, if desired, at alternate feeds, or mixed. In this way the pigs will soon grow into porkers. Eight porkers will consume about a sack of meal per week.

Colouring of Butter.-—One of the market requirements in butter is that it should be of a rich yellow or golden colour. The fact that grass butter always has a rioh shade without resorting to artificial colouring is sufficient reason on the part of consumers for suspecting that pale butter must be of inferior quality; uniformity" being' the only rule which will sell butter in the present day. Lute summer or autumn butter.made from tho milk of cows fed upon hay is generally deficient in colour; and unless some artificial means is employed to give it the desired shade, it will not command a price in the market equal to butter of the same texture and quality which has been coloured. Pure aunatto not mixed with water is the best. This prevents any uneven or streaky appearance, and should

be added to the cream in the croam pot before churning. A colour may be prepared from pulped or scraped carrots, which answers very well. The roots, when ready, iiro pressed, and the liquid from them is strained and kept for use. LncKKNE is one of the oldest of fornge plants (observed a London paper). The Meden and Persians were as unchangeable in their attachment to it as to their laws. The famous Parthian horsemen nourished their steeds upon it; and tho Arabs and Barbs ot the Moorish warriors were believed to owe many of thoir distinctive qualities to their being fed on lucerne. A southern plant, it will hardly stand tho bleaker air of our northern shores ; but it is reasonably hardy, and grows well wherever the fury of the east winds is not great. Well known for ages, it is extraordinary that the best method of cultivating it is at this very moment a matter of keen dispute. A leading firm of seedsineu in its printed instructions has announced that growers would do well to sow it, and l;ave it untouched by plough, scarifier, or harrow. This advice a leading agricultural journal meets with a direct negative. We have no space for controversy here ; but the sooner the experts agreo on the matter the better for growers.

Preserving Beef.—Frozen mutton has proved a success, but frozen beef a failure. Experiments have therefore been made with carbonic acid gas ; and these proved highly successful. Tho meat was placed in a cylinder of metal platp, and suHpe'nded from a rod which crossed the upper part and the lower part. A email tube nerves to admit a current of carbonic acid gas from a Kipp's apparatus. The lid, which rested in a circular trough of glycerine, was traversed hy a similar tube in it* centre ; and both tubes could be closed with india-rubber tubing and screw taps us soon as sufficient carbonic acid g>is bad traversed the apparatus. At the end of seven, fourteen, and twenty-ono days it was found that the meat was still quite good, and the soup prepared from it was in every respect excellent. At the end of tho fourth or fifth week the meat thus preserved in tho gas whs still quite free from all putridity; but tho broth prep ired from it no longer tasted as woll as fresh bouillon. The experiments were not extended over a longer time. Carbonic acid is thus shown to be an excellent means of preserving beef from putridity and of causing it to retain its good taste for several weeks. Mutton does not preserve as woll. In eight days it had become putrid; and veal ie by no means as well preserved as beef.

Home - jiade Fertiliser. — Ground blood, bone, and wood ashes will make a complete fertiliser for all crops, because the articles furnish, respectively, nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, the principal elements of plaint food, and the ones which givo to all manures and fertilisers their chief value. The boDe should bo fine grouud ; and if the fertilisator is to be immediately available to crops, should be partially dissolved with sulphuric aoid or by composting , some weeks with uuleached wood ashes. Good dried blood will contain 12lb. of phosphoric acid; 1001b unbleached wood ashes will contain 21b, of phosphoric acid and 61b of potash. For a good, complete phosphate for crop.", a mixture, 1001b. of which shall contain from 2£lb to 31b to 51b of potash will be required. The best method of bringing bones to a very breakable condition is to make a strong lye of wood a-hes, and keep the bones in it until sufficiently softened. Wood ashes are an excellent fertiliser for sweet potatoes, strawberries, and all fruit crops. Usually the best way is to sow them broadcast and harrow them in ; or they can be sown in the rows and cultivated in. With sweet potatoes the wood ashes can be applied in the ridges before they are made, or broadcast. They are not much of a protection against insects on fruit trees, except that they cause the trees to grow more vigorously, and thus render them able to resist the attacks of the insects. The ashes left after burning wood consist simply of the mineral matter which is contained in the wood. These ashes are composed mainly of lime, potash, phosphoric acuil, .and magiiusia. lit conrsu an equal weight of wood ashes is much more concentrated than the wood or sawdust alone. This explains why lOOlbs. of ishes are much richer and of more value as a fertiliser than lOOlbs. of sawdust, which may not produce more than 101b. of ashes. Wheat iii America. Concerning the introduction of wheat into America, reliable information is obtainable. It may be difficult in the present day to realise the fact that wheat was at one time uukuown in America ; yet. prior to the discovery of that continent by Columbus, theuo was no cereal in America approaching in nature to the wheat plant. A slave of Cortez found a few grains of wheat in a parcel of rico and showed them to his master, who ordered them to be planted. Tho result showed that wheat would thrive on Mexican soil, and to-day one of tho finest wheat valleys is near the Mexican capital. From Mexico tho oeroal fouud its way to Peru. Marie d'Escobar, wife of Don Diego de Chauves, carried a few grains to Lima, which were planted, the entire product being used for seed for several successive crops. At Quito, in Ecuador, a monk of the order of St. Francis, named Fra Jodosi Bixi, introduced a new cereal, and it is said that the jar which contained tho seed is still prenerved at Quito. Wheat was introduced into the present limits of the United Stntes contemporaneously with the suttlemout of that country by the English and other European settlers. A Community of Potato GrowersThe most prosperous little agricultural community in Europe probably exists in Jersey, There is no poverty in the island. The farmhouses, cottages, and buildings are not to be equalled on any estate in England. Labourers are receiving 15s a week. No men are out of work. Its prosperity is due to an exceptional climate, which enables it to produce early potatoes a month sootier than they can in England. The average temperature from November to May is nine degrees higher than it is in England. The farms are market gardens, generally running from 10 to 25 acres. There are a few farms of > over 50 acres. There is something under 20,000 acres of arable land iu jersey, and more than half of it is now planted with potatoes, and their early ripening secures them a market at prices which return nearly £40 an acre. But the Jerseymen work their farms to an extent which would tire New Zealanders in no time, ploughing as much as 15 inches deep, and carting seaweed and stable manure at all spare momenta, and buying guano whenever they can afford it. The average crop 13 6 to 6i tons per acre.