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FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

$. DA IKY AIM'IJAXOKS FOH SJIAM, F.ATiMS.— To illustrate t.h • improved methods of dairying in a way which is applicable to the circumstances of the smallest farmer, Hi- re. is a separate plant exhibited at the Melbourne Inhibition, consisting of a horse power gearing, a civain separator, a a eluirr. and a butter worker, the whole costing.' about .t'7s.

Wiikat fiunwixc ix California • Ax ijNTKOKITAISLK I'l'JlSinT. —As showing fie result of whtat growing in California", Viceonsiil Mortimer reports the net returns on a firm of 25,000 acres have been only "s. an acre during the last six years, although apparently no ri-nt or interest i.s charged, and the sum put down for harvesting j s the ridiculously low one of Is. 2d. ;ier ncre. 'Pen years ago the land only cost CI per aeve, but is now worth i'S for sale in small tracts, probiilily for fruit growing. Therefore, it i.s concluded, on this and other large win.'.lit farms, the crop does not pay at til;; present value of ]:m,l, and it is c\-pecti-d tluit wheat growing will gradually beeoiiv.! less and loss common in California.

OIiCirAHDIXO : TIIK A:.'VAXTAC!K OF Gitowixn l< , kw Vauiktiks. —It is undouhtodly a fact that orcharding are in the habit of planting too ninny varieties of each kind of fruit they jrrow. An American paper gives soma advim on the subject, which, though it goes to the. extreme, is worthy of the consideration of planters. It recommends that an orchi.rl for profit should not contain morn than two varieties of fruit if less th in 20 acres in extent, but one kind would be even better. There are several reasons for thi.s. One is tbnt the fruit all ripens at once, and thus gives but one feast for the birds and Juno bus's. If there i.s but one variety, what th«y take from an orchard will never bo missed. Again, with hut oue or two kinds, the small -rower ha-> errjuirh of each to pay to handle, either by drying, cintrnntin<r to a cannery or shipping- in narfload lots to the Eastern nvirket. He makes but ons job of picking, and is soon over with'the harvest work. With a dozen kinds ho is picking fruit all summer, hasn't enough of any no lot to market proporlv, and probably has several varieties of fruit that are uwt profitable.

Pin Manure : Its Orkat Value.— The value of swine as makers of manure is not sufficiently appreciated ; not only are their own excrements more rich in nitrogen than those of any other farm animal, but they are also capable of improving the quality of any other manure that may be thrown in tIiRT stye. Flirris, in his work on manures, compares tho value of a loid of 50 bushels, pressed and free from straw, as follows :—Horse, 12.37 11). nitrosren ; cow, 12.05 Ib. nitrogen; sheep, 10.45 Ib. nitrogen ; swine, 2:2.50 II). nitrogen. Thus it will be seen that in nitrogen, the most costly element fanners must apply to their soils, swine manure ranks in mm in advance of the others named. The excrements can be saved by providing plenty of absorbents in tho shape of straw, litter from the horse stables, and dry earth, which besides its value as an absorbent! is the best dcodoiiser in the world. Its use, in the pans will keen thorn free from smell and poisonous taint, thus largely reducing tho liability to disease. If stable and cow manure, as well as any other, and ashes, arc placed in the stye every morning, by night it. will be well worked over and thoroughly mixed, then it may be sprinkled with earth and left till next morning. By this means manure of double the value of ordinary farmyard manure may be made.

An Independence out of Five Acrks. —The following almost incredible statement is made by nn American contributor in Tulare tn a contemporary. He says: — " I claim tlint one who owns 5 acres of good land can, in 4 years' time, be independent. A person owning 5 acres of fruit trees will make more money than one owning large tracts simply because the 5 acre man can tend the same and care for his fruit and berries much better bringing him much larger profits than the 160 acre orchardist. Grapes will pay at 4 years, properly cared for, £50 per acre, or £250 for 5 acres, and will net the 5 acre man £200 per annum. Fins at 5 years will pay from £50 to £70 pur acre • apricots, from £40 to £S0 per .icrt: at 5 years old ; peaches ami nectarines about the same. Strawberries will pay from £S0 to £180 per acre the second year from planting, and the first year the strawberry grower will get one-fourth of a crop. Olives at 7 years will pay from £60 to £200 per acre. Now to prove facts, I would refer the reader to a gentleman living about 0 miles northeast of Tulare, He is the owner of 120 acres. For a number of years lie tried grain raising, and kept getting deeper into debt every year. He at last planted one acre Longworth's prolific and one acre of the Jumbo strawberry. The 2 acres of berries have paid his debts, improved hie ranch, planted his orchard, and today he is independent, The same brings him £16) per acre every year. His young orchard this year netted £40 per acre."

ExrERIMKNTS WlTIt MANURES, Etc. : " Muck" Triumphant.—The annual excursion of the council and members of the Royal Agricultural Society of ISntrland to the experimental station at Wouurn took place on 28th June, anrl was larcelv attenrlerl, upwards of 100 of the leading agriculturists in the country being present. Nothing very new was, however, to be noted in the appearance of the crops, which were found to be slightly increased by the use of minerals or nitrogen alone ; while the best results were got from a mixture of both mineral and nitrogenons manures. The party also visited the rotation experiments, which are designed to test tho value of manure from decorticated cotton cake, -which contains about 6i per cent, of nitrogen, and that from maize meal, which contains nuly per cent. The result of the tests have so far been inconclusive, and the dung all over has given inferior results as compared with some mixtures of artificials. On the previous week a similar party of agriculturists visited Dyson's Wood, where Mr Martin J. Sittton has, in co-operation with Dr. Voelcker, been conducting a valuable series of experiments. Hero, however, it was found that tho good old - fashioned "muck" did what the artificials failed to do—viz., keep the land in good heart while produoinjr jrood crops. Tho Dyson's Wood experiments went to show that it was doubtful policy to apply nitrogenous manure to clover crops. These- manures encouraged such grasses as cocksfoot, which bulks fairly well, but is decidedly of inferior qualify. Sulphate of ammonia also appears to encourage this grass The main point brought out in the Dyson's Wool experiments is that ryegrass cannot be safely dispensed with in any mixturo for the laying down of land to grasp.

The Steam Farmer.

Tlic Canadian court in the International Exhibition at Glasgow contains !i model nf what is tprmed " Mr Romaine's Steam Farmer," destined by the inventor to supersede tho plough in all forms in working out the system of cultivation. Mr Roroaine, the inventor, for the last thirty years has studied the construction of implements for completely pulverising the soil, and at the same time not turning , up tho subsoil. His steam farmer is not only able to plough rapidly, but prepare a seed bed and sow the seed at one operation, and when hirvest comes it can be utilised to cut the grnin and thresh it at tho same time. The implement is represented as a powerful, selfpropelling locomotive machine and apparatus, supported and propelled by means of a series of broad surveying wheels. The machinery and apparatus are suspended high enough above the ground to permit them to pass over the ground crops until they have attained a height of about 4ft., without injuring them, in order to cultivate, hoe,

earth up, and repeatedly stir the soil between the drillid rows of grain or root crops. It is made of four hti:ol girders, suitably braced transversely, and covered with a Rirrn? and cre O soti:d plank floori:i», forming i>. species c,f portable or locomotiv.! bridge, which is about L'.j feet Ion" and l(i feet liroid, thus enabling it to cultivate or ham st a strip of land about'22Heet wide at one time. ]t is propelled by four wheels at each end, which travel on parallel strips of soil about KS inches wide, which are not disturbed at any time for purposes of cultivation. The machine substitutes for the traction implements now in use a scries of (juick rotating and reciprocating implements suspended over the whole width of the land to be operated on, and capable of self-adjustment as to depth, thus securing a thorough mid ocniirate pulverisation of the soil to a il"plli of 12 inches or 1! inches if required. It makes provisions for the attachment of a series of rotating nn( \ reciprocating, cutting iiu'l digging implements, whereby the snil between the rows of growing crops, whether grain, corn, root or small fruit crops, may be ►tirrnd to sny desired depih, hoed ov earihed up, and" at any sUge of their growth until they attain the height of i feet. Generally considered, the advantages eltiimed for tho macliinn by the inventor arc that it is labour-savins- and profitable, increases production, thoroughly cleans the land and tends to its enrichment, enables the agriculturist to cope with the vicissitudes of the season and loaves no place for the impaction of soils. The inventor in endeavouring to get a complete machine constructed so that it can be seen in actual operation before the closing of the exhibition.

Sfcrawson's Air-power Distributor.

A trial of this machine took place at the Downton College of Agriculture, and report states that M r Strawson has brought out, an efficient instrument, capable of performing what its inventor has striven to realise—a perfect distribution of various substances used in agricultural operation". It was first tried upon oats, and the trial was conducted upon the Turnpike road, in order that the spectators might thoroughly inspect the The oats are placed in. a hopper, which is to be so enlarged as to hold from six to eight bushels. The oats are allowed to feed gradually downwards, and are delivered over a wide nozzle, over which they passin a continuous stream. From the nozzle issues >1 blast of air, produced by a fan actuated from the travelling wheels of the instrument, and worked up to a velocity of 3600 revolutions per minute. The direction of the blast and of the material (oats, or whatever else is being distributed) is further directed by a flanged plate, over which the oats are blown in a fan like form, extending over a width of about 23 feet. The grains were completely separated and the ground was covered with extraordinary regularity. The machine was next filled with water, and a suitable nozzle was fitted 011 in place of that used for dry matter. Here the distribution of the liquid was very perfect. The water was thrown out as an impalpable spray from which nothing could escape. The machine was next charged with paraffin oil. when the effect was still more marked, as the para (fin was rolled out in a cloud of vaporous-looking line spray, which was calculated to envelope every blade of grass or leaf of turnip over which the machine pushed. The effect when finely-slaked lime was used whs, perhaps, the most i-triking, as the lime formed a dense white cloud aud was distributed with absolute uniformity. Every blade and culm of sra3s was coated as with hoar frost. It will also sow such concentrated manures as nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, &c., in small quantities in a manner which, it is believed, has not yet been ap-pro-idled by any other means ; and equal success has b:*en attained in sowing "seeds," clovers, sanfoin, etc. The machine, to be efficient must travel at a brisk pace, and easily covers 21 feet or 7 yards. During its action the fan emits a noise similar to that of a threshing machine when running empty, which, can he heard at a great distance. Prom what has been seen of this machine, it is believed that its' possession would give its owner complete mastery over turnip flio.s and other pests attacking the leaves of younir avowing crops. The machine will operate on sor 6 acres per hour. At the recent show of the Peterborough Society the judges awarded this AirPower Distributor the highest prize offered, namely, a silver medal, as being "the best new agricultural machine of the year."

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT18880915.2.37.22

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2525, 15 September 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

Word count
Tapeke kupu
2,163

FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES. Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2525, 15 September 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES. Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2525, 15 September 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

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