FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 2537, Issue XXXI, 13 October 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

| Tub French Wheat Chop.— An Ex I change C •mptiuy's telegram from Paris i on Ist August, states that the crop* are reputed in tho provinces to he in a j disastrous state. The estimated wheat. crop will full short by 3-5,000,000 hector '• litres. A. number of farmer* are ruined, i Tojiato:;.s.—One of the bjst tomatoc< ; in England, ii' proved in tho ifirdea of t!ie Royal Horticultural Society, is named I Ham Green Favomite, which was found to b) '• quite one of the b.'st'' It is a stronl? giowcr and free bearer of good si;:-:d ami well shiped fruit. i Tub Indian' Cattle Matikkt.—'Tho following may he worthy of note by meat exporters : --The Earl of Dufferin is being inemorali<ed to prohibit the slaughterof iimiM and she buffaloes for tho food of British soldiers in India. The memorialists point out that 370 cows aro required for regimental food alono every cl ly ; and 12G,575 oows would bs required for one year's food. Tub Wiieit Deficit.—A telegram dated tho 12th inst., states that Mr Harris has published an esiimite of the available wheat supply of Europe for the current year. The estimate shows that after allowing for extra supplies, which may bo obtained from America, Australia, India and other plauc-s, there will he a deficiency of 00,000,000 to 120,000,000 bushel", arising from the disastrous failure of ihe harvest in many parts of Europe.

Hints to Fruit Exi'OttTKiw.—Those who de-ire to go into tho fruit export business should take pains to acquaint them.-elves with tho varieties best adapted to the English markets. Tho following are recommended by Mes-rs Birron and Gibson, 118, Fenchurehstreat, London :—First, the qualities of the apples which carry to and sell best in London—Ribstons, Pearmains (hut that is probably a 'mistake, several of the Tasmania!! growers calling Scarlet Nonpareil by that name), Stunner Pippin, Wellington, Blue Pearuiain, Blenheim Orange. They say no fruit should arrive in London after Ihe first week in June ; therefore, if. should not be shipped after Ist Miy; shipments should begin a« early in the season as po-sible. Tho following aro t.'«e reasons for not shipping after the Ist of May : —Th it the fruit is too ripe to carry a long voyage ; and the English soft fruits, such as strawberries, cherries, currants, &c., occupy the attention of buyers.' Pkizes for Jam, &o —A new departure, greatly to bo commended, is made by the Royal Agricultural Society of England, in offeri ig prizes, in connection with next year's show, for hops, j'lm, and fruit, preserved, bottled, and desiccated. Prizes are also to be offered for cider and pe ry, presumably under the impression that au increased consumption of these beverages might be promoted, and thus increase tho demand for fruit, With regard to hops, the prizes offered aro liberal, namely, £20 as first prize and -£10 as second prize, for best pocket of East Kent, Mid-Kent, Weald of Kent, Furnham, Surrey and Hants, Worcester and Hereford and Sussex hops. In addition to these liberal prizes, it is stated that the well-known enterprising firm of hop .factors, Messrs W. H. and H. Le May, have offered an additional prize of £50 for " the best pocket of hops" at the Windsor Royal of 1889. This should be worth trying for, and, beyond doubt, will largely conduce to the practical success of this section of the show.

Cold Stoeage vok Fkuit.— Mr Tallerman, of the Commercial and Agricultural Co-operative Society, 79, Graeechurchstreet, London, sent some strawberries to a meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, which elicited considerable interest from the committee and the visitors. The fruit had been gathered at Tiptree Heath, Essox, and sent to London by rail from ICelveiom, when it was placed in the cold storage chambers of the Co-operative Society, which are refrigerated by the Do la Vorgne dry-cold-air system. It was taken out on the twelfth day, when it was as firm, bright, and full coloured, as when gathered, with all the characteristics and flavour of fresh-gathered fruit. H-) adds that he has reason to believe that thif class of fruit can bo maintained in good condition for two months at least. The importance of fruit growers extending their season by a month or two can scarcely be over estimated, and tho advantages to be obtnined from an exhaustive knowledge of the subject, was at onoe seen by the committee of the I

Royal Horticultural Society, who have resolved to continue the trials with several varieties of fruit. The Drought in New South Wales. —Drought still prevails over a large extent of New South Wales, very little rain having fallen since tho showers in the end of last month, though thunderstorms have occurred in a few places. At Itiverel! and For has U inch fell during tho first week of the present month. At Grafton also a heavy thunderstorm occurred. Some rain fell in the coast districts in the beginning of last week. At Hay the dry weather is still a source of much anxiety. At Riindra the rain that fell (luring the first week of the month melted a considerable quantity of snow, and was followed by a lowered temperature which brought more snow and sbet. The continued dry weather is completely crippling the dairying interest in the YVooloongong district. There is no grass, an 1 the water supply is becoming very scarce. Dairymen are compelled to import large quantities of feed in order to keep their cattle alive, Unless there is a downpour of rain very soon the effects will be most serious. A high temperature was experienced in the en:l of last week. About Duniliquin the pastilr.ige is rapidly withering up, and the district tanks are becoming dangerously low. /)n the commons the tanks are nearly, if not wholly, dried up, and the cattle have to come in either to the lagoous or the river for water. Extensive bush fires are reported to bo raging to the northwards in the Ncver'ire district. Rain is still much wanted in many inland parts of the colony, and great losses are resulting, both from drought and bush fires. In tho Dubbo district also serious bush fires were raging last week. Agriculture in' Nobh-Western France. — The British Consul at Brest, reporting o:i the state of agriculture in the Departments of Finisterre, Cotes du fvord, and Morbihan, states that farmers are unible to sell their producj to advantage ; in some districts they cannot pay the reduced rent except by instalments, the proprietor, who has to piy the same taxes and expenses out of a diminished income, makes fewer permanent improvements and employs less labour ; in this way great distress is caused to numerous classes, whose prosperity depends upon agriculture. In some districts the crisis is less intense, becaus- the farmers devote their capital t ) horse breeding, the rearing and fattening of cattle, pigs, &c., and the cultivation of market gardens. There is an extensive emigration of the rural population to the towns and places where extensive public works are in progress. Several thousand Birton* emigrate for part of every year to cultivate potatoes in Jersey. The branches of agriculture which suffer imst from the existing depression are the cultivation of cereals, II ix growing, and tho cattle trade. Nithiug piys except fruit, vegetables, dairy produce, and poultry ; yet, Strang; to siy, the price of labour has risen. Able farm labourers earn from £7 to £10 a year, being fed and their washing and sewing being done for them. <i jo I day labourers earn at ordinary times G I. a d ly, with their foo I, an 1 74 i. to Is. 3d. during the different harvest period <. Women get from half to two thirds of tiio'e su n--. Tne working day begins in winter at daybrea'; and cnils at sunset. There are about 3JO working days a y-\ar.

P«jlxkd Ano as C.vrrr,E. writpr in the Mi-l'umrn ■ L'uler s<yj, conoernin this J>i-ee 1 :—''lt is not the black skin, ii'ir the li iriilrm Ii ad, that induces the We-t Kil l hutch 'is in London to buy Aberdeen Anirus cit.tle imd the cro-se.s from them. It is .-imply the fact that such cattle have more flesh and less usjle-s fat on their most v iluahle meat jnint- than the shorth >rn< or lleref.ird3 th it leisgiveu rise to the sayinjr that "a bltokskin is worth a couple of pounds, at,leisfc, in the London market.." Anyone who ha-i attended the jrreat, Christmas markets in London for the past few years, when the beef trade his been less briyht than feeders of cattle could have wished, will bear us out wh >n we say th it it, is not at all uncommon to see xlinost every well conditioned black Scot soil bot'o-o almost a break bus been made in the lonir lines of cattle of other breeds. In the Sinithfield i-how again we have se.-n every steer of this breed sold by (i o'clock in the evening of the fli'Rt day of the show, when not 5 p r cfnt. of the steers of other breeds in the hall had even been put on price to the butchers. After all that can lie said and written as to values of cittlo, the blue blood of cettain (-trains and families, and such like, sober consideration brings us in the end to look for utility. And it is the great value of the Aberdeen Angus cattle on the butcher's stall that has made this breed famous. So lons as breeders of theio cattle make f«rm their chief consideration, the breed will holl its own. Pedigree is valuable only so long 1 as it is judired properly. The moment any breeder neglects form, showinif utility in the full sense of the word, and goes for what has lately been accepted as pedigree, ho iiets on the wrong track."

The Packing and Transit of Fruit. A3 is the c.ise in England, few matters in connection with fruitgrowing need mom improvement thau its transit and distribution. Improvements in the mode of gathering, assorting and packing fruits are highly necessary. Fruit should be gathered when in the best condition, neither under nor over ripe, except in the case of early apples for culinary purposes, but desert fruit should not be gathered too early, though that ia frequently the case, as is shown by the large quantities of withered apples in the early part of the season to be seen exposed for sale on fruit stalls, which would have been of double the value had they been left on the tree till properly matured. In order to ensure thu highest prices for fruit, they should be sorted and classed according to quality and condition into " Choice," for special high class trade; •' Prime," for first-class trade; and "Ordinary," for general trade ; by so doing full value would be obtained for the whole lot if offered altogether without selection, as is too frequently the case; while some kinds iniirht be assorted in sizes, as first, senoud and third. Frnit growers should pride themselves upon the whole of the fruit in each case being of equal quality, whether for the homo market or for export; uothing would injure the export trade more than the case being filled with frnit cf uneven quality, and wherever such a method is practised, whether at home or abroad, the grower may re3t assured the price offered will be for the worst and not for the best. Although most of our largest growers would scorn to mix good and bad fruit in a ca*e, that is dono to such an extent that buyers in the market invariably diir into the case to discover the quality of thns; lower down ; such a practice is especially to be condemned when consigned to a purchaser at a distance, and the man who i< guilty of it need not expect to bo trusted in future. But when a min is known to pack fiiirly, his fruit is received and the best price offered without inspection. Good packing is of the utmost importance, more especially when for export. The best methods of packing have bern frequently explained, tho chief thing to be kopt in view being to fill the cases tightly that the fruit cannot move, but it mu3t not be bruised. It ia generally recommended that each fruit should be wrapped in thin paper, but others find that a thicker paper if Roft is still better. Messrs Birron and Gibson, salesman, London, prefer that each apple should be wrapped in blue paper, which being thick and porous absorbs the moisture and the cases open dry, besides being a protection against bruises. On the other hand, they say the thin white or brown papers get saturated with the natural moisture from tho fruit, and the oasos open quite wet. Straw or any similar substance should never bo used. We are not aware why apple cases are made in the present form, unlese it is that they are easily packed in a, vehicle, for certainly they are not ia

other respenta well adapted for the purpose. Their appearance is also against the sale of their contents; a purchaser cannot but feel repugnance when fruit is p • cnted in a dirty, dilapidated case, the name price will not be obtained that would have been ottered had the fruit haen in n clean imrl neatly made case. It would be well for fruit growers to take into consideration the advisability of packing their fruit, especially soft fruits, in package or cases nearer to the requirements of the consumers than those in common use at present, so that consumers could be served direct from the grower instead of their fruit having to pass through the hands of middlemen, who,/ not infrequently, obtain the largest share of the profits. Mr Tallerman, of the Commercial and Agricultural Co., Loudon, has designed a which is figured in the GardeflPx' Chronicle of 4th August. Thi! idea is so to pack soft fruits ireuerallv that they shall not bo liable to damage from the ordinary exigencies of railway or other usual modes of convey, ance. The crate, wliie.h is made of slight spars of deal, i.i H inches in width, and the same in breadth, by 16 inches height. It is intended to hold securely 1G cardboard boxes, each of which will hold from 1J to 21b of fruit, according to kind.