FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2644, 22 June 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Cheap Transit for Fiiuit.—The Railway Commissioners of New South Wales, as an encouragement to fruit-growers, have decided to reduce the rates for the carriage of fruit by 50 per cent, below ordinary parcel rales,

The Price op Wool.—The reports of tho series of sales of colonial wool now

"on," says tlio Live Stock Journal, warrant us in believing that—alter a period of steady decadence for several years —the value of one of the earliest sources of revenue in England—the fleeces of its flocks—is about ouce more to make an equally steady and, perhaps, as long an advance. The vast districts on the other side of the globe, all suitable for sheep husbandry, which are now opened up to flocks of merinos and crosses with these render it unlikely that tho top rates which have been touched for finest qualities will ever again be reached. Still, it does not follow that there will not be a material rise in the value of the finest English lustre wools and in tho average prices for the clip all round, It has been the itnpecuuiosity of the world, and not any want of appreciation of tho comfort of a blanket by night or of woollen clothes by day which has been beating down for such a long time the manufacturers of Bradford, Hudderstield and Leeds, to say nothing of those of the West country. As prosperity—the exhiliratitig sense of having cash in pocket—returns to Europe, and as civilisation extends into the dark continent with a sense of the insufficiency of fig leases, the demand for woollen goods will grow ; and with this growth will reappear the liveliness of the British floekmasters.

Landlord and Tenant in China.— In his report iipou the agriculture of Cr.ina, Consul Oxeuham shows how the plodding industry of the Chinese peasant has solved the problem of maintaining the maximum amount of land. The secret lies partly in the warm sun of a Chinese summer, but a very large part is due to the equable relationship between landlord and tenant, and the fact that the land is never allowed to lie fallow, even for a month. Thus over ground which can be watered enough for rice, as soon as the crop is repeated in November the Held is sown with wheat. This is ready to cut by May. As soon as this is gathered in the ground is ploughed up and irrigated, and the young rice plants transplanted from their seed plots. Everywhere there is the same eagerness to get all that can be gathered from the soil, the fertility of which is maintained be constant manuring. The home of the cultivator may be squalid, but his lields will be gai'deu-iike in their neatness. Of course where so much depends upon the product of the farm, a long continued drought or a wide-spread inundation causes terrible disaster, but comparatively slight failures are, to some extent, compensated for by the system of land tenure. The landlord receives as payment a fraction of the crop; but this fraction varies, being larger in times of plenty ami diminishing to nothing in very poor years. When the distress is in any way acute the emperor himself remits the land tax, and the laudlords can but follow his august example. The principal is that first of all the peasant gets his living from the soil, and rent and taxes are a secondary consideration. Advice to Exporters of FituiT.— The following apples are recommended for exporting to London by Mr M. N. White, Coveut Garden, in a letter to Dr. Benjv field, Hobart, Tasmania :—Searlot Nonpareil, Cox's Orango Pippin, tho lastnamed is the larger of the two and of a more exquisite flavour. We made, last season, of some really fine fruit, 20s to 2os per ease readily. Tho Sturmer Pippin is a good apple, but one that should only be i-ent when large. It is not so good a keeper as some of the other sorts. French Crab are grown by you far bettor than in England ; they aro a large, cleat and good apple for culinary purposes, and always arrive here in sound condition, but they do not make extreme prices —8s to 12s petcase is about their value. On the other hand, they are splendid keepers and are much liked. New York Pippins—only the very finest should bo sent. Wellingtons—oue of our best apples in England, but a cooking apple, and we only want your large fruit. Russets, Pearson's Plate, Blue Pearmains—l do not advocate their being sent to England unless the fruit are large aud clear. Braddick's Nonpareils are good apples, and when well grown will command fair prices. Crow's Egg and Stone Pippin, in a plentiful season, will only realise medium prices. Alexander is a splendid apple, but too soft to carry. Ido not advocate it being sent here. Blenheim Orange is a beautiful apple, if gathered at the proper time ; it should then come forward and do well. Now, with all these sorts of apples you should impress on your people that, above all things, they aro not to send us the small fruit. The freight and cost of handling is tho same as with the large, aud the small fruit never realise more than half the price.

Cleanliness ix the Daihy.—The cleaning of dairy uteusils is a matter nearly always inefficiently performed. The common practice is to clean the outside of the pails after milking and riuse them in cold water. The water is turned into the first pail, and a cioth may, perhaps, be used to swirl round the water. Then the contents of the pail are emptied into 'ho second pail, and thus the wholo lot are treated. Then the pails are a second time rinsed and turned down to dry. To the common observer, paiU treated in this way may appear perfecfly sweet and clean, but to those who know anything about how milk ferments these utensils are positively filthy. A observation about the corner.-i, and oft n upon tho sides, will reveal a gum-like substance, which consists of minute partioles of milk adhering to tho surface having tho appearance of discoloured paint. After a while this gummy substance becomes so thick that it arrests tho attention ol tho dairymaid, and she forthwith scours it off with salt or othorwise. But of the damage that has been done from day to day to the milk from these gorms of ferment, especially if the weather has been warm, she has no idea, and often will not be convinced. Iu cleaning dairy utensils, it should be understood that neither cold nor warm water is sufficient —the water muat be at tb,o boiling point.

When butter stinks to wood it is because it enters the pores ; when it does not Rtick it is because the pores arc already filled. To keep butter out, therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly soak tho wood and swell tho pores, and as soon as the churning, workinar, or other operation is over the butter should be removed, or the water will soak far in or evaporate, and draw the butter afts>r it. A churn may be kept for years free from grease, and without the use of soap or cloths, by thoroughly soaking it at the beginning, £ and thorough rinsing with scalding water * immediately before and after use. Small utensils may be boiled for about 20 minutes two or three times a week.

I'woklky Comkkkv.—The virtue of an " if" is well understood. " If" tho facts are as stated in a report of the committee of the Nenagh Agricultural Prizo Association, I shall not bo surprised to find people "mad" on comfrty. What is said appears little else than a loud p;ean which will drown the shouts of triumph over tho torago crops. A hundred tons per Irish acre, it is declared, may be obtained from five cuttings of comfrey in a single season ; and one enthusiastic grower estimates the produce at three hundred tons. The latter estimate may he regarded as a sanguine and inconsiderate guess, b'lt there is a great deal of evidence in support of the former estimate. Messrs Sutton state that a hundred tona havo been obtained from an English acre, which is equal to about 168 tons to the Irish acre. Mr. Mitchell Henry, who has grown comfrey exclusively for many years at Kylemoro, Galway, put the produce at 80 or 00 tons per acre - whether Irish or English he does not state. Without doubt, he says it is the most valuable forage crop that has been introduced for many years, and " all the letters which are occasionally published to the effect that cattle will not eat it are rubbish." His dairy cattle which are of mixed breeds eat it greedily, and he finds it useful food for pigs and poultry. In this case, as in ryegrass, there is a conflict of evidence as to whether cattle will or not eat it. Two opinions on this point, it would be thought, could scarcely exist. Mr. Mitchell HeDry plants comfrey as he does potatoes, but allow intervals of three feet between the plants each way to give them plenty of space for branching, and he cuts it five times in the season, close to tho grouud, with a sickle, putting some manure on after each cuttins.'. Iu the first season only two or three cuttings are usually obtained. Comfrey is propagated by planting pieces of its root, usually in the spring, though any time of the year will do. Once planted it lasts for man}' years, if liberaly manured every season. A heavy dressing of farmyard manure once a year, after the lust cutting in the autumn, has been found sufficient on good lan i, and one farmer who adopts this plan cuts his comprey seven times in I he season, and on one occasion obtained eight cuttings. It is probable that miny of the estimates are greatly exaggerated, and that fifty tons to the statue acre, really an enormous production, may be regarded as a good crop.