FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2692, 12 October 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Goi.'i) Milk should yield 12 per cent, of cream, which means as nearly as possible one pint of cream to every gallon of milk. Exhaustion - of Land.—We do not exhaust laud by selling the fat of animals, but we exhaust it when we sell their inusole, their bone?, their hair, skin and horns. We exhaust land when we sell milk, cheese, or eggs, but not when we sell butter. If we sell £40 worth of wheat, or 250 bushels, we are parting with £13 10s worth of plant food contained in the soil. If we sell a horso worth £10, that we have raised on the farm, we sell £1 S< worth of plant food ; while if we sell £-10 worth of butter, averaging Is per lb., wo have sold less than 2s worth of plant food. The Dairy Factory System in America.—We have more than once remarked that dairy factories, unless they are co-operative and owned by the farmers who supply the milk, are of no advantage to them, as a rule. An instance in point is offered by a factory situated in a district visited recently by a representative of tho Agricultural G.izette. The farmers get only Ghd per gallon for milk delivered at tho factory, and the owner of one of the best private dairies in ths country says that butter has been reduced in price by 2d per lb. through Ihe competion of the factory, which, by the b3 r o, is not yet a paying concern.

Neglect of Implements.—Recently, says the Farmers' .Review (Chicago) " we saw a most lonesome .and desolate sight from the car windows while passing through a fine fanning portion of the State of Winconsin. It was a selfbiuding harvester abandoned in the centre of a field, It was covered with snow and icicles, and stood there a monument to the dead summer. Wo wondered in what shape it would thaw out in the spring, and what per cent, the owner allowed for wear and tear on machinery in his books, if ho kept auy,"

Some analogous sights, except the frost and snow may be seen on railway journeys near home. Praciies FkomNkctattneTrees. —An interesting fact has been communicated to the Comite , d'nrnnricnltnrc frniticre of the National Horticultural Society of Franco by M. LapiVrr.\ nurseryman of Montrouge, namely, that last year a L>rd Napier Nectarine free in hi.s grounds, instoad of producing iipcturinni. bore nothiny but peac.iie.s. Mikinir nn observation on this report, M. Ferdinand Jatnin memtionod that a similar occurrence Look pi sine a few years since amongst bis own fruit trees when a Nnwinsrton Early Nectarine tree, without any assignable cause, all at once became I rjiusformed into an ordinary peach tree. The dividing lino between the peaches and the neotnrie,s is so faintly defined that sometimes we see. nectarine traos bearing a pnnclt here and there amongst the nectarine fruit proper; and, moreover when the stones of nectarines are sown in any quantity, some pe.ae.li trees uro invariably produced amongst the seedlings.—Revue Horticle. Points of a Goon Cow.—A good cow is flat-ribbed just at back of the shoulders, and has well-sprung ribs further back. Site lias broad, flat ribs, and so far apart that one nan lay two fingers between them. Her skin should be loose and flabby over the flank, and her umbilical development should be firm ani strong, with the veins under the belly very prominent, She. should be broad between the eyes, should have a short and slightly disced face, and bright and prominent eyes. Besides, the poll or forehead should be long between the horns aud the eye, the neck should be clean and thin, the backbone strong, the pelvic arch high, the hams thin, to give ample room for a large udder, extending well back and in front, one that will be soft and flabby when milked out, and should have a three-fold, wedge-shaped form, the general tendency of weight being toward the udder, indicating power to produce milk.

Tiik Live Stock Show at the Paths Exiiinmox. —An English visitor to the international cattle show held at the Paris Exhibition, states that the British exhibits on fchn whole arc rather disappointing, and by no means to be compared with what are to be met with at any of our leading agricultural shows. Hereford cattle and Southdown sheep, however, make a very good appearance, and Mr Fern, of Ludlow, takes the Grant! Prize of 2000 f. for tlie best collection of four cows and a bull. The champion prize for the best bull of any breed was won by a Shorthorn, the property of Mr Macleman. the Piincfi of Wales coming second, and Jonas Webb third. In the sheep classes Mr. Ellis, of Guildford, sweeps the board with his Southdown?, winning all the champion prizes in the class, H.R.H. the Prince again taking second place. In the pig classes the Duke of Hamilton takes high honors with his Suffolks, but the male champion prize goes to Berkshire.

Juno mi Drauoiit Hoksks—On the iibovu subject, a writer in the Melbourne Leador remarks that there are very few men in the ahow-rinsr who can judge working , horses on well understood mechanical principled. They know (he Rays) a good foro lour und a good bind leg, n pastern and hoof, but they cannot tell whether theso have benn put to together forthe purpose of draught. And yet to one well acquainted with Ihe In we of tho forces, and who knows horsos as wi'll, there is nothiug simpler to define that the correct conformation of a good drautrht horse as he should appear in front of his load. As a rule, the longer a draught horse is from his natural centre of gravity (through the heart) to the top of his hind pastern, if he is fairly proportionate the longer i 3 iiis stride and the greater his power, if provided with plenty of muscle. He must be able to pull as well as carry his own weight ; and in order to pull well he must have length between the parts named. Short crutchy steps before and behind may carry him along with an empty cart, but the powerful launching stride, followed by the long, lasting stride from the hind foot, pivoted, so to speak; on the top of the hind pastern, is wanted to take oil the load.

Soil and Manhrk for Fruit Thebs. — It is well-known that all varieties of fruit do not flourish and mature equally in all sections of tho country. This is mainly attributed to climate, but in many instances such judgment is erroneous. Soil will be found to have more influence upon our plants and trees than climate. The latter has everything to do in hastening or retarding the maturity of plants ; hut the former influences the life and success of trr-es by supplying or denying them tho proper food. The value of special manures is thus manifested. Lime nnd its phosphates form a component part of all special manures for fruit trees, nnd many old worn-out soils have been renewed by judicious application of lime, ashes, &c. In ninu cases out of lon, where a variety of fruit which once flourished iu ii given soil has ceased to flourish and perfect fine fruit them, the change is duo to the fact that the soil has become destitute of tho necessary mineral manures. In nearly all such cases Ihe plentiful application of wood ashes and iiine will restore the healthy condition of thy treo-i. Observations of tho effect of tho compositions of soil convince miiuy that much of what was attributed to climate was simply owing to the want of the necessary inorganic or mineral manures in the soil. The special lesson which this should teach us is that in getting trees, plants and shrubs from another section of the country, they should always bo accompanied by an analysis of the soil in which the particular varieties reached perfection. We could then sue that tho trees were planted in the Same kind of soil, and success assured.

Smaller Crofs axd Better Pricks. —It is small, not large, crops, that we need more of. My minimum crops have invariably been more profitable, and I have heard many farmers make the same remark. Would it not be well for our farmers to combine to produce less for a few years of all stable crops, thereby thoroughly cleaning up the surplus and getting better returns for our labour than we have received for the last decade? Certainly we have the same right to combine to limit production as have coal or oil companies, millers and manufacturers. Some may say that it is our duty to ourselves and our country to do our best in our chosen calling—best for whom ? If we can do better by producing less and getting more for it, why not do it, as long as other producers are doing the same thing, and we have to exchange our products for theirs ? Why should farmers be the only class of producers that cannot establish a price for their commodities ? When we buy we have to pay the price asked ; when we sell we have to take the pittance the purchaser sees fit to offer. Surely, no class of labourers work as many hours for as little pay as the farmer, and it is time our calling was more remunerative. Can this be done by producing more or less ? lam of opiniou that General Butler was right when he said that "our trouble is not overproduction but under-consumption," and the question is, how shall we increase

the consumption of farm products? Certainly not by increasing the cjuantity, but by improving the quality. Everyone knows that soggy patatoes and stale eggs, raticid butter, etc., last much longer than good fresh No. 1 articles. If all our food products were the very best, much more would be consumed, thus making a greater demand and more remunerative prices. Many of our wideawake farmers can make a part of their productions an actual necessity to one or more families in our large cities at paying pricos by supplying these products regularly, fresh, sweet and wholesome. I know this by experience, for my customer? often tell me that they prefer to purchase farm products of tho producer, especially eggs and butter. It is luudible for practical farmers to experiment, investigate and produce maximum crops, but it is more profitable to produce the best and get the most of them.—-Lyman Wall, New York.