FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2977, 13 August 1891, Page 4

FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD NOTES.

_—. ——«. Dairy Cows.—An cxli iu»tive inquiry just conipluted by tho Uuiled Sta'.cs Department of Agriculture demonstrates the extraordinary dillercuco there is between cows of tho samo breed as regards milk productiveness. In lowa the average cow gives only HOOOIb. weight of milk annually, while good ones yield from 50001b. to GOOOIb, In Vermont the butter productiveness varies fr»m 1301b. to 3001b. per cow for the 12 months. Yet it is just as cheap to keep a good cow as a bid one. In America, however, the valuo of tho manure is in curtain localities a leading factor in deciding the profit in feeding d:iry cattle. In Massachusetts this is appraised at eloso on .')7dol. per animal, (i- more than a fourth of tho valuo of the milk. Vet no data exist by which the value of a cow can be dotermiued by any less co.-tly test than experience, individual broods which ordininly pass for good un'\* differing widely in product. Loud Tknnyson as a Dairyman— Some of tho English papers have recently l)!:on making merry over tho fact that the Poet Laureate—tho " pchool miss Alfred" of Lord Lyttnn—hasgone heartily into the ilairy business, and is now hawking about his milk and butter in neatly painted carts, hearing tho sign " Alfred, Lord Tonnyson." Numerous other peers of tho realm—notably Lord Vornon and Lord Hampden--have done tho samo beforo, mid it is ditlicult to see why there should bo so much made of tho fact that the Laureate in his old ago has migrated from Olympia to Arcadia. Tho aristocracyintellectual and plutocratic—of the country from the Queen downward have regularly sold their fat beeves and breeding cattle, entire horses, rams and other Arcadian produce in the dearest market they could find, and many of them are now loading—by proxy, of courso—their euliro horses about tho country for the use of breeders who care to purchase tho imrvico of those animals, but no one has ever argued that it was derogatory to their dignity to do so. Tho Graphic has even cilled in tho aid of that despised individual tho " Agricultural Rhymer" to advertise Lord Tennyson's dairy wares as follows : — I'm grieved to hear—to bear 'tis hard, It puts me in aflutter, man— Ji'irrl Tenny. on, our matchless bard, Has now become a butterman. No longer he's content to glide AlunK poetic silky way, Out turns his Tegasus aside To gallop in tho milky way. Villace Skttlkmkst.—Mr Luya, M.L.A., of tho firm of M'Ghie, Luya and Co., Brisbane, has startod a schomo which promises to bo a great success. The new S'jlllcmeut is located about ninety miles north of Brisbane. Tho land set apart for I he experiment is rich scrub land with a largo creok running through it, situated on tho shores of tho Cootharaba Lake, and about a iuilo and a half from the sea. The conditions under which the land are tikon up aro as follow : —The firm agree to let the laud in 40-acro blocks for a period of seven years on a clearing lease, with tho right to purchase at any time during tho currency of theloase, provided the land is cleared and cultivated. The firmer is provided with rations, such aa tea, flour, and sugar, with tools and implements, and fivo cows. Tho farmors agree to settle on tho land, clear and cultivate it to tho satisfaction of tho company, and to pay out of their first or second cropß for the stores and implements with which thoy have been supplied with S per cent interest added, together with Is per aero per annum rent, tho maximum price of tho land to bo fixed at £o per ' acre. Tho occupier also agrees to take tire of the cattlo. Too tonants aro provided with houseroora until they build houses uf their own, and the firm have of' fered a prize of £20 to tho man who first guts 10 acres of land properly cleared and cultivated. Before the agreement is entered into, Mr Luya insists that the men shall go up and see the land, aud he idves them a passage in his steamer free of charge. If thoy agree to tho conditions their families arc also to receive free passagfls. Although tho scheme was only htartud iu March last, there are fourteen f imilies iu tho settlement, and two other families aro going up in the courso of a few days. Whon tbe farmors raise their produce, it is the intention of the firm to bring it down to Brisbane and sell it on their wharf, Tho freight will bo about lO.s per ton. Already tho scheme has attracted a good deal of attention, and several gentleman havo started their intention of following tho example ;iet by Mr Luya,— (Quecuslandcr.)

Iron Sulphate.—ln a littlo book recently published, entitled Manures nnd tnoir Uses, by Dr. Oriiliths, thoro is a chapter devoted to iron sulphate which contain. l ) sumo very important itnformiition to farmers respecting the. value, of this substance, both as a manure and as a remedy against fungoid and parasitic <lisea.su in craps, if a soil contains from 5 to C per cent of iron oxidle, iron sulphate will have nu beneficial action. In such cases, which arc rare, the soil has already an abundance of iron. The farmer must, therefore, know the composition of his soils before bo can manure thom with economy. Hut according - to Dr. Griffiths', with reasons why experiment with iron sulphate have hitherto invariably proved a failure is be~ ouiso the experimenters an excess of llic suit. He has F.niHii that. ;i small quantity of iron a'ilpliwle, fu m .'. to 1 cwt. per acre, li.i i be. n highly liemficial, while ii large i|iiautity Ins proved must injuiioiis t'i crop i. Applied injiioderation, Dr. Oritlitha gives examples" of extraordinary .success in the. ujo of iron sulpate In ynisa and root crops, results which he ii'tiiSiutes to the fact that although most i- iijliiiu iron, it isnotinnsiiitabloform for piiint übdorptiou. Kor potatoes, turnips, beans, meadow hay nnd lucerne, iron milphato iippeai-s to bo the lifo giving substance, but na an agent for drstroying tho microscopic fungi which aro instrumental in producing certain diseases of farm and girden crops, including rust in who;t, iin valuu is greater still. Dr Griffiths asserts iron sulphate destroys tho potato disease fungus, and wheat rust, nnd forms an excellent " steep " for destroying the germs of diseases found at certain times nn tho seeds. Wo cannot hero enumerate the many good properties it seems to possess, but from all we are able to gather from the high authority named, fanners maj be strongly advised to give iron sulphato a trial. The substance is sumptimss named green vitriol or ferrous sulphate. It is composed of iron, sulphur and oxygen, and is the most important fiilpiiato used in the scientific agriculture It may be sown broadcast by hands as a top dressing when the 'jropa aro a few inches abuvo the ground. Iron sulphate may iiso ho usod in solution and distri Imti'd by means of a spray pump or water cart, and it as essential to bear in mind that it must always be used on wet ground, or after a showir of rain, otherwise it will not hsvo tho same effect. The selling \ rice of commercial iron sulphato is from £'i to £:> por ton, and it can easily be obtained from any wholesale druggist or manufacturer of tlto article in either large or *m ill quantities.

Amkiu'jan Tajukf on Woor,.—There aro already indication* that, tho new Ameiicuu taiilT, if it should bo long rcaintained in ho far an duties on wool »nd woollen good* are concerned, will have u comiderabl') ett'nct upon tho character of gheep to bu bred in tbu United Statca in future, Of l.ito tbo tcudenoy has been towards br«»liusr more for inutton and lens for wool, Hnd tbo riuo in tin; value of ghfop phown by the latent return is in Bonn- qu'/noo of tliia change. Unt the boUi'fjoiiil movement may pomibly bo cheeked, at leant in Korne parts of tho country, by thn increased demand for nhoino wool has sot in, on-inij to the hi(?h flutio.4 impofl"'! on forrig-n wonllpn goods. Brnrlstri'ct'fi remarks that, imnsiiallv freo buying at tho London and Melbourne sal-, h, to meet the iurveased dorniiud in America for linn wool, has taken place-, From the beginning of tho nrexpn' ye>" to to tho middle of March about 2S,Ou ■ Vales of tbo choicest Australian womlh 1, icon imported, or nearly If 31 itUr; s usual for the period. r l'b*r >. ri!3r'>'»a breeder*, or at least many

of them, will endeavor to inert this increased demand for fine wool (roes without But on the other hind, the taste for innttou in the United StateH i* growing, as butter meat i'h supplier), buil ihore wil', therefore, bo two conflicting i,icrea<es in demand for American breeders to consider. Which will be par.iinouiit remains to be cfien. Probably, however. Mr (i. W. Bond, oni of the leading 1 wool buyers of tho country, iu right when he predicts that ''lands west of the Mi.ieisMppi will in fnturo grow our line wool*, and tho older Stated will find themselves raising mutton Hheep, and, like England, considering wool a« a secondary product." It may happen, then, that tine wool sheep of the merino type and mutton sheep will both bo rnoro extensively bred in America in futuro than heretofore, although, of courpe, as far as the tariff charge* are concerned, the stimulus bo towards the production of tho former class of shepp. Briti«h breeders are chiefly concerned in the question co far as it effects the demand for rams suitable for tho production of mutton sheep, and it is satisfactory to conclude that this demand is not likely to be diminished for some time to come. At the same time, it is to be. remarked that there appears to be no reason for expecting that America will ever export mutton extensively.

jYISHO.VKSTY IN TICH FROZEN M K.\T Tram:. — The New Zealand Tim.'s writes : —Unfortunately there are as yet no trade marks provided for frozen mut ton. Consequently Mr Thomas Mackenzie, the member for Clutha, as a practical farmer, is, likomany others in the Colony, not a little disturbed by the frauds of which English butchers are guilty in palming off inferior South American mutton aa Now Zealand meat, while vending the latter as prime Southdown, and charging accordingly. Mr Mackenzie's que?tion on the Order Paper of to day is thus of importance to sheepfarmers and to tho freezing Companies. Indeed, tho subject of stopping such nefarious practices ia important in its relation to tho whole community, for, when New Zealand mutton is sold as English produco at high prices, the profits which should come to the Colony and benefit every one by the increase of capital, aro mainly pocketed by tho dishouest vendor, who performs this trick of commercial legerdemain. Last year the export of New Zealand frozen meat reached in valuo no less a sum than L1,057,'H7, and during tho current year the quantity has been .steadily increasing, Tho total export for tho twelve months ending with last June, was in round figures 113 millions of pounds in weight. Of this 00 millions pounds was mutton, 12} millions lamb, and 10A millions beef. The wholesale price ia London may be taken all round at about 4d per pound. Tho butchers in tho large towns retail at an average price of 7d to Bd, and term the meat English bred. But for dishonesty of this kind the price realised for shipments on arrival would be at least a penny per pound better than that now current. Such an advance would mean an addition to the gross receipts for our exports of moat of no less a sum than fully L 4 70,000, for the year. This is nearly LI3OO for every day in tho year. The ''British Merchandise Marks Act, of 1887 might be amended by an appeal to tho Homo Parliament through the Government to make it punishable by fine to misrepresent tho character and class of the meat. Some months ago it was suggested in the agricultural columns of our weekly paper that one modo of prevention of those frauds on farmers was to insist on stamping each carcnao and quarter of meat with tho word " New Zealand," so contrived as to preserve the identity of tho meat aftor it was cut op into ordinary joints. That is a matter of detail. It is timo somo effectivo action was taken to stay the loss which this dishonest mode of dealing lias caused. But oven this evil lias possessed some germ of good inasmuch as it has led to more extended consumption, and has given a certificate of character to our frozen article which has stood the test of being dcscribocl and sold as English-fed and newly-butchered meat. The piejudice against frozen meat is gradually being overcome, and it. would be entirely removed from New Zealand mutton if it were rendered penal for any one to make iuferior South American do fraudulent duty as superior New Zealand. We hope the member for Clutha will secure through his question tho protection which is so much wanted and which the Government must bo in every way desirous of obtaining. Tho steamship companies, the freezing companies and tho merchants of New Zealand, with their widely ramifying business connections, should be able to assist any efforts which may bo nude in the required direction. Tho branding of tho carcases seems it possible and practical idea. We give the suggestion for what it is worth, leaving experts to decide its applicability. Kosher meat is regularly branded or stamped for Jewish consumption. A similar method could surely bo adopted with our frozen meat.