FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3067, 12 March 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

llor.SK Fr.KSii.—Hippophagy is making f'oustant, progress in tl.c ebifif towns of (ioriiinuv. Daring the totnmo monfl.B of this year 0091> horsea were kil.ed in the private abattoir at Berlin- Ihw number is -121 in excess of that for corresponding period last year. At tit end of n«t month a monster banquet is to be litld, organised by the hoivio slaugute Tw.e Kail.—Professor Lowrie has successfully ii.t.n.ducMltbo^uHn-auo. 1 of the Jersey Tree Kail into South Austrilia It is peTennial, though generally kept only for threo yearn. By gathering th( ? 1 0 ...L large leaves regularly each =r£s:='s:«;'s dried up to vegetal llo * lhrc - Tl ?° 0 Hiimi Headed Kail been considered to be a most valuable f&Mer, but the Jersey Tree Kail is more proh. he and appears to be hardier. . Sum> Shearing by kUciiinery.-A new apparatus for shearing sheep by machinery was shown on 6tli October, by Mr John W. Isowall, on estate, Forest Hall, Ongar. The chiot chum for Mr No wall's patent is that it ix thc 0!lI y machine yet made which cm l>u worked cabily by baud power. This result is' duu 1,0 ttio combination of driving frame, shaft, and shear, cach of which i«/>* MUporior pattern. The hand power driving frame consists of a heavy base, from which rises a vertical pillar carryingaily wheel, to which is attached a driving handle. This wheel drives by means of a chain, a small pinion fixed at the one end of a horizontal shaft, which is iournalled in a casting at the top of _ the pillar. The casting overhangs the pilmr to pome extent at the other fide, so us to "ive plenty of rooir. to handle the sheep, and at the outer end of the horizontal spindlo is a level wheel which gears with a pinion from the spindlo of which the flexible driving shaft hangs down. A speed of 30 revolutions of the handle givpK a speed at the cutter of 2000, and the machine runs so lightly that u boy can drive it. In addition to this advantage the shearer at the end of the shaft can be held in thc hand and worked in any direction with a perfectly even motion und without jarring. A legularity and evenness of cutting is thus obtained with a minimum amount of friction. The timo taken to shear a sheep by this process is übout four and a half minutes, and ail «ngino of one-horse power can drive 16 machines, whereas most other machines each require a one-horse engine. Illustrations were given of shearing and horse clipping by electricity, when the knives of the tool worked at the rate of 4000 revolutions per minute, with the result that both horse and sheep were clipped quite evenly, neither animal showing marks of the passage of the clipper. Other advantages are that the wool is clipped in its full length, and about Alb. more can be cut off each sheep than by tho hand, while the shears are so constructed that it is impossible for the shearer to cnt the hide. The company of experts, farmers, and others who accepted the invitation of Mr J. 3Crosby admitted the superiority of the machine both as regards the easy manipulation and economic working. Effects of the Mick Plaguf..—At a meeting of the Teviotdale Farmers' Club held iu the Tower Hotel, Hawick, Mr Hobkirk. Broadhaugli, president, in the ohair Mr Oliver, of Thornwood. lion, secretary, submitted the report of a deputation from the club which visited | Howpasely recently to investigate the mice plague. The report stated that the deputation had visited several affected farms, and were re.narkably struck with the immense damage which had been done to the pasturage. The herbage on which the sheep depended for sustenance during the winter and spring months had been totally destroyed, not a vestige of a green blade being left. There was consequently no alternative but to remove the greater part of the sheep, and find food for them elsewhere. It was calculated that at least two-thirds of the sheep on tho affected farms would require to be removed, so that the outlook for the approaching winter and spring ways very serious and alarmiug. The cause of the plague was not far to seek, for undoubtedly the unwise destruction —for tho preservation of game—of the weasel, hawk, owl, magpie and other natural enemies of mice, as well as the fact of temiants being prevented from burning rough pasture, had much to do with it It was thought that landed proprietors should bear pirt of the expense of extermination. If English gamekeepers insti'ii.l of killing weasels caught in traDS would send thorn to the bo.'ders, farmers

would gladly pay the carriage, and if th?.ip v/easels were .secured and let loose in the hills thoy might bo of great assistance in subduing the mieo plague.

Tin; Middle Man. —The dire necessity for an open Market iu which farmers may bring their produce before the consumers without the intervention of the middleman, says the Queenslander, was never more stric'ly illustrated than in n list of account sales which has been shown by a Brisbane fruit grower. Of a consignment of 48 bunches of bananas, averaging about 6 dozen each, 45 bunches were disposed of to a wholesale dealer for 3s. (less than Id a bunch), 1 bunch for Is,, and 2 bunches for Is. 6d. Two bags of peaches containing about 1 cwt. each brought Is per bag, while J cwt. of cucumbers was sold for 6d. Another lot 20 bunahes of bananas realised 55., or 3d. a bnnch. Out of these receipts agents' commission had to be paid. The whole consignment of various fruits of which these formed part produced £2 2s sd. Of this £1 ss. went for freight and commission, leaving less than £1 for the grower to represent the work done on 15 acres of land. Notwithstanding these low prices we still have te pay 6d. per dozen retail for bananas of good quality; so that between the producer and the consumer thore is a jump from twofifteenths of a penny per dozen to 6d., the middleman's profit and loses by damage representing something like 4500 per cent, on the former's price. Our informant attributes this entirely to the existence of a ring among the wholesale buyers, and is convinced that an open market would have enabled him to obtain £15 instead of 15s. for his labour. Colour in Animals.—No one can have had much familiarity with grey horses and not have noticed their curious tendency, especially as they grow old and the colour of their coat is changing from grey to white, to develop _ tumors on those parts of the skin which are hairless, which tumors almost invariab y aro charged with black granules. There tumors are the result of what the veterinary profession call melanosis. In the Veterinarian for 1849 a very unusal development of the disease is described as having occurred in an old white mare. She was a favourite, and retained long after her days of work were over. She lost the power of using her limbs and was shot; and, upon being opened, it was found that her chest and the longs themselves were covered with small blaok tumors, the contents of which were of a sooty character. In 1846 and 1851 similar oases were reported, both in white horse". It would be interesting to learn if anything similar to this occurs with white cattle, or with white pigs. We do not suppose that melanotic tumors would be obs rved in' white Shorthorns, which have no tendency to produce black hairs. But in white Kyloes. or .white pigs bred bv crossing the black boar aud white sow, there might be the same consequences from a suppression of the melanotic pigment —which would naturally have gone to the ooat —but being suppressed there makes its appearance m these local tumors,