NOTES FOR FARMERS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1466, 26 January 1887, Page 3

NOTES FOR FARMERS.

Attention ia bolcg given in England to raining cats to protect strawberry beds *nd other garden treasures from the voraclouß sparrow. The cats wear collars, and they a' e tethered by light and strong cords. The tathers are attached to comfortable cat houses which can be moved about from place to place as desirable. It la said thaV a thoroughly trained cat enjoys the life hugely. A German chemist has been experimenting on a mixture of cows' mlllc and goata 1 milk. Thiß mixture cannot be detected by the ordinary lactometer ; but, singularly enough, the presence of the goats' milk prevents cream from rising Cream doea not form on goats' milk ; and It appears to have the power, when mixed, of preventing It from rising on cows' milk. The presence of only 10 per cent, of tho former greatly reduces creaming. Fields which are already ted with sorrel should be ploughed os soon as possible in order to prevent seeding. In moEt cases excess of sorrel indlcatas a deficiency in lime or potash required for growing good clover. The application of these materials will eeoare a eloper ca'ch whose growth will smother the eorrel while yonng. Ic is thia effect of these alkaline manutea in causing clover growth rather than the direct effect of the alkali in correcting " Bourneaa " of the soil, which rids it of sorrel. A dressing of stable manure will sometimes have the same effect as lime or potaah, So also will gypsum, which is a compound of aulphlne aoid and lime. Accordicg to the Government return*, there are In Great Britain about 900,000 agricultural laborers, farm servant*, and cottagers ; about 1 In 59, namely, 17,302 having either a run on a farm for a cow, or land on which to keep a oow. On Lord Tolleraache'a Cheshire estate, chief!/ In pasture, there are 270 u three acres and a oow " tenants on 25,0C0 acrer, or one to about evary 91 acres. The planting of the 15,000,000 acreß of permanent grass with " cow ' tenants in this proportion would require 150,000 allotments of "cow" capability. Are we about to see anything like such a cutting up of British grass land as this, and out of money found by local authorities? An American contemporary gives tho following as the cost of wheat growing in Michigan and some other western t>t»tes : Ploughing 7s 2d per aore, fitting 4s 6i, fertilisers purohaaed 3s 101, barnyard manure 33, seed 53 2d, drilling Is 6d. harvesting 03 3d, stacking 3s, thrashing 5s Bd, marketing 4?, Interest (7 per cent) 14i 6d, Insurance and taxes 2a 6d, repairs 3b OJ. When we deduct the value of the straw and ttife rental value of the dwellings, £2 14a 2d is left as |the average coßt, and .his, divided by the average yield per aore, gives about 2i Gd as the average coat per bushel, which would leave a net profit of 36 per cent on the operation of producing a bushel of wheat. A German horticulturist reoommenda the following method of making a graßß bank :—For eaoh square rod to be planted half a pound of lawn grass seed Bhculd be taken »nd thoroughly mixed with aix oubio feet of good dry garden earth ard loam Thia should be placed in a tub, and liquid manure, diluted with about two-thirds of water, added and well stirred in, ao as to bring the whole to tbe consistency of mortar. The Blope must be c eaned and made perfectly smooth, and then well watered, after which the paste just mentioned should te applied with a trowel and made as even and thin &b poaeibie. Should it oraok from exposure to the air, it must ba again watered and smoothed up day by day until the grass makes ita appearance, which will be in from tight to fourteen daya, when tho whole declivity will, it is aald, be soon covered with a cloae oarpat of green grasses. Thus Dr J. E. Taylor, the ecietttiat: Some very important Experiments have recently been made In " croseing" wheat. Thia indinpensible food-plant, in a at^te of nature, is usually self fertilised ; and it requires a very skilful operator to perform the delicate operation of crossbreeding. Many years ago, a British wheatgrower, Mr Patrick Sheriff, export mented on the subje.ot of " sports ;" but he died before completing them. The French and Amerioan scientific farmers have gone la for crossing wheat, the latter especially ; and for some years, In England, Meisrn Carter, the well-known seedsmen, have been engaged In crossbreeding various wheats from Indian and Persian kinds to European and American. In 1882 they were enabled to effeot twenty orosses ; and the issue eventually was the production of a variety which had thickset ears bearing awns whioh formed a serrated defence. This has been called "bird proof." Another orots-breed, havlcg the "Talvera" for one of Its parents, was cut last summer. A third successful croas ia one with very short straw. __________