THE COUNTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 69, 20 March 1908, Page 7

THE COUNTRY.

60VEENMEKT BSE BREEDING. . IMPORTANT PROPOSALS. The bee-keeping industry is practically j • its infancy, and it has therefore been f b !c for the Agricultural Department j fo "pursue a bold and comprehensive j direction, thereby bringing growers at , once into line, instead of having to rest j content to educate by slower processes, j a= nitb industries well established. The j Apiaries Act passed last session is deg re d to \K tli" most effective measure j of its kind in existence, and is the envy j of b ee .keeper= in the more important ; centres of bee-keeping throughout the , world The Department has now decided ' on the extension of the function of its ■ aniades. which will be welcomed by beekeepers in genera!. Tins 1.- the breeding 1 cf queen bees. Only tested and selected , queens will be sent out. It is the opin- ; £ on of the chief expert. : jlr. Hopkins, that fully ,0 per cent of '■ the qneens in our apiaries are not what j the- should bo. It is intended to breed i a first-class honey-gathering race of bees, possessing disease-resist ing quali- ! ties. The queens will bo chosen from bees which are good honey gatherer.-, arc doc:Y\ and are of ;:ood volour. ■ffaerenea experiment farm, where the queens "are to be bred, is very well situated for the purpose. The nearest native bush is nm within six miles, and there are practically no beos within a, bee flight of three or tour aiiles. Thus a perfect control of the drones for fertilising purposes can be maintained. The Department has been fortunate in securing a stock oi specially selected queens from a large apiary in the South Island, where queen rearing has been carried out oil scientific principles for many years. It is the intention of the Department to introduce strains of Italian bees from the best breeders in America and Italy, so that the full vigour of this valuable strain may be maintained. It is expected tliat a limited supply of the State selected queens will be available for next season.

D£T3T3IEN'S ASSOCIATION .CONFERENCE.

THE WEDDEL CUP. Owing to the collapse of the Auckland ■Winter Show, the Dairymen's .Association has been placed in a rather unfortunate position. The annual conference. ■which i≤ usually held in February. was aflawed to lapse this summer, on the understanding that the dairymen and factory managers would meet in conclave during the Winter show, wbieli. it was contemplated, would be held towards the end of 3lay. Xow that this important exhibition has been allowed to fall through, the Dairymen's Association finds that its original intentions with regard to the annual conference cannot be given effect to. A meeting of the executive committee is to be held in the course oi a day or two. and the proposal will then he put forward that the Association's yearly gathering should take place at Winter Show at Hamikoa,. --- Another serious inconvenience, which .arises oat. of the collapse of the Auck-lad-JSbon: is that the coveted .Weddfil. Cup will probably be hung up. This imply was presented la=t year by an TTnnfoh iirm. and must be won under certain conditions, extending: over se%--eral season?. Last year the cup was ■won by Thames Valley Dairy Company. -Thonghout the present export butter season the competition for the Weddel Cnp has been in progress, the points being , awarded to each factory in the competition consigning Home. There is one provision, however, which necessitates iwo boxes being retained in the cool stores, and after two months' storage, being exhibited at the Winter Show. An attempt will be made to have the exhibition of butter in connection with the Weddel Cup transferred to the Waikato Show, so that there may be no interruption in the competition.

CHEAP GSAPES

THE ALBANY SURPRISE. Cheap grapes have long been advocated in Auckland. It i≤ onlr this summer. aowever, that a cheap sample of good i qnality has found its way on to the mar-1 ifit. Eeally choice grapes have been I hawked about the streets, and fine fresh berries have been selling during the last three weeks at prices ranging from 3d. to _Gd. per lb. Considerable anzdety amongst growers was felt at the beginning of the year, when it was definite-1 ly made known that the restriction had been removed from Australian grapes. During February three shipments arrived from Sydney, but the result was disappointing, the quality being very "poor. Shippers consequently ceased to export, and the Australian importations ceased. As forecast, howeverg, the local yield has been phenomenal, the dry months of -January and February making the out-door cmp a very successful one. A variety which has met with a J very extensive demand is the "Albany Surprise."' The berries are large, and of an exceptionally fine colour, while the flavour, considering that they have been grown out of doors, is excellent. These fcave met frith ready sale at lsd. per lb. Tie "Surprise"' i= a sport from the "Isabella."' and was discovered by llr. Panel], of Albany. It makes an ideal cheap grape. The vine is vigorous, healthy, and is free from disease. It does splendidly in the poorer class of land to be found round Albany and Birkenh^ad.! and from these places the grapes aie sent across daily to Auckland in very large quantities, where thsy meet with * steady demand.

CAPONS V. COCKEHEX.S. I I

(By Chanticleer.) Wfcat tlie wether is in sheep so is the | in fowls. It is an established fact I "* UI - " le ilesii cf an un.sex(.-d animal is i more tender, more suecplent and of a< fetter llavour than ono that has not ; been operated upon. Besides which, an ; insesed animals grows quicker, larger] and more readily than when left in its en- i " Is f-.*- In Continental countries, more ■ particularly in France, the capon is the ' ordinary table bird, and caponising is a regular trade. So far. we in Australia \ toro only touched the iringt; of caponi*h>s.. but people who have h;ul I ha opportuwty, and an appreciate a delicate and appetising dish., would seldom eat a male y tjl . at hdd "ot been caponised. The lolloping directions for caponising «c issued by -Spratfs," London:-

'The best time to caponise chickens is just before they begin to crow, when they are between three and four months old. Before operating, let chicks fast, having neither food nor drink for thirty- ' sis hours. '■Fix up a table for operating on by laying a board about 2 feet long by I h feet wide on the end of an empty cask or barrel. Now take two pieces of "string 3 feet long, and about as thick as window cord, and tie a weight (about 21b) on one end of each string. Lay the bird on his left side on the table, and tie his feet with the other end of one string, and drop the weight over the end of the table. Then take both wings in one hand over the back, and tie with the other string as near the body as possible, and drop the weight over the other end of the table. All is now ready for operation, the operator standing at the back of the fowl with the sun directly iv his fa.cc, and shining upon the side of the fowl. Xow pick the feathers from the hip-bone to the ribs, and up and down over the last rib. and with a sponge and cold water wet the ribs and feathers around, so that they will stay out of the way. Stick the knife in half an inch deep between the first and second ribs from the hip-bone, and cut down-wards ;to the end of the ribs, and up to near the backbone. Put in the spreader to open the ribs, and with the hooked point of the knife now slip the inside striffin or skin that covers the bowels. The upper testicle will now be seen about the size and shape of a small French bean, of a yellowish colour, and situate about the middle of the back, close to the backbone. Xow take the extractor and fix upon the testicle, and after turning over two or three times to loosen it, draw it out. and do the lower testicle in the same "way. Do not sew up the incision, but untie the bird and let him go. "When fixing the extractor, take care not to go too close to the back, else you may rupture the large vein under the testicles, and a speedy death follow. Be careful not to leave any part of either testicle, or your capon t#t!l crow. Both testicles may be removed from one side, but we greatly prefer cutting both sides. We operate upon great numbers of birds, and never yet lost a single bird through the operation. "Feed on soft food vor two or three days after operating, and do not let the birds fly np to roost for a week. Should any appear swollen, just prick through the skin with a point of a knife, and the swelling will immediately go down. Follow these instructions., and. success will be certain."

ADVICE ON PURCHASING AND "USING WIRE NETTING.

This is one of those thinge which is in-) dispensable wherever poultry are kept. | Never before has there been such a de- I mand for this article as during the past i few years. Xo matter whether poultry- j keepers live in the country or the town j it is an impossibility to keep fowls with- I out having certain places wired in. We arc often asr&ed which kind of wire netting one should have for this purpose, as there 13 more in the different gauges j than most people would think, with re- I gard . There.. Are so many j different meshes and gauges, that few seem to know little or nothing about, more especially the gauge. The gauge i= made according to the mesh. For instance, in the A-inch mesh i wire, which, is very seldom used, except \ 1 for keeping rats out, or for making aviaries for cage birds, the best gauge is eighteen, and goes up to twenty-two, the latter being commonest wire. For ordinary purposes, nineteen gauge is useful, and would be quite good enough, but, of course, eighteen is better. In |-inch mesh, the gauges run from i seventeen to twenty, the first number i being the best, and the highest number inferior. In 1-inch mesh seventeen gauge is the best, and will last longest; this goes up to nineteen, but in this mesh eighteen gauge would be useful. One-and-a-half inch mesh gauge runs from fourteen to nineteen; seventeen is sood enough for almost anything. Two-inch mesh gauge runs from thirteen to nineteen: seventeen will do for i general use. but nineteen is usually sold by those who advertise, as that is the ; commonest, though eighteen is very fair, j and will do to put against a hedge, as it does not get quite so much -wear; the i hedge very soon grows into the wire, and j keeps it in its place; but should th-j latter > Ibe likely to be taken down it is better j !to have seventeen gauge. We would never advise poultry-keepers ] to purchase wire above gauge eighteen, and in most cases it wiil be found that ( seventeen gauge is the cheapest in the i long run. Two-inch mesh wire i≤ more j used than any other for poultry runs. — '•'Farmer and" Stock Breeder."

A PRACTICAL GATE HOLDEB

A correspondent of the "Prairie Farmer" sends to that paper a diagram of a cate-holder that he considers a useful device for farmers to havo ia

or slides on rollers. The general shape tor any length of time. This gato-holdcr use wherever a gate i.= to be lefc open will fit any style of gatu that swings of the pate-holder is that of the letter A, with the bar The legs of the holder are made of 2 by 4's, space 3ft ut the bottom. Three bars were used to hold the frame in shape. The centrebar is so located on th-} £rain-» that, it serves as a rest for tha gate. This device will hold any gato open agsiinsl moderately heavy winds. When the gate is closed the holder is set up aguitist the fence ouL of this way. U' properly oared for, one ot these g;iteiiolders will last ;i long time, .'lid unquestionably prolong the lifo of any gate several years.