AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7359, 11 July 1889, Page 2

AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

I observe, writes "Freehold," l n th« Australasian, that the system of awarding prizes for farm management is bela» adopted by the Canterbury Agricultural Society of New Zealand, and it may be pointed oat that in this colony the prizes offered by the Department of Agriculture and the Water Supply Department for farm management and irrigation would be rendered more attractive if they were accompanied by medals or certificate*. The money is acceptable enough, but a medal or certificate could easily be given, which would have the effect of manently crediting the winner with the honour which he had secured. As these competitions are yearly attracting i n . creased attention the suggestion is worth consideration. " • . ' The sparrow nuisance, which i& iocre&s, ing bo rapidly in the colonies, will have to be systematically dealt with ere long, or it will aoon rival the rabbit peat in deetructiveness. The United States Depart' ment of Agriculture recommends the followingtreatment:—" Dissolvearseniate of soda in warm water, at the rate of an ounce to a pint; pour this upon as much wheat ac it will cover in a vessel which cau be closed so as to prevent evaporation and allow it to soak at least 24 hours* Dry the wheat so prepared, and it is ready for nee. Three kernels of this will Jfcm, "Winter is the best time for operations. Other birds are then absent, and sparrows are hungry, alighting in flocks in thtf streets after passing teams and along railroad tracks, where grain Is scattered from waggons and cars. Here poisonetf wheat may be administered with wholesale destruction to them, and little dangerat harm to anything else. If an occasional pigeon or chicken that has no business abroad ehould suffer, it is comparatively of little consequence. If the great evil it to be abated at all, it might only be rei quired that it be done with the least practicable injury and inconvenience." Many fanciful methods of eradicating the Canadian thistle have been suggested, but, as might have been expected, none of them have been successful. I have not heard how tbe Department of Agriculture's experiments are progressing, but I have no doubt that the system pointed out by Professor Brown, of Longerenong Agricultural College, as being successfully pursued in Canada, will be found practicable and effective. I notice that a Caaa" dian, writing to a South Australian paper, suggests a method which in some respecti resembles that of continuously catting the thistleH.and thus exhausting them by keeping them underground. ■ This method consists in making pig-paddocks of the land affected; maize or some such crop la sown and the pigs are fed upon it, the j effect being that the pigs keep the thistles J from growing, while at the same time eating up many of the roots. At a meeting of the London Farmers' Club recently, Mr Weatley Richards read a paper on "Selling Cattle by Liye Weight." Mr Richards insisted that all accounts must be repreaented by figures, and it was necssnary to have official liv e weight quotations of the price which differ* ent qualities and breeds ot cattle realited es a trustworthy guide to govern calculations. Ib was the business of the scales to determine the weight, and that must not be left to the butcher. The intense com. petition had rendered it necessary that tfci farmer ehould attend to the smallest) details, so as to show where losses occurred and how they could be avoided. Unda* the system of selling by guess much un" certainty and irregularity prevailed, and he presented tables showing, from practfcal trials, the losses which the farmer had to sustain under the selling upon estimated weight of the cattle. Altogether th e farmer actually lost 4st 41b a carcase by taking the butcher's estimate—more than 561b of meat at 7d per lb. a carcass, not paid for by the botcher. It was practicable Co sell the cattle by the real live Jweigfafe deducting 5 per cent, from the weight tog losa on going to market. • According to a Government paper rS' cently .issued, there are at the presents time some fiOO farmers' co-operative aeib* eiations in France. Their organisation, which for the most part owe their institn tion to the patronage of the Government, which keeps a jealous eye on the progreM of the great national industry, were intended to enable farmers to buy wbattiiey need in their business at wholesale ptieM and of guaranteed quality. Bat within the last year or two many of these agri* cultural syndicates have extended their operations to the exchange of famV products amongst themselves, and to the sale of these products to outsiders. There it reason to believe that in this respect tht buying and selling aide of agricultural Iβ. duetry Iβ only In Its infancy In tMI country. - . Mr John Gray; dab*/ Implement mafce\ Stranraer, has invented an acldometer, <tf machine for measuring acid in arwm, whey, or butter milk. It is constracted on the principle of adding en alkdlne solution till the color of the liquid Jt&Df gauged is changed by the acid. Iteoß»wa of a glass tube fitted with a metal *»<* <f which Is registered points for denotulg«H» degree of acidity. The quantity to w tested (about 1 oz.) Iβ placed in the tuftew begin with, and lly a very ingenioaeJW arrangement the alkali solution Iβ stoMjT introduced Into the tube from beiKMD. and the operator stirs the eolation eKW with a sieve agitator as this Iβ being*®* Whenever the color of the milk chMfiw to red by the acid being overcome, tteW? is stopped, and the height of the UwgJ. the tube as shown on the metal reguwrw taken, and this indicates the degree » acidity. The Inventor claims *&**J£.r! process accuracy is attained to witMa i of a degree. It is also claimed IW-WJ machine that It Is equally veJeftWef , testing the strength of rennetSenator Spooner, of Wisconsin, V.S. JU has introduced into Congress a bill wnica proposes to establish a system of WP institutes, to be held annually in «J different States. They are to> be war the direction of a Institutes, with a salary of eOOOdoU *«*■ He is to have two asalatant auperuW dents at 4floodol apiece a year, aaevw district clerks at 3000dol each per The scheme embraces lecture*,. ««"* tione, experiments, illustrations, W* argricultural discussions, and intendent is to have authority to. b« lecturers at fair rates of <»nipen«rtiee •£ the time actually employed. **&*» circuit of institutes Iβ completed,_ew year, the superintendent is to ports of the proceedings. The <***%"$ of these reports to be limited to V«W*j copies per year. Bxcluslve of the «•» maintaining this publication, and a *»■•/ account amounting to fi&.OOOdol **"£ the annual expenses of conducting *«* stitutes are not lo exceed system is to be under the control « new department of agriculture. MrT. H. Hutchinson, Manor Hoos^M^ terick, sold to the butcher recently" *JJ i cester hogget, one year ten day* PW.* , weighed, when dressed, 1581b, and eBPP 6 " 171b <rf WOOI, ''''"'" mtt The farmers of the United «»**!£ losing 300,000,000 dol. a year from j of Insects. In New York one inseee cmwt j the loss of 15,000,000 doL in oae Tee,p '-la j injury from the insects Iβ about one**'' of the crops. Many of the insects do the most injury do their wo \ ceived. The caterpillar oftenin»«|"C tares whUe concealed beneath the "£jgj/r and thecut worm hides beneath tne in the day time and comes out ft *rTj ? to do Its work. There' are!P** 1,000,000 species, but only S&.W' known. They Pwpagato»pi«£*S j etantly feeding, and do not take w^ eaß n to sleep. But they all d l *** I vulnerable point wh«a their | atttdied. ' - ' - i