AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 144, 19 June 1909, Page 12

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS.

' "SMUDGING." * Since last year (reports the London Daily Mail) the science of artificial protection of fruit from frost has advai.cod immensely, and will make considerable change in methods of cultivation. "Smudging," as this artificial protection is called, has become a recognised 1 part of the gardener'e care. There are several ways of "smudging," of which the object is to invest the trees in a cloud of smoke when frost is threatened. A simple and ingenious little instrument ia used by some cultivators to announce a night frost. It consists of a double thermometer, the mercury being hold in a V»!i3,ped tube. As it falls on both sides of tho tubo to 32deg. it automatically makes a double connection of electric wires, which sets going ai 1 alarum, and this keeps ringing till disconnected. The really up-to-date gardener, as soon as he hoars tho alarum, goes out and lights his "smudgcrs." These are of several sorts. In some gardens the stove is the simplest section of a perforated cylinder, in which a mixture of creosote, naphthaline, and water is used. This is most effective where trees are planted very close, and though it makes everything very smudgy, tho carbon is found good for the soil. The most popular Emudger has been brought from California. Some remarkable demonstrations have- lately been made with this, and by meant) of nothing: more elaborate than coal and a little cotton wool and spirits of wine a dense pall of (smoke can be made to hang over the trees. Not improbably fruit trees will in future be planted even closer, since tho thicker the grove the thicker tho smoke-pall. DEHORNING OF CALVES. The calf should be treated not later than one week after the birth, preferably when it is from -three to five days old (states a writer in the Auckland Herald regarding the matter of dehorning calves). Either caustic soda or caustic potash, procurable •at any chemist's in the form of sticks about sin long and of the thickness of an ordinary lead pencil, can be used. These caustics must be handled with care, or they will make the lingers sore. • The stick to be used should oo wrapped in paper to protect the hands, leaving one end open for use. Clip the hair from tho region of the incipient horn, wash clean with soap and water, and thoroughly dry. Moisten the caustic- slightly and rub it into the horn buttons, first on one and then on tho other alternately, making two or three applications "to each, and allowing the caustio to dry after each application. Be very careful to apply the caustic to the horn button only, for if it is brcught in contact with tho surrounding skin it will cause pain. Do not have too much moisture on the stick or .it will remove any skin with which it comes in contact, more especially if the moisture runs down the face. After treatment keep the oalf protected from rain, or the moisture will cause the oaustio to run. I would suggest the holding of continuation classes, to be attended compulsorily by members of the House'of Commons, so that they might learn what in the name of fortune agriculture means. — Duke of Rutland. By a hotter understanding of soils, fertility, rotation of crop?, and farm management, the average dairy farmer can pro- , dlico crops for on6-third less money than he now does. A Waihaorunga farmer estimates that, given an ordinary season. 70,000 to 80,000 bushels of wheat will be railed out of that district next seasoc, states the Waimate Advertiser. Many settlers are doubling their wheat area in the belief that Mi, Patten is not far wrong in his contention that the consumption of wheat is outrunning the growth of that cereal. The committee of tho Titnaru AgriculI tural and Pastoral Association decided 1 on Saturday to contribute £25 towards , the salary of the inetruotor in agricul- | tural science whom the South Canterbury j Education Board proposes to engage. Tho I association decided not to make the grant an annual one until it had an opportunity of ascertaining the value of the instructor's services to the fanning community. An exchange reports that some trouble j is being occasioned in Taranaki by directors of dairy companies prohibiting the feeding of cows-on turnips. In past seasons, it is reported, the same directors have permitted it. Just so. but butter waa formerly made, whereas cheese is being made now. One of the little drawbacks in cheese-making, which is being overlooked, is that milk which will make a fair butter will not niako a marketable cheese. A Forty-mile Busli dairy farmer informed a representative of the Masterton Age that at the present time, although ho was milking 10 per cent, less cows than at'this time last year, his herd was yielding 20 per cent, more milk. He attributed this to the exceptionally good autumn season experienced this year in tho Bush district. Devonshiro honey may 60011 be as famous as Devonshire cream, for the Beekeepers' Association reports that tho management of beus is to bo taught at the Sealo Haync Agricultural College, with tho obiect of bringing the county to tho forefront as England's honey producer. Several suppliers to the Masterton-road creamery at Woodville received a nasty bump on Monday, says tho Examiner. They were delivering their milk at the factory as usual, and tho manager asked them if they would sign a paper agreeing to supply the factory tor the next twelve months. On refusing, they wore told to tako their milk elsewhere. The suppliers then tried the Dairy Union factory in M'Lean-street. The same question wis put to them thero, with a like rosuU;. Not to be done, these suppliers then took their milk to tho cheese factory at Mangatainoka, where they found a haven of refuge. The promoters of the Palmerston Cooperative Freezing Works have received an offer from the directors of a large company to tako up £10,000 worth of shares, provided the company can be successfully floated. Over ten thousand shares havo already been guaranteed, states tho Manawatu Evening Standard. Mr. D. D. Hyde, the chief Govornment poultry expert, showed n, Timaru Herald reporter a letter he had received from a Christchuroh resident, showing the value of the Government poultry farms. Tho \vriter of the letter obtained some time time ago half a dozen White Leghorns from the Burnhatn poultry farm, and ho now forwarded a return of the eggs laid by each ben during the past* year. This showed that the hens had laid an average of 232 eggs each for the term, the total for each one "beiiic: as follows; — 272 221 211, 235, 225. and 228., A good bullock, say 1 about eight hundredweight of meat, sells in Now Zealand at -about £7 10b. If we follow the beast Homo (says a writer in the Wairarapa Daily Times) we find it fetches an a\erage of threepence .half-penny per lb. in the London market, wluoh means £13 for tho bullock. If we add to this £13 the sum of 30s for by-products, the beaEt realised £14- 10s. If we deduct from this amount £5 for cost of sending Home and for profit, tho net value of the bullock at this end would be £9 10s. Why a bullock worth £9 10s here only commands £7 10s is one of those small conundrums which is at present unexplaiued. y Tho Horticulture Francaiso tells of a curious fruit in tho shape of a peach sent to the editor from Phiflippeville, Algeria. The outside of the fruit is covered with sharp thorns. When squeezed the fruit grunts like a pig. Further experiments with tho strango fruit developed the fact that it is capable of emitting othor bounds. When scratched with a nail it emitted sounds not unlike the squeaking- of young pigs, and danced nbout the table in a most animated manner The. edito* has sent tho curious fruit to the French Academy of Science for professional investigation. *