THE FARMER.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 165, 21 July 1896, Page 3

THE FARMER.

FOX CURING PULLERS. Professor Gleeson, in his book on tlie horse, gives this advice. He writes : — " I have seen many different bits for curing pullers, but what will cure ono will not cure another. The most simple appliances to be used I havo always found to be the best. I will give you two different methods which I use in driving pullers :— (1) Take a strap ahd buckli around the neck with rings underneath the neck sewed on to tho strap. Take the reins and pull through the bit rings, and buckle into rings on strap that is around tho neck. Here you have a purchase on the horse's lower jaw that will enablo you to hold the worst puller with ease. (2) Take a strap Jin. wide and 18in. long, with a ring liin. in diameter, 6e\vcd on at each end, and two smaller rings running loose on the strap. Take and place the middle of tho strap directly under tho horse's lower jaw, ond bring the ends through the mouth from opposite sides; buckle tho reins into the larger rings, and tho check pieces of tha bridle into the smaller ones. This makes the most simple yet effective appliance for a puller I have ever seen." THE DAIRY. Good cows lead to good methods. "With out good feed, dairying is n. failure. People will not pay a shilling for eightpenny biitter. It rjquirrs bra'm and gumption to succeed in lhe daiiy. A careless person cannot make good butter. Tho finishing touches are what pay. Cows need shelter from the cold as well os from the sun. Clean hands invite clean .methods. Those who mako b?d butter are generally the most easily offended. Good butter cannot, be. mado if the surroundings are filthy. Poor butter gives the dairyman a lean purse. There is a grow- ! iDg demand -for good butter at paying ' prices. Badly made butter hurts the trade and gives the margarine men a better market. You must also keep pace with every modern improvement to be successful in dairying. THE FARM GARDEN. The time spent in the garden, instead of being regarded as so much thrown , away, and tho money laid out there as so , much wasted, should be regarded as the , best paying investment on the farm. Givo the garden a chance, by careful management and cultivation, to show its hidden forces for adding to (h? i tractions of country life. Thpse who try the experiment will scarcely return to the earlier plan of hasty preparation, careless plant- ' ing and cultivation, and stinted crops. Besides the additional pleasure and comfort to the whole family, the fanner hns before his eves a, daily illustration of the advantage of " smaller areas and bigger returns," the principle which underlies all successful farming. experiments in manuring turnips. Mr John Campbell, assistant professor of agriculture in the Glasgow Technical College, delivered,a lecture on the results of manuring, experiments in the growing of turnips in the country of Dumfries in the.Public School, Lockerbie. Mr Campbell, went into the results of experiments on thirty-four farms in Scotland. Of these farms nine were in Dumfriesshire, and their returns were compared with the thirty-four experimented on in 1895, and tho fifteen in 1894. Last season being a bad one for tho growing of turnips, the returns were not so largo as in 1891. In comparison with 1894, slog showed a' large increase over superphosphate. To get the best results slag ought to bo put on early, It made the b est dressing for mossy, sharp, or stoney land. Superphosphate and nitrate of soda showed a better result than superphosphate alone, both in Dumfriesshire and over all Scotland, although less than in the previous year. Comparing superphosphate and sulphate of ammonia with superphosphate and nitrate of soda, -the first-named showed a little better result. With potash, superphosphate aud nitrate, showed in comparison with supers, and. nitrate alone on the average for Dumfriesshire and the whole country a large increase. The potash would improve tho turnip crop, leave the land in betcer condition, and benefit the clover. Tho addition of bene meal to the superphosphate, nitrate, and potash showed little or no oprrec-'ab's difference either in Dumfriesshire or in the whole conntry on the exr e-iments with supers, nitrate, and potash alone. The rosults of using dung alone, and ha'f the dung- along with super- '■ phosphate, .were somewhat conflicting. .In 1595, in Dumfriesshire, dung and j siipeiphosphc fee gay.i "a better return, but I n lei's one over the whole thirty-four farms, | which was also the experience in 1894. i With the addition of nitrate of soda to ' superphosphate and dung, there was a 1 better yield of turnips than the dnng and super, alone. A brief discussion followed. . In reply to a question whether it was not ' preferable to use half the usual quantity of superphosphate, and add an equal quantity of slag in place of superphosphate alone, the lecturer expressed the view that it was better. '. AVERAGE PRICE OF BRITISH GRAIN. The following is the official statement i issued by tho Board of Trade in regard to i the quantities nnd average prices of British grain sold during the week ending i 21st March, 1896 :—

j i The following comparative statement ' shows the averages for the corresponding f week in each of tho years from 1892 to ! 1895:—

i Potatoes were selling in Lincoln last t week at 9d per owt., or just a trifle over Id per stone.— ' N.B. Agriculturist.'

' Average Price. ' , Wheat. Barley. Oats, s. (1. s. d. s. d. , 1B!)2 .. .. 32 8 m 9 20 4 1 1893 .. .. 21 8 23 5 18 .1 » 1894 .. .. 24 i 26 11 18 1 j 1895 .. . . 20 0 20 10 13 10

: Quantities Sold. Average Price • Qrs. Riis. b. d. i Wheat .. .. 31.104 7 25 1 1 I Barley .. .. BH.IH 2 21 1 Oats .. .. 10,990 5 13 9