THE SOIL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 19 March 1913, Page 2

THE SOIL

FARMERS' CLUBS

Since the inauguration of the system lof appointing district representatives of the Department 1 of Agriculture in each county in Ontario, there have sprung into prominence the farmers' clubs. They are fostered by these young agriculturists in co-operation With . s'.ti'nn .'J .the more advanced farmers. Tiie eiit.ire idea is for the spread of agricultural information, and the introduction of new ideas and new methods. These clubs/ though not very large, give the farmers in any one section the opportunity of getting together andi talking over in a businesslike manner anything that appeals to them as being of ineretst and value to the community. Occasionally outside speakers are brought in to address the club on scientfic "work, but more often they arrange the address among- themselves: thus they are of a double value. Youngmen are often among the speakers!. It is an opportunity for every man if he wishes to take advantage of it to become 6 proficient on the public platform. It must !M>t be .supposed' that these clubs are for agricultural matters solely ; they also take charge i.i. many cases of the social work in the com-muiiity. Probably they will be of m6re value to the Ontario farm el' in this way than in many others. For, where there is no organisation to arrange social affairs, this side of the farmer's life is frequently neglected. People coming from Great Britain, who carry with them memories of the little village, and the merry times experienced, will find, that these clubs in a greater ox less degree reproduce their former conditions. It is the opportunity for every newcomer to become better acquainted, with the methods of agriculture and also to become acquainted with the farmers in his particular neighbourhood and some of the more prominent farmers ,from all oyer the province.

A statement comes from. America which illustrates once more the extraordinary ravages certain insects are capable' of committing when they are allowed': to multiply without hindrance. Forty yearsago some gipsy moths were iniportrecrtrom Europe for experimental purposes. Some of them escaped from control, but, although the. authorities ware warned, no action was taken. The escaped moths increased) to such an extent that trees were destroyed by them ■and- w6ods stripped of foliage. In ten years 'iue»Si;ate of Massachusetts spent a quarter of a million pounds, not dollars, i-ft an effort to exterminate. the pests, but withoiit' success. They have spread to other States, and now Congress has set aside £50,000 a year -for the purpose'Cof. -fighting this fearsome 'insect. ■; The ravages of insects are explained 1 of course', b .Y their enormous .p6fw,ei's -of increase.' tv. ' A Canadian, with considerable inge■nuity, has devised a contrivance to make -the pig work for his dinner. There is a barrel with a milling arrangement inside, and into this Indian corn is poured.: When the pig presses his nose against the v?ooden bars the barrel turns ■round, and" this works the mill and grinds the meal, which falls, under the pig's nose. As many asi fifteen animals can get a chance at the mill at the same time, and the mill.goes round at a lively rate,, and each. pig; commanding, a. hole has; a. coiitirmoiis trickle, of, meal as his reward'. The machine is so contrived that none of them can get any meal unless he stays in the procession. He must-either push and ..travel with the mill, out and.allow another pig to take his priace.

Says the "Tapanui Courier" :—Talking to a 50-year„ old' resident lately, the subject -of came up. "Yes," he said, "Vincent Pike warned them when they started to fire the tussock that theV "would ruia the country, and they did. Grass-,! 1 ' Wiry, you could not find horses in the tussocks that >rrew up the Manuherikia-Dunstau flat. That is if they were lying down. You had to sing out to make them raise thenheads. Even on the knobby tops you would get wet above your waist in the tussocks on a dewy morning, and tho=e tussocks held the" moisture, hence the big water supplies, we used to have. Oh, ves! the men .who burned' the tussock did incalculable harm to Central Otago," and that.must be the verdict of every one who remembers the grassy bays o auld lang syne.

A settler in the Aotea district (states the Kawlua. "Settler"), reports v the rava,-. made moth on.■the wellIcnowh.X'buslv scrub, ' . commonly / "the lawyer." Considerably losses of woolly lambs and overgrown sheep are placed- to its account, so-that anything to destroy % the pest will be welcomed. Observation' showed long fronds of the palm quite dead, with others iir a moribund condition, while the. shrubs generally revealed signs of sickness and deeay. ' A South Australian settler reports splendid results from a new variety of wheat called Silver- Bar. In 1910 it vielded 36 bushels per acre, and the following years 24. It is practically rustproof, and stands up well. The importance of this does not lie so much in the yield, though it is a large one for Australia, but in the fact of the wheat being rust-proof. What is claimed to be the, highest semi-official milk record in the world is that of-the Holstein cow Creamelle Vale, owned bv Mr F. F. Field, of Massachusetts.* She produced m one year 29,5911b milk, containing 92411 , L tat > which will make 11551b butter, 80 per <-ent. fat. The Ayrshire Breeders' Association of U.S.A. have issued the results of their re-ri-ter The average of the two-year-old form is 76061b milk, 4.0 per cent, fat 303a31b fat, 3551b butter; average ot niature form 12,3321b milk, 3.87 per cent. 476.771b fat, 5521b butter.