FARM NOTES FROM ENGLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8475, 28 January 1891, Page 6

FARM NOTES FROM ENGLAND.

[FROM OUR ENGLISH AGRICULTURE CORRESPONDENT.]

London, November on SIR JOHN LA WES ON NIT Rat SODA. ." " ° There are two or three points of interest in a letter upon nitrate of soda tributed by Sir John Lavves to the British Agriculturist. Alluding to an menfc by some supposed authorities toTl?' effect that root crops do not require to v supplied with nitrogen if supplied »■ • 9 phosphates, Sir John says that if thevm that some soils, in a high state of fertile"' may contain enough nitric acid for the 1 of the roots, he agrees with them, but th* if they imply that the nitrogen of the rn crop is obtained from the atmosphere T altogether dissents, as the evidence of'h own experiments points to a very differ conclusion. In one field he is srowino- cr 6 " 1 in a pure crude solution without ma nu ° The experiment was begun in 184 and tin swedes gave a large crop in the first v ea Since then the swedes sown every fou r u year, although there has been a good plant have quite failed to produce a crop 0 a, value. In fact, they have not formed anbulbs at all. On the other hand the v,he4 and barley grown in the solution withonmanure have produced good croppy,' wheat yield averaging 28 bushels an acr! and that of barley 30 bushels. This chief]shows that the roots could not find, fi c V their use, sufficient phosphates in the soil', but it also shows that they lacked nitron in my opinion. But Sir John Lawes°ha' very clear evidence of the value of dressing of nitrogenous manure for mangolds. I," ~ field devoted to the growth of roots for many successive years he gets only 4 to 5 ton? per acre of mangolds on land liberally sun. plied with phosphates and other miner!! l manures, while the addition of nitrogen i', rape cake, nitrate of soda, or salts of am', monia increases the produce greatly. La<> year the highest yield was 36 tons "an acre grown where rape cake and salts of ammonia were applied. When, with the minerals' nitrate of soda, supplying half the quantity of nitrogen contained in the rape cake and salts of ammonia, was used the yield was '2ij tons an acre. A very curious point is this Whereas the addition of potash to a drewin? of nitrate of soda and superphosphate, vea" after year, has made no difference to* the yield of mangolds, that addition to salts o: ammonia and superphosphate increased the produce by many tons per acre. Therein mystery here which Sir John is not able to explain, for he says there is no reason to suppose that soda can take the place o potash in some of the more important functions of the latter manure. As t< leguminous crops, such as beans, peas, and clover, the action of nitrogenous manure is very uncertain, and its use with these cropseldom pays. This, of course, is accounted for by the peculiar ability of these crops to utilise atmospheric nitrogen, probably that which is found in the interstices of the soil. This point has been more thai once deal: with on previous occasions.

A PRECOCIOUS HEIFER. Mr. Parkin Moore, of Whitehall (where ever that may be) writes to the Agricultural Gazette as follows: —"A c»so of early maturity occurred at my home farm which I think, may possibly be of interest to vou.' In September last I had a Jersey heifer running in a paddock with some other calves, when a Jersey bull by accident got to her and served her, she being then only about five months old, being calved in April, and on the 7th June last, before she was fourteen months old, she gave birth to a line heifer calf, which was allowed to stele its mother and up to the present time they are boti living and doing well."

COCOANLIT BUTTER. Success appears to have followed the in troduction of this new food, as the demand for it in Germany is greater than the supply from the factory at Mannheim, the only one which has produced it hitherto. So profitable has its manufacture, proved that it i, said that the shareholders nave received a dividend of 56 per cent, on the first Year's business. Another factory is to be started at once in Belgium, and before long, if the supply of cocoanut oil proves sufficient, this vegetable butter is likely to be made on an extensive scale. For many years the cocoanut oil has been sent from the Indies and Africa to Europe on an extensive scale, but as it quickly turned rancid, it was used chiefly for soapmaking. But now it can be perfectly purified, and the fat made from is is more like butter than any other imitation. It lias nearly the same descriptions of flavouring acids and in the same proportions as butter, which cannot be said of margarine. Vegetaline, as the new fat is termed, lias a strong resistance to rancidity, and its use in hospitals has proved it to be easily digestible. It can be sold privately at 7d a pound, and the people in Germany prefer it to margarine. It is also used extensively by pastrycooks. No doubt batter will be adulterated with it; but it deserves to be sold on its own merits, as it is a pure fat, and not open to the objections reasonably entertained against a commodity made from the refuse fat of animals.

CREAMERIES IN IRELAND. Steady progress marks the movement in the establishment of creameries in Ireland, a country in which they are practically needed, as the small farmers neither produce enough milk nor possess sullicient accommodation or apj|sances far making first-class butter on their own farms. As a rule, they appear to do, better by sending their milk to the factories than they have done by making butter for the Cork market. Bud to enable them to get the most out of the system, the creamery companies should be strictly co operative, as only a few of them are.

WINTER RATION FOR A DAIRY COW. An experienced cowkeeper gives the following daily allowance of foods as a suitable ration for a dairy cow in full milk in winter, when no pasture grass is available;— Chaffed hay and straw, 201b ; beanmeal, 21b ground oats, 21b ; wheat and barley meal mixed, 21b ; linseed meal or cake, 21b ; bran, -lb; roots, 2olb ; hay, in two feeds, .lib. This if given as an average ; but some cows '.vili require more and some less. THE HOP CROP. The following estimate of the hop crop ol last harvest, compared with that of ISSO has been issued by the Board of Agriculture : — acres. cwfcs. cwts per acre. IS9O .. .. 54,551 '285,789 1889 .. .. 57,7-4 497,811 i-'ti-Last year's crop was an extra good on?, the "ordinary average" being 7"S4cwtsan acre. Prices are highly satisfactory, g hops being quoted at £12 to £17 perewt, and common at £7 to £10. Farmers who have grown over the average of good bop get enough money to equal the fee sin ll .' o of tho land on which the hops were grown in some cases. Most of them, however, have had very heavy losses in recent years.

AGRICULTURE AND THE QUEEN'S SPEECH. Parliament met on Tuesday, and the only Bills of special interest to agriculturist" promised in the Queen's Speech are the In?' 1 Land Purchase Bill and the Tithe Bill, which have been held over from last session. The former has been divided into two parts, but is practically unaltered. The Tithe Bill makes landlords in all cases directly liable for tithes, and does not contain any of the provisions for redemption which appeal® in the Bill of last session. At present, onlv one of the Irish Bills has been printed, ana it has only "c 0...? in just before this letter has to be posted. Mr Balfour's description of the two Bills, however, will be found in i 'ipers which will arrive in New Zealand by tin. mail. CATTLE SHOWS. The Birmingham Fat Stock Show opens to-day. The entries, compared with thosS of three previous years, are as follows _ 1800. isso. isss. 1»«Cattle .. .. .. ..217 l'J'J 201 'f.\ Sheep OS 71 ® I" Pigs 103 SS 78 * Roots, coin, anil potatoes .. 231 ?'>s> lcl ;'..r.v. Poultry and pigeons .. .. 4022 3705 349..^ Totals .. • .. 4041 44214953 4-DS In the Smithfield show, to be opened in London on Monday week, the entries are >15 below : — , , x . IS9O.ISB9.ISSS. ISS7. Cattle 284 205 318 '300 22!' - w Sheep 224 205 201 IS3 I.J Pigs 8!) 74 85 S3 >•' . 43 Totals .. .. 697 544 004 MS 4s.