ON THE LAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 13983, 12 February 1909, Page 8

ON THE LAND

CALIFORNIA PEACHES. TnE Pacific Rural Press says:— the great prune planting passion of a decade ago the peach was the greatest deciduous fruit of California, judged by the total number of trees in service. The figures in 1906 were: Poach trees in orchard, 7,405,740; prune trees in orchard, 8,305,856; apparently 900,000 more prunes than peaches. But during the last three years the peach has had the call Take the last good year, 1905: Carloads of fresh peaches sent east, 1946; cases of canned peaches, £96,176; tons of dried peaches, 18,000. The gross value of this product of a year can be placed at about twenty million dollars. It naturally follows that the peach has a wide range in California, and finds many districts suited to it in the several ways in which the trade delights in it. The peach delights in a deep free loam; neither its own seedling root nor the almond seedling, upon both of which roots it is largely grown, have much tolerance for heavy clay loams, which arc apt to be water-logged in regions of heavy rainfall. In a deep loam, even if verging on the sandy type, the almond will descend 25ft or more, socking moisture, and the peach root also .will show great penetration, and will carry a top of great fruiting longevity if 'the grower will do justice to the tree by regular shortening of the growth and forcing out new wood, upon which alone fruit is found. Not only does regular pruning do this, but it promotes longevity and vigour in the framework of the tree upon which these bearing shoots come. Left unpruned, the peach soon becomes bark-bound, and the bark itself becomes hardened and brittle. Lower shoots are apt to give out, and the tree becomes an umbrella of foliage and fruit held aloft by bare branches barkburned by the sun, invaded by borers, exuding gum, covered with moss and lichens — a picture of distress and unprofitability because its owner does not give the tree a chance to rcinvigorate itself with largo fresh leaves from the new wood which alone can carry them. There has been much discussion about how long a decently treated peach tree, on good soil and always with enough and not too much soil moisture, will profitably endure. No definite answer can be given because there are so many degrees of favour and disfavour in the natural and cultural conditions which surround the tree. It may be taken as an approximation to the truth to say that 12 years can be safely given as the minimum longevity of a wellfavoured peach tree in California, and there are many profitable acres of peach trees which are twice, and a few are thrice, that age. Ave have, in fact, seen some peach

trees, which have gone along in thrift until they have a bark below which looks like that . of a forest tree, and a framework of main branches sound and stalwart throughout because they have never boon allowed to sunburn until protected by their own roughness, and have never been pruned with an axe, and never lost a large limb nor had a wound into which decay could penetrate and descend to the root. When the peach has a fair chance in its aerial parts and ib in a soil which favours health of the roots, it shows itself to bo very long lived in California. Where trees break to pieces and show decay wounds, they are in bad places or have suffered through natural stress or cultural error. TEMPERATURE OP THE SOIL. A number of useful experiments have been completed to find out the- difference of the temperature on cultivated and uncultivated soils. The observations showed that ploughing and mellowing promoted a more rapid exchange of heat in the soil. The heating, as well as the cooling, of the ploughed and mellowed soil was considerably greater than that of unploughed soil, the difference- between the. mean temperatures of the two during the summer weather reaching two degrees, and between the extreme maximum temperatures five and more degrees. On the other hand, the minimum temperatures were lower on ploughed soil than on unploughed by almost one degree. MANURING WHEAT. According to experiments carried on at the Oklahoma Experiment. Station, it is necessary to return some fertility to the- soil if results are to be expected in growing wheat. A recent circular of information issued by the station referring to experiments with wheat states that land which has been cropped continuously to wheat from the inception of the investigation gave an average yield of 14.7 bushels per acre for an eight-year period. Similar land which was treated with farmyard manure at the rr.to of 5£ tons per annum gave an average yield of 25 bushels per aero for the same period.

MAKING CIDER VINEGAR. Hoard's Dairyman says: "Take sound barrels or any suitable sized vessels of wood or earthenware or glass never iron, copper, or tin. Clean thoroughly and scald. Fill, not rrrore than half full with the cider stock, which should have fermented at least, one month. To this add one-fourth its volume of old vinegar. This is a very necessary part of the process, since the vinegar restrains the growth of the chance ferments which abound in the air, and at the same time it favours the true acetic acid ferment. Next add to the liquid a little 'mother vinegar.'- If this latter is not at hand, a fairly pure culture may be made by exposing in a shallow, uncovered crock or wooden pail a mixture of one-half old vinegar and one-half hard eider. The room where this is exposed should have a temperature of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. In three, or four days the surface should become covered with a gelantinous pellicle or cap. This is the •' mother vinogar.' A little of this carefully removed with a wooden spoon or stick should be laid gently upon the surface of the, cider, prepared as above described. Do not stir it in. The vinegar ferment grows only at tho surface. In three days the cap should have spread entirely over the fermenting cider. Do not break this cap thereafter so long as the fermentation continues. If tho temperature is right the fermentation should be complete in from four to six weeks. The vinegar should then be drawn off, strained through thick white flannel and corked or bunged tightly, and kept in a cool place. until wanted for consumption. If the vinegar remains turbid after ten days, stir into a barrel one pint of a solution of one-half pound of isinglass in one quart of water. As soon as settled, rack off and store in tight vessels. Usually no fining of vinegar is needed. No pure cider vinegar will keep long in vessels exposed to the air at a temperature above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. •' Vinegar eels' are sometimes troublesome in vinegar barrels. To remove these heat tho vinegar scalding hot, but do not boil. When cool, strain through clean flannel and the 'eels' will be removed."

FRUIT BY-PRODUCTS. The kernels of peaches, apricots, and plums contain an oil which is identical in composition with the oil from bitter almonds, and a large proportion of the so-called oil of bitter almonds is really derived from these three fruits, the kernels of which are bought up cheaply by German manufacturers, Ine hulk of the supply comes from the United States, where these fruits are very extensively grown for tinning and cirying. During 1907 over 6000 tons of i-L apricots, 500 tons of dried peaches, and 10,000 tons of dried plums wore export<fi\ from the United States, exclusive of the exports of tinned fruits. Both apricots and peaches and to tome extent, plums, arc pitted before drying, and the pits or stones have boon treated as a waste product. It is now found that the oil they contain can 1» easily extracted and manufactured into various articles for use in arts and medicines, and especially of high-grade soaps. J he process of extraction and distillation of tho oil is said to be very simple.

ENGLAND'S EGG CONSUMPTION. ! More eggs are consumed in England even* *■ year. That there is increased home product tion everybody knows, but even this increawfl does not keep pace with the demand. Th« " result is that more foreign eggs are requi % ed. During the first six months of the pre. sent year 1,013.249,257 eggs were imported a considerable increase on the corresponding weeks of last year. Of these taking th» quantities in great, hundreds of 120, for con : venience, Russia sent 1.914,792, Denmark 1,838,093, Germany 1,539,174, Bolri™ ' ■ 1,376,904, France 750.062, Canada 6957, other countries 865,335. How profitable this' trade is to the foreigner is shown by the very great trouble he takes to retain it by send, ing only eggs of undoubted freshness. Othee details in which ho outdoes most of his Eng. lish rivals are cleanliness and packing, xhe foreign egg is always clean. Much more attention is paid by Continental egg-fanners to renewing the nests than is the case in England. Certain brands of foreign eggssuch, for instance, as the brown Calais eggs —have such a high reputation on the English market that they command even higher prices than the home-produced "new laids." The English egg-farmer has many things still to learn. EFFECT OF LIME ON MANGOLDS. It is generally known that while applications of common salt act very favourably on the growth of mangolds, on the other" hand dressings of lime decrease the crop. This fact received striking confirmation from experiments conducted at Cockle Park as reported in Bulletin No. 11 of the Coun' ty (Northumberland) Experiment station. A portion of each of the six permanent mangold plots received las) year 2cwt, common salt per aero applied in the drills a the time of cowing the crop. The average results of the six plots were:—No : :&lfe plots, 21 tons 6cwt per acre; with salt, 28 tons 3cwt per acre. Then as to lime,'the results show that this substance decreased the mangold crop in the average by nearly 2£ tons in 1906, and by over 2| tons in 1907. while lime mud decreased the crop by 61 tons in 1906, and by over three tons in 1907. As was to bo expected, lime decreased the mangold crop to the largest extent when basic slag was applied, and superphosphate had the same effect, although to a less extent. The lime dressings were mixed with the soil before the land was drilled for mangolds in 1906. The average results of the plots were as follows: — 1906. 1907. Average of 8 plots. owf. cwt. No lime ■ ... Tons per acre 31. 232' 2 tons lime „ „ 25.1&3 20.10 4 tons lime mud „ „ 24. 19.19 LAYING HENS AND MALES. The advice is very commonly given by. modern poultry writers that where eggs are wanted for the table simply, and not for bleeding purposes, keeping a male in the flock is not only useless, but a positive disadvantage, the reason assigned usually being that the eggs will keep longer if no male is kept in the pen. The reason is, doubtless, a good one, but it is not the only one. A series of experiments covering the point, undertaken at the New York experimental station, made it very conclusively appear thai where- hens wero kept without a male, eggs were produced at about 35 per cent, less f cost than exactly similar pens where cocks' and cockerels were kept. In some pens, too,» the production of eggs was nearly a third larger in pens where no males wore kept, than in others of precisely the same kind, | managed in the same way, except that the presence of the male was permitted. Keeping males in laying pens, therefore, except where fertile eggs are wanted for sitting, i? a mistake in a variety of ways. BREVITIES. There is a difference between sour milk and sweet milk in feeding pigs, and it is very much in favour of the" latter. The temperament of the cow is the chief factor in milk production, and should be more closely studied by every dairy-farmer. Increasing the yield per cow is of great importance, but another important movement is to increase the number of cows per farm. With healthy digestion, good temper, and absence of nervousness, fluctuations in the quantity and quality of the milk will bo less frequent. Dairying and poultry raising are the profitable lines to follow in dry land farming where capital is limited. Both give quick and regular cash incomes. In the practice of the dairy there ia strong evidence that the nervous system of the cow exercises considerable influence on the solids of the milk and the yield.

Crowding and improper ventilation are tho source of many ailments and losses in otherwise well-managed and well-regulated flocks of fowls. This is especially true- at this time of year and with the growing youngsters, which often are crowded into a little two by four coop that is cleaned out once a month. No wonder that they are lousy and droop around with one ailment or another. *_ Numberless cases of unthrifty and unprofitable or even diseased flocks are caused by ; the chickens roosting over their own excrement. A good many people think thai cleaning out the droppings once a month-is > strict poultry cleanliness, but this is so only 1 when compared with that cleanliness which ;•;; demands a clean up once or twice a year. • it is hard to clean up a poultry house too often remember that. The National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland has just issued its annual report, which makes very interesting reading. Evidently the tropical State of the Commonwealth possesses energetic and enterprising farmers, for, not only is the National Agricultural and Industrial Association in a flourishing condition, but agricul- " ture generally is making great progress. By having a number of small platforms, f made from thin boards to fit under the coops—two to each coop will _ answer the purpose trouble of cleaning is greatly lessened. A platform can be quickly removed and scraped with a spade into a -~•: wheelbarrow, then stood up in the sun. The other platform is then covered with sand and placed under the coop, and the work is t done until the next cleaning time, when tha platforms are exchanged as before. ■■-.;.- All hens of the brown egg producing '.-. breeds arc troublesome during the summel ; months on account of their broodincss, and; in order that an ali-the-year-round supp.f of eggs can be obtained it is essential v> keep some fowls of the non-sitting kinc/J, such as Leghorns and Minorcas, as well as the Orpingtons or Wyandottes, unless one possesses birds of different ages in tnese latter breeds, which can then be so managed as to produce oggs all through tho summer. A rain-proof tarpaulin may be made in, the following simple manner: When your canvas is put together, take two parts 01 Stockholm (not coal) tar, and one part or neatsfoot, oil. Do not use linseed oil, or you will harden tho canvas. Heat the on bv itself to boiling point, then add the tar, and stir well. Applv with a wad of oakum or soft rag. A brush is not so good. K«» : the mixture well in. It will take some time to dry, but the tarpaulin will be soft, limpi and rainproof.

It is generally supposed that a cow gives the largest amount of cream m a giveu sample of milk when she has calved bee third calf; but, although this is the rule, it has numerous exceptions. Some cows give as good milk with their second or even with their first calf as at any times in tneir lives. Cream is not the only nutritw* element in milk. -Much of the nutritious quality depends upon the casein and aioumen that it contains, and the amount m those varies according to the age ot are animal and other circumstances.