ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15769, 18 November 1914, Page 12

ON THE LAND.

THINNING FRUIT ON TREES.

Tire Toronto Globe of recent date has an n'ticle entitled "Bigger Yields by Thinning Poaches," giving the result of an experiment conducted in the Niagara district in 1910 on fifteen St. John trees. r l he trees were of average size, healthy, l ine years of age, and headed and pruned lather high. Ihe previous year they had !>«>rno no fruit at all- tin- lust time # thcy tad ever failed -and now they were heavily lad.'ii. These tn-i-s wore chosen I cwius; they g.i\<- a chain« to observe ii.« greatest cxtn-m... The thinning was done on June 2S and 21. Ihe result of tiie eipi'rimi nt n,is that the unthinned trees pro.lined 32}11> of tii.-ts, 194|1b of iM'unds, and 3!j.ii 1 of culls, in nil 6329 pi-au-lii'H, Inning a total value of 31s. The '"■eh thinned from lin to 'in or just so liiiit two ripe pea, lies would not touch i-a. h "til''?. .-us n.-.-i; ly .is could be judged in Ml" eiirlr (.art of the season, gave the I'vl.e.-t gr.t>s letunis, producing 201jlb <' firs i', 104$ It) "I seconds, and 62|lh of culls, in al! 4h>' l 3 peariies, having a total value of £4 f 1 how thinned the ri ' aU«t distani e. about Sin to "in, or so <':at, not, more than < :ie ] leach was left to • -.oil I Aig i.nli-.-* the twig was exceptionally ivh the lowest returns <>t the thinned poii.luti. totalling £3 10s. (Note, lion-over, how mil, h above the unthinned fruit- the lovif.l thinned returns were.) This, however, would have shown up better if the fan. y fruits Lad been graded ,- « Kuril and sold a! the fancy price, The 7v.-il.llet; thinned 3in to Sin gave an interwn*iiate amount of £4 3s.

ft' conclusion, the article says:—" Very few know how to thin. The grower hairs to sc.- thousands of good fruits ihi 'Wii to the ground. He wants all, and 111 Irs eagerness is not willing t<> ncrilice cjii.li'. 1 ity for quality. Most gruwus leave '."i. much fruit 011 too tree.'

I ELI'S t-IIOM DAIRYING

M a. valedictory social held at M/dlmrst, f:ur:n'lS were n soinftlllllg to t.llUlk nh"Ut. It, was pointed nut that Mr. A. Jtn.wn, a prominent dairyman. who was th» cix'st. of tho evening, "had been dairyin' on 34 aires of land, four res of which w.u, standing hush, s." that lit* had only ."VI ai-jos available lor grazing. From t-h-es«» ,-*) aires he had taken £240 a year. equal (■> UK an ju re. Tin* speaker wont on to sav that in Now Zealand 1,680.000 acres of land were used for dairying, and if each acre o<mid be made to produce £8, tlio total oxpiirt. of butter and cheese would U> m the vicinity of £13,000,000 per annum. If Mr. Brown could produce £8 f r ..ni every acre, others could also, if they ■worked on the same systematic lines.

SPRAYED APPLES.

Apples from America and Canada have been observed to have in the hollow, near I'm stalk, a visible layer of green powder, and in examination of the powder lias ;r> ved it to 1 e minute quantities of . <>ji|>or and ar«Mm\ sufficient to cause symptoms of poisoning should the apples In- carelessly peeled. 1 here were also foun 1 • r.u.'H of Paris green on the fruit, where it ivjs uneven, and some of the poison had possibly penetrated into the flesh of the applesThe British Hoard of Agriculture have olso been informed by the Local Government. Hoard that in the early part of the present year their attention was called to the arrival in England of apples from the United States of America having on their skins a bluish deposit, evidently the remains of an insecticide wash. Analysis showed that copper in small amounts and arsenic in minute traces were present in this deposit. The presence of these poisonous substances on marketed apples tends to show eoxne carelessness in spraying at too late a date preceding picking. The board would again ■warn growers in this country against careless spraying, as the presence of iveu small amounts of arsenic and copper on apples cannot be regarded a-s negligible from the public health point of view. Any deposit of the kind found to remain on apples should be removed before the fruit is sent to market.

WARMTH IN THE BOIL.

The power of a soil to absorb warmth is dependent in a great measure on the mo tint of moisture in the soil and its colour The darker in colour a soil is the quicker can it absorb warmth, and the lighter in colour, so much the longer will i'j be in attaining a warm temperature. Soils containing much moisture are always colder than dry soils, hence the great advantage of draining wet lands. Soils rich in humus absorb warmth quickly, but. also give off the warmth rapidly. With damp clay soil the action is just tho reverse. Thev take a long time in acquiring a higher temperature, but on the other hand retain their warmth better. By the application of farmyard manure, composts, cultivation, ,md draining the farmer is in a position to improve the condition of his soil.

If wheat is sown in two soils, one dark and the other light, but treated in all other respects in exactly the same way, the crop in tho darker soil -will mature more quickly and better than the crop in the light soil. It is one of the advantages of farmyard manure that, in addition to supplying plant, nourishment, it produces in the soil a darker colour, and thus, by aiding its capacity for absorbing warmth, increases materially its fertility.

PIG FARMING

, rho pig has been styled the gentleman who pays the rent, and he will do more than that if properly looked after. He 38 a wonderful factory Mr converting a great variety of foodstuffs into pork Crass and clovers he will devour as well aft any cow, lucerne he revels in skimmilk more than takes the place of 'water • v'beat, oats, barley, peas, maize, pumpkins, melons, rap?, turnips, or other vegetables, potatoes, apples, pearsthey all go down and are productive of greater returns when down in a pig than in any other domestic, animal except some classes of poultry. If one requires beef, fin animal must ne fed for some years before it reaches maturity ; a sheep generally runs to two or more vears, but your IK. '• properly bred and properly fed and cared for, should turn out 1001b of pork at about four monthsllwdi, Uo, tri.*»t is 1.1 ip. .Iriircft in the market. For breeding or growing pigs green fo <d is a -easily, and they should have the ism <if a giass paddock". While this is trim ~f those rla.ves of piers. it is equal! v advisable fo, pigs that are bring fattened. A paddock of green food prod ires a certain amount of pork, and it bar, the additional merit of keeping the jugs hearty and healthy, so that they will lave gooff apatites and thus eat large quantities of f'Kwi. and as the organs are lu-althy and active, tiie food consumed prod mien the maximum of gain.

'I ho "best" food for pigs is probablv pollard—that is, pound for pound, it will probably produce more flesh, and pigs ill linger remain in health than on any other particular food. drains arc good, but should lie fed without any slop. If ted <!i y they are chewed better, and a greater proportion is digested. However where gi:nii is regularly fed it would be found profitable to soak it and keep it in troughs or other vessel* until it had sprouted and producer! shoots a couple (if in. lies long, 1 "uough would have t<> be treated daily to Seed, say, tluit d.iv week, or later a< cording to the weather, as growth would In' much more rapid in hot, weather (ierniinateil thus, chemical changes have taken place that would make the nutrients in the grain more readily available, and sin h sprouted grain would be Ixiiind in a mass with shoots and roots, and would be well chewed before being wallowed.

\Yh*'re grain has to bo carted long distances to a railway it will be found more [i.jfitablo to feed it to pigs unless prices are high Fed under propor conditions, a bushel of wheat should produce about 121b of pork. It is an easy matter, if one knows the price of wheat and pork, to Arrive at an approximate value per bushel , of wheat, whether Bold as wheat or pork. The Danes, who are a good deal ahead 5« most countries in dairying and pig

feeding, have arrived at the following valuation of foods for pigs. 1001b of maize, barley, wheat, or oil cake is equal to 1401b of rye or • wheat bran, 4001b of potatoes, 6001b of skim-milk, or 12001b of whey. ■» If pigs arc in an enclosure where they cannot get a variety of food, it is advisable to place within reach of them plenty of ' cnarcoal. ashes, and* a vessel containing rock salt. Charcoal they will particularly use if their food is not properly balanced. ■ Broad sows specially need a variety of food, and it is advisable to place ■ within their reach plenty _ of- bonedust or superphosphate mixed with ashes. If thoroughly mixed with some fine earth, damped, and allowed to dry in a cake," it may be then broken up into pieces -as large as an almond, and will not be wasted as is likely if it ft as a [powder. Regularity in feeding is a necessity. If being 'fattened, three good meals daily should be given— much at each meal that none will be left in the trough at next feeding time, yet an abundance nevertheless. Brood sows require similar attention, while growing for pigs two feeds daily will suffice.

FERTILISERS AND FRUIT.

It is a well-known fact that the application of fertilisers exercises an influence on the consistency of crops, some fertilisers having the effect of hastening maturity, while others exert an opposite tendency, and it lias been also assumed that fertilisers may promote a tendency in fruits to develop "keeping" qualities, or, un the other hand, to decompose more rapidly. This theory has been made tho subject of investigation by Professor Espaullard, who published an interesting report of the results obtained by him. The experiments were carried out on pear trees, which were watered from time to time from April to September with weak solutions of sulphate of soda, nitrate of soda, phosphate of soda, carbonate of potash, and phosphate of ammonia. Tho experiment with the trees treated with phosphate of soda and carbonate of potash had to be abandoned, a June frost having destroyed the developing fruit. In October the fruit was picked off the other trees; it was labelled and put on trays in a greengrocer's snop. lhe fruit from tli# trees treated with nitrate of soda kept good for the shortest time; then the fruit from the non-treated tree followed, while the fruit from the tree treated with phosphate of ammonia kept good for a considerable time longer. Tho experiments will be continued, and it. is possible that some useful and interesting information will be obtained.

PRUNING THE PEACH.

The summer treatment of the peach, mainly consists of (a) the pinching out of sappy terminal points to temporarily check their vigour; (b) the. complete suppression of disbudding of misplaced or surplus shoots; (c) shortening in barren or partially barren shoots; and (d) the removal of surplus leading shoots. In disbudding the shoots arising from the tops of the limbs should be sacrificed and those on the sides and beneath retained. This renders the equal diffusion of sap to all an easier task. Frequently shoots retained for fruitage cast their flower buds either wholly or partially after winter pruning. When the spring is well advanced these can be dealt with very effectively. As the summer proceeds it "may be noticed that several leaders have grown from some of last year's leading shoots. These should be thinned out, and that one which is calculated to best maintain the proper direction of the limb, and thereby the symmetry of the tree as a whole, should be left intact to be dealt with at the winter pruning. The others should be completely removed.

TO CURE A JIBBING HORSE.

To say that a jibbing horse may be cured of tho habit in his own stall sounds a trifle practicable to the average horseman. Nevertheless (says the Sydney Stock and Station Journal) the only real cure for jibbing is the " stall" treatment, which I have never known to fail in effecting a permanent cure inside a week. The horse is kept under treatment in the day , time only, and at night he is permitted the freedom from work that any well-mannered horse enjoys. First of ail the horse is put in the stall with the harness on. The traces are necessarily short, for they are attached to the rings of tho breeching, at the back of which is attached a strong ring. Fairlv high up a bar is placed across the back of the stall. To the centre of this bar is fastened a pulley-block, a strong rope is fastened to the ring at tho back of the breeching, and passed through the pulley, and then fastened to a weight of some kind.

Hie idea is to induce the horse to pull the weight off the ground and hang" nil the time he is eating from the feedbox or manger. He should have his water bucket placed near the manger alsoOf course a sulky horse may refuse to pull at first; but hunger and thirst very quickly induce him to move forward. For a commencement the weight at the end of the rope should not be great. It may be increased every day, or even twice a day, until the horse will draw and hang to something as substantial as a sack of whea. A week of this education will make the jib staunch for all time, or until, maybe, ho is spoilt by overloading,

STOMACH WORMS IN SHEEP. The following is the correct way of administering the gasoline remedy for stomach worms in sheep : The quantities are : Lambs, |oz gasoline; sheep, ; to be given in oil, linseed, tea, or milk. The dose of gasoline should bo given once daily for three days. The evening before the first treatment the sheep should be shut up without food or water, and dosed about 10 a.m. next morning. Three hours later they could be allowed food and water, but should be shut up again at night, ind dosed the second and third mornings as on the first-

SUMMER BUTTER MAKING.

In very hot weather the grain should be taken a little further than one is accustomed to under normal circumstances. The size of a wheat grain is frequently advised, though it is best to err on the side of the grain than the small one. The particular advantage of the largo grain is that it holds much less water and that which it does hold is easier to get rid of. This means that it will not require to be on the worker so long, so that there will be little chance of its becoming greasy during this operation. The reverse is the order of the day when turning out the winter article. Then a small grain, tending to hold moisture, renders the butter much easier to manipulate.

Brining implies leaving the butter idly immersed in salt water for a specified time, depending largely on the state of the butter. Halt always lowers the tempera!are of the water in which it is dissolved, and the more concentrated the solution tho colder the brine will become. Hius we can readily make up a brine which will be sufficiently cold to firm up tho softest of butter considerably. Brining lakes the place of dry salting, if not altogether, most certainly during th<j hot weather. A suitable brine is made by dissolving 21b of salt in every gallon of water used, which ran bo used again with churninps going on simultaneously. If he butter is very soft, it should be left in the brine longer. This must be determined bv the maker, but, as a general rule, from ten to twenty minutes will be ample. !'<>r brining to bo a success the butter must be churned into a grain; then the salt is evenly distributed and the butter firmed throughout. The temperature of the. brine should always be taken note of. for it is quite easy to carry things 100 far. About 45 degrees Fahr. will easily answer, 40 being the minimum temperature at which to add the brine.

The working of the butter calls for little attention, provided the temperature of the worker has been kept down. In common with all operations in buttermaking in hot weather, it should be carried out as quickly as efficiency will allow. One should not forget to keep the cold water used in the preparation of the worker on it during the whole of the time the previous operations have been going on, running it oB just before the worker is wanted.