Farm and Garden.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 366, 15 February 1879, Page 23

Farm and Garden.

The Canterbury ram and ewe fair will be held at the grounds of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association on the 6th and 7tli March. A Milk Test. —A German paper gives a test for watered milk, which is simplicity itself. A well-polished knitting needle is dipped into a deep vessel of milk, and immediately withdrawn in an upright position. If the sample is pure, some of the fluid will hang to the needle ; but if water has been added to the milk, even in small proportions, the fluid will not adhere to the needle Corn Bugs. —A new pest is creating alarm among the Connecticut farmers—a six-legged, “ evil-looking” brown bug, larger aud flatter than the potatoe bug, with a wide body and a small head. He despises potatoes, and devotes himself to ripe or ripeuiug corn, beginning at the tip and voraciously devoring the kernels as he marches towards the butt. He is said to “ fly like lightning.” There is scarcely a cornfield or garden in Meriden which he has not devastated. The corn bug is also reported in Burlington, a town fifteen miles distant from Meriden,wvhere he, or some other pest, is likewise gnawing away at the roots of grass so extensively that whole acres will suddenly turn brown and sere. It will be a great calamity if the potato bug is to be followed in his ravages by the corn bug and the grass bugs.

Coal Ashes and Curculio. —l have for several years saved my plums from the ravages of the curculio by the use of coal ashes. They become so completely disgusted with it that they leave for other parts. Just as soon as the blossoms fall, I commence with my ashes. I take a bucketful of ashes under my arm, and with the other hand I dash the ashes all over and through the trees, covering the plums completely with ashes ; and go around every few days and give them another dose. If the rain washes it off, I renew the dose, and keep at it until my plums are ‘ripe when I am well paid for my trouble. I had last year eight bushels ou seven small trees which I sold for thirty-two dollars. I have several trees of the Rheine Claud variety, upon which I did not use the ashes, because the plums were so scattered I thought it would not pay ; but there was one limb of those trees that was close to those I put the ashes on. It got its share of ashes, and that limb ripened up all its plums ; but not a plum was left ou the other side of the tree or on any of the other trees of that variety. This was conclusive evidence to me that it was the ashes that saved my plums. When I first commenced the ashes, my brother told me that I would not succeed. That he made sure of saving his plums by placing a sheet under the trees and catching them on the sheet and killing them. But when plums were ripe, I had plenty and he had none. DIRECTIONS FOR PRUNING. M. Du Boreuil, in a work on pruning and training fruit trees, published in France, lays down the following rules based on the fundamental principles underlying the whole method : 1. The permancy of form in trained trees is dependent on the equal diffusion of sap. 2. Prune the strong branches short, but allow the weak ones to grow long. 3. Depress the strong parts of the tree, and elevate the weak branches. 4. Suppress the useless buds on the strong parts as soon as possible, and as late as possible on the weak parts. 5. Nail up the strong parts very early and very close to the wall. 6. Delay nailing the weak parts as long as possible. 7. Suppress a number of the leaves on the strong side, and leave them on the weak side. 8. Allow as large a quantity of fruit as possible on the strong side, and suppress all upon the weak side. 9. Bring forward the weak side from the wall, and keep the strong side to it. 10. The sap develops the branches much more vigorously upon a branch cut short than upon one left long. 11. The more the sap is retarded in its circulation, the less wood and the more fruit buds will develop. 12. To retard excessive growth, either, during Autumu, root-prune or remove the trees, or in the spring expose the roots to the sun, and keep manure and water from them ; retarding the excessive vigor of the tree leads to its fruit-bearing. 13. Keep the fruit as far as possible vertical, and their stems lowermost. PRESERVING FRUIT. Light and heat are the agents in ripening fruit. The sagacious pomologist therefore keeps them in a dark place and at as low a temperature as possible short of freezing. Heat and moisture cause decay. Hence the fruit room, in addition to being kept cool, is also kept dry. These three conditions were observed by Professor Nyce in his system of preservatories, ice being used for cooling, and proper dryers for taking up the superabundant moisture. We have had ripe tomatoes kept for three months in such a house, and in the most perfect manner. Fruit-growers may arrive sufficiently near the mark, so that fruit may be kept perfectly during the cold months, by means of frost-proof walls and a careful system of ventilation, avoiding a thorough draft. Since fruit is easily affected by odors, care should be taken that the air of the fruit house be kept clean and sweet. To this end nothing but fruit should be kept in the fruit house, at least nothing that will give off unpleasant odors. So particular are some in this respect that they will not keep apples and pears in the same room. To insure perfect cleanliness the walls and floors should be frequently whitewashed with lime. We see no reason why the sub-earth air duct system may not be one of the best means for winter ventilation, as it certainly must be for summer ventilation.

With care fruits may be retarded in the ripening for long periods. When wanted, for use they are removed to a warm and light place, where they quickly mature. When extra fine specimens are to be preserved, they are carefully packed in some dry, odorless substance, as cotton-wool, bran, buckwheat hulls, dry oak leaves, or pure sand. Land plaster is said to be an excellent means for saying apples through the winter intact. A thin layer of plaster is placed in the bottom of the barrel, then a layer of apples, and so <?n alternatively, layers of plaster and apples until the whole barrel is filled, when the barrel is headed and kept in a cool place until spring, coming out sound and intact. This plan should keep russets and other varieties liable to shrivel, and those wishing to keep apples as late as possible and having no fruit house, may find this plan valuable. There will be no loss in the plaster, for it will be worth all it costs and more for sowing on the land after the apples are used. —Prairie Farmer.

HINTS TO POULTRY RAISERS. It is noticeable that successful fanciers, who make chicken-raising a paying business, always have pure water and grass runs for their fowls. Dry earth sprinkled plentifully under the roosting -perches daily cannot be too_ highly recommended. It acts as a deodorizer pieserves and increases the value of the manure made. Sassafras is said to be the best .wood for roosts, as the lice do not like it. J. his may be so and may not ; but it is, at all events, certain that perches of any sort of wood are suitable, if kerosene is applied to them twice a week. The popular idea that Bantams originally descended from distinct species of fowls, is entirely erroneous. They have been produced and rendered permanent by “ in-and-in” breeding, care in selecting and hatching late broods of chickens. Andalusian fowls are like Spanish, only they differ in color. They are a different variety of the same breed, as are Alinorcas also. They are high flyei’S, and will cross the garden fence if is not very high indeed, unless you clip their wings. Many breeders thoughtlessly allow the dropings of their fowls to go to waste, as. well as to breed pestilence, which might, with a little care, be composted with loam, and grow the finest fruit trees, free from grubs, right in the chicken yards. Try it. To prevent cholera among poultry, let a supply of good, clean sand and gravel always be accessible to them. The water they drink should be in an iron vessel, or a quantity of rusty nails should be kept constantly in it. Of course the water should be pure and renewed every day. Poultry keeping is a healthy and engrossing pursuit ; it is pleasurable as well as profitable ; it affords amusement and well repays for the time and labor spent while engaged in it ; but it should never be undertaken by any one but those who take interest in it and find pleasure in the work. If feathered stock is rightly managed, diseases of fowls will be comparatively rare. Breeding “in-and-in,” or breeding “close,” even, is produce of more delicacies of constitution than most poultry-keepers are aware of. It is bad business to be fusing with sick fowls. Better breed right. BEWARE OF RABBITS. Although there is is no office more distasteful than that of piping to those who will not dance., we again suggest that no time should be lost by the legislators of this colony in bringing forward a bill.which would have for its object the prevention of rabbits being turued loose on any lands, Crown or private. Victoria and South Australia are now paying a heavy forfeit through not having exercised such forethought. The Leader of the lltli instant says “ The agitation respecting the rabbit pest continues to widen, and most distressing reports are circulated. We hear of hay-stacks demolished iu a single night ; tens of thousands of acres eaten so bare that the station-owner has to send his stock away to save them from starvation, a fate which is likely to ultimately fall on the rabbits themselves, which iu one place are driven into the garden, where, after eating everything in the way of vegetables, they had commenced on the fruit trees, and are so emboldened by hunger as to eat close up to the chained dogs.” Regarding the condition of South Australia, the Adelaide Observer reports that a public meeting of landowners and persons interested was held at the Burra Institute on Friday, 27th December, for the purpose of endeavoring to secure united and simultaneous action for the destruction of the rabbits, at which the following resolutions were passed : —“ 1. That, in the opinion of that meeting, the most effectual way to subdue the rabbit pest is for united and simultaneous action to be taken by landowners and the Government, commencing on a given day. 2. That the Ist February, 1579, is a sufficiently late period for a commencement to enforce the Act. 3. That this meeting recognises the efforts made by Government to carry out the provisions of the Rabbit Act by commencing their destruction on Crown lauds, but that a large increase of their staff is necessary to be at all effectual, or that the killing rabbits on reserves and other Crown lands should be let by tender. 4. That it is desirable that rabbit districts should be proclaimed, so as to include all infested lands, and that the Government be requested to take steps to have such districts declared. 5. That, in the opinion of the meeting, the employment of at least one man for every 1000 acres, or for any less acreage, is necessary.” A couple of months back one of our correspondents demmnred to the statement that rabbits would destroy fruit or other trees. The Leader's comments clearly infer that orchards will suffer as well ai gardens when rabbits are numerous. It is known that there are several rabbit warrens in the county of Cumberland, and the question •which should now be seriously discussed is, how long will New South Wales take to become so infeited as our Victoria and South Australia?

ANIMAL AILMENTS. Navicular Disease (Grogginess, Chest Founder) consists in strain of the perferous tendon at the point at which it passes over the navicular bone. It is most common iu horses of the lighter breeds, with narrow chests, upright pasterns, and out-turned toes. A short, tripping, but cautious gait, working in of the heels, wearing away of the toe of the shoe, wasting of the muscles of the shoulder, projecting of the limb while standing, infallibly mark the disease. No animal with badly formed, groggy limbs, or contracted heels, should be used for breeding purposes,. for animals of such conformation is almost incurable. In slight cases, and when early noticed, it is possible, if not to cure, at auy rate greatly to alleviate it, but where it continues for some weeks, the articular surface of the tendons becomes abraded, and the sinovial membrane inflamed ; while, as the disease still advances, the articular cartilage becomes eroded aud the bone ulcerated, when nature, to prevent the pain and irritation occasioned by the grating of the inflamed suiface, unites the tendon and the bone. Treatment: Remove the shoes, allowing the frogs to touch the ground. Bleed from the toe and place the feet iu a cold water bath for several hours during the day and in a poultice at, night. While in the bath the animal’s head must be tied up, but when he is out of it he should be encouraged to lie down for the purpose of taking weight off his feet. This method of treatment, along with a cooling diet, has often been successful. At the end of a fortnight a mild blister round the coronets is useful, but should this plan prove of no avail, a seaton must he inserted through the frog (which is to be done by a veterinary surgeon), letting the animal stand in soft clay, without shoes ; the clay being kept cool and wet does good ; shorten the toes ; a couple of months’ run at grass is useful, especially if the ground is moist or cool. Neurotomy, or divisiou of the nerve going to the foot, by cutting off sensation, removes all lameness, aud is useful in the case of animals used for slow work or breeding purposes, but the disease, it is to be remembered, still remains as before, and at fast work is apt to get worse, for the animal, insensible to pain, uses the foot as if nothing were amiss.

GERMINATION OF SEEDS. It is useless to expect healthy or prompt germination unless the proper condition be given the seeds planted. The amateur,. who being told that portulacca and other minute seeds should be kept constantly moist, and covering them six inches deep, growled because they did not spout, was sadly in want of some first lessons in horticulture. Heat and moisture are necessary requisitions to the germination of seeds. Very minute seeds, as lobelia and all that class, which require to be sown on or very near the surface, must be kept moist by artificial means. This every gardener knows, and every amateur should know—that no seeds need be planted deeper than about three times their diameter, to insure prompt and healthy growth, if the necessary heat and moisture be given. This heat should range at 50 to 60 degrees for all hardy plants, and from 60 to SO degrees for tender ones. Another important thing to be kept in mind is that there must be contact of air with the seed in oi’der to insure healthy growth. It is the oxygen of the -air that quickens the vital force of the germ. The soil must be moderately light to insure the entrance of air to the earth, and hence the importance of preventing the soil from becomiug crusted. When seeds are started in pots or is boxes, we have never found a better plan after sowing the seeds in a good mould and at the proper depth, than to cover the pots or boxes with pieces of glass. This not only gives access to the sun’s rays, and consequently heat, but the glass prevents the radiation of heat, and at the same time conserves moisture, It saves much watering, and the seed is kept iu a/ more equable condition as to heat and moislure than by any other plan we have ever tried. With vegetable seeds there is less difficulty than with flower seeds. They are generally of a size sufficient, so the natural covering they require insures a moderate amount of moisture at all times. Parsley and some other minute seeds are exceptions. These should be sown at or very near the surface, and protected, if in a box, as we have designated. If in a hot-bed, all small seeds sown near the surface may be covered with a moist cloth economically. The seeds of flowering plants, however, need extra care when started in the dry air of the livingroom. Nevertheless this is easily managed by paying attention to some simple rules and the exercise of that common sense which every thinking person possesses. —Prairie Farmer. WHEAT-SOWING. Among the many moot points connected with agriculture, perhaps there is not one about which a greater diversity of opinion exists than the mode in which wheat should be sown. Few agree regarding the quantity of seed, and fewer still are those which have formed definite conclusions as to the way such seed should be sown. In .Britain it is broadcasted, drilled, and dibbled, ploughed in, pressed, and cartwheeled, thick sown and thin sown, wide drilled and narrow drilled. The advocates of many of these methods in England have been known to become excitedly attached to their own particular systems to an extent which has rendered them somewhat troublesome to their friends and neighbors, and they have been known to make themselves unhappy because the rest of the world would not look through or could not see through their spectacles. The Agricultural Gazette summarizes the question by addressing to the disputants the words of the poet, “ You all are right, and all are wrong.” As wheat-sowing here is almost as important as it is in Britain, it would be well to weigh carefully the reasons which our worthy contemporary advances for this remark :—“As to broadcasting of wheat,” says the Gazette, “it is a system open to objection on the score of extravagance of seed ; but we hold that,

under proper regulation, it is a capital plan of seeding. A man may be expected to sow 10 acres per day, so that 3d. per acre will be the total cost, against 35., the ordinary estimate nowadays for drilling. The simplicity and quickness of the operation are also great recommendations; aud a third advantage, which will certainly weigh with clay-land farmers, is the small amount of pressure it entails upon the land. Broadcasting, or ‘ sowing,’ as it is often called, when done upon ribbed, pressed, or cartwheeled land, will, we think, hold its own against any other system of planting wheat.° The distribution of seed from a good hand is very nearly perfect, and when guided by the lines made by the wheel-presser a good seed-bed is secured. We certainly prefer the broader aud freer row of wheat, springing from land so prepared, than the narrow line which mark the track of the drill.” It would seem from these comments that even in [England, where every inch has its value, and where all that can be wrested from the land must be, so that high rents may be paid, the drill is not in favor with wheat-growers. Of course our readers know that one of the greatest advantages claimed for the drill is that it leaves a clear way after it to use the hoe iu the coming crop. The firms who furnish drills as a rule make instruments which will hoe ; but if these instruments are not used, what are the advantages ©f the drill ? Some say it saves seed ; but where wheat is carefully broadcasted the hand does not waste much, and after all the odd-fashioued way still holds good.

EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES. (From the Field.) During the past season some interesting experiments have been made by Scotch farmers with potatoes in the field. Mr. Nicol, Arbroath, who was the originator of the famous diseaseresisting variety called Champions, conducted on a small scale experiments with cut and whole sets. Many people hold that whole “sets” of the smaller size make the most powerful seed for potatoes, and a series of carefully conducted experiments last year in Germany supported that view. Mr. Nicol planted one half of a small plot with whole potatoes, with the side eyes removed and ' left entire. The other half he planted with tubers, cut verbially, and no side eyes removed. Seed prepared in this way in Germany gave a large margin of produce iu favor of whole tubers. Not so at Arbroath, where planting took place on March 18. During growth Mr. Nicol reports that there was no perceptible difference between the two parts ; bat when the crop was lifted on August 7, it was found that the portion seeded with the cut tubers had 7 b per cent, more marketable potatoes than the other, as also a larger quantity of small tubers. From the whole seed, however, the tubers were larger aud more equable. Mr. Nieol’s experiment was on too small a scale to be conclusive ; but, on the whole, it hardly disproves the efficacy of who’e “ sets,” though it does not prove it so clearly as the German trials did. By the way, the Champion potato, which was the only variety that completely resisted disease last year, has not entirely escaped the pest this season. There is a certain amount of disease in almost every field of Champions, which favors the opinion that if the variety were a little older, it would, like the rest, become less hardy. Mr. D. S. Salmond, farmer, .Mains of Errol, Perthshire, bought a lot of diseased potatoes last year, at 28s. per ton, for cattle food. Observing, however, that many of the tubers were only about half gone in disease, he had about three and a half tons of the sound portions selected from the heap, and, sprinkling them with quicklime, he set them aside for seed. Those sound chips from diseased tubers were planted at the usual time, and from them (Regents) a good crop was raised, with no more disease than was apparent in the adjoining portions of the field, the seed of which cost £7 per ton; while the diseased ones cost little more than one-fifth of that figure. That seed from diseased tubers would be as safe and vigorous generally has yet to be proved ; but the experiment is worth trying on a more extensive scale, which it probably will be, now that attention has been called to it. If it can be shown convincingly that such seed is equally efficacious with that sold at triple the price or more, it is needless to say that farmers could in this manner effect a saving. But the more important experiments of the kind this year have been conducted by Air. Wilson, Chapelhill, Berwickshire. On the loth March last be planted a field with Victoria potatoes, partly whole, of the usual medium seed size, and partly with larger tubes cut vertically. No potato was cut into more than two “ sets. Here again external appearances were in favor of the cut seed. The plants from them came away about ten days earlier than the rest, and kept abreast all the season in point of luxuriance. From these appearances Air. Wilson and his neighbors were led to anticipate a heavier crop on this portion. Indeed, so marked was the difference throughout the summer, that many who saw the field were inclined to think that the whole “ sets’ had been inferior seed. Such, however, was not the case. Both were the same potatoes, and were separated only a day or two before plantting. Mr. Wilson attributes the readier and more luxuriant growth to the earlier decay .of the cut seed. When the crop was being lifted many of the whole “sets” were found intact ; whereas every vestige of the cut ones had disappeared. But the results belied the external appearances completely. The produce from the whole seed turned out, contrary to appearances, the best, as the following figui’es of the total crops per imperial acre will show : Whole seed, 10tons 18cwt. 2qr. 181 b.; cut seed, 9 tons lewt. lqr. 51b.; difference in favor of whole seed, lton I7cwt. lqr. 31b. After the crop was dressed for market, the results were : Whole seed —marketable, 8-F622 ; seconds, 11-062 ; chats, 4‘316 ; cut seed —marketable, 73-411; seconds, 18-573 chats, 8-016. This was a very substantial difference in favor of whole seed—consicLra y more than the rent of the land.

The fleece of plums or apples on the Victoria stems is exceptionally heavy. It thus occurred to Air. Wilson that such a quantity of plums to mature might deprive the tubers of some of the nourishment which would otherwise find its way to them. Mr. Wilson accordingly had the blossom cut off a few drills before the plums were formed. He prevented in this way the formation of apples on those few drills. The tubers produced would be kept carefully separate from the rest. The blossom had twice to be cut, and on this part the haulms remained longer green and growing than on the rest of the field. The portion that was not allowed to grow apples gave a total produce of potatoes amounting to 10 tons Bcwts. Oqrs. 141 b. per imperial acre, while the rest only yielded 9 tons lewt. lqr. 241 b. The dressing operation gave the following results : Where the bio- m was cut off—marketable tubers, 87'502 ; seconds, 9'706 ; chats, 2"/92. Where the bloom was not touched—marketable tubers, 75‘824 ; seconds, 15 - 132 ; chats, 6 044.

The above was the average of six separate experiments in different parts of the field, and in every case the gain was visibly on the side of the bloom-cut portion. If such an advantage as those trials indicate can be secured by cutting off the blossom, the necessary labor thus involved would be well spent. Such experiments as these are so simple that it is onlywonderful more farmers do not undertake them. It is to be hoped these results, arrived at by one year’s experiments conducted by one of the most intelligent of Border farmers, will stimulate others not only to test the matter and other useful points for themselves, but also to publish the results for the benefit of their brother occupiers of land.

BRITISH AGRICULTURE. The following statistics are drawn from the latest volume of the new “ British Encyclopedia.” They show a large decrease in the acreage of arable land, and a still larger increase of pasture land. Bat, while the writer is not at all puzzled to find the reason for the decrease in the fact that other countries can raise grain cheaper than England, the relations between an increase of pasture land and a decrease of cattle seem to be rather perplexing. If the decrease of cattle was a factor which stood by itself, we should have no hesitation in declaring that it arose from two causes, viz.: The increasing importation of American beef, aud the competition by which American cheese is taking the place of the English product. And even as the matter stands, we believe these to be the true explanations of this fact. The iucrease of pasture lands may mean that England finds it more profitable to raise hay for continental markets than attempt to compete with American grain. It appears from the last annual agricultural returns that the extent of arable land in England and Wales is on the decline and also the produce of live stock, while on the other hand the area of pasture laud is on the increase. The decline in the acreage of arable land, vei-y marked in the five years from 1872 to 1877, was greater in. Wales than in England, and embraced all the principal crops. The land under wheat fell from 3,336,887 acres in 1872, to 2,987,129 in 1877, in England; and from 126,367 acres in 1872, to 100,226 in 1877 in Wales. During the same period, the acreage under potatoes fell in England from 839,656 to 303,964, and in Wales from 48,417 to 42,942; and that under clover in England from 2.822,392 to 2,737,387, and in Wales from 370,850 to 351,897. In the acreage under barley and oats there was a slight increase in England, but a decrease in .Wales; while in. the acreage under turnips and weeds there was a trifling increase in England, aud a decrease in Wales during that period. Taken altogether, the extent of arable land in England fell from 13,839,000 acres in 1872 to 13,454,000 in 1877, being a decrease of 385 000 acres. In Wales the extent of arable land sank from 1,104,000 acres to 999,000 acres in the same period ; the decrease of arable land during the five years was very steady, and so likewise was the increase in the acreage of pasture land. There were in England under pasture —exclusive of heath 1and—9,991,000 acres in 1872, and 10,858,000 acres in 1877, the increase in the 5-ears amounting to 867,000 acres, being more than double the extent of decrease of arable land. In Wales there weie under pasture 1,532,000 acres iu 1872, and 1,732,000 acres in 1877, making the increase amount 200,000 acres, this also being not far from double that of the decrease in arable land. The decrease in the extent of arable land, and. simultaneous increase of pastures, may be explained by the fact of England being supplied more and more with corn (grain) from foreign, countries, where it can be grown cheaper than, at home. Naturally the produce of pasture lands cannot be brought in the same way into this country. If the decrease of arable land and increase of pastures can be thus explained, it is not so easy to account for the decline of live stock which also took place during the same period, more especially from 1874. It might have been expected that the widening of the pastoral area, would have led to an increase in live stock, but the contrary was the case, more especially as regards horned cattle and sheep. In England there were 4,305,440 head of cattle in June, 1874, and 3,976,650 head in June, 187 J, so that there was a decrease of 325,790 head im three years. During the same period the number of cattle iu AVales fell from 665,105 to 616,209, being a decline of 47,896. The decrease in numbers was even greater in sheep. There were 19,859,758 sheep in England in June, 1874, and 18,330,377 in June, 18/7, being a decrease of 202,653. Thus the total decline in the number of sheep in England and Wales was no less than 1,732,064 in the short space of three years. The great diminution of live stock during the triennial period from 1874 to 1877 was not confined to England and Wales, but occurred simultaneously in Scotland, as well as in Ireland, being greatest in. the latter country, where the decline in sheep alone amounted to 10£ per cent*

FARM NOTES. Mr. Dodge, the statistician to the Board of Agriculture at Washington, reports that the anticipation of a great crop must be considerably reduced—the average of the whole wheat area being probably less than 13 bushels an acre—39o,ooo,ooo bushels altogether ; not much in excess of the crop of 1577. In an article on wheat, the N.Z. Agriculturist, published in Oamarn, says :—“ Very great loss has been sustained by the farming community through the late heavy gales of wind. The wheat and oat crops have suffered severely, in many instances losing from 30 to 50 per cent, of grain ; nor has this destruction been alone confined to ripe crops, green oats and wheat having also lost a considerable percentage. The question has been raised by thoughtful and experienced men—How can this very serious loss be reduced or avoided ?” After proposing the planting of trees for shelter, irrigation and improved methods of cultivation, as mitigations of the evil, the writer goes on to say : —“ There is, however, a species of wheat which will resist the action of heavy winds, even when fully matured, but the difficulty of obtaining it for New Zealand is very great. The Hon. M. Holmes, of Awamoa, grew it many years ago at Mount Macedon, Victoria, and has offered £29 for a bushel of the old seed if procurable.” Some of our readers might be able to furnish a sample of this valuable seed, or name some other wheat with similar qualities. The Wairarapa Daily says : —lt is with a certain amount of regret that we feel bound to admit that the farmers’ wives of the Wairarapa are hardly equal to the farmers’ wives of Canterbury. About one farmer’s wife in the Wairarapa out of three makes good butter, about one out of six cures good ham and bacon, and about one out of twelve turns out good cheese. In Canterbury it might be said that not one in three makes bad buttei’, not one in six inferior bacon, and not one in twelve indifferent eheese. Most people must know the flavor of the bulk of the butter, bacon, and cheese turned out in this district, the former a little pallid and streaky, and occasionally a little gritty, with a somewhat marked deficiency of flavor. The bacon is usually briny to a fault, and it is either very fat or it is very thin and very dry, and very lean. The cheese too is never very firm, sometimes not very sweet, and never very fine in flavor. We are sceptical whether good cheeses or good hams are made in the Wairarapa, although if any lady wishes to prove we are mistaken by sending us a good one, we are quite open to conviction. A very large quantity of Canterbury cheese and Canterbury hams and bacon is imported into this district, and the purchaser at a store usually finds in them an utter absence of the distinguishing traits which characterise the local article.”