THE FARM.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 878, 28 December 1888, Page 18

THE FARM.

OPERATIONS FOR JANUARY. NORTHERN DISTRICTS. Harvest Work.— The harvest prospects, may be considered fairly good all over the country.—Harvesting operations will be in full swing during this month. Wheat is ready for cutting whenever the berry or grain can be squeezed without yielding a milky juice ; this ia when it is in what is called the doughy stage. The only effect of allowing the ripening process. to continue after this time is to thicken the outer poat of the grain, the bran, while the yield of flour is diminished. The most careful experiments have been made by English agriculturists which indisputably prove that both the quality and quantity of the produce is injured by allowing wheat to become dead ripe before harvesting. Do not delay stacking after the crop has been in stock long enough to fairly dry the sheaves. Fear a change of weather more than a little sap in the stalks. Any risk arising from the latter can be obviated by 'good ventilation in the stacks. Clap on the thatch as soon as pos? sible. If you have no other material ready, thatch with the wheat itself, whioh afterwards can be put through the thresher. The time to cat' barley is as Boon as. the ears droop, and the reddish colour has gone off. Unless yon wait for barley to become dead ripe you cannot ensure a uniform stage of ripeness throughout the entire crop, whioh is an all-important point in a malting sample. Otherwise the advantages of early harvesting would be aB great in the case of barley as of wheat and oats ; bat only upon soils of perfectly uniform character, and under circumstances where the rate of growth was perfectly even all over the field would it be possible to have tho grain evenly ripe without waiting until the ripening process is complete. In good dry weather barley will be fit to stack in about ten days after being cut. Of course, in dull, damp weather it will take longer to properly dry. If the weather is fine and settled it is better not to put head sheaves on the stooks, as by so doing tbe process of drying is retarded, but if you cannot thoroughly depend on the weather the head sheaves are a wise precaution. No grain is so injured in selling value by being discoloured by {weather as barley; therefore you cannot be too careful in the barvesting of this crop to protect it at every stage from the effects of wet and risk of heating. ' .

Oats shonld be cut while the straw is actually ■ - still somewhat green, otherwise much of the crop will be lost by shedding of the grain, especially in windy weather. All grain crops should be carted in &b soon as ever the sheaves cease to feel chill to the hand when thrust into them. At harvest time work must be carried on regardless of ordinary rules as to hours of knooking off and so on. Weather and light permitting keep pegging away until the last load is safely brought in, then on with the thatch and don’t sib down and look at things until all has been made snug and safe. Peas and winter sown beans will be ready for harvesting abont the middle of the month, or sooner in some districts. Peal must be mown, and left to dry, being turned daily as they lie till.ready to carry. Beans aire gathered into bundles and left to dry on a band ready to be tied up when sufficiently dry. As soon as the bean inside the pod beQomcs detached from the pod the crop may be cut. The stalk may not, and often will not, be dead then, but that is an advantage, for what is called * leafy ’ bean straw makes capital fodder. In (Scotland the practice is to harvest beans at this stage, while in England they are allowed to stand until stalks and pods are entirely black, the straw being thus quite useless for feeding pnrpoßes. When the stalks, leaves, and pods become leathery looking, though still showing spots of green, and the eye of the seed has become black, the pod is ready to out. At this stage', of course, more time must be allowed for drying before stacking, than when stalks and leaves have beoome dry and woody. The best bands for beans are In England made of oaten straw twisted, and the Bheaves should not be larger than twelve inches in diameter at the band. Six sheaves are enough for each stook. Early trees intended for seed will be ready to cut some time this month. Roots.— Turnips will be the better of an. other horse hoeing early in the month. Singling should also be done where required. Mangolds, carrots, or parsnips should be kept clear of weeds, and those which are running to seed should- be pulled and given to the pigs. Stubble land, where the soil is light and rich, may be scarified and harrowed and •own broadcast with white stone turnips. After sowing, harrow again and roll, and the crop, even if not much, so far as roots are concerned, will give a good bite for the early lambs towards the end of winter or in early ■pring. Stubbles. —Plough np your stubbles and add more oats to, what has been Bhed for winter green stuff. Put in plenty; better bays a little over than the better falling off

at the dearest time. Or where sheep are kept, these may be turned into the stubbles immediately after the crop is harvested. The sheep will render great assistance in cleaning the land from weeds that would otherwise seed. They will also improve their condition by gleaning the waste of the grain crop. As soon as the sheep have done with the stubbles the land may be' skim ploughed in order to conserve the fine mel. low mould that exists on the surface after the removal of a crop, and prevent that baking and cracking of the soil produced by a hot summer’s snn. This work can be cheaply done by a boy driving a pair of horses in a scarifier fitted out with broad cutting shares ; then soatter a good sprinkling of rape over the land and lightly harrow In. With the first showers thereafter the rape will Bpring along with the objectionable weeds. This plan may be followed whether it is intended to crop the land or to lay it down to grass. To kill the weedß effectually you must first stimulate their growth," In other words you must get them to stand up before you can knock them down.

Maize.—Keep this crop as clean as possible from weeds. Most American authorities recommend level cultivation as the best for maize. If the crop is well cultivated from , the start until the com is two foot high, it can be left alone after that, except to pull the weeds from amongst it. But if you do not use the cultivator assiduously from the first you will have to keep on stirring the soil between the hills or rows until the ears set, when it must' be left .absolutely alone. Maize will stand drought far better with level cultivation if the surface has been kept mellow than by being moulded up. The moulding up encourages the plant to throw out roots into the earth, t at is thrown up aga nßfc the stalk by the moulding, whioh in a dry season can retain little or no inoißture, consequently theso roots perish and the plantsyatem therefore receives a oheck in' jurioua to its vigour. With regard: to the advisability of topping Indian corn there ara dififetenoes of opinion. An American work'says, ‘Never top eorn, but let it stand until glazed, and then cut up and ■hock.’ ’ _ Potatoks. —Mould up where not already done. In many northern districts a late crop may he obtained by planting this month. A correspondent advocates planting a late crop of potatoes to obtain, late seed, which he maintains is the best for spring sowing. The success of the crop will, of course, depend a good deal on Boil, "locality, and weather. ’

Grass Lands.—Pastures whioh dry up quickly mast be relieved of some Btook this month, especially if hot weather prevails. Do not put stock upon the aftermath nntil it has had time to make a good strong growth. Keep your eyes open for thistles and docks in the pastures, and do not allow . them to ■ead. . ...... . Flax.— This crop should be pulled, as soon as ready, which will be before the seed bolls baveTripened. Rape or autumn turnips may be sown on flax stubble. Hops.-—The earth will require to be stirred between the rows. An English authority Bays that iu dry weather the soil cannot bp stirred too frequently for the good of' the prop. Hedges.—Dress hedges, and keep young ones clean to make them grow strongly and evenly. As soon as harvest is over attend to draining, ditching, and the erection of all necessary fences. Green Crops. Maize may bo sown broadcast for this purpose, and olao for making ensilage. Sow thickly on well manured ground. This is capital fodder for milch cows when the pastures become withered and burnt up towards the end of summer."

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS. Although harvest will not be in full swing until next month, it is none too soon to think about preparing for it, so that everything may go. on withonta bitch when once a start is made. Look carefully to your machinery ; have all i necessary repairs or alterations effected, and provide duplicates of the principal . castings so that in case of a breakage - the delay caused shall be as short as possible. Lay in a sufficient quantity of twine for the reapers and binders, and have all the parts thoroughly oiled and working smoothly. Finish up. any jobs that are in hand, sueh as trimming and thatching hay stacks, before the rush of the harvest work is npon you. Root Crops.—Thin out carrots ana-man-golds where necessary, and keep np the hoe warfare with the weeds until the leaves of the rows meet across the drills of potatoes, mangolds* carrots, and turnips. Last sowing of ‘ main crop of turnips may be made this month. - ’• Sowing Grass.—Spring sowing, as a rule, is best in the South, but in the case of fallow land that has been cleaned during the summer it is best to sow now, rather than let the land get foul again by the spring. The objection to putting off sowing antnmn graßs until after the harvest,, as is done In the" North, is that the young grass has no time to become established sufficiently to withstand sharp frosts in, early winter. There is always the risk with spring sown grass that the summer may set in dry immediately after the sowing, and the grass, if it has been able to sprout at all, may be burnt up and withered in its first tender stages of growth. Srill, on the whole, although where the climate permits autumn sown grass is the best, actual experience teaches that in the South it is less risky to sow in spring. Grass Seed.—Rye-grass . and cooksfoot kept for seed will be ready to harvest early in the month. Handle carefully or much seed will be lost, if it is properly ripe, in the process of carting and stacking. To save waste of seed spread coarse sheeting or sacking on the bottom of the carts used, and gather np the seed it catches at the end of the day. Do not save seed from rye-grass until it has stood two seasons, otherwise its perennial character may be injured, and it will Joe of less value for-sowing to form permanent pasture. Abboricdlture. — At this season the principal work will be to keep plantations dear of weeds and wild undergrowth; By sum. mer pruning the young trees oanbe kept in a good form of‘growth ; the plan is to seleot a leading shoot and then to keep back by pinching any. that, con tend for. the mastery. Do not delay until the trees have been planted some.years to begin this wholesome

discipline. As with children so with trees —train them up the way they should go when they are yonng, and when they are old they will not depart from it. Begin with two-year old plantations. Trini with shears or pruning hook all strong growing hedges and keep them clean. Thin out plantations where the trees are obviously suffering from want of room.- Hand weed seed beds of trees and hoe between nursery rows. "W henever possible do something at preparing ground for. planting out trees in the autumn and winter.

Live Stock. —So long as horses are working hard at harvest or other work their rations must be kept up. The stable should be kept'as cool and clean as possible. The weaning of lambs should not be delayed too long; when three months old they are not too young to wean. This month is a good time to begin.’ If the lambs have been taught to eat oats with the old sheep as recommended in previous numbers, and there is a good pasture ready for them, they can with greater benefit be weaned at an early age. As soon aa weaned the lambs should be dipped ; this gets rid of any vermin which would injure their growth, and prevents the fly striking them during hot weather. The ewes should be placed for a week or two on short pasture in order to promote quick drying up of the milk. Examine both ewes and lambs, as some of the former may be suffering from disordered udders, and the lambs may be touched with scour and need treatment. Now is also a good time to cull flocks, removing the old and worthless for fattening or for sale. Every flock-owner should provide good and convenient drafting pens ; which Baves much time and labour to tho shepherd, and fatigue and worry to tho sheep. Do not allow milking cows to get low in condition as the grass fails from dry weather. IMPROVED STOCK-BREEDING. (Country Gentleman.) A paper upon the Hampshire Down, which appeared in these columns last week, and whioh was obviously inspired by more than one old well-informed breeder of that useful variety of sheep, may very well serve to introduce here some general reflections which Occur to anyone who has noticed the change which seems to be coming over those concerned in making out stock pedigrees. A familiar chargo brought against the most prominent agent now alive in reconstructing Europe, i.e., Prince Bismarck, is one of displaying * brutal frankness.’ We believe this peculiarity is not so much the attribute of.an individual as of an age. A whole generation has grown np in Europe (whether led by his marvellous personality, or able to stamp its characteristics upon that personality, we know not) whioh is possessed by a curious indifference to the little ways of its immediate predecessor; and it now ‘spits out’ the plainest revelations where. It used to be the Wont to conceal everything. The first half of this century was distinguished by a reticence which can only be described as that of some defendant’s attorney. It admitted nothing; every explanation was carefully framed to-suit what were supposed to be the exigences of the case. The world grew * mealy-mouthed,’ and official documents of every kind, with a tine sense of duty, were, with few exceptions, sedulously • cooked.’

: It was under this influence of the past that by far the greater part of the long series of Stud, Herd, and Flock Books have come into existence. It must be admitted by any student of them that not one of them sins on the side of being too explioit. One idea seems to pervade the whole. The editing committees (the latest phase of controlling power) are either all possessed by, or think it necessary to play up to, a theory of breed origin, which may possibly be convenient, bntis uncomfortably circumstanced as regards facts. Almost every register,- if, at first it betrayed other leanings, sooner or later falls into the conception that its duty is to represent its entries as. the sole survivors of some ' ancient breed. ’ Its clients are assumed to be descendants of some fine old variety, which once was common, hut, which was nearly lost, and of which at a crisis a few survivors have been rescued by Messrs A., 8., and C. ; and, having been bred ‘pure ’ by them ever since, .were gradually registered in stud, herd, or flock book, to maintain and perpetuate their purity. The mottoes of j everyone of these publications' seem to be No connection with any other concern,’and ‘Without our mark hone oan be genuine.’ There can be no doubt that this assumption is for several reasons convenient. It would never have been so generally adopted if it were not. Bat (and this inquiry is the purpose of this artiole) is it possible seriously to uphold it ? Are there any facts to show that a period of ‘ pure breeding live stock ’ ever occurred before the present 1 Does what is known of the’last century at all encourage ue to believe that any specimen of pure (i.e., unmixed) breeding oonld have originated in, or been preserved through such manners, methods and management, aa oan be shown to have existed in the eighteenth century, and those which preceded it ? .V Here we are at once compelled to admit that Ithere is no evidence at all that any previous circumstances were such as to favour exclusive breeding. When *a village held its pasture in aommon, when there were few inclosures in which farm animals could be 1 segregated,* when the providing a stallion, bull, tup, or boar for common use was a duty generally enforced on this or that tenant of a manor, irrespective of his fitness or knowledge, when the females, running in public, of a necessity shared the attention of the males—which one of the householders was compelled to pro ride, more for other peoples’ benefit than his own—it is difficult to see how the theory of ‘ a fine old breed’ —the survivors of which struggled into this century—can possibly be maintained. In plain truth, no superstition Las been more thoroughly shown up than has this infatuation of ‘ a fine old breed,’. preserved for the nineteenth centnry by persons whose love for ‘ purity! surpassed that of their. contemporaries. There is not the slightest reason to think that what is oalled ‘ pure breeding ’ ever existed in sheep before' Bakewell; and he, with all his power of impressing, did not leave anything which can be called ‘ pure ’ except sheep ; although he experimented with everything on a farm besides —with horses, cattle, pigs, and even with poultry. He never attempted registration.

His ideas were of an older generation still, i.e., that a wise man ought steadily to keep his own counsel. The Stud*Book (Weatherby’s) had been established, which admitted a mixed origin for racehorses. This was the, work of the leaders of the landed clans, which, whatever other faults it may have had, never can be oharged throughout its career with any want of explicitness. The breeders of racehorses never concealed that they had used foreign blood. Those cattle breeders who followed this candid example of registration- were a good less landed. The promoters of the Shorthorn Herd Book, which, we believe, was the second stock register, collected a few facts about mixed descent, but they suppressed most of them. As time rolled on and other registers increased in number, candour seems to have diminished ; and we are now face to face with a huge collection of volume* whioh may, and no doubt do, serve some good purposes ; stilt, revelation of how any breed came into existence is certainly not one of them. The books tell nothing which can well be suppressed. It is more than ordinary good fortune when they do not tell what oan be shown to be untrue. In this state of affairs a student of pedigree will regard with something like astonishment or admiration—as his individual character inclines him —the candour of the breeders of the Hampshire Down sheep as represented by H.E. His informants do not mince matters at all. They say without disguise, * We made our flocks. They were big, hardy, prolific, free-milking, strong-featured sheep, suited to life upon the open down, and long journeys to and from tho fold. We changed our, method of husbandry, and altered our sheep to suit new conclusion. We sought symmetry, early matuiity, increase of w001i.0., i. 0., whatever desiderata we had—wherever they were to be found ; and, by free usage of new blood, and careful in-breeding of the results of new alliances, we have formed a type which suits-our purpose, and which is found to suit other districts too, as well as the chalk downs upon which it took its rise.’ Can any sensible person doubt that the story thus told is a true one ? Can anyone help wishing that other breeders of farm stock would be equally candid, and equally disposed to reveal the actual incidents in stock management of 1800—1850, which must be known" to many ; and by doing this help the breeders of 1875—1900 to deal more intelligently with the mixed materials which -they undoubtedly hold, in order to work more easily towards still further improvement of the studs, herds, and flocks of the island ? This improvement is certainly" possible. Good as our best horseß, cattle, and swine are, they are still capable of becoming better. If no great advance in the Beleot.fow is possible, a very great advance in the mass of each kind can be effected. And‘this improvement will most easily be when breeders really understand what it lswith which they have to deal ; for exact knowledge is the true parent of all real advance. For ourselves, we do not doubt that evory improved variety in Britain is, the result of a judiciously made cross within the last century. We believe that the theory of * a fine old breed, kept pure, and handed down,’ is in every case a mytb, and no more. "Wo believe every fine breed (and we have many fine breeds) now established was established by some man, or sot of men, following the line clearly revealed in the narrative of the Hampshire Down breeders ; i.e., by suiting the horses, cattle, sheep, arad swine of their farms or loeality to their altered wants. This change was primarily brought about by obtaining from other types the points in which their local aninials were defective ; and, having got the points wished for, one and all of the successful breeders, or successful breeding districts—for neighbourhoods have had as much to do with improvement as individual men—fixed these points, and made them transmissible, with something like certainty, by prolonged in-breeding and unceasing selection. But ons may seek information upon this head in vain in all the Btud and herd books in existence. It is carious, but true, that sheep breeders have always led the van of stock breeders. Improvement in breeding of every kind has begun with sheep breeders. It may be hoped that by-and-bye we may have corresponding candour, manifested by the breeders of cattle and oarthorses, to that wbat more than one sheep breeder has displayed. We say ‘ more than one,’ for there is a record of long-woolled sheep, published a few years back, which is quite as 'plain-spoken as is this recent one of the Hampshire shortwools. Perhaps there may be someone sufficiently ill-advised to say, ‘ And what will come of all yonr candour ? You will, by it, destroy the value of British breeds in the eyes of the foreigner. You will bring down the value of registered stock to that of common market cattle.’ To this we reply, ‘ There is no such fear. Under any ciioumstances, oar carefully bred studs, herds, and flocks have got the start by something not far short of a century. Our rivals must treat judiciously their new admixtures for another hundred years before they will reach ‘ the platform upon which British breeders of the more careful class are now standing.’ And is it conceivable that the class, which has done so much, will themselves stand still whilst every rival is advancing, year by year? This is a possibility in whioh we cannot believe. We believe, on the contrary, that whilst our rivals are approaching to the standard whioh we now hold, our own will be steadily raised, perhaps even faster than has hitherto been the case. So that fifty or one' hundred years hence, oar best will still be as much in advance of their best as our best are ahead of their best to-day. Still, in order to make this further improvement, we must increase and diffuse further our present stook of knowledge. The knowledge of how our .*. best ’ breeds of farm stook were made up, is most important knowledge to have. And this inorease and wider diffusion of information munt spring not from reliance npoii and repetition of the theory of ‘the fine old breed, just saved when about to be extinct, and handed down .to us pure,’ but from acknowledging tne~istroduction which really was made in arder tbfii we may further profit by the good effected by their use. It does not at all follow, that because it yraa once right to make admixtures freely, it "will always be right to do so. We would maintain the direct oontrary; and we would say that* having got the desired points from ad.

mixture, the way to get impressive sires is to breed without any further admixture ; keeping up desirable tendencies by selection ; and preserving constitution by careful studying of what goes te increase and maintain health. The way to produce sires, and that to produce dams for breeding animals for consumption, has to be conducted upon quite different lines. Still, knowledge is necessary for both, and this is wbat Herd v Stud books do not give us.—The Field. ODDS AND ENDSIn some of the old leases to English tenant farmers, the landlord is bound to allow a certain discount from the rent for the tenant to spend for agricultural papers. This was a common custom sixty or seventy years ago and it might well be revived there as well as in other countries. The forests of Europe, omitting Turkey, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, comprise about 710,000 million acres, or about eighteen and a half per cent of the total area, according to an official French estimate. In the United States, about twenty-six per cent of our area is devoted to forest growth. The reckless destruction of forests in Prussia has been so disastrous in its results that the government has issued an edict to protect timber throughout the Empire. One of the plots at Sir John Lawe’s experiment farm at Rothamsted, England, that received a single application of farmyard manure twenty-five years ago and none since, has averaged larger crops every year than the unmanured land immediately adjoining. Only laßt year there was a difference of four per cent in favour of the land manured twenty-five years ago. Sir John frankly states that he is unable to give a sufficient explanation for this marvelously prolonged effect of farmyard manure.

A hop planters’ association has been organised Eng., to watch all questions affecting the industry and devise some means of competing with foreign hops. It is said that £3,000,000 annually are expended in cultivating the crop, £2,000,000 are invested in curing and storage houses, etc., and 400,000 people are employed in the business. The ultimate hope of the association is t» secure a protective tariff. But their immediate object is to secure the marking of foreign hops, as they believe English hops, Bold as such, will bring a much better price than foreign. English as well as American wholesale seedsmen generally send out with their goods a notice in effect like this : ‘ While we exercise the greatest care to supply every variety true to name and of the best quality, yet the conditions of soil, mode of planting and other contingencies which may arise, render it impossible for us to warrant our seeds, or be responsible for any loss which may occur.’ The validity of this clause has been upheld by every English court where it has been argued, including the Court of Appeal. The English retail dealers and farmers are much exercised over this resulj, and are combining to carry the case to the court of last resort—the House of Lords. A milk factory owner at Whitechurch, Eng., has been fined for causing a nuisance by allowing the refuse from his factory to get into a drain that ran near the town for two miles. The health officer testified that he had never seen anything worse in any large sewage works. This reminds us of a somewhat similar case in this country, at Amherst, Mass., where one of the most successful co-operative cream gathering butter factories has been obliged to forsake its original plant and location because of defective drainage, and has just completed a model factory at large expense on another site where perfect drainage is possible. Cream and cheese factories cannot be too particular to secure good drainage. German farmers have complained bitterly of foreign competition, and to further protect them the tariff on cereals has been nearly doubled. It is claimed by opponents of the policy, that this protection ha 3 inured to the profit of the large raisers of grain rather than the small farmers who most need to be benefited. Germany has now the highest tariff on cereals of any European country, as appears by this comparison, showing the duty in cents per bushel:

. In Saxony, Germany, where ordinary crops have' not been profitable of late years, lome intelligent farmers have taken to growing roses with the intention of producing the celebrated attar or oil of roses, which at preseut is obtained from Turkey, India, and other Eastern countries. It is claimed that roses grown in these more Northern climates have a stronger scent, and therefore have more oil than when grown under a warmer sun. For this reason the oil of lavender produced from plants grown in Surrey, England, brings a higher price than that produced in Provence, Franco. In the south of Franca rose fields are made to pay, where, as also at Mitcham, in Surrey, roses are grown for the: manufacture of rose water, the more condensed attar.not being attempted. INTERESTING ITESJS, Cherries are a profitable crop in some parts of England. At the Kentish fruit sales, six acres of cherries sold for 900 dols.. Centrifugal cream separators have been introduced in the dairy sections of most of the English colonies, with satisfactory results. : • ‘ , The ostrich farm which has been maintained by Mr Wilson at Delhi, India, with more or less success during the past few years, is about to be abandoned, Public sentiment in Germany is much stirred up over the extermination of birds, and the government is endeavouring to devise some means for preventing this loss. The Margarine Act is vigorously enforced in England. Cases in which the imitation butter are exposed in tubs, so arranged that the legal brand could not bo seen, are held to be infringements of the law, and the offenders are heavily fined. At a farm in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, there are three horses that work regularly, whose ages are twenty-five; twenty-six and twentyeight years respectively. Can our readers in any part of the world beat this record for a like number of animals ?

The beet carrion beetle (Sylpha opaca) is ? roving disastrous to mangolds in England. t is black and shiny, with a little yellow at the front edge of each segment or ring. This insect formerly lived on putrid animal sub.-, stances, and only of recent years has acquired a taste for beet leaves and mangolds. The complaint of increased farm mortgages is not confined to the United States. It has become a serious question in Prussia, where the mortgages on farms amounted to about three hundred million marks (a mark equals twentyfour cents) in 1835, which increased to five hundred millions irf 1865, and to . over twelve hundred million markß in 1886. - ~ v The Royal Agricultural Society of England

has held forty-eight bliowb, at which it has paid out in premiums and expenses 375,796 dols. 96 cents, and has received 198.483 dols. 56 cents, leaving a balance of 177,313 dols. 40 cents spent for the purpose of bringing sound agricultural teaching to every district in the kingdom. It offered this year 20,000 dols. in pre" miums, besides which, 5,000 dole, were offered by other interests. Oleo finds a great market in Holland, where it is one of the largest manufacturing interests, if not the most important. The imports of American margarine in 1887 at Rotterdam and Amsterdam amounted to 185,600 tierces against 121,450 tierces the previous year. The aggregate imports at the same places of margarine from Australia, Hungary, France and Russia were almost as much more. The dog skins so extensively used in America and elsewhere for making gloveß, come largely from China. There are thousands of farms in Manchuria and Mongolia where from tens to hundreds of dogs are reared yearly. The dogs are strangled, so as not to injure the skins, being killed in winter when the coat is in the finest condition. Goats are also raised on a large scale for a like purpose. Honest butter has failed in Germany, which has refused to enact a law to compel the bogua product to be sold for what it is. The chief argument against the desired law was that the oleo was consumed by the poorer classes in place of lard, and competed with it rather than butter, which thesa classes had never used. Germany has fifty oleo factories, employing five hundred workmen and producing a product valued at nearly 3,000,000 dols. annually. Potash as Manure. It is but natural that I should examine wit interest the reported results of field experiments designed to ascertain the effects of muriate of potash on our English crops. When years since I reported in the columns of your journal the increased yield I had obtained from the use of this salt, the accuracy of the results was by many questioned, and the recommendations based on them generally ignored. Mr Knolly’s report of the manurial experiments on the barley crop reported in the Bath and West of England Journal will result in calling the attention of agriculturists to the question. Your remarks in relation to this report, and to the criticisms thereon, dessr/o very careful attention, and your reasoning appears to me thoroughly scientific. So far from Sir T. D. Acland meriting acrid criticism for permitting experiments to be made with potash on differing soils, one acquainted with the many difficulties in the problem calling for solution ought rather to compliment him on this very account. Experiment can alone decide whether a crop will or will not be benefited by an application of potash to thq soil on which it is growing. The argument sometimes used, that becanse potash is a constant component of farmyard manure, and because this latter body benefits all crops on any soil, that, therefore, it i* necessary to add pot-, ash to soils, iu addition to phosphates and nitrogen, is unsound, and, if followed, will often lead to sad waste. Equally erroneous is the idea that the chemical examination of a soil will decide whether potash is needed or not. In my numerous experiments, no results have been more puzzling than those in connection with the application of potash. It has been demonstrated by these experiments that soils yielding to analysis very low percentages of pota-'h have not been sensibly improved by its addition. The opposite result has also often followed. A notable benefit has heen secured from soils containing comparatively high percentages of potash. For instance, I have found a soil containing 0.4 per cent of potash giving invariably greatly increased yields, another soil with only Q. 15, per cent of potash yielding but a trifling increase from the addition of potash salts. The experiments reported in the Bath Journal confirm these observations. Tho increased yield cun Mr Magor’s experimental field, the soil of whioh contained 0.45 per cent of potash, as stated by Dr. Voclcker, was 8 bushels from tha use of 1 cwt. of muriate per acre; whilst on Mr Mark Wallace’s field, the soil containing, according to tha same authority, only 0.14 of potash, there was no increase, but a decrease on the potashed plot. The conclusion forced upon me is that local experiment alone is able to decide whether the farmer should or should not apply potash to his laud. I may be justified here in referring to anothe totally unexpected result whioh has often been recorded, and which the ‘Bath’ experiments recall to my mind. Let me premise that potash has been applied to a soil in ordSr tc benefit a crop. Occasionally a moderate increase only has been obtained. Yet on this very plot, without any manurial addition, a very marked improvement has been noted on some following crop. I beg to instance two oases only. Nino years since, Mr Wm. Betts, of Flitch am, a; - plied 1 cwt of muriate per acre to a portion 'of a 40-acre field of mixed grasses. The results were not very marked; but the following wheat crop unexpectedly showed a striking benefit to have followed the potash dressing The straw was nearly a foot longer, the ears larger, and a storm which, just before harvest taroke down terribly the undressed portion* but little damaged the stronger straw of the potashod plot. Air Betts was too busy at harvest time to separately store these portions, but estimated the increase at the time to equal about three sacks of corn per acre. A series of experiments on the mangold crop, extending over several years, was carried out on the farm of the late Mr A. Oldfield, of Grimston. In one of these 1 cwt of muriate per acre was as usual applied to certain plots. Tho increased yield of bulbs averaged a littls over 3 tons per aesre. The following barley crop did not exhibit any inorease; but the clover which followed the barley showed an increase of li tons of made hay per acre on the plots potashed for mangolds. No manure had been added in the meantime. It was also note 1 that the growing clover was ridged in the direction and in the position of the mangold balks, showing clearly the potash had been, sown in the open ridges for the mangold crop These experiments were reported in your journal at the time. Hence, although the benefit to the barley crop oil several of the fields recorded in the Bath Journal is small, it will be very advisable carefully to note the effects on the artificial grasses which I presume are now growing on these plots. It may be questioned if potash dressings ought not to he applied in agricultural operations to the root crop, rather than to barley or grass. The turnip crop in Norfolk is looked urp\\ as the commencement of thn rotation, and'potash is now frequently applied to this The effect on many soil* is most apparent not only in this crop, but on the. clovers whioh in due course follow. My twenty-five years’ experimentation with potash on Norfolk soils warrants me in advising its application to. roots in preference to anv crop in the| ordinary rotation.— Thomas Brown, King’s Lynn, April 25th. PORK AND PORKERS. Save and cook the small potatoes for tha pigs. The hog doesn’t object to a seasoning of curqulio in his fruit,

The hog is omniverous and is much benefited by the right sort of vegetable food. _ When the hog gets more variety in his food and less variety in his drink, he will not have the 1 cholera ’ so often. The first point in making cheap pork is to get the hog to market in the shortest possible time. The same food makes more pork in early fall than in midwinter, for les3 of the food is used to produce animal heat.

V, Wheat. Kte. Barley. Oats. Austria .... 19.6 18.3 7.9 5.2 Trance .... 26.5 7.4 6.3 8.5 Italy .... 13.2 14.9 4.9 5.7 Spain .... 23.0 15.8 13.6 9.0 Germany .:. .... 32.7 30.5 118 14 0 United States.. .... 20.0 10.0 10.0 10.0