AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Mail, 30 December 1892, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

The English farmer finding that as a wheat grower he cannot compete with the agriculturists of America, India, and Australia, is turning his attentiou to fruit growing. The secretary to the Borad of Agriculture reports that during the past two years there has been an increased growth of fruit in Great Britain to the extent of 27,000 acres.

The agricultural development of the Argentine Eepublic has been very much retarded by its financial troubles. The number of animals imported for breeding purposes declined by nearly 10,000 head within a year, from 1889 to 1890, the imports of wire fencing fell off from 39,000 to 10,100 tons, and of ploughs from 39,500 to 26,800. In the same time the exports of wool fell off by 52,000,0001 b, and of sheep skins by 21,000.0001 b.

A writer in the Home and Farm gives a table showing the quantity of scoured wool to the 1001 b of carcass yielded by several breeds of sheep. The merino stands highest with 4 - 02, next comes the Shropshire with 2-95, Southdowns are not far off with 2'75, Cotswolds give 2*ll, and Leicesters 1*95. Lincolns do not figure in the list.

Glanders among horses, so much discussed of late in England prevails also in France, particularly in Paris and in the western departments. Cavalry horses and remounts have also suffered, and cab proprietors and removal agencies have had reason to complain. M. Nocard ofthe Alfort Veterinary College, claims to have discovered a substance by which to ascertain whether a horse has the germ of the disease. A slight prick in the neck and the insertion of ' malleine ' makes an infested horse show an increase of animal heat, in which case it ought to be slaughtered at once, though it might go on working for several months. The principal Parisian cab company has had all its horses tested in this way, and ' malleine ' is supplied gratuitously at the Pasteur Icstitute.—Gallignani's Messenger,

Keferring to the comparative cost of producing mutton on different breeds of sheep, the American Sheepbreeder and Woolgrower gives the result of an experiment carried out in the State of New York with 290 sheep, part of them Merino and Cotswold cross, part merinos, and part Cotswolds. The result of the experiment was that the crossbred sheep gained a pound in weight at a cost of 5*67 cents, the merino at a cost of B*4 cents, and the Cotswold at a cost of 11-6 cents. The cost per lb is considerably more in all the tests than Australian sheepbreeders would expect (says ' Bruni * in the Australasian), and the result in the case of the Cotswolds is contrary to the experience of those who have raised that breed of sheep in these colonies.

The file is a more important farm tool than many farmers, who during all their lives have never filed the cutting edge of a hoe blade, are aware of. If such men have a practical demonstration of the difference between a dull and sharp hoe, they are certain to purchase a small flat file for the workmen to carry in their pocket when engaged in work requiring the use of a sharp hoe. File the hoe upon both sides of the blade, and it will retain an edge longer and cut smoother than when die filing is all upon one side, although it should be filed most on the inside. Both a flat, a three-cornered, and a round file should be kept on hand. Their use will often save a trip to the shop in a busy time, and they pay for themselves many times each year in sharper edged tools.

The Mark Lane Express states that chaff when newly cut is not so valuable as when it has been cut for a longer period. It is tough and less attractive to animals. Newly harvested fodder contains a considerable quantity of moisture which may be taken advantage of to convert the mass of chaff into a sweet end aromatic food, for if well compressed, and a fair sprinkling of salt mixed with it, a fermentation is set up which results in the formation of a sweet silage. The toughness of new chaff and the consequent indigestibility arises from the heat generated by the friction of cutting and exposure of the moisture contained in it.

Is there not a good deal of unadulterated truth in this remark, says a Home paper:—' We v e every man now discontented with farming, given the full value of his property in cash, and sent into our towns and cities to engage in business, in a twelvemonth there would be the largest harvest of bankrupts the world ever saw.'

Honey has been experimentaly enclosed in well corked flasks, some of which are kept in perfect darkness, while others are exposed to the light. The result was that the portion exposed to the light soon became crystallised, while that kept in the dark remained unchanged. Hence, we see why the bees are so careful to obscure the glass windows which are placed in their hives. The existence of tl- e young depends on the liquidity of the saccharine food presented to them, and if light were allowed access to this, it would, in all probability, prove fatal to the inmates of the hive.

A settler writing to an Ausfa-alian paper gives the following plan for getting rid of tree stumps :—When you fall the tree bore a l£in augur-hole down into the stump to a depth of 6in ; fill this with dry saltpetre. After some months or years, when the saltpetre is completely absorbed, fill the hole with kerosene, and when it is absorbed fire the stump. Some reports say the fire will burn slowly and eat out even the lowest roots,

In dealing with the colt let it not be overlooked that while the physical condition depends on the building and feeding, the disposition depends on the breeding and the training. The trainer is largely responsible for the good and bad traits in a horse's character; especially the bad ones. If he does not make them, he permits them to develop.

A writer in a Home paper says that heated oats, unless boiled or steamed, are not desirable food for horses of any kind, more particularly in foal mares; they injuriously affect the respiratory organs of all animals. I should strongly reeommend boiling the oats in this case, and then mixing them with cut chaff, or crushing the oats, mixing them with chaff, and steaming the mass. On most farms there is no suitable conveni mce for grinding and steaming, with extra outlay in the former case. An ordinary furnace is all that is necessary. I prefer placing the oats in bags, leaving plenty of room for expansion, to tumbling them loose into the furnace. Although the boiling does not enhance the feeding value, it entirely removes all taint and renders the food wholesome.

In answer to a correspondent, who asks if there is any remedy for a pig-eating sow, a writer in an exchange, says that this propensity is the result of a deranged state of the stomach and bowels, attended with some fever. Such sows are restless, excitable, and greatly annoyed at the presence of any one at the farrowing. If a bran mash containing a teaspoonful of common salt, and the same dose of saltpetre, be given for an evening or iwo before pigging time, where there is no constipation, the evil may be avioded. For the relief of constipation, an ounce of Glauber's salts, given in the bran mash, or slop, at each meal, until the bowels become soluble, the same happy result may be' expected. Young sows destroy their pigs often from apprehension that the pigs may be taken away or injured. They become frantic, and trample them to death. The more the injured pigs squeal the more furious the sows become. Too much bedding causes the death of many litters of pigs from the inability of the mother to see the half smothered pigs. Grass and light slops should be given to the sow in high flesh.

The Oamaru Mail says ; —Mr John Isdale (Weston) has now grown twenty acres of the new rust-proof wheat Cereo. The variety was produced by Mr Thomas Isdale while experimenting with wheats at Enfield. It is a hybrid between Tuscan and American No. 1 hard wheat, and it is now grown in quantity for the first time. The wheat is a splendid cropper, and thoroughly rust-proof. The crop is over sft 6m high, the heads being 6in long, carrying from seventy to eighty berries each. The paddock is thoroughly free from rust, although surrounded by crops more or less rusty.

A correspondent of a Southern paper says that he received a letter recently from his brother residing hi Glasgow, in which the writer states that sheep in Scotland have increased five millions during the last three years, and the present price is ruinous to the farmers. Sheep were selling at the Perth sales at 2s 9d per head, and lambs were sold as low as 9d apiece. How will New Zealand mutton compare with that ?

There is some prospect (says the London correspondent of the Australasian) that*a new market will be opened for Queensland beef and mutton in France, where the military authorities are already favourably impressed with the advantages both over the home-fed product and that

at present imported from Germany. Another consideration which enters into their calculations is the advantage such an alternative supply would give them in the event of war. At present Paris alone imports weekly 30,000 carcases of mutton, much of which comes across the German frontier. The question of a supply of New Zealand and Argentine mutton has been mooted, but the item of cost has hitherto stood in the way. The French military experts had an opportunity of testing the quality of the Queensland shipments on the 31st ult., when the Otarama called at Havre for the purpose. It is understood that the report of the officials was highly favourable to the colonial product. If the trade is put upon a satisfactory footing ths French- Government will no doubt take advantage of the new source of supply, thus offering to provision the great garrisons of Paris, Lille, Lyons,. Marseilles, and Brest with stores of colonial frozen meat, and. thus assure themselves of an invaluable stand-by hi the event of war.

The following is recommended as an excellent treatment for a horse suffering from ' grease': —Do not wash, the legs any more than is absolutely necessary to free them from dirt; use daily a lotion com* posed of one part of solution of chloride'ftf zinc to six parts of water, and in addition to this, dust on to the growths a mixture of equal parts of powdered burnt alum and powdered sulphate of copper twice each week until they disappear. Give him also some alterative powders in his food daily, and avoid beans, maize, peas, and other articles of food which are of a stimulating nature. The chloride of lime would not be calculated to do much good in such a case as this, it being simply a disinfectant and deodoriser. •

The Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station has for several years been investigating such problems in wheat culture as the quantity of seed per acre, the depth of seeding, drilling versus broadcasting, the mixing of different varieties, cross drilling and the use of the roller press. The average results favour sowing at the rate of 5 to 7 pecks per acre of thoroughly cleaned seed, not to exceed 2in deep. In favourable seasons broadcast seeding has produced about as large a crop as drilling, but if the season be hot and dry it is stated that drilling the seed is likely to give the best yield. No advantage has yet been discovered in mixing different varieties of wheat. There has been a slight increase of the crop where the wheat was cross drilled, the same quantity of seed being used in each case. The increase, it was thought, may be to the more thorough pulverisation of the soil accompanied by the double drilling. • ~~~ • • : *•■ It is stated by a London correspondent that, Mr H. S. Fitter, one of the largest salesmen in the Central Meat Market, London, is about to send out to Australasia Mr R. B. Bennett, with instructions to approach the chief graziers in the colonies, and arrange terms with them for the sale of their frozen meat in London without the intervention of the middleman.

In 1892 the number of cattle in Great Britain is 6,944,783; in 1891 it was 6,852,821; and in 1890 it was 6,508,632. In Ireland the numbers were, in 1892, 4,531,025; and in 1891, 4,448,511. In 1892 the number of sheep and lambs in Great Britain is 28,734,704; in 1891 it was 28,732,558; and in 1890 it was 27,272,459. In Ireland the number of sheep in 1892 is 4,827,702 ; in 1891 it was 4,722,618,