JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1261, 30 April 1896, Page 7

JOTTINGS.

So much trouble is expended by dairymen in this Colony in trying to extract every particle of moisture from butter that it is well to observe that the British taste favours a fair proportion of water in butte*. Complaint has been received from Manchester that tho Victorian butter sent there recently has too little water. Danish and Swedish butter, it appears, contains from twelve to fourteen per cent, of water, whereas the greater portion of Victorian has only from four to six per cent. A certain percentage of water is necessary for the preservation of aroma and flavour, and when cut up by retail people dry butter contrasts unfavourably with that containing a little moisture. Commenting on this complaint, the Sydney Mail expresses tho opinion that tho Manchester men must have como upon an odd sample. We havo record of where English, French, German, Danish and Australian butter wore analysed, 209 samples in all, which showed that where the English contained Rl'l2 per cent, the Australian had 11 'Mi of water. French and Danish ranged nearly up to fourteen per cent. We know a market in which the quantity of water in fresh butter sometimes ranges up to twenty per cent., but this would not be suitable for export.

In a resent issue of The Scientific American, a now method of growing potatoes is thus described by Mr C. E. I'. Ford, of Busk, TexasMr Ford sprouts his potatoes tho size of a pea to a marble before planting, and then raises a crop in from four to six weeks, all of largo size without a peck of small potatoes to the acre. Mr Ford gives tho following description of his system of cultivation : “ There were forty seed the size of peas planted to every double hill. 1 plant my potatoes in tho water furrow and leave a balk 4in to Oin wide, and when tho potato seed is dropped on the balk a part of tho seed fall on each side of the narrow balk. I cover with two furrows of turning plough. I make my rows lift apart; the hills 18in apart in row, which makes 140 hills across an acre, and 70 rows to tho acre makes 9800 double bills of potatoes to the acre, or 19,000 single hills. I never plant less than 20, and havo planted GO, and the 00 will every one make as fine potatoes if we have plenty of rain. I also give my potatoes fertilising with liquid manure every rain. It takes from 09 to 75 potatoes to make a bushel, never more than 75. I have kept the same seed for 2(3 years, and havo potatoes both sweet and Irish the whole year round. By sprouting your potatoes you have eating potatoes in less than one-halt the time it takes under the old style of planting. It takes from four to six weeks to sprout the seed potato to the size of peas; tho sprout-room I keep warm by a small charcoal fro in a bake-oven. One barrel of charcoal will he plenty for the whole time. I put my potatoes into old barrels or small boxes, so as to get them warm easier than in a big heap or bunk. The smaller tho boxes the easier and quicker thoy will sprout. ’When tho potatoes get large enough I knock of' the hoops, take down tho staves, and there are thousands upon thousands of small potatoes from the size of a bird’s eye to that of peas and a few tho size of marbles ; the whole mass is held together with small roots. I take a handbarrow (not a wheelbarrow) and carry the seed down the row, and tho third person breaks off as many as you wish not less than twenty to forty—and let them fall on the bulk in tho water furrow, and givo two ploughing*."

In harrowing, rolling, mowing, reaping —in fact, all farm work—a fast-walking team is highly desirable. About equally important with this is that the team bo well mated, not in colour or style, though these are desirable, but in temperament and ability. One ambitious and one lazy liorso make a most unpleasant team.

In bis monthly circular for February Mr F. O. Licht reports a decrease of 493,000 tons in last year's production of European beet-root sugar. The reason given for tho decline in this important industry is that tho various European countries have so encouraged the production of beet sugar by giving bounties that tho market has become congested. This doesn’t look as if tho outlook for a New Zealand boot sugar industry wore very bright.

In an excellent little work on “Milk Testing," by Adolph Shoenman, the opening chapter contains the following apt illustration“ Farmer Jones is the owner of three cows; his favourite cow is Bess, a fine, large cow, which gives a large yield of milk; while 801 l is a punylooking animal, with only a moderate milk yield. ‘ Daisy/ ho says, ‘ will have to be sold. She gives only about threefourths as much milk as Bess, and eats just as much food.’ He had formed an opinion of each cow, judging only from quantity (as most dairymen do), while quality was not considered. The cheesemaker, who owned a test, had on several occasions heard of Farmer Jones' cow Bess and her largo milk yields. So, one

fine day, he went down to test her, and also the other two, and obtained the following result: —

“‘Farmer Jones, hero is the result of the test of your three cows. Daisy is your best cow, yielding I'ol2lb of butter fat per day. Bell comes next, with a record of lib of butter fat; while Bess, your brag cow, brings up the rear with a record of '8961b of butter fat. (That means 104 lOOOths less than a pound of fat a day.)’ “ ‘ I am astonished at those results, Mr Cheesemaker, and now see that through my ignorance in judging a cow by the quantity of her milk, regardless of quality, I came near selling my best cow at a cow-beef price, and now this little Babcock machine told me in ten minutes' test that she is a jewel indeed, and is not for sale at any price.’ “ 1 Isn’t that a dandy little machine, though ? But I suppose, of course, it is patented and costs a pile of money.’ “ ‘ No, sir, it is not patented. Dr Babcock gave this wonderful invention to the dairy public as free as tho water that Hows from tho well.’ "

An interesting experiment in crossbreeding for mutton has been carried out at tho Wisconsin Agricultural Station, U.S.A. The ordinary merino ewes of the country were crossed with Shropshire rams. The first ram used was a lamb that at eight months old weighed 1291 b. Another ram was a shearling, and when throe years old lie weighed 2701 b. This ram was largely used in the experiments. Tho average value of the merino ewes’ ileeces in 1891 was Idol 56c. The young ram cut 0 71b of wool as a shearling, and the next two shearings his ileece averaged 141 b. The produce of the first cross were remarkable for the symmetry of their forms, thus showing the strong influence of the Shropshire cross. This wool was midway between that of the Shrops and the merino. The folds in tho skin were not completely removed, though only a few showed much development of them. The Ileeces ranged from B'9lb to lOTib. The average value of the Ileeces in 1391 was Idol 80c. The weights of the crossbreds ranged from 1491 bto lGl'Gib. The second cross to the Shropshire naturally showed more the influence of the Down type, and consequently they were better mutton sheep than the first cross. The wool was similar in length to the Shropshire, hut finer, softer and brighter. It was more free from yolk than that of merino sheep or tho first cross. In 1892 tho sheep of the second cross gave an average weight of B'2lb of unwashed wool. Owing to tho freedom from yolk in tho wool of the second cross, it gave a better valuo per head than that of the merino ewes.

A Now South Wales country paper says the following letter was received by a firm of ironmongers from a farmer: “ What for do you send me a man to l'cpare my reaper and binder that knows nothin’ about it. the cros peeco he put on broke tho hirst time i use tho mashino and tho seat bar suapt and d -n ncor killed mo if i had i would have slide your form for damages, the Man told me the mottal he put in was unbreakable but it is brittle!’ nor glass, now i have to employ men outing (he crop with seiches, come and take your rotten old mashino awa and refund me the 20 pmnd deposit i paid or i will go to law. do you think imo going to get tore to pecccs and ovry bone in my body broke with your old ramshakle hurdy-gerdy and pay your man 4 pounds every time he comes up for repares. If you are willing to send your man ai once and licks it proper i will pay you balans but 1 want it 15xt so it wont brake again for i can never Dm how to licks a mistery like that, if you donfc do this ile see the lot of you in li—— 1 before i!e pay you tho balans and su you for the deposit as well, you may think my language ungentelmany but if youtl talDn in the mashino and hadn’t a sound spot on your body and tore all you close in to the bargan i reckon youd be pritty m id too and had to pay 10 pounds for eating the crop after all not to spoke of tiie men’s tucker."

Every thinking farmer admits that under ordinary circumstance* the harvest will be large or small, good or bad, according to wltafc is done, or what is neglected, up to or at tho time of sowing the seed, lie knows not only that if he does not sow ho cannot reap, but he also knows that if lie uses poor seed, or does not properly prepare his land, or does not attend to tho seeding at the proper time, ho will obtain only a small crop.

In New Zealand the commonest form that idleness takes amongst farmers is tho custom of attending stock sales at which they have neither stock for sale nor at which do they intend to buy. In America the loafing farmer generally wastes his time at the local railway station. President Jordan’s argument in the Forum against idleness as tho chief cause of agricultural depression is supported by an incident which bo imagines many of his readers could duplicate. Once when travelling in Indiana Dr Jordan alighted at a little station called Clowrdalei and

this is what ho saw: —“A commercial traveller, dealing in groceries and tobacco, got off; a crate of five chickens was put on, and the cers started again. The stopping of a train was no rare sight in that village, for it happens two or three times every day. The people had no welcome for the commercial traveller ; no tears were shed over the departure of the chickens, yet on the station steps I counted forty men and boys who were there when the train came in—farm boys, who ought to have been at work in the fields ; village boys, who might have been doing something somewhere. Two men attended to all the business of the station. Tho solitary passenger went his own way. The rest were there because they had not the normal strength to go anywhere else."

Complaints have frequently come to hand from farmers and others (writes the Lyttelton Times), to the effect that their gorsc fences are dying out from somo mysterious cause. Mr S. Gorforth, of Spreydon, has just left at the office of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association a branch of gorse having a grub embedded in the pith, after tho manner of the borers which affect the currant trees. The grub or larva referred to resembles tho larva of Thoramus Wakefitddi, a native beetle.

The cattle inspector at Salisbury has discovered a cure for rinderpest, which cousists in dosing the animals with linseed oil, and keeping them from water.

The Department of Agriculture have issued an illustrated leaflet by Mr T. W. Kirk, Government Biologist, on the subject of the New Zealand army worm, grass caterpillar (Mamedra composite ).

England imports annually some 93 14,000,000 worth of butter, j25,5ij0,0(M) of cheese, =21,000,000 of condensed milk, 93 1,000,000 of eggs, 93500,000 of poultry, Ji11,000,000 baoon and hams, 937,000,000 of barley, 931,300,000 apples, .2100,000 pears.

The Minister of Lands in New South Wales said in a recent speech that dummying had been a disgrace to that colony, and was ruining the national life. He had made one western pastoralist disgorge improperly acquired laud, and he warned those who were trying to got behind the land laws that the fullest power of the Government would he used to bring them to task.

A meeting of tho Advances to Settlers Board was held on Friday, the Premier in tho chair, when 19 applications for loans amounting to 9313,800 were passed.

A number of farmers in the Waikato are to start the cultivation of 3000 acres in growing beet for sugar. Mr M. Lowonbeig, who lias been negotiating with them, has left for America and Europe to purchase seod and machinery.

- Milk. Test. Fat. lb. Per cent. lb. Hess, flail v vitld 09 2'8 equal to •806 Hell, daily yield 25 4 0 equal to roo llaisy, daily yield 22 4'{! equal to 1-012