GLEANINGS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6652, 28 October 1908, Page 3

GLEANINGS.

No less than twenty-seven schools (tedhnioa! inlnd district high schools) will compote in tho big school section of ■tho Palmerston show.

The lambing in the district between Papakaio and Hakataramea (North Otago) has iii many instances been particularly good, cases of triplets being frequent. Percentages of over a hundred aro common. Up to l3fl, and in one instance 160, is reported. Mr Primrose McConnell, a cousin of the famous English agricultural authority, has been, appointed a noxious weed inspector to the Department of Agriculture. Mr ’McConnell has a, practical and scientific knowledge of dairying aind '.kindred subjects.

Mr Strawbridgo (Surveyor-General of Souta Australia) haa'rdoeived a tetter ■from Hr V. T. Cooke, director of tho State Commission dry farming experiments iat Cheyenne. Wyoming, JT.S.A,. dated August 28th, in which lie says:—^"X nm sending photo, of win’ter wheat and winter rye. These crops vn\v received ■oiruo' and a third inch, of moisture in eight consecutive months. Wo expect to get between forty anid fifty bushels per acre of winter wheat and thirty-fivo bushels of winter rye. Socalled dry farming can bo made successful where tho precipitation is limited, provided it is carried on intelligently." ‘l’h© outlook for_ farmers in South (Australia is distinctly encouraging Crops and pastures are exceptionally strong ami healthy, -and aro growing V’T® 1 !’- Permit rains were higttilv beneficial. \A ith further showers -this month it is expected the grain harvest will In most districts, bo -above the average’ V 1101 - a , record one. There is abundance of feed, and stock -arre fast puttin ' ion condition. Tho season everywhere -v» much later than usual. This‘is for-

'lunate, as it has enabled the grain crop? 'to obtoin. the utmost benefit f)om tii« irew-nt rains. They will . thus gain *.>tlength before they come into ear. it •Ilie ears fill slowly the graim will bo plump ami heavy, ami the yield in con,‘equeneo .create? than if they were quickly ripened by great heat. In tile current issue of the \ iotorian “Journal of Agriculture’' attention is Mr awn to what is ooiickloifed a valuab o 'nr>w summer and winter foudei plant. It belongs to the kale family, and w trailed Cuou moellier. It grows 411 to Alii high, yielding a. heavy wealth et surcuUjiit foliage; tho stalks are solid and fleshy, and have not the woody fibrous texture of tho ordinary cabbage. Tho leaves can ho stripped ,on, about five Units during tho season, and tho whole nbi.nl. can bo chaffed and fed. to the animals with absolutely no waste. The nbmt has proved to be a raped i laid vigorous grower, highly ■nutritious' .and eagerlv sought after by stock, it can lie sown aider tho first autumn mins, to the end of October, and is both frost and drought resistant. Sewn thinly iu rows lift .apart, those, plants 'that "show too thickly can be transplanted. Cultivation between tho rows is necessary, also hilling up of the plants. In a test crop four tons of foliage to tho laoro were taken off -tut three mouths, aril an equal quantity three months later. This was without manuring or artificial watering. The Victorian Department of Agriculture ra commend it as “an exceedingly valuable forage plant, yielding a large amount of green feed during winter time, and 'on that .account is especially of service 'to dairy farmers,"