FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 988, 5 November 1870, Page 10

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

. Since the completion of railways across the. American continent, ., large tracts ,of the prairies, are being, enclosed, for grazing purposes, by wire fences. .The materials cost half-a-dollar a rod. The. western prairies, in all probability, will soon begin to compete with the "Australian, plains in the food and wool markets of the world. An' American' farmer named Lawrence, says that he makes a • third more corn and sugar with a third less labor than any of his neighbors, because- he stirs bis field eighteen inches deep with ,a George. •Waring, says he -harrows his corn across the rows each way, with a harrow which has 120 small steel teeth sloping backward. It kills the. weeds, and. hurts the corn but a little. He can go over eighteen acres in a day. "As mind acts oh. matter, so the material, reacts on the moral. Not a marsh is drained, not a bed of flowers blooms, not an unsightly j knoll is clothed with a mass of branchy j foliage; without itß effect on the moral, and through that on the intellectual life, not only of. those who produce the change, but of the people generally. . . There is a. peculiar clas» of people who oppose true advances in ideas and in practice: viz., those who are case-hardened by a little knowledge. Learning has a hardening effect on some intellects. They acquire a few ideas, and then dry up so thoroughly that nothing new can ever force a passage to their belief. It" was a wise man who prayed, " Whatever Thou hast in store for me, Oh God, never let me become incapable of learning something more than I already know." ■ . - i • ■ Essling, a German chemist, has made milk a study. He concludes that milk intended

for children or tot the table ought to be eaten when a few hours old, and it should be kept in a vessel with a cork or tight lid.

Daniel M'Millan, the great American breeder and grazier, got for his short-horns at his last great sale 865 dollars each. The whole sum realised at the auction was 62,800 dollars. He had made private sales during the Spring to the amount of 20,000 dollars.

Lime-water drives worms from lawns, and " tobacco soap " and " carbolic soap " will drive away most of the insects and worms that prey on vines.

. The Southland News states that many farmers in the Western Disfcriot, during tho past season, have made trial of . revolving plough coulters, and with the most satisfactory <reßuits. The tractive power required ii considerably less than for the old form, so much, in fact, that horses usually "fagged" at this time are quite fresh and fit for any* thing.

According to -the Bruce Standard, th« crops of all kinds in the Inch Clutha district, and. in other places where the soil is of a dry alluvial character, are very healthy and promising ; while in shallow soils of a clayey nature with » wet subsoil, they are but very indifferent looking., The late dry hard winds have very injuriously affected the brairds of late sown orops, and unless we get moisture Boon, accompanied with heat, we fear the prospeots of Bottlers on the Tokomairiro plain and surrounding ridgei will be far from cheering.

With respect to agricultural matters la the Lake district, the Wakatip mail says s— Recent warm rama and line weather have done wonders for the orops. They are moat luxuriant throughout the district. Wheat hsa been largely sown, and oats would have been more extensively grown had not seed been difficult to obtain. Oats are an unknown thing in Queenstown. ' Ten shilling! per bushel could not, during th« present week, purchase any. At the farms they are obtainable at Ba, but supplies are small. Crushed wheat is used as a substitute for oats as horse feed.

We take the following items of agricultural intelligence from the Bruce Herald of .Wednesday : — The dry weather whioh has prevailed of late in proving most detrimental to the orops. Grass paddocks are parched and bare ; some paddocks of spring wheat are being ploughed up, while the appearance of the orop upon others is anything but encouraging. Altogether, in the meantime, the harvest prospects are 'anything' but favourable. — We understand Messrs Somervilla, Brothers, .Waitepeka, have tried the experiment, of thin sowing, .of oats on about 80, acres .of land this season, the land • being harrowed very fine . before the seed is sown. This style has been tried in the home country and found to succeed, and we hope to be able to report favourably at next harvest of the above two bushel an acre trial.— The grass in rhe districts south of i the Molyneux is suffering severely from drought. ' The most of the paddocks appear as ,if scorched to the roots. : The orops are alao in a very backward state, one paddock of wheat excepted, that of Mr Duncan Ferguson, which was. sown in winter and had a good start before the drought set in. We have been shown by Mr- Brough of Port Molyneux, a sample of grass admirably adapted for land liable to be inundated with water, and also for swamps, where other grasses will' not grow. - It is the poa aquatka or swamp grass. - It grows to the height of six feet. Cattle are remarkably fond of it. ■ - This 'is the grass ■ for < the ■ present unavailable Taieri swamp, forr in two or three years it would form a ornst,that would oarry cattle where they now dare not venture.

The Canterbury police, suspecting that the crew of the s.b. Taranaki, whioh was at Lyttelton when the iate disastrous fire occurred there, might have seized the opportunity to carry off articles in the confusion, telegraphed to Wellington to search the vessel on her arrival there. This was accordingly' done, and three pairs ■■ of boots were found in an empty trunk, but nothing else.

We letrn from the Chrutohuroh papsn that prompt steps are being taken at Lyttel. ton to erect stores, and the ground is being rapidly cleared of debris.- Mr Pitoaithley 1 ! store is being ereoted, and the Bank of New Zealand will commence to build at once. Workmen were employed ."on Saturday in ;• clearing, > the < ruins »£ „Mr ■Merson's stores,. and a large building,. will be ereoted on the ground. All the hotelkeepen have ereoted small shanties and tents for the sale of refreshments during the time their hotels are being rebuilt. His Honour the Superintendent, Mr Richardson, and Mr M. B. Hart, have been engaged in ascertaining what further relief was required, and large quantities of clothing- have been sent through* The Colonists' Hall is turned into a depot. Many persons have . lost great Juantitiea of goods- which wefe saved rom the fire. A considerable amount of pilfering has been- ■ -carried on, and although several persons have been arrested and convicted, yet not a tithe of the property saved has been recovered. .. The police have been very energetic in the matter. The Relief Committee met, on Saturday, when it was determined to stop the distribution of rations And clothing, until full details of the loss sustained by each person are seat to the Committee. All persons who have sustained losses are requested to send an account of the same in writing to the Secretary. Ample supplies of clothing, had, been received by the Committee for the present,