GLEANINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1490, 5 June 1880, Page 7

GLEANINGS.

TVifl wheat yield of Michigan State for 1878 was29^so,l26bushels; for 1879, 31,224,233. During the 16 years since the war, Michigan ha 8 increased its wheat crop from 9,000,000 to 31 000,000 bushels, and the average yield ncr acre from Hi bushels to 18 bushels. Daring the six years since the great panic, the wheat crop has doubled in quantity m spite of the hard times. m The best time to place hens on their nests is at night, for then they are more likely to sit quietly and become accustomed to their new position. For a good whitewash, slake cay one peck of lime • and while hot and of the thickness of cream, add a quart of linseed oil and a quarter pound of glue. Let ifc stand a day before ÜBing. Rains will not wash it ofl, nor will it prove such a nuisance on interior walls as common whitewash. It should, of course, be thinned with water while using, as ordinarily. A Himalayan lily (giganteum), measuring 12 feet in height, and with a Btem nearly 11 inches in circumference, and with 171 blossoms — yellowish white, spotted with purple in the throat-the flowers all expanded at one time, is reported at Bagshot, England. The Shropshire breed of sheep ib extending itself rapidly over all parts of tho United Kingdom. They are found to ba better than any other breed, adapted to a humid climate, damp clay soils, and other circumstances requiring haraihood. It appears strange that some of the breed has not found its way fco the coast lands of New Zealand. The evils of land exhaustion and the prinoiples of restitution have been demonstrated over and over again, but the difficulty is to get farmers to fear the one and believe in the other. Because you can get crops from a given soil year after year, you aeem to think it only necessary to plant— Providence will take care of the harvest What a mistake; what a short-sighied P °lt C fs generally supposed that the roots of grass do not penetrate very deep, but these roots have been tiaced as iar down into the soil as four feet. Persona ploughing for seedine think that" just loosening the surface ia Bufficieut, but if deep ploughing is necessary for any kind of crops it is for grass, unless the soil has been deeply worked for other ° r T' horse breaking down. — " Breaking down" consists of a severe sprain of the suspensory ligament, by which the fetlock ioint Uses support in bad oases, and cornea to the ground. The treatment consists of bandages, blistering and rest ; but it is so serious that the services of a competent veterinary surgeon should be procured,

Hurrying the cowb. — If moderation is needed anywhere on the farm, it; is in the driving of cowb. A boy or a dog that will hurry, anl therefore worry, the cows a? they are taken, to and from the"pas*;ure should be, to put it mildly, attended fco. Boy o—Do0 — Do not ruu fihe cows home, even if it is petting late, especially if ifc is on their way to the yard and their udders are full of milk. One of the most important matters is the care of hoga in the autumn, not only with Btockers but fattening hogs, is that they bo kept dry under foot, have plenty of the best food, and especially that their alocping quarters be dry aud warm, and at the same time well ventilated. Driving after eating.— The digestion of a hors9 is governed by the same laws as that of a man, and as we know that it is not best for man to go at hard work the moment a hearty meal is eaten, bo wo should remember that a horse ought to have a little rest after his meal, while the stomach ia most active in the processes of digestion. Many a good horse has been ruined by injudicious ha3to in working him with a lull stomach. Food.— Sour milk is one of the beat feeds for poultry, especially for young chickens, that can be given them, and we fear its value is not fully realised by those generally who keep poultry in the country, as we are satisfied much refuse milk goes to waste that might be given the hens as well as not. Young cbicks thrive wonderfully upon a diet of sour milk, and it may ba given them in plaoe of water to great advantage. A substantial sheep record is made by making a notch in the ear of the ewe, and marking all her progeny with a Bimilar notch. The other ear may be punched with different devices, to denote what ram served her. The ewe lambs, when they come to be bred, have the same notch denoting the mother, and they in turn have the other ear punched with whatever design is on the ear of the ram with which they are coupled. This makes a record that does not wash out or wear out.