NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2020, 10 November 1892, Page 24

NOTES AND QUERIES.

" Indoctus ", — Mr Beverly replies to your ques- ' tion :— The Greek letter Pi is the initial of a Greek word meaning periphery, and is universally used by mathematicians as the symbol to represent the number 31415926536, which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, of the area of a circle to the square of its radius, and of the surface of a sphere to the square of its diameter. It is the most important of all the mathematical constants, and its value has been computed to over 1000 decimal places. Streets of Invercaiiuill.— "Awarua" writes: In reply to query in last week's Witness I may say that the principle thoroughfares in Invercargill, viz. Dee, Tay, Clyde, and Tweed streets, are two chains wide, Forth street, which skirts the gardens, is one and a-half chain wide 5 and all the others are exactly one chain wide. Mr W. B. Scandrett, town clerk of Invercargill, •1 also courteouslj replies :— ln response to your "request I beg to state that the streets of Invercargill are of three widths. Annan street, through which the railway passes to the Bluff, is three chains or 198 ft in width. Dee street, Tay street, and Tweed street are each 132 ft wide, Forth street is 99ft, and the other 24 streets are-each 66ft wide. H. K. asks :— What year and month did Messra Bowerman Brothers canvass Otago Peninsula for signatures for the Picturesque Atlas of Australasia '! As they canvassed Dunedin at the end of 1885, in all probability they did the Peninsula in the beginning of 1886. Possibly some resident may be able to supply the exact date. Invercargill Schoolmaster.— There was no swindle in it so far as we can see. No life insurance company professes to pay the full amount of the bonus in cash. You had the option of having LIOO added to your policy or of taking the cash surrender value— L39. We could not recommend any particular company, but if you obtain pamphlets <fee. from the Government and theAustralasianMutualProvident, you should have no difficulty in making a satisfactory selection. Kea.— Half inch iron piping would, under the circumstances, give an ample supply. L. F. G.— (l) As the pup was given away without the consent of the trustee we should say he could recover from D unless E elects to return the animal. (2) The trustee's wife had, of course, no right to give away anything that did not belong to her. P.— lt is not possible to tell from such a specimen what the plant is. If you send a specimen when it is in flower we shall endeavour to identify it. Professor Harris on Dai ryino. -"Dairyman" writes to say that this work was published in Scotland, and not in America. It was mentioned in a letter signed "Wyndham" which appeared in our columns during Exhibition time. He would be obliged if the writer could give him the full title, the publishing price, and the name of the publishers. Sheei's' Hkads —(1) We are not aware of any demand for them, but are making inquiries. (2) The seven wonders of the world are :— l, The Pyramids of Eppt. 2, The tomb built for Mausolus, King of Caria, by Artemisia, his queen. 3, The Temple of Diana at Ephesus. It was supposed to have been- 220 years in building. It was supported by 127 columns of I Parian marble, 60ft high, each weighing 150 tons. 4, The walls and hanging gardens of Babylon. 5, The Colossus at Rhodes. It was a brazen statue of Apollo, 70 cubits high. 6, The statue of Jupiter, at Olympia in Ellis, sculptured in ivory and gold by Phidias, the most eminent among the ancients. 7, The Pharos or watch tower at Alexandria, built by order of Philadelphus about 280 b.c. It was built of white marble, and could be seen at a distance of 100 miles. Amateur.— The frequency of the irrigation of a vegetable and fruit garden and tho quantity of liquid to be applied depends greatly on the character of the soil— i.e., whether light or heavy; while the quantity and variety of fertilisers must be regulated by the particular sort of crop growing or intended to 00 grown. For example, purely nitrogenous manures, such as nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, of themselves, or even iv combination, would not holp to forward leguminous crops— beans, peas, clovers, Ac, &c, while superphosphates, salts of potash, and alkalies "generally would. With the exception of the leguimnosiu, all other garden crops require nitrogenous manure, with phosphates and potash salts in addition, but the latter, if sulphate or muriate, in small proportion to the nitrogenous and phosphatic fertilisers. Regarding the quantities that should be applied, that also must be regulated by variety of crop to be grown, and not one in a garden requires such heavy manuring as cabbages, or will so well repay it. Turnips also are exhaustive in a garden from whence they are all removed, but not so much so on a farm when they are "fed off" on the land. On the whole, gardens must be heavily manured to ensure vigorous growth of crops, heavy yields, and quick returns. Nitrate of soda and snlphate of ammonia, pre-eminently nitrogenous manures, applied iv combination with special phosphatic fertilisers and potash salts, would answer all general 'garden purposes, although, as already stated, the two first-named may be dispensed with in manuring for beans and peas. Further, for them, if requisite, may be substituted genuine "blood manure," containiog as it does besides a large percentage of nitrogen, phosphates, salt, and nitrogen. The deterrent here iv the use of nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia is the high price charged. There are fertilisers, such as Peruvian guano, which contain in themselves a valuable combination. Best samples of this guano contain from 12 to 14 per cent, of nitrogen, 12 per cent, of photphoric acid, and 1J to 2 per cent, of potash. Of other guanos, that from Lacepede Island is rich in Time and phosphoric acid, and a. fair percentage of nitrogenous matter, but it is slow in action, giving the best results in the second year. Years ago, in the Australasian Farmer, the following statement was published regarding other colonial guanos : — '"The guano obtained from Maiden Island is mainly composed of phosphate of lime, and is better suited for yielding a superphosphate than for iice as a manure in its natural state. Huon Island, guano, Flat Island guano, and Bat guano are also chiefly phosphatic. A valuable manure for garden purposes, when combined with other fertilisers, is superphosphate made from hones." A good sann le of this article is rich iv soluble phosphates and nitrogenous matter, and for application to garden crops is greatly to be preferred to bone dust, because its fertilising constituents are in a more soluble condition, and the more readily available. The well-known J>rejudice existing among farmers in favour of asting manures arises from their failing to see that the greatly increased crops resulting from the me of soluble manures means a quick return for the money invested. It is surely true that a manure which pays itself and leaves a, profit in one year ia much more remunerative than one which takes years to accomplish the same result.