NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 27

NOTES AND QUERIES.

How Do You Account For It ? asks the corre spondent who sends the following :— ' Let us see. Two women had 30 chickens each, which they took'to market. They agreed to divide equally the proceeds of their Bale. One sold her chickenß two for 4s, getting for her 30 chickens 60s. The other sold hers three for As, getting for her chickens 40s. This made 100s realised for the 60 chickens. The merchant called on to divide the money said : ' You sold your 30 chickens two for 4s, and you sold your 30 chickens three for 43. That ."makes 60 chickens at the rate of five for Bs, -Well. 5 into 60 goes 12 times— l 2 times Bis 96. That makes 96s your chickens have brought.' But, as shown above, the women actually had 100s in their pockets. And yet the merchant's figures were right 1 Do figures lie?"— The question is of course a catch. There were not 12 combinations of twos'and threesf, but 10 combinations, equalling 80s, and five doubles over, equalling 20b— total, 100s. The Effect of the Omission of a Decimal POlNT.— Everyone is familiar with the story of the mi&plaeed comma which resulted in the omisßion of all points from legal documents ; but Mr Robert Paulin, of Ngapara, draws attention to an article in our last issue in which the omission of a decimal point is fraught with almost as disastrous consequences. He writes : "In your special' correspondent s article on 'Pure Water Supply,' which appears on page 3 of your issue of August 3, Professor Frankland is made so say that in 1866 the cholera killed '18 per 1000 of the entire population of London.' As the population of London at that time was close on 3,000,000, 18 per 1000 Would amount to 51,000 killed by cholera, as against 5596 who actually died from it. It is evident that the 18 per 1000 should read T8 per 1000." Whales in the Orkneys. — Some more testimony on this question is borne by Mr James Harrald, of Stewart Island, who writes:— "Fifty Whales have often been stranded at one time on the Orkneys. In or about the year 1867 a large shoal of whales fresh from the confines of the Arctic circle .passed the Islander Stronsay, when a large detachment was got out of them and driven into the shallow waters of the Bay of Rousholm, in the Island of Stronsay, Orkney. The carnage was terrible, and after the waters had retired 170 carcases were fou&d on the beach." Subscriber, Otama. — Magic lanterns with slides are obtainable at S. Jacobs's fancy goods store, Princes street, at from 7s 6d to 503 Purakanui.— No ; the Education Board do not supply school committees with trees for planting on Arbor Day. Fred.— See sporting. Charcoal.— We have no comparisons at hand, • but if the charcoal were powdered to a dust there can be no question that it would be very much more valuable than wood aßb.es in heavy laud, either for vegetable garden or orchard. Black and Blue, Skippers.— (l) It is lawful but not customary or easy to carry the ball by the string. (2) "Your question is and until you explain more fully what you mean the answer might be" misleading. A bail', is generally taken r< on the fly " whon passed back. (3) Penalty kicks or kicks from marks may be taken at any spot behind the mark in a line parallel to the touch-lines. F.P.C.— The matter appears to be one of purely local interest, and the pressure. on our space at present prevents us from dealing with it. Southland Dominie,— (l) A man must so use his own property as not to invade his neighbour's legal rights. If the discharge from the sheep dip can be shown in any degree to pollute the stream into which it flows, the owner of the land through which the Btream afterwards flows could/ sue for damages and an injunction to restrain the discharge. (2) It w,ould depend entirely upon the body of water in the creek, and the amount of dipping fluid run into it. If there is a good body of water in the creek the probability is that -by the time the dip reached your property it would be sufficiently diluted to render it innocuous. Penelope.— Mr Bills informs ub that bronze turkeys are not procurable at present.. - The best in the South Island are the property of Mr S It. Elder, Ohatton, and are from the stock imported by Mr Hosking, of Masterton, and procured for him by Mr Bills. Possibly he might sell eggs for setting. Alpha.— Anyone may take on himself whatever surname, or as many surnames as he pleases witHjiut asking anyone's permission.' Changing thename does not affect a person's rights or liabilities, or those of his wife or children, either during his lifetime or 'after, his decease. The only inconvenience that would arise would be that a doubt might be raised as to his identity if a claim to property came to be made by or through him. In making a, will, settlement, or any important instrument dealing with property, it would be .well that the change . should be mentioned. 'For instance, "I, A, formerly called B." Ratepayer, Chatton.— lf the particular work appears to the council to be for the special benefit of a particular portion of the county it may rate that portion for its execution,, even "although the work itself is not within the county. • Nut,— All the rennets, whether liquid or in powder, now in extensive demand, have, or should have, printed directions for Tise affixed to the bottles or packages ; but even so the ' instructions must nob be rigidly observed, for the quantity of rennet required varies with the quality and condition of the milk, the pasturage, and the season of the year. The milk from cows on poor pasturage 'requires more rennet than that from - cows feeding on luxuriant pastures, and'that from cows early in tlte season requires nearly a third more rennet than does the milk given by them later on. Again, if the milk is over-ripe or acid, more rennet is required to hasten coagulation, and the reason why early summer milk requires more rennet to coagulateit than that of later in the season;- quantity for qua'ntjty, is that in the former period the caseous constituents are Jn large proportion, but diminish as the, season advances, while throughout their volume is affected by the food supply to the cows. It is therefore necess»ry for a cheese-maker to ascertain from time to time both, the strength of the rennet m use and the quantity necessary, for ian excess of rennet ripens the cheese too quickly, .and causes it. to go off in quality. 'The power and! action of rennet (of whatever make) may be tested as' follows :— Take a measured portion of milk, heated to say 85deg, and add a small portion of rennet. Stir the mixture for a few minutes so as to ensure evencoagulation, and then let it Bit for the ordinary time as in cheesemaking. From the sufficiency of the curdling, and the form of th# flakes produced, an accurate judgment may be forjned of the Btrength of the rennet, and of the quantity of it which may be used. At the London Exhibition of 1886 prizes were offered for the best samples of retfnet, and there were six competitors. The awards were made by the society's chemist . after careful analysis and experiment. ' One sample was, found to be spiced, and another to be turbid and swarming with ferment growth other than rennet— a by no means uncommon occurrence in homemade samples. The samples referred to were of the following btrength :— No.' 1. Fullwood's liquid— one part by volume coagulates B*ooo parts of milk. No. 2. Blumersthal powderone part by weight coagulates 78780 parts of milk. No. 3. Hansen's tablets— one part by weight coagulates 173"640 parts : of milk. No. 4. Hansen's extract— one part by weight coagulates 9"400 parts of milk. No. 5. Hall's liquid-one part by volume coagulates 1-000 parts of milk. No. 6. Van Hasselt's Dutch liauid— one part by volume coagulates 12500 parts of milk. The prize was awarded to Blumenthal's powder, a spoonful of which (the spoon is furnished with the box of rennet) is said by the makers to be sufficient to coagulate 1001b of milk at 95deg Fahr., but it actually coagulates 961b. NoRMAN.-Speciallypreparethelinesoftrenchesin which you intend to place the bulbs so at to have a tine tilth. Select well-shapen bulbs, and having cut off the shaws not nearer than an inch From the crown, lift and transplant carefully, filling in round the bulb with fine soil. All of the turnips must be of the, same variety,

as any mixture would risk hybridising. About IBm apart in rows at least 30in wide will give sufficient Bpace. A frequent practice with farmers who make turnip seed growing a business is to cut off the leading and highest shoots, as these flower before the laterals, and by cutting them off the side shoots grow stronger and flower and pod evenly. No cabbages, rape, or any other of the brassica tribe must be permitted to flower when the turnips are in. bloom. If your object is to produce a veiy fine, fullbodied seed, you should thin out the shoots well. When the pods fill and begin'to ripen ■you must take precautions to protect the crop from small birds of all kinds, for they are ravenously fond of seeds of turnips, cabbage, rape, mangel, <fee. When the seed is ripe, care must be taken in cutting the stems, or else there will be much loss from shaking. When cut they should be laid in rows, when one turning the following morning before the dew is oft wul be sufficient. As good a plan as any is to thrash the seed out on a winnowing cloth in the field, as handling the stems much occasions loss. Thus thrashed, the seed can be sifted from the pod chaff and taken home and winnowed, as if immediately bagged or heaped up the seed is apt to heat. It should be spread out on cloths on the floor of a barn or outbuilding, and turned'occasionally till seasoned, and then bagged. (2) There is no work on agricultural chemistry from which an amateur may derive so much information as from Johnston's "Catechism of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology." The latest edition is revised by Voelcker. Mr Horsburgh, bookseller, George street, Dunedin, had copies of the work for sale some time ago. The price is only 2s or 2i 6d. S. M.j Hokonui.— Mr John Werner, the inventor of the " hurdy-gurdy," replies to your questions as follows :— Flume 15in by 9in, running full, with a velocity of 75fc per minute, carries a little more than one head of water. If you onjy can get 15ft of fall you will need to use a 2s in nozzle so as to utilise all the force of the water, as IMS head of water will raise aboift 15ft in a pipe having a 2Jin nozzle. The volume of water mentioned above is not sufficient to drive a hurdy-gurdy for chaffcutting, with 15ft of pressure, unless the chaffcutter is a very small one. As you have a dam to store your water, why not double the carrying capacity of your flume, and use, say, two heads ?, In that case the size of the nozzle must be 3im. The size of the hurdygurdy in your case is immaterial, as you are using an intermediate, and therefore can regulate the speed with the size of the belt wheels ; but as the pressure is small the velocity of the hurdy-gurdy— say a 2ft wheel— will only amount to about three turns per second, which by the resistance of the operation will be reduced to one and a-half turns per second. Therefore your driving belt wheel will need to be about three times the circumference of the one affixed to the chaffcutter, so as to work with a fair speed. Try and utilise every possible inch of pressure. Tarred canvas hose will do. • Wild Rose,— We do not read character from handwriting. ' Inquirer.— To clean shells, make lye by boiling L strong ashes ; allow it to settle ; pour the lye v over the shells, and boil them for six or seven hours, or longer, if they are large ; then soak, and wash often in fresh water. To colour shells : Dissolve a little lac dye in a solution of chloride of tin ; and, having made the shells thoroughly clean, dip them in this preparation until they are of the -desired colour. The dye -should be first boiled, and then allowed to stand to settle. To polish shells : In cleaning them use muriatic acid, with strength according to the description of shell. Rub them up well after well washing them with chamois leather. Pearl or very thickly-coated shells have to be first ground down. /' J, M., Hokonui.— Spirits of turpentine is used for whitening bone. The articles should be exposed in the fluid for three or four days in the sun, or a little longer if in the shade. They should rest upon strips of zinc, so as to be a fraction of an inch above the bottom of the glass vessel employed. The turpentine acts as an, oxidizing agent, and the product of the combustion is an acid liquor which sinks to the bottom, , and strongly attacks the ivory if allowed to , touch it. A. Primus. 1—(1)1 — (1) We do not think there are any factories at present in existence in the colony for working up linseed fibre. KerppthorneProsser's Drug Company, Dunedin, have machinery for expressing oil from linseed and. making cake. The company purchase seed for this purpose. (2) See sporting. (3) The table • containing the information is missing from the statistics wo have at hand, and we are therefore unable to say. (4) The census of 1891 showed the number of horses in the colony to be 211,040 : of brood mares, 31,276 ; and of mules and asses, 348. Otaria.— There are no hard and fast rules as to themethod of going through the grand march in a. ballroom. Every M.C. has his own ideas, and. manages to carry them out. The following is. the way it was done at the last Naval ball in. Dunedin : — " Couples march round the room as. in a procession ; after getting properly into line, , the top couple lead down the centre to the 1 bottom of the hall ; top couple lead to right, second couple to left, and so on, every alternate couple inarching in a serpentine direction tothe top of the room. When the two leadingcouples meet, march down the room in fours to. the bottom, breaking off into couples to right . and left to top, this time marching in a direction to form the figure of a vase ; couples meet again at top, ladies and gents separate, ladies , to right in a zigzag to bottom; gents to leffc' in a zigzag to bottom ; when partners meet* march round the room, and polka. With, a large room and plenty of couples, an M.C. ! can form any figure that he may choose, and. ) some form very pretty sights to onlookers by , choosing what is most suitable to those present. ,