Page 26 Advertisements Column 4

Otago Witness, Issue 2087, 22 February 1894, Page 26

NOTES AND QUERIES. Wanaka.— (l) Sweet brier will grow freely from cuttings. (2) As soon as the seeds are ripe, or early in the spring. In about a month. (3) The specimen sent is not in a condition to enable us to say for certain what it is. Send better specimen both in flower and fruit if possible. L.— Write to the chief postmaster, who will supply you with a form of application. (2) We do not think you have the slightest chance of appointment at present. R. AY. S., Invercargill, asks, "What is the translation of '2'res uno contudit,' which Charles XII of Sweden put on the medals struck to celebrate one of his victories ? " The words quoted are incorrect. To commemorate the victory of Narva, gained over a combined army of Russians, Danes, and Poles, a medal was struck showing Charles as Hercules, armed with his club, holding under his feet a three-headed Cerberus ; the accompanying leeend was, "2'res «nc conludit ictu"— t He crushed three by one blow " Subscriber. — Mr Beverly replies to your query as follows :— No. The pressure at the tap depends on its vertical distance below the level of the reservoir, whatever the dimensions of the reservoir may be. When the tap is open, the normal pressure is reduced to some extent by friction in the pipe. Hence you could increase the running pressure slightly by using a wider pipe ; but not by enlarging the tank. MhNKR. — We have no definite information on the point. We believe, however, that some of the shares were disposed of, and that the life of the concern was thus prolonged for a few weeks. J. W. S.— The manganese mine at the Taiori Mouth is closed in the meantime, but if prices offering were of a remunerative nature, no doubt the proprietors would rcaume operations. Mr F. Wayne, of Milton, is the manager. The other mine in this colony is at the Bay of Islands, Auckland. This ore is not mined anywhere else in New Zealand. R. L. — You will find your queries replied to in our Entomological column on page 5. Constant Reader.— We learn that Messrs A. and W. M'Carthy, fishing tackle dealers, have just landed a shipment of the particular rods you mention direct from Mr Baxabridge, of Eton. Messrs J. Wilkie and Co., Princes street, and Mr W. Bremer, George street, have stocks of various makes of rods, also rod-making materials. Wanaka. — Residents in Victoria at the time you mention, and connected with transactions concerning horses, have been consulted on the subject of your query, but none of them can give the conclusive information necessary to decide a bet. Rairey toured the Australian colonies thoroughly, giving exhibitions of his talents as a hoise tamer at every country township he had a prospect of gathering a crowd— in fact, ho was a success in the "travelling showman's" rOle. It is certain he exhibited at Gisborne, Bucchus Marsh, and Kyneton, and it is unlikely he would let Carisbrook escape. Dairyman —The cows at the dairy show, London, competing in the milking trials, wero milked on two successive days. The following is the average daily yield and butter fat in the milk of the first prizewinners in the classes for the several breeds. Shorthorn : Milk, 54'21b ; fat in milk, 30841b. Jersey : Milk, 33"21b ; fat in milk, 2'4101b. Guernsey: Milk, 4771b; fat, 2'661b. Ayrshire : Milk, 531b ; fat in milk, 2 2771b. Kerries and Dexters : Milk, 40"51b ; fat in milk, T3]2lb. Red Polls : Milk, 51'Olb ; fat in milk, 2"0561b. Any cross breeds : Milk, 77'21b ; fat in milk, 3'2281b. You must understand that as_ the time elapsed from calving varied, the yields were affected accordingly, but the judges in their awards by points took the length of time a cow was in milk into account. You will also understand that the butter fat figures would vary with the quantity of milk tested, without regard to quality of milk altogether ; but there was an analysis of the milk, and the percentage of fat is recorded in a column of figures for which there is not space here. (2) The only disc churns of which we have full particulars are Bradford's, Holborn, London, who make the churn in two forms. In one a number of spoons are fixed on a wooden disc, and in the other these spoons are replaced by fins, of which there are three rows — two of three, and one of two ; they are fluted and fixed upon an axle of wide diameter, displacing the cream from the centre of the churn with apparent advantage. There are no disc churns procurable in Dunedin, but as the butter-making season is nearly over, we advise you to defer purchasing for some months, as in April there will be a competition for special prizes offered for speedy" churns at the Royal Dublin Society Show. The churns will be subjected to practical tests, and their respective merits and demerits reported on by the judges. On receipt of the information the particulars will be given in the Witness and doubtless some of the

Dunedin business firms will seek the agencies of the sale here of the best utensils at the trial. Breeder. — The occurrence of " atavism," as it is technically termed, or "breeding back in sheep, in innumerable instances has been verified by many distinguished breeders, and is regarded as a vexatious, although not an unexpected, incident by the owners of purebred flocks, by whom it is well known that pure white ewes that have been served by pure white rams of the same breed occasionally produce black lambs, and in such cases,*although two or three generations, or more, may have been quite free from the objectionable colour, yet it will be found, when the case is traced back, that there existed in the same family a black ancestor, most frequently a female. More than 30 years ago the late William M'Combie, the famed breeder and feeder of Polled Angus cattle, supplied the agricultural journals with the following particulars in proof of atavism. Six very superior purebred black-faced horned ewes were tupped, eomc of them by a Leicester and others by a Southdown ram. Next year the same ewes were put to a very fine, pure, blackfaced horned ram of the same breed as the

ewes themselves, and the lambs thus begotten were without exception polled, and brownish in . the face. The same occurred the year following, the ram used being another of the same breed, and individual lambs showing distinct reversion to Leicester and Southdown type. As the female progeny were retained throughout to be bred from, and pure blackfaced invariably used, in every succeeding generation there were cases of reversion, although in the great majority the characteristic horns and black faces were restored. (2) Barley crops are as liable to the attack as wheat cropa. The Hessian fly was unknown in Norway until last season, when it devastated the barley crops. Farmer. — We are under the impression that a Canterbury settler imported a few of the Dorset breed of sheep some time back, with a view to forming a stud flock, but we have not heard of any being offered for gale in the colony. They are now only procurable in England pure within a circle extending 10 or 12 miles from Dorchester, crosses of the Southdowns prevailing throughout other parto of tho county. The peculiarity of the breed, and which enhances their value to farmers who make the rearing of "house" or early lambs a business, is that the ewes take

the rams at a much earlier period of the year, and thus supply the market with lamb at a time when it letches the higbe&t price. When specially treated for the purpose— i. c, highly fed— the ewes can be made to bear two crops of lambs within the year, although the period between the dropping of one lamb and the conception of the second can only be about five weeks. On luxuriant feed the ewe will often admit the male 10 or 12 days after yeaning, and continue to suckle the first lamb after they are pregnant with a second. The Dorsets are hardy and thrifty : the wethers at two years when well fed weigh from lSlb to 221b per quarter, and the fleece, of an intermediate claps of wool, weighs from 4£lb to 511b. Of course the distinctive value of the breed consitts in the forwardneps of the ewes, Dorsuts would do well in your distiict and everywhere throughout the colony, excepting the high, ridgy, and mountainous country. The establishment of a stud flock of Dorsetß would certainly prove a profitable speculation