NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2170, 26 September 1895, Page 36

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in coming ussve lo be received not Inter than Monday night.

BtSHMA.v writes: — We propose to eiect a small atriel tramway to carry about scwt- down a face 40 chains, the steepest part of which Is about 45dfg. Would a plain No. 8 fencing wire be pliable enough to stand the con«-tHnt wear of the twine rom d a sft in diameter drum ? A single wire will soon break You bad better use a wire rope "307 diameter. "Weight, lib per fathom. Ibis will do all you require with a proper amouut of safety. Get a flexible crucible steel crane rope, which maybe had of most of the leading ironmongers ; w*t, Js fd per Ib. Subscriber, Strath-Taieri.— R. emits f\.r th^ Permanent Arlilleiy forco require to have gone through one yeaPa efficient service in the volunteer force, unl«?s tbey have, served in tho military, liftvxl, or colonial forct-s They must bo ■under 28 years of age. Applications arc to be sent to the officer commanding Permanent Militia at Duuedin, &c, giving address, age, certiQcate of character, Ac. The miniinrtm height for artillery i-5 sft Sin, for torpedo sft i 6in. JSihciiai.l, Lowtiurn. -The rush to Port Curtis, Queensland, took place in 1858. The rush was a failure. Eakau —Yes, but it is a work of two or three j^niontbs. Put a layer of lignite ashes in a caik **C or b<ix, then a layer of bone?, and &o on till the cask is rilled. Wet the ashes and fill up any subsidence, and the bones wfll be dissolved in uue course. Wisiress Cawkll.— <l) Yes, but we have not got it at band at prt^eut. (2) 'Hie Speiker is paid a salary, aud 'Jots not draw the oidiuary salary paid to members of the Done. ( ) You can obtain the required information at the nearest Burvey office. (4) Sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of potash nre both good fertilinng ' agent*. Water containing the*e salts will be valuable to phnt life. Both supply nitrogen to the plants. In the ca'e of sulphate of ammonia, 212 per cent uitrogen ; nitrate of polash. 13 86 per cent. Tootdall, St. Bathans.— The referee should have "given a penalty kick agaiust the side whose players were the firt>t to get off-side. Bebwehope —(1) Layingpoison in any public place or arjy place adjacent thereto in any borough or town district or on any land or premises of which the person laying the poison is not the actual occupier or within three chains of any highway outside of a borough or town district is an offence punishable by a fine not exceeding JCIO. The Rabbit Act does not authorise the laying of poison. A person unlawfully laying pnison is liable for whatever damage it may cause. (2) Seventy y#rds and a small fraction of I a yard. # j ~JL W.-^See answer to " Hedgefiope" in this issue. 'X. Y. Z , Bili-lutha.— The contract not being in ■writing it is very doubtful whether you can. do anything. •Jlks, Waipiata. — The British South Africa Company. Secretary, Herbert Cat.ning. 19 St. hwithiu's lane. London, K.C. Administrator in Mashonaland, Dr L S. Jameson, C.B. Tokomaku —O) See sporting. (2) f-upponng it <toe-, it would be so infinitesimal that it could make no difference. (3) Pure, 2s per lb ; commercial, 6d per lb wholesale JK'Liiusu Caterpillar —The following appeared a few weeks ago in the Naturalist Column, but as you evidently missed it we teprint it for your beoelit :--The aweto, as the Maoris or natives of New Zealand call it, or Hipiulis vire?ccns. as naturalists term it, is found in New Zealand, and is a vegetable caterpillar of from 3m to din in length, and, so far, science has not been able to tay whether it is a vegetable or an insect. It is always found at the f<-ot of large myrtle trees that have beautiful red flowers on th«ir stems, and a beautiful creeping clematis as white as the snow. The Maoris call this tree by the name of rata. The avreto buries itself among the rootß of the rata, a few inches above the ground, and there lives until it is full grown, when it undergoes a most wonderful change. The spore of a rentable fungus, termei by naturalists Somceria Robertsii, fastens itself to the neck of he caterpillar, just between the head and tho first ring, and then grows upwards to the height of from Gin to Bin. Many people assert that there is never more than one stem, but such is not the case, as some have been found with two stems, although very rarely. The Et«ru shoots up out of the ground above where Ihe caterpillar is living about 2in or 3in ; below the caith it prows into the awit'i, until it fills a\ every poss"ble :-p;ice within the outer skin without changing the form of the in s ert in the ll)gMe3t way what'o vei. but simply sul.stituttng a ve<iet-»ljle matter for animal matter. As loor. uf ihis take* place both the^'plant and the satei pillar become dry and hard and die, but retain exactly the same form as when alive. The whole has a brown colour, and the inject appears a wooden caterpillar, with a huge horn Etandicg up from the back of its neck. How the caterpillar managpß to propagate its species no one can tell. Usually thr caterpillar bee 'mes a chrysilic, tho chrysalis changes into a moth, the moth lays eggs, and the se eggs again bee mo caterpillars, and go on without stopping. Many reasons are given why the plant shoot* up from the back of the neck of the aweto. On« is that

the \weto has a slimy substance oozing out fiom it* neck, which, while the aweto is b iring at the foot of the ra'.a tree for its only food, catches the seui of the fungus an'l holds it fust tbero till the hitter beginß to grow. Whin it has sucked nil the vegetable life out of the awfeto it must naturally die, for it finals no further nourishment. The aweto is often found hi lar*e numbers.— Public Opinion. Subscriber. — We are of opinion that he can. Water Colour.— The prtsHent of t v e New Zealand Art Society, Mr W. M. Hortgkins, solicitor, Duriedin ; hon. secretary, Dr Scott, university, Dnnt-dm. Next exhibition will be held early in November. Applicants for membership must apply to the secretary, and forward an example of original work for submission to the council. The annual subscription is 10* L>d. J. S.— The Civil Service pensions were abolished * in IS7I. S. J.— We do not know the address of Home and Farm, punted in Sydney. Can any reader supply it. 1 K. C. 8.-(l) The fees are, we believe, 22s Gd. (2) Apply to the registrar, and till in the form he will supply you with. (3) Same place and cost. (4) An honorarium of aguineaor two is utually giveD, the an i omit being dependent upon the position of the parties. (5) At Braithwaitc's in all probability. (6) No. All such persons are chai latins. Bird Lime —The best bird lime is made from the inner bark of the holly, but a very good B'-bsti-tute ii made by bailing linsuoJ oil for nonie hours. When you think it is sufficiently sticky try it by dropping a few drops on to glas^ or a flagstone. If you prefer to buy it Mr Bills, of G orge street, will supply it to you in any quantity you may require it. Alfhjl —Mr Beveily kindly replies :— ln drawing » wheeled carriage, the distance of the horse from the load makes no difference, because the chains are parallel to the road ; but in dtapging a slftlge the chains are inclined and the horae partly supports the load, thus reducing tho amount of friction. Hence the nearer the horse is to the sledge the less force will be required to move it ; the inclination of the chains also adds to the weight of the hone, giving him a better foothold M. M., O-itlins.— We unfortunately are not in need of such contributions at present. With reference to your remaiks on the article on the suup kitchen, the writer replies:— The writer who fiigns hfr.-elf " MM , Oatlins" should have noted that, ttoe tirti 1c de In only with " thepoirof our tuwiu " My obirrvatious concerning them are the impressions of those who have had the best opportunities of studying our town poor and compaiiug them with the poor of former days acd of the old country. The agricultural labourer is quite a riifT-ient cla<.s, and lea'ls probably a very dr^ ary life. The picture the writer presents of children habitually dining off potatoes and salt would hardly be true of the town. All this, howi-ver, does not affect the truth of the article, which refers simply to the town poor, and is a plea that a stronger encouragement sh' uld be given to industry by reserving our help for thoie who have us?d their money wisely when they had it Would not this benefit women such as " M. M., (Jatlina " appears to be ? — C. M.