Though there may be some grounds for the

Otago Witness, Issue 2250, 15 April 1897, Page 5

Though there may be some grounds for the

statement that autumn ruanur-

Autumn ing is not expedient, ifc is nob Cultivation, possible to bring forward any

arguments againsb autumn cultivation. When the autumn weather is fine, and the Foil in a dry and free-working condi* tion, an immense amount of good can be done in workiDg and cleaning stubble land preparatory to a spring crop. The wheat ia, of course, the first consideration after the harvesting and tbreehiog, bu^. when the autumn wheat is sown the stubbles should occupy the teams until the winter r^ins or snow put a stop to all such work. If there is land fib and available for wheat the sooner it i« sown the better. One acre prop-rly prepared now, stnd sown and covered while the Feed bed is in good order for working, is better th^n two cr three icre3 pub in when the land is cold, nodticn, aud waterlogged. Last year we had almost incesssut rain ia the au'umn, and it was impossible to get the wheifc sown in a satisfactory manner, but we had, even under such uufavourable conditions, ample proof of the benefit of early eow.ug, as t.he autumn-sown wheat stond the trjiog effects of the dry summer much b< tter than any tbab was later Rown. But there is now, »s I have said, a good opportunity t.o skim plough dirty stubble land and scuffls the weeds out, or cause the weed needs to germinate in order to be destroyed ab a subsequent ploughing ; iv f*ct. overy advantage should be taken of a fine autumn to get well forward with all pofs'ble tillage operations, co that there will be less to do iv the spring, wben it is the usn&l thing to be greatly delayed through too much rain. English farmer* have A wholesome horror of a we 1 :, aad sloppy autumn, which prevents them from working their stubble land and destroying the season's growth of weeds. They say that autumn work — that is, fisld woik — is "golden work," so convinced are they of the benefit conferred on the land by the judicious uso of the ploughs, &;., after harvest.

It is reported that & Victorian farmer has discovered a new way of giving the Manuring young wheat plant a good start. Seed Whtat. He advrcate* applying super-

phospbat"d Maiden Island guano fo tho need wheat immediately before it. is sown. When tho «eed wheat is wetted with the bluest <ne solution iv tha ordinary pickling procets he mixes the powdered guano with it, and claims thab the manura thus adhering to the teed gives ib a send-off tuat results in doubling the yield. This yarn about the yield being doubled by means of a pinch of manure reminds ma of the story about a Scotch farm overseer, who when told by hia master tbat artificial fertilisers were being discovered which were so powerful thab a ro.i of land could be well manured by as lmv.h cs he could put in one of hia vest pockets, replied, " Ay, sir, that may be so, but I'm thinking you could pub the crcp in the other vest pockeb." The amount of guano that ia to perform such wonders, according to the Victorian farmer, is just a coating that sticks to the we* grain. He cays three bushels will take up sSlb of manure, and as that is Beed enough for two acres it means that 281b of manure per acre ia going to increase the yield 100 per cent. In case anybody wishes to give the plan a trial I must add that the seed requires to bs taken to the field at once and sown broadcast by hand while ib is web. I suppose the manure would rub off from the graiu if allowed to get quite dry. Ifc would be an easy matter to tesb the resulb by sowing a strip thus treated through a field of wheat nob manured, but served alike in all other respects. Professor Bain, of Lincoln Agricultural College, might' take the matter in band and let us know more about ib next harvest.

If all reports be true, a good many of the lata crops in the south hare been Spoiled f poiled by the wet, and a good Crops. many are yet; standing in the

stook in the vain hope that they may yet be dried in the field. I also learn thai; a good many stacks have heated owing to the crop being stacked too scon after harvesting. Between the two extremes of leading-in too hurriedly and leaving the crop too long in the stook there is generally a happy medium which permits of it being stacked in good condition. I have heard of several considerable crops of firsfc-class wheat having been ruined through risking too much. One farmer I havo heard of

who had 100 acres of the very be-t crop of wheat, and who intended threshing it oub of the stook, was ciughb with lha break in the fine weather, and that wheat is standing out yet. Such risks ought nob to be taken iv southern districts at any time, and even in Canterbury the practice of threshing out of the stook is accompanied by a good deal of risk. I knew on one occasion a field of wheat several hundred acres in extent being sprouted through moistura accompanied by heat coming on before it could be threshed. The cous? quencs was that the whole of tho crop b?gan to shoot green before dry weather returned. It had to be led in .ifter wards and stacked for a long time before ii. was threshed, and then it was sold for fowls' feed. There ought to be a good deal of fowls' wheat this season if all accounts ba true. There are times, of course, when the farmer is the victim of adverse circumstances ; but ib dcea suem a pity that aay crop should have been lost this season, which has been exceptionally good. Bub since the dry weather broke ap there has been very little drying. I have heard «n old identity with half a century's experience of New Zealand weather say that nothing pays back like ths weather. A long spell of good weather is tolerably certain to be followed by an equally long spell of bad weather. Tho farmer, above any man, is ugh b, not to pub too much reliance upon a Jong spall of line weather, and tru*b to its continuance to get hie crop led in. Frances M. Cole, in the Mark Lane Express, gives some hints on T>r !ze butterPrize Butter- making as 2>ractised by bar. To Making. b?gic, thin Jady *ays tbs milk iw<;d is the predueo of Jersey cows. The milk as ?oon »h drawn i : /oai tho cows is taken to the dairy and straiued through muslin tied over the strainer into shallow pans, each of which holda a gallon. These stand iv trougfcs ranged along tho bides of the dairy, and containing 3iu in depth ot water, either hot or cold, according fo the seasou. The milk ia allowed to stand for 24- hours, when ib i* hkimmed, and the cream put into jars to finish ripening. Ifc is usually sufficiently ripe for churning the day after it is skimmed, though iv warm weather ib is sometimes iipe enough the same day. Ccuming takes pUca ev<* ry day, and the churn used is Chesld'a "Baay Centrifugal," which brings the butter in about; fiv>i minutes-. The cream ie put in the chuia at b4-deg tosS3eg Fahr. in summer, aud sSdeg to 60deg in wjcttr. As the cream gets thick a little water js added from time to time viil the grains begin to form. Then sufficient wa er is put in to keep the grains perfectly separated, and churning is continued till they are the proper size — about equal to mediumsized shot. The cover is then taken oif, and all the grains rinsed in the churn. Next ths buttermilk is drawn off through » sieve covered with muslin, and the butter washed twica in plenty of cold water, the churn being swiftly turned a few times for each washing. By using plenty of water the grains are kept separata, and each grain is perfectly washed. A, brine is then made of l^lb salt to a gallon of water ; this ii strained into the churn and allowed to remain for half an hour. The butter is then removed to the worker — which has been previously scalded and scrubbed with salt, and rinsed with co!d water — and carefully worked,, When sufficiently dry, tho butter is weighed and made up into shapes, and printed on top with any design. AH the utensils used for milk or cream are first washed with water hofc enough to remove all grsase, and then washed a second time with hot water. After wa/ds they are juiS dipped into boiling water and wiped, thus ensuring perfect cleanliness. Thsse in brier are the essentials in the making of prime batter, which, ought to be turaed out from most dairies in the colony, instead of the horrid stuff that is sold to disgrace the name of butter so often. Milk can be so easily adulterated without risk of detection by the consumer, A. Standard except at considerable expense of on his part, that the law reUtMilk. ing to the adulteration of milk ought to be made very ebringenb. One way of controlling the *ale ot milk is that of fixing a legal standard. According to the New York State law milk is declared to be adulterated when it contains less than 3 per ceob. of fat, or lees than 12 per cent, of total sulids. This standard was fixed because it was proved after ample experiment that the poorest normal milk from a healthy cow rarely contained less than 3 per cont cf fat and 12 per cent, of total solids. Although this is the standard, there are rare iustacces of perfectly healthy cows giving milk poorer in quality than the minimum of the legal standard. Ib must nob ba considered that normal milk cantaining 3 per cent, ot fat will always contain 12 per cent, of solids ; as a mabter of fact the total solids will more likely be under 12 per cent, unless the butter fab is slightly over 3 per cent. At the same time Buch a law is a safeguard to the consumers, and has an educational effect upon the producers, who know that the milk sold by them must be kept up to a certain sbandard. Ib is to their own interest, therefore, to feed their milking cows liberally, and to supply good wholesome milk to their customers. Such a

Nimmo and Blair's "Standard" Seeds are obtainable from stotekeepera in almost every township in New Zealand, and where they are not clients should write direct for their supplies. " Standard" Seeds are true to name, of highest germination, and most reliable. Danedin. — Advfc.

j law requires to be put iti fore* in all our towns, : as mucu of the milk sold ia certainly below the I New York State standard. Much of U, indeed, is robbed of part of its cre&m before it retches the consumer, or else adulterated by the addition of water. Aqeicola.