NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2301, 7 April 1898, Page 5

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Farmers have probably noticed ■ that *a certain variety of wheat is constantly The Best quoted at a much higher figure Wheat than any other in the London To" Grow. ' market. It is "Daluth" or

" Hard Dulutb," and I see that just now ib is quoted several ehillings per quarter higher than any other imported wheat and 78 higher than English wheat — or perhaps I should say British wheat. The quotations give 42s 6d per quarter for Duluth and 353 6d for British wheat. Daluth wheat comes from Canada, and is said to make splendid flour of a beautiful nuefcy flavour. Ib is a hardy wheat, or ib could nob flourish in a Canadian climate, especially that of Manitoba, where ifc is largely grown. It is a good cropper, and is said to stand the wind weil, but I cannot speak from experience as yet. I am, however, going to give it a trial this next season, as I am getting a bag of seed from a farmer who imported some lasfc year and is well satisfied with ib. Ib costs no mow to grow an acre of this wheat than any other, and ib is just as well for us to produce the best aud mosb saleable varieties of any crop when pospible. It may not be generally known that the duty upon all wheat brought to New Zealand U 9d per cental (100!b), which is equal to about s£d per bushel of 621b. The principal of the Dookie Agricultural College, Victoria, says that No. 1 hard Dulubii is a smsii, hard, dark gvain that; moat of the Victorian farmers would nob look at a second time, and yet ib commands a higher price than the best grades of Russian or Californian wheat. IS is the fashion to suppose that the large white wheats are superior to any other, but the proof is in the price, and there is no doubt about the facb that the little darklooking wheat tops the market and beats all comers. I question, however, whether the Duluuh wheat would appreciate the soil and climate of Australia. If ib, from any cause, were to lose its special characteristic as a good flour-make* 1 its special value would be gone, and its small size and dark colour would then reduce it below the level of prices of other red wheats. Ifc may be that the change from Canada to Australia together with careful cultivation would enable ib to be improved in size and colour, and then if it retained its peculiar native flavour and aroma, so to speak, combined with improved siae and colour, these would make ft the king

| of wheats in every reapcob. Ib is not "generally j kuown that hard Duluth may be sown in spring, I aud being accustomed to fche short Canadian summer will probably ripen earlier than our '- long- berried spring wheats. In fact, I believe it ia properly a spring wheat despite its small , round berry, and fche farmer referred to as hay- ! ing tried a few nacres lasb year sowed in fche l spring and reaped a fair yield in February. I 1 have been told that its special value in the ' eyes of English millers is caused by its extreme | hardness making it so suitable for mixing with j the softer British wheats. i , ' Laßfc week I referred to the number and variety of the pests wbich troubla Plant farmers, but omitted to state Diseases. extenuating circumstances which should be some little consolation. The fact thafc'the insecb and fungus foci ot cultivated crops are increasing year by year , is a proof that we &re progressing and endeai vouring to improve upon fche plants that nature provided us with in the beginning. On this subject a late well-known professor remarked : •'Our enemies increase because cultivation induces change of habits in wifd organisms, because ifc presents an ever-increasing variety of food, or host plants ; because fche food supDly is large, and in more or le3s continuous areas ; and, finally, because the natural equilibrium or tension is destroyed." This is quite likely, and is ! n sccordance with farmers' experience in all parts of fche cultivated world. We see for ourselves that a plant in its wild state thrives and flourishes free from disease or enemy of any kind as a rule, but as soon as we take ib in hand | and improve ifc by, _ selection «nd culfci- | vation ib begins to develop a tendency to j contract a variety "of diseases and parasites. ■ The same is trues of stock, which is, generally i _speaking, more dalicafce *nd less hardy tho i nearer pure blood is approached. , The wild I liowe of the pampas or prairies is not troubled ' with many of the numerous diseases incidental i fco improved horse flesh, nor is ib probable that: | the Rocky Mountain sheep are subjecb to lnngi worm, broxy, or an/ other of ihe-many diceaees 1 that afflict the domesticated sheep. With regard to diseases of plants, ifc is hard to say whe<ner I i.hey are caused by fungus or are due to ; unfavourable circumstances or surroundings. I A dry season causes weak and slow growth in I swedes and cabbages, and blight ntually I appeara upon them, whereas if fche season were i favourable and growth strong and rapid no ! blight would be seen. In fche case of whoat, tc-o, we farmers know how a floe, well-grown 1 crop of wheat is sometimes attacked by rad 1 rust just before harvest, and we are i pretty certain that a spell of damp, 1 muggy weather 5s the cause of fche sudden . appearance of the rust aSd fche resulting shrivelled grain. Late oafca become rusfcy pro- , bably because of fche increasing length of damp ! autumn nights during the ripening stage, bub 1 fche rust, beyond discolouring the grain and j spoiling the straw, does nob damage oat grains in the same degree as with wheat. _A audden change of climate or soil sometimes induces disease'in plants ; sourness in the coil ia also responsible for much disappointment to the farmer wifch respect to crops grown upon undrained land. It has been truly said thab i by endeavouring to improve upon plants in their i natural irfcata we disturb bhe equilibrium ia nature, and must put up with the consequences. ' If this is so ib is also true that any crop pesb or 1 parasite has now many hundreds of chances oi \ thriving for one possessed 50 or 100 years ago.

Chalk seems peculiar to the northern hemisphere, as I have nob heard 'of Chalk aad any being found on this side of Marl. the line. In fact, I believe ib is confined to the old world, and is not included in the geology of America. We have abundance of limestone, vbub no chalk, which seems rather strange, seeing thab both are composed of the same substance— carbonate of lime. Chalk i 3 really a eoft, earthy variety of limestone, and can be ploughed and brought to ths surface and use thus made of the manurial substances it contains, such as phosphoric acid, &c. Cha^ may be said to be a cross between sand and clay in regard to texture, and thu3, when mixed with sand or sandy soil, it makes ib more retentive and gives it " body, so to say ; and when mixed with clay ib makes ifc open and more friable, Marl is generally used for this purpose in England. Mad is a mixture of chalk and clay, and frequently cpnfcains phosphoric acid and other ash ingredients. It is usually applied to land for the sake of fche carbonate of lime ib contains. Chalk, limestone, and marble are all composed chiefly of carbonate of lime, or rather calcium carbonate, the difference being only in degree of density. Chalk is soft, limestone much harder, and marble much harder still. All three are derived from minute sea shells or solidified masses of coral. The chalk formation in England consists chiefly of fche upper and fche lower*strata ; the upper or higher part carrying a short herbage suitable for sheep walks, while the lower beds are more fertile and capable of growing mosb farm crops. The largesb farm in England, mentioned by ma a week or two ago, is composed of what is called a chalk soil. It is a pity that there is no chalk here, as ib does not require any burning, but caa be dug oub of the chalk pits in the autumn andsptead over the land. The float breaks down

20,000 Bedding Plants, including Asters, Phlox, Cosmos, Stocks, Lobelia, Coreopsis, Marigolds, Dianthus, Gaillardia — la dozen. Orders for 53, post free to country.— N.lMMQ *Ht Blair, Dunediu*

the lumps and makes it liko slaked lime. Iti chemical and manurial value is, however, only that of mild lime, but it has a most beneficial mechanical effect upon the texture of stiff cay land such as abounds in Otago and Southland.

Honey is one of those products which colonial * farmers pay little attention to, Honey and if the good wife does not and take the matter in hand, the Its Uses. production of boney on a farm is

seldom more than is required for the use of the household. At any rate the amount of honey and wax sent to England is a mere fraction ef what would be available for export if bee-keeping were taken up properly. Last year only 2000cwt of honey and 5000cwt of beeswax were imported into England trotn the colonies, the total' imports from, abroad being only 20,000cwt of honey and 43,000cwt of w&x. Honey is worthy of more attention, if only as an article of diet for our own consumption. -It holds high rank in the dietary scale, and is both wholesome and nourishing. It never turns rancid, and will keep under warm and dry conditions for years, and undergoes »o deleterious changes whatever. Strange to say honey can be counterfeited, and much of the so-called superfine " table honey " that is set before tourist 3on the Continent was never collected by the busy bee, and is manufactured from maize or from the glucose contained in some fsuits. There ar<s many usea to which honey can be put in the way of saving Bugar, and it is very wholesome food for children. A pleasant bsverage called mead can be made from fermented honey and water, and recently! see it^ is v said that very good culinary vinegar can be made from honey. It is desirable that every farm house should be supplied with sufficient honey for the use of the" family, but I question whether it would be profitable as % marketable product if laigely produced. I know that there is not much eucouragpmenfc to export honey, as the price realised.at Home has in some cases barely covered freight and other costs. The local markets are often very bare of good honey, and in such a season as this has been there is bound to be a poor crop, for the prevalence of cold, biting winds has been sufficient to check the industry of the bees and puzzle them altogether.

In my note last month dealing with the profit and loss of a good paying farm Iliat Bowing in Scotland I said that I did not Account. understand one item—" Bowing account." Since sending in that note I have been looking over a copy of the Live Stock Journal, in which appears an explanation of the term "bowing." Ifc is merely another nsme for dairying on shares in the south-western counties of Scotland, where the custom is very common. Bowing is letting out sown by farmers to a class of middlemen called

" bowers," a herd of cowa so leL cut being called a "bowing." Therefore tbe item in the Us 1 ; of receipts set down as "Boeing account £150 " meant that the cows of ths farm had been let out to bowers, and that amount had been received as the hire. Cows are lefc out in this way because on a .farm of mixed husbandry the necessary attention cannot conveniently be given to the dairy,' and the men who take the cows from farmer* in this confine their attention to dairying, and therefore are enabled to give more for the hire of the cows than the farmer could probably make out of them. There are two classes of bowers : he who pays a certain sum in cash to the farmer and who can dispose of the milk ia whatever, way he thinks best. To the other class belongs the " kaner," as he is called, who pass for the use of the cows in cheese — a certain weight of cheese per cow per annum. Various arrangements are also made with regard to the amount of rent per cow — the farmer undertaking to provide grass in summer and fodder in winter, in which case the rent charged would be more. As mucij>as £15 has been paid in rent per cow per annum in the case of first-class cows. I should think it is an excellent arrangement for a farmer to get a eubstantial amount in cash per annum for his cows, and also get free from all the bother and worry of "keeping & dairy and looking after the feeding. Of course a good cow would not be handed over to any but a perfectly reliable and trustworrhy tenant ; but, on the other hand, it is obvious that the hirer would feed and treat the cows properly in order to mate them produce as much as possible. If veterinary attention is necessary it is charged to the farmer, and if a cow beccmes diseased she is ?f>nt back to the farmer, who must provide a suitable sub-stitute-or make a proportionate reduction in the rent for the herd. Since writing the foregoing I have been favoured with a few lines from a corespondent (through the editor), who briefly describes the bowing custom, which, as tiejs»;jr«s, ia peculiar to the south-west of Scotland and does not obtain in the northern and eastern parts. At any rate it is evident that there are a few good farms in that part of Caledonia. Agricola.