NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2855, 2 December 1908, Page 51

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Q«titioat for reply in coming i»sue to b« r*Miraa n»t ltUr than UOKDAT night.

A. H. — -As you have decided to grow your own onion seed, you should select the -largest, soundest, and prime st bulbs, and lea,ve, say, two or three, blossoms to ripen. StTBSCBiBEB.. — The specimens of grasses sent in . by you were submitted to Mr G. if. ■Thomson, F.I>.S., the newly-elected member for Dunedin North, who identifies them as follows: — (1) Bromus mollis, common brome, grass; a common weed, but of very little value as a pasture grass. Almost as •worthless as Yorkshire fog. (2) Trifolium tubium. yellew clover, or yellow suckling: <v common pasture plant, not as good as alsike clover, but often thriving on poor .soils. (3) Bromus sterilis, a worthless grass. (4) Hordeum murinum, barley grass — a wayside weed, of little value as a pasture grass. (5) Erodium moschaium. the musky stork's bill — a wayside weed ■which occasionally invades grass paddocks ; of no calve fcr fodder. Native. — By the following simple process canes and similar sticks may be stained ..'t rich brown: — Dissolve a few grains sulphate of magnesia in sufficient water to take it up; moisten the surface of the cone with it', and hold it over the name of a spirit lamp close enough to scorch if. By care, the whole surface may be b«mght to a rich brown, or beautifully variegated by heating some parts more ihan others, thus varying the colour from white to the deepest black. The colour ■K-ill appear dull at first; but on oiling it with raw linseed oil and 'rubbing it vrith a smooth piece of hard «rood. it will be beautifully developed. Give the cane jio other finish, unless it be another oiling some days after the first. ifttiKEß -wants to know how to cure * -warts on -cows' teats. Tie a string, round the neck of the wart, and snip off with sharp ■scissors. Apply carefully butter of antimony, bluestone. or chloride of zinc, or any other caustic, and the wart should be removed. Constant Reader. — The Ballarat. or Eureka Stockade, riot took place on November 30, iSSS not 1854, as suggested by you. Twentyf=:x civilians and three soldiers were killed and many wounded. Salt writes asking for the proportions of Palt to be put to butter. When preparing for market, in pounds or pats. 2!b of salt (very best) is sufficient for 1001b oT butter. For butter to be used while 'resh, 2lb of salt per cwt will be sufficient r"or keeping. 4lb per cwt may be v. c od. onelialf the quantity to be worked in, as in ihe case of fresh pats, immediately after leaving the churn, and the remainder the following day, when being packed awe# in keg or jtr. Use only the very best quality of salt. Subscriber, .Toharahi, writes asking how • o treat a horse troubled with greasy hee'.s pnd swollen lumps on legs. Dust equal parts of charcoal *nd bluestone, finely powdered, over the heels and swollen parts daily until healed. Green food and Aoz of Fowler's solution should be given daily. Ekader. — The manuscript to which yon refer

did not reach the Witness office. Amatkur Gabdkner. — To destroy common plant lice (aphides) and other insects _in the preenhouse and garden, the following remedies have been recommended: — Dusting slack lime on the trees or bushes when the foliage is wet, syringing with soapsuds or tobacco water, or a strong decociion of quassia with soapsuds ; also a weak solution of chloride of lime. The followine recipe is said to be an almost infallible remedy for mildew, scale, red spider, <-tc. : — 2oz flour of sulphur worked into a paste with water, 2oz washing soda. Joz of common tobacco, and a piece of quidrlime aboHt the size of a duck's egg. Pour them *1J into a saucepan with one gallon of water, boil and stir for a quarter of an hour, and let the whole settle until it becomes cold and clear. It should then be poured off, leaving the sediment. In Vain* ii t dd water according to the

-strength or substance •of the foliage. It will keep good for a. long time if kept closed. Alex writes : —(1) Is it/ harmful to breeding ewes to turn them on to a paddock of rape and white mustard at this time of the yeaT? (2) Is it necessary for sheep to have water to drink on same rape paddock? "Agricola" replies:— (l) No, it is not harmful to breeding ewes to turn them on to rape and mustard at this time of the year, but it would be as well to turn them off the crop occasionally. (2) The Eheep are not likely to require water unless the weather is very hot, but you should if possible give them access to some pool or stream.