NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2915, 26 January 1910, Page 51

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Quettiens for- reply in coming iS3ua to be nMiv«d not l»ter than MONDAY night. New Chum.—H. M. Davey, consulting engiener, replies:—No, you are not right in supposing that a 3-incb pipe will carry half the waiter that a 6-inch pipe will, although you are by no means the only person who has thought this. Indeed, .engineers have been blamed for not agreeing to this supposed obvious fact, for it seems obvious to some people. You might see things better if you cut out in, say, a piece of sheet lead or anything of weight, a circle six inches in diameter. When that is cut 6ut, mark and cut this piece into two 3-inch diameter pieces, when you will have two 3-inch circles and two pieces roughly resembling triangles, but of circular profile, each round on one. edge and hollow on the other two edges. If you have cut these out correctly,- you should find that ihe two circles of 3-inoh diameter weigh exactly as much as, the two odd pieoes, or. in other words, each of the four should weigh the same. This will show you that a 6-inch circle is exactly four . time* the area, of «, 3-inch circle, which it - is, each triangle being equal to eaoh small circle. But it .is not quite right to assume that even four 3-inch pipes will carry as ■' much water under the same conditions as 'one 6-inch one. for the fact is that the • friction in one 6-inch pipe is less than the. ' combined friction in four 3-inch ones, so ■ that where a 6-inch pipe carries 317 gallons of water a minute, four 3-inch pipes would carry only 224, or. 56 gallons each, per minute. Roughly, the frictional circnmfarenoe of a 6-inch pipe is over 18 inches, and that of a 3-inch pipe over nine inches, or over 36 inohes for the four; this will explain the position, I think. . If not, .please write again, saying what you do not understand, and I will try -»and explain further. Constant Reaper. Dunedin. asks for a recipe for raspberry vinegar.—Bruise a quart of freshly-gathered raspberries in a basin; -oour over it a pint of vinegar, cover it closely; let it stand for three days, and stir it daily; strain it through a flannel hag; let it drop as long as anything will come from it, but do not press it. To apint of the liquor put a pound of powdered loaf sugar, boil it for 1-0 minutes and take off the scum as it rises. When cold, bottle and oork it securely. Housekeeper asks:—(l) If ripe. or . unripe gooseberries should be used for making gooseberry jam. (2) How much water should be used for a pound of fruit, (3) a recipe for gooseberry wine.—(l) Either green or ripe gooseberries may be used for jam. A. number of people prefer ripe gooseberries -fA*.jam,- using the greer ones for jelly. (2) In making jam sufficient water to keep the jam from burning is used—as a cupful to keep it from sticking. A cupful is euffioient for a large quantity; it is not measured Ijy the pound of fruit. In ease of ripe gooseberries a little only is required. (3) This wine may be made from ripe ox unripe gooseberries. In the former, | bruise 10 gallons of rige gooseberries in a j tub, leave them in that etate for 24 hours. I then press the pulp through a. hair-cloth or canvas bag; r.etiirn the remaining pulp into, the tub and pour on. it four gallons of hot water. Stir thj? up well, leave it for 12 hours, and expreee tlj® liquor as before. Mix the first sh& second liquor together and throw away, the ,ea|h*tis ; ted pulp.

To every four gallons of the mixed liquor add 14 pounds of white sugar, or 15 of moist. Dissolve and mix this thoroughly with the liquor, and leave it to ferment. Should the weather be very cool place the liquor near the fire. As the fermentation proceeds, the liquor becomes less and less sweet, till at the completion of the fermentation the sweetness will have entirely disappeared, and consequently the progress of the fermentation may be readily tested by tasting the liquor from time to tinie. When the fermentation has ceased, raok the wine off as clear as possible and completely fill a cask with it; then bung it closely, and set it by in a cellar. Five years in the wood will not be any too long; and by this tinie it will be in high perfection, and may be bottled. For Un-ripe-gooseberry Wine. —Take eight gallons of green gooseberries, bruise them well, add eight gallons of cold' water; let them stand for 24 hours, drain the liquor well from tho gooseberries through a sieve, put three and a-half pounds of loaf sugar to every gallon of liquor, pour it into a cask, add a quart of the best gin; let it stand for six months, then it. Shbub writes, forwarding a specimen for analyst:—Mr G. M. Thomson. F..L..5., answers—The specimen enclosed is the comrrvnT. totara (Podocarpus totara): The fruit of all the plants of this genius (miro, totara, white pine, etc.) consists of a small nut seated on the top of a fleshy peduncle, which simulates a berry. The simplest manner for your correspondent to get these trees in his place would be to collect young specimens any time from May to the beginning of August, taking care to get the roots as perfect as possible. The plants take too long to grow from seed. Their subsequent growth is also very slow. W. S., Invercargill, asks for a recipe for mead. —See answer to "Apiary," in. issue of January 19, also "Subscriber" in this week's Witness. Subscriber, Wa.ipukurau, asks for a recipe for honey mead. —We published last week a recipe for making honey beer (see under "Apiary"). As there appears to be a demand for mead recipes, we give one which differs considerably from that published last week: —To every gallon of water put 4lb of honey, and boil for three-quarters of an hour, skimming it well in the meantime. To every gallon of this liquor add! one ounce of hops, then boil for half-an-hour, and let stand until the following day, when it is to -be put into the cask, and to 13 gallons of the liquor add a quart of brandy. Let be tightly stopped until the fermentation is over, and then bring it - very close. If a large cask be made, a year should elapse before bottling; for smaller casks, the time should be proportioned accordingly. Subscriber, Ratanui, asks how to remedy a sticky oilskin.—Mix well together one pint of raw linseed oil and a quarter-pint Vvf gold size, and rub tho mixture on the oilskin with a piece of ra-sr. This has been . stated as a sure remedy. G. W. 8., Marton, writes that he ordered gladiolus bulbs from U.S.A., and that he has received word from them stating they are prevented from sending anything except seed by "The New Zealand Orchard and Garden Diseases Act, 1908." Is this the case, or are there any exceptions ? Tho Orchard and Garden Pests Act reads that fruits or plants affected or liable to be affected with any disease previously specified (in your' case American blight is feared) are prohibited, except " when such introduction takes place in accordance with these regulations; end it is hereby . declared that such regulations shall come into force on the" day of the publication thereof in the New Zealand Gaoette." " Every shipment of fruit or plants must he accompanied—in tihe case of plants or portions of plants, except grape vines or portions thereof, by a certificate, as set out in the sixth schedule hereto. • signed by an officer of the department of Agriculture, or other department performing the function's or duties relating to horticulture, in the country or place where such plants _ or , portions • of. plants were grown, certifying that the same have been subjected in a suitable enclosure to the fumes of hydrocyanic acid gas for the space of one hour, and have been sprayed with or dipped in Bordeaux mixture; or, in the alternative, by a certificate, as set- out in the seventh schedule hereto, signed by an officer of the Department of Agriculture, or other department performing the functions or duties relating to horticulture, in such country or place, certifying that such plants or portions of plants are free from the diseases mentioned in the schedules hereto:—4. On the production of a certificate as mentioned in the preceding clause at the office of an inspector under the. said act. such, inspector may. if satisfied that the certificate applies to the fruit or plants proposed to be introduced, and that the law has been otherwise complied with, allow such fruit or plants to be landed and disposed of without further restriction." We have taken these "extracts from the act as they refer to your complaint, Tho remainine schedules given in the leaflet - refer 0* fruit, 'etc.' L. N..' Alburv. a-ska for Major CJrossgrove's address—Major David Coasajrove. Dominion Chief Scout, Tuahiwi, Canterbury, J. 8., Waiwer-a South, says he has been endeavouring to' grow a date palm from the seed, but has not been successful in getting more than one leaf to appear. — - Mr Howden. of Howden and Mon-crief, answers: " Thr date palm is 1 a tropical plant, and your failure must be attributed to the above fact Your details are rathe* meagre, as you do not say whether it was grown indoors or in the open. No doubt, the seed germinated, and then at the first touch of. cold the plant died. It would grow in a greenhouse with care and proper attention m the temperature." Tan Boots asks how to darken tan boots. — There are many and various methods of making tan boots Black, but a simple and most effective way of darkening light boots is to rub them with banana skins.. Cider asks for a recipe for making cider. The apples should be fully ripe when treated for cider-making, If not ripe they should be kept till th.ey ire so. They are then ground in a mill made of two fluted cylinders of hardwood or cast-iron, working against each other. The pulp is lifted and nut into strong bags (horsehair are usually used), and are subjected to heavy pressure, such as the leverage of a long beam would give. The juice is run into tubs, which are carefully kept full in order that the yeast- may run over as it forms; . not sink into the liquor. After working from four to seven days the liquor should be racked into casks and placed in a cool cellar, and b 3 kept there until midwinter, when it may bo used; or may be racked again, and after a brief further rest be used. Tarras writes ask : if a ranner named J. Louden had eve- -n 100 yards in Dunedin in 10 l-Ssec. —We have no knowledge of a runner of this name ever competing in Dunedin. Neither has Mr W. M'Donald, the well-known handicapper, whese records go back 15 years. " Tarras" might say whether the Louden he refers to is a pre-sent-day performer or one of the oldtimers. V . . .'

J. C, Mossburn.—The lines you quote are from Tennyson's " Lady Clara Vere cte Vere." E. A. C.—Please forward a sample of the grass itself—stem, blade, fruiting panicle, etc.—for identification.