NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2947, 7 September 1910, Page 51

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in coming issue to be r«•eircd net later than MONDAY night. Qparhv Hills SubsCbibeb writes :—Having a paddock cf grass infested with tutu, <s fchereany danger of .licrses eating; the plant?—Statements vary as to the effect on horses* Dr Fitohett in a paper published in the Transections of the Now Zealand Insatiate for 1903, «iys: —"It is said that horses have- been known to eat freely of the plant without injury. Tho/ are said to refuse the young shoots, hut liave been known to eat the- berri-.-. If they abca;>3 it is probably because they <lo not eci enough cf the plant; that they eat- freely without evil results is net credible." You will s?«, therefore, that there is a certain amount of risk v. ith horses. If the grass is plentiful they would probably not look at the plant, specially if the animals are not newly introduced into the district. Amateur ask? whether the Florida velvet ivean is a vegetable or flower? How they are cultivated, and' what is the proper .time for sowing? If n vegetable, what is the method of cooking?—The Florida velvet bean is not a culinary bean, bur is a plant grown for srock. which are very fond of it either green or matured. B"■ng a nitrogenous plant it. is one of the best, land fertilisers that can bo grown as it enriclies the ground in a wonderful manner. Bow in the .spring 4ft apart, with the same distance between the row-. two to three beans together. Novice, Toko mis. want* to know the quantity of bluestone required per bushel of eoed and the quantity of water per lb of bluestone? —Suppose. 10 gallons o f water out. into a 12-gallon tub. and to this '2£lb of dissolved Milestone added. This would be sufficient to pickle five, bags of wheat or oats. It the seed is dipped in the .rni-fc'ire at the rate o 7 one bushel at a time in a thin bag. such a* a bra.n bag. till each grain is wetted, nr the conclusion of four hatrs ad-1 ■mother eigh! gallons of wates and 21b of bluestcne, and so on as be-fore. FokgetfOL. —The -«hip you refer to is probably ithe Ajumrea. which arrived at. Port Chalmers, undsi- the comma'd of Captain Pugb. on the 7th July, 1863. AIfATEUB. Heriot, asks: What nuant.itv of natenit driers would be required in mixing 281 b of white lead to be used on the outside of a woedsn building?—Winter. 2ilb; summer. 21b. The exact proportion of ingredients vary according to their uualitv. the. nature of the work requivrd. the climate, etc. The composition ?cr different coats also varies considerably. P. R., Oooho, write "In Tasmania th-•'■■•=' is a sliellftsfl' Aon;«b>iir'S: like an oy-tor with red like claws protruding about lji'i from the back and front <;f each. _ I understand it. is .called "SpoEdylus'*— something like that. From this brie,f account can yen enlighten me a little in your column." What family of fish dees it belong to?'" The er.ondvlus i- '>' i }' i family D"->otinidiEe, or cstreidae, a fan-dv •of cor.ohiferous iinollusca to wnir-'i (Tie common oyster belongs. The principal genara are.—Pecten. c-trea. lina, pinfuna, anoinia, placunoniia. spondylus. and plicatula. The sporidylus hnve boon found atached to rock** coral, oilier shells, etc., at. depths varying- from th" siirfr.es to !00 fathoms in the sens of warm and temperate climateM. ?# the West Indies, Canaries, the Mediterranean. I"- ia. Torres .Strait, tfie "Pacific, at:d West 'America. Puzzled aske :—Do horses shed their nio!ar< or grinders as well as their inctssots? As tihere. is a diffeiiep.ee of opinion among come people. I would like to get an .answer. The first teeth, known as the milk teeth, are tho central iuciscr*, or jiippers, of which the foal has four in the upper and lower jawe, as well as three molars on each siiv" of the upper and fciwor jaws. The latter may be covered

with soft structures of the gums. Shortly after the age cf nine months the corner inciters, completing tha number of six, begin to protrude, as does also the fourth .molar, behind fche three pre-molare. Shortly before two years of. age a, (ifiii permanent molar begins to prick through tho g"jm. The colt bar now a full set of temporary incisors, with three pre-molars (temporary) on each side top and bottom and two true molars (permanent) en each side top and bottom. At the age of two and n-ha!f years the horse has usually got its four permanent incisors. During- the same nerir. 1 similar ehanees lave been raking place in connection with the first two pre-molars. and when the .horse i* three years old the parmar.cnt prs-molars are present to the number of eight. Their recent appearance *-~ new teeth are indicated by the fact that trey shew no sign-. of br-in.g v.vrn. from which thev differ from those which l'e further baok. The next changes affect the lateral Tornporarv incisors, ton and bottc>n. and the third ,pre-molar (temporary) and include the cruuticn of a sixth molar at the hack of the mouth, which is cut at the r ;i!i ? time as (lie third pre-inolar. Thus during the fourth year rf it* life the horse has 15 permanent teeth a-dvanc-iv-i, and the eruption is often completed by the end of the year. Of the fi'.x molar teeth which occur on each side in the upper and lower jaws the throe in front are spoken cf as i ire-molars (which are shed), the three eosterior ones being known as true molars. S. J. ask- to which department he should apply when seeking information regarding Government lands b3'.ng opened up, condition? of ballot, etc.": —The LandOffice. Du.iv'in. A nosier is issued monthly bv tli-e Lands Department. W<dlingtn, giving particulars of land to he opened far'application. This is generally posted up ai the various railway stations. Christina. (1) The duration of a life sentence depends in the Home Country on the will of the Secretary for State or the Home Secretary, as the case may be, w"::o i«. of course, guided to some extent by the report- of the prison authorities as to a prisoner's conduct, health, ere. In the Dominion the Minister in cbarce usually consults his colleagues. (2) There is no distinction between imprisonment for life and imprisonment for the natural term of life. Dairyman. Portobello, writes: I have a cow that lets her milk leak before milking. She is worse when lying down, as there appears to be more pressure on h-M- udder. Do you know of anything that can be got 'to put on the ei-de of the teats to prevent her from wasting 'her mil!; '! She is a good cow otherwise. ——If the lois of milk is considerable, milk the cow three times a day instead of twice. Wo know of no means hv which the unduly dilated orifice of the teat can be contracted. QUAM DORMIN. - The approximate number of sheep in New Zealand at the end of April, 1910. was 23.792.9-17, an increase for the year of 312.240. _ The number of sheep in the Cnited Kingdom in 1907 was 30,011,333. BREEDER asks: If I want to register a Clydesdale horse in the New Zealand Stud Book, who is the rig!:': party to apply to?.—Mr O- B. Pamberton. secretary of the Canterbury A. and P. Association, Christ church. Anxious. Waipori.—The Defence authorities are said to be hard at work arranging the detail" in connection with the new Territorial Force. At present the age for compulsory training is front 13 to 21. but under the amending act. now before Parliament, it is proposed to make the age. from 18 (or after leaving a secondary school) 'o 25 years. I T ntil the detail* are settled by the authorities it is not possible to say whether'all young moil medically fit for fiery sea will have to undergo compulsory training, or only those who .'are drafted into the Territorial Force. D. K. M.. Mikonui. would like to know the best way to bend a deer's horn to make a handle/for a walking l stick out of one. He wa* told to boil the horn, and did so. for 16 hours, but the result was a sad failure. It is doubtful if the antlers of a deer can be bent to serve our correspondent's purpose. The only chance would be to use a steam-box, where a much greater boat can he obtained than by boiling. Kxoerts in Dunedin consider it would he impracticable. Perhaps some of our readers may have be"ii successful, in which case no doubt they will supply the required information. IXQtHSITIVE. —Although a name and address are given it dees not seem probable that your qite-tion is bona. fide. The veriest schoolboy would be able to tell you how much orofit would be made on the sale, reuurchase. and resile of a horse at £65, £6O. and £7O. W. W. H.••-•• Old Time Reader'' writes: The photo is that of a nephew the son of a dead brother. If the querv had been, sisters and brother.- 'had' 1 none, tho query could no; have been s-lived, but. b'ing '".save" I none, we may legitimate.;. - :t~uine ih<_. of I boss brothers and fcisteis a: the time of the-openitm of. tie- no rr, We are. very nit't-h the (i"l)lor cf .1. • ci isriua! proix.under of th s very sr.lL u'd chestnut, 'fir tips ver. convenient and convincing loophole he has left n-i < ' eicape, the assumpt'on of she drath of the p*rt : e*. He - not W. if. ll..—iti his d'.nire "to hp.ve " tie unwary, line been very badiy "Lad'' himself, by his lix use of the tense of the verb "to have." '" O. F. R.." on the same subject, writes: —The photo is my lioohew's. That man—the father of the oer=<::i in the phoic—is my brother. I'iiv brother is mv father's sen. Sisters and brothers ha-'ve \ irone v ould he truo even if d(>ad .it t! ...■ fme of speech. Sisters and brothers had I none would he quite grammatical, and a complete bar to the nephew solution. If the querist never hid any brothers there could be no" nephew's photo to look upon. The f|r"iist is bound by the tense of the verb lie has used, and tlos.e who attempt solution must stick to the query as a whole. The cru\ of the whole thing turns on the tense cf the verb " to have." A very fine grammatical puzzle indeed. —" Brydone " says tho < illy >".mtion is rha; the man. looking at a. photograph and • :aying : "Sisters and brotliers have 1 none, yet that rran's father is my "-on." was looking e= i i ' ._! =m —^>

at the photograph of his own sen.— ri Hook" continues: Tho reply to the question is that the father who is speaking- i?. looking at his son's photo.

Settler, Leo Stream.—(l) The fares by steamers from Dvmedin to Vancouver are. First class. £'44 Is: second class. £29 Is: third, £IS 14:. (2) From Dunedin to Calgary: First class. £49?.;; second. £34 8s; Ihird, £24 Is. (3) In travelling by train passengers pay for meals as taken, each item being priced on the bill of fare. Meals can be obtained on trains or at refreshment, rooms en route. (4) The coal consumption of various steamers varies. To ascertain the coal consumption of a particular steamer in 20 minutes you wbu'd probably have to refer to the owner.