NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3035, 15 May 1912, Page 47

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions fear reply in coming issue to be received not later than SATURDAY night. Payment fob Lunch Time.—Southland Farmer writes:—l see in one of your •late- issues a query in re lunoh time on the iarm at harvest- tame. During-a 30 years'' experience of farming I have always paid for lunch time during harvesting and thrashing, and so far as I can learn this- course is the one usually followed. R. T. Z.—Horsehair is not a suitablematerial for stuffing saddles, collars, etc., and cannot be made suitable for that purpose. . The material generally used is the hair on the tufts .of cow's tails. This is cleaned, Worked up into a kind of roi>e. and then baked, when it is ready for use. Rex. —(1) A member of a school committee cannot legally do work for which ho receives payment from the school committee. (2) The gibund for planting a row of macrocarpass should be prepared now, and the trees planted during tho next three months or so. Amateub, Invercargili.—To grow holly berries, gather tho berries _ when thoiOughly ripe, break up and mix with sand. Let them remain in a heap in a dry place for 12 ir.Onths, stirring the heap occasionally. Sow in the following spring in ground that has been thoroughly prepared. Let the young plants remain in the ground for two years before planting into nursery lines. Probably you would find a reference to growing holly in a good book on gardening. Rancitata. —Tho botanical name of *.ho " Spaniard" or speargrasd is Aoiphylla squarrOsa. The native name is taramea kurikuri. Rex. —Communicate with Mr G. M. Tkotn--son, F.L.S., Ivy Lodge, Newington. who is an accepted authority. H*i will inform you as to the samples to be forwarded and how they should be prepared. The bulk must conform to the samplt-3. Ignorant.—(l) The term " cousin" is frequently used in a general sense. The children of brothers and sisters are called cousins, cousins german, or full cousins; children of first cousias, second cousins. Often, however, the term second cousin i 3 loosely applied to the son or daughter of a cousin german, more properly called a first cousin once removed. You wiil find in a prayer book a table of kindred and affinity wherein whosoever are related are 'forbidden to marry. [2) Tho distance in which a 45,000-ton liner travelling 23 knots per hour could be brought to a standstill would depend upon such a variety of circumstances that it is im possiole to give a general reply. In the case of turbines, liners and warships are provided with reversing turbines, and c n their power and the despatch vith which they could be got to work would depend the time that would elapse before a vessel could be brought to a standstill. Subscriber states that a man in Taranaki declares that he can milk 14 cows in one hour; whereas " Subscriber" saw in the Witness some time ago that eight cows was the average, 10 cows possible, 12 cows impossible; cows in all cases in full milk. To milk 14 cows in an hour would permit of only 4min 17sec to each cow. If a cow's yield amounted to but a cOupie of quarts, it might bo possible to milk 14, but it would be impossible to do justice to 14 deep-milking cows. S. T. asks: (1) What is the correct modo of measuring half-inch stuff supplied by sawmills—that is to say, is it calculated as inch stuff or by placing two thicknesses together and so making lin thick? I have known it done both ways. I understand that the rule is that between the two thicknesses is calculated as an inch. (2) Also, is the ordinary rough lining used in house walls considered to !x> first-class timber, or it be looked iipon as second-class? It is mostly cut from very rough tixaLac. (1) For coi-

venience Half-inch stuff in the building trade is measured as lin, and' an allowance made in the price. (2) The lining is classed as first-class timber. Ihe difference, as in the first case, is in the price. » Nemo —No. White's cylinder oil for aircooled engines would not be suitable for steam engines. . Subscriber wants to know how to obtain employment in a telephone exchangewhere" to apply to, what age, salary, etc.? Apply to a telephone exchange for a copy of a form of application, which has to be filled up. Applicants should be between the ages of 16 and 25 years. The salary for the first year is £4O if the person appointed is able to live at home. It is moro than likely not many more appointments will be made, as the tendency is to introduce the automatic system," which does away with exchange assistants. Coachpainter.—lnquiries made go to show that a skilled coachpainter arriving in the Dominion early in the summer would be likely to obtain employment, and in all probability constant work. The minimum wages is £3 per week. In such oases much depends upon the character and capabilities of the individual. Milkmaid.—(l) The area of the Um'tod States of America is estimated at 3,622,933 square miles, including Alaska, and that of the Dominion of Canada, at 3,653,946 square miles. This does not include Newfoundland and Labrador. (2) To remove warts on cow's teats you can either tie a string tightly round tho neck of the wart, or snip off with a sharp scissors previously sterilised, and then carefully apply butter of antimony, bluestone, chloride of lime, or other caustic. If the warts are not troublesome, they should be left alone. Subscriber, Invercargill, wants to know: (1) The percentage of alcohol in ordinary bottled whisky? (2) The percentage of alcohol in ordinary bottled beer—i.e., pale ale? (3) In what class of poisons would ylou place alcohol? Is it simply a narcotic poison, or is it both_- narcotic and irritant? (1) Common spirits contain 50 or 52 per cent, of alcohol. Proof spirit, the standard, contains 57.2 per cent, by volume and 49.50 per cent, of alcohol. (2) The percentage of alcohol in beer varies greatly, ranging from 1 or 2 per cent, in table beer to 8 per cent, in Burton beer,.' the strongest made. Palo ale has a larger proportion of hops than ordinary ale. The percentage of alcohol is, we believe, usually a little over 4 per cent. (3) We do mot feel called upon to decide whether alcohol lis a rarcotio or irritant i>oison. It has a very strong attraction for water, and when mixed a contraction in volume takes place. Thus two gallons of alcohol and one of water measure less than three gallons. Its poisonous action when taken internally in large quantity has been referred to this same property, the idea being that it removes water from the tissues. Obchard. —(1) Your best plan probably would be to communicate with a reputable firm of land agents- in the district wbero your friends would like to* settle, and obtain a list of properties on their books. (2) As to the dost of breaking up new land for an orchard, it would depend altogether on the surface growth—that is, the extent of clearing, which might be anything from 4s ap acre in tussock land to £2 10s per acre in the case of scrub; also, on the amount of drainage necessary to drain the land thoroughly. That, also, varies considerably with locality and exposure, but should not be more than 20s per acre. (3) The virgin land is not in usually a fit condition physically to plant trees on right away without several years' cultivation. Such work should be made to repay itself. After cropping it for a year, taking a crop of turnips, and working it up a third time for red clover, the ground ought to be clean enough to plant trees in, but would require preparation by subsoiling 15 inches to 18 inches deep. This is done with the dig-ger-plough, followed in tho same furrow by the" 6wing plough, from which the mouldboard has been removed, with four horses. The second plough stirs up the subsoil without shifting its relative position. That would cost 25s to 30s per acre. In addition to this outlay your trees would cost from £7 to £8 per acre. (4) It would be six years before the trees would be in full bearing, and cost £3 per acre annually to keep the ground olean and free from weeds. (5) Tho return from an orchard then would be from £3O to £SO per acre, depending on the skill and knowledge brought to bear, and proximity to market. (6) If you communicated with the Department of Agriculture information should be avail- . übio concerning the land which the department is preparing for orchards; or tho Secretary for Immigration should have printed matter that might supply additional particulars. Subscriber, Kurow.—Mr H. M. Davey, consulting engineer, replies:—lt would bo .far more satisfactory if you were to write again and mention at least two thingsfirst, as to the amount of water and fall you can get from tho stream that you say you have, and, secondjy, go through the house and say how many lights you require, for some people with the number of rooms you have would need two or throe times the number of lights that others would. There would need to be a water plant as well as an electric one, and that cannot even be guessed at till the above questions about tho water are answered. Also would the machinery be in or near the house, or if awav, hov far? Gramophone.—Before the points you submit could be decided you would require to give an opportunity of listening to both machines. It might be that the machine of one make is of inferior quality to that of the other make. Epsilon.—lt is impossible to reply to your questions without knowing the quality of the work.