Notes and Queries

Otago Witness, Issue 3877, 3 July 1928, Page 48

Notes and Queries

Questions tor reply in ooming issue to be rsjeivcd not later than SATURDAY night. Questions will NOT be replied to through th* post.

Questions must be accompanied by the name •nd address of the writer, but a nom de plum* may be adopted for publication.

Farmer” asks: “(1) Would picric acid cause dermatitis, which was not felt till after the former was used? (2) Is it parasitic? (3) Can anything be done for it?" (1) Yes. (2) No. (3) Apply something soothing, like lanolineboracic ointment. "Chickens,” North Otago, wishes to know the name and address of the maker of the Triumph incubator, which, he believes, is of New Zealand manufacture. This make of machine is not known to us. Perhaps some reader is acquainted with It. "Pukaki." wishes to know how to remove warts from cows’ teats. The cow in particular has peculiar little clumps of hard growths half an inch long on the teats. “Agricola" replies: “Tie a cord tightly around the base of the wart, and let the growth slough off. The ligature should be rendered aseptic before being applied." “ Rubber,” Freshford, writes: “ I have a rubber apron put away in a box. I d’ 1 not want to wear it, but it looks as if it is going to perish. Can you ten me what will stop It from perishing? " The Otago Rubber Depot kindly suggests that you dust the inside of the apron with french chalk, and then put it Into a warm place with an even temperature. After the apron is thoroughly warm knead it in your hands. Should the apron ever feel cold and hard again warm It up afresh. Rubber goods should never be used when cold and hard. Warmth seems to put new lite into them, and certainly stops them from cracking, • “ Interested.” Moonlight, writes: " A tractor has a pulley 14in diameter, revolving 1050 revolutions per minute, driving a circular saw 28in diameter, the pulley on sawbench being sin in diameter. Would the saw be going the correct speed for cutting firewood?" Mr H. M. Davey replies: " Circular saws are supposed to travel at about the speeds that the teeth travel, from ab-ut 6000 ft to 7000 ft per minute, which Is, as you will see, rather over a mile a minute. Now your saw Is about 7ft 4in in circumference, and that would give about 900 revolutions per minute. I consulted Mr N. A. Booth, who has experience in sawmilling and saws, and he informs me that for the object you have in view about 1200 revolutions per minute could be obtained. Now the speed of the saw, as your figures show, would give three miles and three-quarters per minute; but I may ask if you have tried the saw cutting wood as you want It, or If you have merely tried the motor or engine doing no work. If so. It may run “ wild." Probably you can do with the pulleys you have, but If you find the speed too much you can have a larger pulley on the saw spindle." “Horsey," Naseby, writes: "One of my draught horses has the hair coming off her hind leg. Can you tell me the best way to prevent it and the cause of it? She was broken in in the spring of 1926. She was put in the ‘ crush ’ to be caught, and while in the ' crush * she put her hind leg through the bars and skinned it from the hock to the knee. It was kept bathed in hot water and kerol till it started to get better. Last year she had a foal, and while she was turned out the hair grew on her leg again, but it was larger than the other one—l mean it was swollen. Do you think that the fact that she had had her leg skinned would have anything to do with the hair coming off? Her leg seems to be very itchy; she is always rubbing it against a post or something." It appears that the hair has come off the leg in places together with the skin. There is no method by which you can grow hair on a skinned leg. but you may do something to cure the itch adjoining the wound. Do not wash the leg, but keep dry. Make up one pint of olive oil with 2oz sulphur ; mix well, and apply dressing two or three times a week to affected parts. “ Scrub,” Otago, is desirous of destroying laurel and similar sorts of growth. One of the best methods of destroying green scrub is by the use of sodium arsenite solution. This may be prepared by boiling caustic soda and white arsenic in the proportion of lib of each to two gallons of water. The green trees are then prepared by ringing as close to the ground as possible, cutting well into the sapwood, but instead of cutting a section out as in ringbarking, cut in one direction only, leaving the bark' in the form of a frill. Tour into the cut as much of the arsenical solut oa as the wood will absorb. A galvanised water-ing-can holding about two gallons may be used, removing the rose and substituting a bent spout with an opening about the size of No. 8 wire, so that the liquid will not run too freely. The best time to carry out the work is in the spring or early summer when the sap is running freely. There is no risk of subsequent poisoning of stock. Good results follow the use of some of the liquid weed poison solutions stocked by nurserymen, as they not Infrequently contain arsenic. “Interested," Taieri Beach, asks: “ (1) Can hyacinth bulbs be grown in water alone? If so, what is the procedure? (2) What is-the origin of the nitrate manures? (3) What is the difference between a * barren ’ and ‘ exhausted ' soil? ” “ Agricola ” replies : “ (1) Yes. Some time in the autumn, say, in March, the root end of the bulb is inserted in fresh water to the depth of about an inch in a vase or crock of somewhat smaller diameter than the bulb itself. The water is renewed, say, once a week, and the vase with bulb can be kept practically anywhere provided there is light. (2) This question is somewhat vague, as manures containing nitrates are, or can be, derived from practically anything prone to decompose. If, as imagined, you mean nitrate of soda, the principal source of combined nitrogen, and indispensable in agriculture, its origin has been questioned by geologists and scientists. Nitrate of soda is derived from a saline mineral found in the elevated districts in the northern provinces of Chile. Some scientists consider that the nitrate of soda deposits are due to the decomposition of seaweed which had grown on the site prior to being isolated by upheaval from the sea. Others consider the deposits are due to nitrifying bacteria. Yet other geologists attribute the presence of nitrogen as having been derived from guano, which has been found in large deposits along the Pacific Coast; and many claim it to be of atmospheric origin caused by the union of nitrogen Md oxygen tn the air under the Influence

of electric discharges. (3) Used in an agricultural sense the term * exhausted,* as applied to a farm soil, means that the fertility soil constituents have been, for the time being, depleted—that is to say, exhausted. A ‘ birren ’ soil is one which, under normal conditions, will not support plant life."

“ Avalon," Mossburn, is desirous of tanning rabbit skins suitable for making into a rug, and asks (1) for a recipe; and (2) for the address of a firm who does such tanning. (1) There are many methods of curing small skins, all of them, however, involving care and attention. A method well spoken of Is to take a quart of oatmeal and Jib each of powdered alum and salt, and add enough soft warm water to make a thick paste. Stretch the skin on a board with the flesh or pelt side out—that is, with the fur side next to the board —and apply the paste, spreading it on an Inch thick. Be sure you get every part of the flesh side covered. Allow this paste to remain on the skin for several days, then scrape off, and then work the skins between the hands until soft. Writing early in the year in regard to tanning skins, Mr Richard Norman supplied the following :—“ No matter what tanning or curing process is used the skin must be either green (just off the animal), or, if it is. dried, it must be well soaked in water before the curing process begins. If put through any process in the dried state the skin never gives satisfaction—ls useless, in fact. My nephew, Mr W. Robert Norman, of Pembroke, gave me full particulars of how he successfully tanned a large number of opossum skins and 200 ratskins. While he was away on a working holiday at Nelson he embarked cn opossum trapping. Part of the camp equipment was a big tub full of the tanning liquid. The latter was made by chopping up native birch green bark into Jin lengths, and boiling it for about half an hour till the resultant liquid was a very dark brown, and this was poured into the tanning tub. The skins were put in soak in this tub. and generally took a fortnight to tan. The fat and gristle must be first taken off them. From time to time it was necessary to tear off a tiny piece of skin to see if the tanning liquid had gone through. When the liquid became weak it was necessary to prepare a fresh lot. When the tanning was completed the skins were washed well in clean water and dried slowly, and then worked well to make them soft and pliable, and they then had a soft and velvety feel. He also tanned a young goatskin on these lines with equal success." (2) Mooneys, Ltd., Stuart street, Dunedin.

LAW QUERIES.

[Aqswered by a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand. Letters and Telegrams must be addressed to “ LEX,” c/o Editor, Otago Witness. Dunedin.]

“ River.”—Received too late for attention this week. J. W. H.—£l3 13s is the New Zealand Law Society scale fee for the conveyance. “Buick" asks: “The portion of dividing fence alongside of my garage was removed by my neighbour. If my brick wall acts as the dividing fence can I make any claim as to cost of same?” No. M. R. N. asks why euchre tournaments for prizes, though a breach of the statute, were allowed to be run last year and not this year. There was a recent Supreme Court decision given on the matter, which decided the illegality of these tournaments. “ Smith ” asks : " I insured to get insurance at 60. I paid a £7 odd premium, and thought that was for the year. When the policy arrived, however, I discovered that it was only for the half-year, though the agent led me to believe that was the premium for the year. I wrote to say 1 wished to withdraw. Is that now the finish, or can I claim the money I paid in?” Your policy would show the exact amount of premium payable by you. If you can prove to the satisfaction of the court that the amount of premium was misrepresented you could claim a refund of the premium paid by you.

Scottie ” asks : “ I have lately acquired a property on which are some swampy flats. These have been drained some time, but the drains are not now working In cleaning them I find they lead into one rain drain which, following the natural water course, leads into my neighbour’s property and into a running stream. From the boundary fence to stream is one chain, leading through waste land. My neighbour had also bought the adjoining property lately, and the drain was laid with the consent of his predecessor. Can I enter his property and lift and clean the drain without his consent, as he withholds it? " — No. You will require to follow out the procedure laid down in the Land Drainage Acts. You will require to serve notice under these Acts, and if no arrangement can be made with your neighbour the magistrate will require to decide the matter.