THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Saturday, Febraury 12, 1909. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12464, 13 February 1909, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Saturday, Febraury 12, 1909. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

tl ■ : . — ••* — - Cultivating Sandy Plains. ■' Experiments are being made in the cultivation o£ sandy plains in, Western Australia. Two kinds of hardy leguminous crops, field and lupin. were-odKcfcedj and their, growTh stimulatedby dressings of potash and phosphates. The area selected for experimental purposes also received z substantial dressing of gypsum. The seeds were inoculated ■• with ' nitrogen cultures. "The resulting green crop,' : states the annual report of . the Department, "has been ploughed v. while still green and succulent, and the land fallowed. It is intended nexi autumn to prepare it in the lisua? way and have wheat sown with phos phate at the rate of 701 b. of fertilise) per acre. The wheat of each plot wil" be carefully harvested, and the yields recorded:. It is intended to can-y on. the experiments through thre^ rota tions oyer a period of six years. AX though no practical results which wi] carry conviction to the . mind of ; thi settler can be. drawn for a"' long tim< yet, the' reclamation pf large stretche: of the sandy plains could well proceed with'fthe aid of the ever-spreadin; lupins, aplant which has demonstrai • ed its adaptability and its liking t< such Sandys soils. It improves thr ground in a marked degree, and ii the .summer,-! \vhen the seeds have been scattered they aro eagerly picked up by sheep,,, and prove particular! fattening." Tlie .Department find, that the plant life on the plains i able tp find for itself a reasonabl amount -of moisture." It is a well known fact that the air above a deser is quite often carrying* a considerabL portion of moisture, and. the lupin; are apparently able to extract some o< this. The experiments should prove of special interest to the settlers oi" some of the poorer lands of New Zea land; , Former Kings of Ireland. "Whitaker's Almanack" for 190? introduces a feature that is as en thralling as the most blood-curdlinj-ghost story (says the. "Daily Express.") It is a full-page table of th( Kings>of Ireland from 4 A.D., and r man who read. through the list late a< night might "well be excused for or. cassionally glancing apprehensively over his shoulder in the direction o' the ,door. For the manner of the deaths of these unhappy, monarchy was as fearful as. their names, for instance Fearaidhach-Fionf achtna, the first of the list, and a "most jus! and good prince," was slain by bitsuccessor, Fiachadh-Fion, who, in his turn, met a similar, fate at the hand; of Fiachadh-Fionohudh (the Prince with the white Cows), who was later murdered "by the Irish plebians of Connaught." So the terrible tale" of slaughter spreads itself through twe lurid columns of print, occasional relief being obtained only _when ..one reads that Eochaidh-Moidhmeodhain died a natural death, or that Flaithbheartagh in despair resigned thp moiiarchis sceptre for the monk's cowl.; .Of the 76 kings who are enlisted, six only died in their beds, IC were slain in battle, 7 were slain by their successors, and 6 were assassinated. Three were killed by thunder-bolts,-2 died of plague, 4 became monks, 2 were drowned, 1 died of grief, 1 was choked by a fish-bone; and '2 were dethroned. the head of the table ."Whitaker" sardonically remarks, that "Home Rule was in existence from the" earliest, times till after the conquest of Ireland by Henry II; in 1172; the rulers, however, appear, to have had anything- but a peaceable^ quiet time."