NOTES FOR FARMERS.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12466, 16 February 1909, Page 4

NOTES FOR FARMERS.

A rain proof tarpaulin may be made I in the following simple manner : / .When your canvas is put together, take two parts of Stockholm (not coal) tar and one part of neasfoot oil. Do not use linseed oil, or you will harden the canvas. Heat 1 the oil by itself to boiling point, then add the tar and stir well. Apply with a wad of oakum or. soft rag. A brush is not so good. Rub the mixture well in. It will take some time to dry but the tarpaulin will be soft, limp, and rainproof. ■ The kernels of peaches .apricots and plums contain am. oil which is identical in- composition with the oil from bitter almonds, and a large proportion of the. so called oil of bitter almonds is really derived from these tliree fruits, the kernels of which aro bought iip cheaply, by German manufacturers. The bulk of the supply! ported from tho United States, exthese fruits are very extensively grown- for tinning and -drying. During 1907 over 6000 tons of dried apricots, 500 tons of dried peaches, and 10,000 tons of dried" plums were exported from th eUnited States, exclusive of the exports of tinned fruits.Both apricots and peaches, and to some, extent plums, are pitted before drying and the pits or stones have been treated ais a waste product. It is nowjfq'und that the oil they contain can :be ' easily extracted .and manufactured into various articles for use in arts" and medicines, and especially of high grade soaps. The process of .extraction and distillation of the oil is said 'to' be very simple. It is generally known that while' applications of common salt act very favourably on the growth ■: of mangolds, on the other hand .dressings of lime decrease the crop: ' This fact received -very striking confirmation rrom experiments conducted at Cackle .Park as- reported in Bulletin No 11 of. the County (Northumberland) Experiment station. A portion of each of the six permanent mangold plots, received last year 2cwt common salt per acre applied n' the. drills at the -time of sowing the crop. The average results- of the six plots' were :^-No salt plots 21tons 6cw,fc per acre; with salt 28tons 3 cwt per acre. -Then as to lime, the results show' that this substance decreased the mangold crop in the average by nearly 2stons in 1906 and. by over 2itons in 1907, while lime mud decreased the crop by 6f tons in 1906 and by over three tons in 1907. Every market now in the central portion of .Sussex (England) is working under, insurance schemes against tuberculosis in fat stock sold at the respective markets and the arrangement .appeals to give every satisfaction'to buyers and sellers. According to experiments, carried On at the Oklahoma" experiment station.it is necessary to return some fertilyity to the soil if results are to be expected in growing wheat. A recent circular of information issued by the station referring to ..experiments with'' wheat states that land which has been cropped continuously m *B&am*miam&3M**ma^mxi*stM32tßanMmmßmaamsmM*e*jmma

to wheat from the inception of the investigation gave an average yield of ' 14 7 bushels per acre for an eight-year period. Similar land which was treated with farmyard manure at the rate of 5£ tons per annum gave an average yield of 25 bushels per acre for the same period.