Farm and Graden.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 835, 25 July 1868, Page 4

Farm and Graden.

ON FARMING. AN ANNUAL SEED SHOW. In a new country, where labour is dear, and where time is money, we are too apt to walk in the old beaten pathway — to follow a certain course of action — simply because it is the custom of the country. We never stop lor a moment to consoler whether something' better conld be done, or whether another mode of action conld be pursued with advantage. Anything that has beeu tried, and has met with merely partial success, is accepted as the best thing ; and however many its defects may be, is rarely altered or amended, because people will not givo themselves time to consider as to the best means of effecting any improvement. The old characteristic of the English farmer — a pig-headed reverence for everything like an ancient custom, and a supreme contempt for everything that is new fangled — has been in a very great degree revived out here, and with precisely similar results. Much that might have been useful has been discarded and neglected, because the old system was known to be a safe one to a certain extent, and the new one was an experiment which might, perchance, fail, and people had not time to risk that, And in no case does our argument apply so readily as to a custom which has prevailed here for a long time past, — of only sowing two or three different kinds of wheat. The Essex white and the Pearl are sown over fully nine-tenths of the area of land in wheat here. That these are good kinds, and have each their peculiar merits, we don't pretend to gainsay ; but they may doubtless be improved upon, and till they are proved to be the best, should not be allowed to monopolise the public favour — for the true test of competency is competition, not monopoly. So long a 9 there is such a prejudice in favour of two or three kinds, nobody will care to introduce fresh ones. What we should be glad to see established here would be an annual "grain show," at which the various qualities of different kinds of grain might be fairly tested by competent judges, and prejudices which exist not only for certain kinds of wheat, but of oats, barley, and roots, might then bo dispelled or strengthened in the most satisfactory of all ways — open competition. These grain shows have been productive of very good results in certain parts of Australia, where they have become almost institutions of the place; and it was once our good fortune to attend a show at Ballarat, which was thronged with exhibits and spectators. Prizes were awarded for the best samples (20 bushels, we believe) of wheat, oats, barley, peas, vetches, &c. ; also, for all kinds of roots, and for butter, cheese, and honey, to which might be added rye grass, cocksfoot, clover, red aud white turnip seed, prairie grass seed, hay, bacon, &c. One of the rules was, that immediately after the pi'izes were awarded, the corn for which they were awai*ded should bo put up and sold to the highest bidder, with a certain reserve price of, we fancy, two shillings per bushel above the- usual market price of grain ; and that the exhibitor should be prepared to sell 20 bushels more, at the price realised, to members of the society, should they wish it ; and this rule was a very good one, because it not only guaranteed that the grain should bo spread over the country, but it prevented a mau from getting a prize for a small lot which he had, perhaps, grown in his garden under exceptional circumstances, and had become developed by means which it would neither be profitable nor possible to nse over anything like a large area. Prizes might also be given for essays on various subjects in connection with agriculture ; and we remember a subject which was once given in Australia was, "The best means of farming a fifty-acre section" — a subject which might be very appropriately selected here, and which would, we have no doubt, draw out the ideas of many practical men, and be likely to afford suggestions and advice of great value to many young and inexperienced farmers. The causes and remedies for blight and rnsfc are also matters of deep importance to the agriculturist, and might possibly be solved if men, having before them the incentive of winning a prize, were to set their brains to do so. This is a matter which we might fairly expect our Agricultural Association to take in hand; and we are quite sure that if anything liko a moderate amount of energy displayed, a fair amount of prizes might be offered, and a very successful show got up. The matter only wants looking into to be appreciated, for the amount of good it would do would j be very great. The large sums of money which are sent to England every year for the purchase of clover seeds might very easily be retained here if we would only set to work and learn how to supply "ourselves. White clover here usually ranges at from £7 to ■ £9 per cwt., whilst in England it can be bought for about £3 per cwt. Supposing that we get our seed here at Is. 6d. per lb., or assuming that one-third — which is a very low average — is old and bad, and never comes up at all, 2s. per lb., it would be worth our while, one would think, to try and grow onr own, and thereby securo good seed for our own use at less than half what we now give for bad seed. There is no reason why we should not do this. That white clover will seed here, and most profusely too, is very generally understood ; so that the only difficulty lies in getting the seed ready for the market. Now it might be made a condition of a prize given for colonial grown seed, that the mode of cleaning was distinctly stated, and the entire cost per pound of the whole labour estimated ; and if it were found to be profitable to grow this seed — aud there is not the slightest doubt but that such would be the ease — a new industry would be .developed, to the profit of the community in general, and the agricultural interest in particular. Then, again, with regard to

potatoes, there are now only about two or three kinds grown here to any extent, and many of these appear to be almost run out. At a good show these old favourites would be brought into competition with other kinds, and would be judged on their merits ; and it would bo strange if, out of so many varieties as aro known to exist, no better selections than the ones now cultivated could be made. At a meeting of tho Inverness Farmers' Society, held last November, there were no less than 150 varieties shown by one gentleman, and also 27 distinct varieties of turnips. Our carrots, too, would bear a good deal of improving, for many of our crops aro, oven in this splendid season for roots, only very poor ; and this is only in tho majority of cases the result of sowing bad varieties, or of bad management in working the land. That more attention to this matter would be profitable, may be judged from tho experience of Mr. Jackson, M.P. for North Derbyshire, who said at a farmers' dinner not long ago, that by trenching his land, aud putting in a good quantity of stablo mauure in the bottom of each trench, he got carrots as long as his arm, and as thick as the thickest part of it, or after the rate of 42 tons to the acre. Then again, as regards bacon. Wo have some of the best pigs in the Colony, and yet our bacon is almost unsaleable, because so many of us don't know how to cure it ; if we did, our export of this one article alone wonld be enormous, for we should have a neverfailing market in our neighbouring colonies. A show of tho kind referred to would show us what some of our bjst curers could do, and wo should not be long in learning their method when we saw the good results ; and cii pussant to those who aro fond of smoked bacon, we will confide the following simple way of getting it : — Hang up tho bacon in a chimney, then underneath put a layer of dry straw, upon this a layer of shavings, avoiding those from deal or pine ; next a good layer of sawdust aud some juniper berries, if you can get them ; and over all a covering of wefc straw, which makes the tire give out much smoke without burning away too rapidly ; this must bo repeated three or four times, and you will get good smoked bacon. We have endeavoured to point out some few of the advantages which would bo likely to result from an annual grain show, and must now leave our suggestions to those who are able to carry them into effect, sincerely hoping that they may take the matter up with that zeal and discretion which we feel assured its importance demands. Many willing hands and cheerful givers would, we are quite sure, be found ready to assist if the initiative were taken by tho farmers themselves at the Agricultural Association. — Lytteltoii Turns.

Raising Colts. — Never expect to have a good horse if you cram your colt — it cannot be done. The old adage is true : " A ragged colt makes the best horse, " means everything. Your colt, then, should run with its dam until it has reached that condition of the stomach which will enable it to digest solid food. Then take your colt and let him have abundance of freedom to begin with, and, in addition to that, avoiding the feeding with grain until it is three years old, as you would avoid feeding brandy and water to your children when they are little. It is astonishing how many nice colts are ruined by the excessive use of stimulating grain food in their infancy, so to speak. Let your colt m.iture slowly, its tone grow properly, its digestive functions be properly organised, its flesh in proper condition — never fat. Horse fat is the poorest fat in the world. Keep it upon the best hay in winter, and a good sweet pasture in the summer, and you will make the best possible horse of that colt. — Dr. Loring.

"> An Extraordinary LE3AOY. — A more extraordinary legacy than that bequeathed to his fellowcitizens by Father La Loque cannot woll be imagined. At his death his body was found stretched on a miserable bed in an attio of the Quartier do Grenelle, which is anything bat a fashionable district of Paris. He was an old man, had lived in the simplest way, sustaining himself almost entirely on bread. His room contained hardly any furniture, yet hid in a corner was found a little cupboard with numerous shelves, and on those were sorted in the greatest order regiments of corks. In the centre was a manuscript written by the Pere la Loque, on which ho stated that he had formerly possessed great wealth, now squandered ; Chat of all his greatness there remained but these corks, drawn in better times to welcome many a friend who now had forgotten him ; that age and ruin had taught their moral, and that on each cork would be found written its history. This tho old man did, hoping that it would serve as a timely warning, and that, placed on the shelves of some museum or of a philosopher's study, they might be found to illustrate human nature. On one of the corks was an inscription to this effect : — "Champagne cork; bottle eraptiod 12th May, 18 18, with M. B , who wished to interest me in a business by which I was to make ten millions. Thi3 affair cost me 50,000f. M. B escaped to Belgium. A • caution to amateurs." On another appears tho following note : — •• Cork of Cyprus wine, of a bottle emptied on tho 4th December, ISSO, with a dozen fast friends. Of those I have not found a single one to help me on tho day of my ruin. The names of tho 12 are annexed below." A party of belated gentleman, about a certain hour, began to think of homo and their wives' displeasure, and urge a departure. "Nevor mind," said one of tho guests, " fifteen minutes now will make no difference ; my wife is as mad now as she can bo !" Fortune it is said, knocks once at every man's door. It is from the very reason, perhaps, of her knocking only once that so very few people allow her to come in. The fact is, they mistake her for a tradesman, or a dun, or a begging letter writer, or tho income-tax gatherer. If fortune is a real lady (and she is rich enough to be one), then plague take her, why dosen't sho come with a double knock ? | Holloway's Pills. — This purifying and regulating medicine should occasionally be had recourse to during foggy, cold, and wet weather. These Pills are the be3t preventives of hoarseness, soro throat, diptheria, pleurisy, and asthma, and are sure roniedies for congestion, bronchitis, and inflammation. A moderate attention to tho directions folded round each box will enable every invalid to take tho Pills in the most advantageous "manner ; they will be taught tho proper doses, and the circumstances under which they must be increased or diminished. Holloway's Pills act as alteratives, aperients, and tonics. Whenever those Pills have been taken at the last resourco, the result has always been gratifying; even when they fail to cure, they always assuage the severity of symptoms and diminish the danger.