FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 306, 25 June 1898, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

FARMING NOTES. The weather has continued fine i.p to the day or two, when the ea- erly wind brought a change, sufficient rain having fallen to softsn the land lor working, and replenish the water tanks; which were getting rather low. For the time of toe year the absence of heavy rain is almost phenomenal. During the past week or two good progress has been made with farm work, including threshing and chaffeuttiug. ! arge areas of land have been turned up to receive the mellowing effects of frost ami rain ; and this will be sown with grain during July and August. Seldom, if ever, has there been such a general desire witnessed among farmers to go in extensively for grain-growing, a state of affairs, no doubt, largely due to the gooil prices obtainable for grain and chaff, which it is confidently expected, will continue for another season, if not longer. Grain cont'nues Jiim in price, notwithstanding the drop lately reported from America, which is readily accountable for in the disorganisation of the markets, caused by having such large quantities suddenly placed on them by the great, speculator, Leiter, holders are confident of obtaining full prices before the next crop comes to hand. Locally, reported transactions arc few. During the past week a Cambridge wheat-grower has disposed of his crop—delivered in Waikato, at 4s 2d per bushel. Seed wheat and oats, for which there is a brisk demand, are steadily rising in price. 4s Bcl to 5s per bushel being paid for choice samples of seed wheat, dun oats, for immediate drilling, being scarce and dear. The markets for fat stock are engaging the attontiou of graziers, who are obtaining better prices than for some time past, and the indications are that the turnip crop now being fed off, though generally light, will be a most profitable one. Various causes are assigned for the jump up in values, but there can be no doubt that the dry summer, followed by a cold autumn, with short supplies of grass and stock in poor condition to commence the winter, is the principal cause of the rise, particularly as the same conditions have prevailed in the coastal districts, whence a large proportion of the fat stock' consumed in Auckland is usually obtained. A Good Sign.—Cases of disease in cattle in the Manawatu district are becoming very rare at the local saleyards. This (says the Daily Times) points to a sensible diminution in the diseases incidental to dairy stock. Farmers throughout the district are now becoming conversant with the symptoms of tuberculosis, and adopt the stringent measures necessary to the thorough eradication of the disease without, in a great many cases, calliug in the aid of the Stock Inspector. + + + Valuable Stock. The Monovvai brought to Wellington 12 head of prize cattle from the well known breeders Mr Angus, of South Australia, and Sir Rupert Clarke, of Liudervale, Victoria, consigned to Mr A. M'Hardy, and Mr Williams, of Te Aute. For one bull calf, eight months old, £SOO was paid, and a heifer, of the same age, cost £250. Most of the others ran into three figures. This valuable mob of cattle was transferred to Soames Island on Saturday afternoon. They will undergo a9O days' quarantine before being forwarded to their new owners.—H 13. Herald. + + + New Preservative.— A system of preserving butter, fruit and other perishable produce has been patented by a Mr Ponting, and brought under the notice of the Government. The system is to enclose the produce in a vessel coated with a preparation in which asbestos is a chief ingredient, aud which forms an hermetic enclosure. A wooden box is phesd outside the casing to protect the preparation from injury. It is claimed that butter packed in this way can ,be shipped as general cargo, and that it will keep sweetfor several months without having to be placed in special cool chambers. X XX The Garden*.—As the planting season of aspargus and rhubarb is not far distant, the preparation of the ground Bhould be completed if the work has not already been effected. Particulars about planting will be given later on, at present the great thing is to get ready as soon as possible.—The broad bean can now be sown in any quantity desired, for the present is perhaps, one of the best seasons of the year for sowing, but not while the ground is saturated with wet. Indeed it would be the safest plan not to do any but absolutely necessary work during the wet weather, for too much treading about or digging has an injurious effect upon the soil. + + + Corned Meat.—The practice at Mr Angliss's Melbourne establishment, where enormous quantities of beef are annually corned, is to make a brine sufficiently thick enough to float a potato. The salt is added until this object is achieved. The meat is then cut into suitable sizes, and if the joints be very thick incisions are made into them at many spots and also between the meat and tho bone, so as to allow the brine to penetrate all parts of the joints. The joints are then put into the brine, and allowed to remain there for four days. They are then removed from it and dry silted. The dry | salt is well rubbed in each day for three days. After having been thus treated, the joints are placed in a weak brine again and left there uutil required for use. The weak brine is made by adding one-third more in quantity of water to tho original brine. The meat must be kept entirely beneath the surface of the brine, and this can be accomplished by means of battens and weights. No saltpetre should be added, as it hardens the meat. xxx Preparing Bones. Bones may be made available for tho soil by several processes, and where manure is of vital importance to the farmer it is worth while to use all that can be obtained without expense. Mr J. A. Pearson, tho agricultural chemist of Victoria, has published the following useful hints on the subject: —"Bones in country districts, whore crushing mills are not advailable, may be reduced by means of caustic lye, quicklime, or freshly calcined wood ashes. A simplo plan is to pack the bones layer by layer, with freshly calcined wood ashes, in a barrel, and keep the mixture moistened for some months. Casks may be kept in constant use for this purpose on a farm, receiving every few days a fresh layer of bones and of ashes. A quicker method is to boil the bones in an iron or copper boiler together with strong caustic lye. Tho proportions of bones and lye to be used arc uot oxact or invariable. Roughly speaking, five parts by weight of caustic soda, or seven parts by weight of caustic potash, dissolved in fifteen parts by weight of water, should disintegrate about fifteen parts by weight of bones by two or three hours' boiling. If the bones be allowed to remain in the caustic liquor, even without boiling, they will, in the courss of a week or so, become disintegrated. Another method of softening bones is by mixing in heaps with quicklime and loam. A layer of loam lin deep is made, and on this is placed a layer of bones, and above this a layer 3in deep of quicklime. The layers of loam, bones, and lime are repeated in succession until the heap reaches a. convenient height, when it is finally covered with a thick layer of earth. Holes are then bored in the heap from the top, and water poured down them to slake the lime. The mans will become hot, aud remain »o for two or throe months, after which the boues will bo friable, and the whole heap may bo mixod up, aud is ready for the ground.

The Value of Sorghum.— I doubt if this reliable fodder crop is used as extensively us it should be by farmers who frequently run short of pasturage for their cows. It is very helpful in keeping up the milk supply, audit" time can be spared to put if. through a cutter it will make an easily fed ration that tho milkers will always eat greedily. Tho bigger the stalk* the sweeter the sorghum, and if it is planted so as to allow four or five st ilkto come along together instead of being sown very thickly the yield will be about the same and there will bo moro loaf as well as thick stalks. If you on afford to wait the sorghum will gain in feeding value, as it matures because tbe percentage of sugar is always increasing right on until the seeds have turned brown. This is the time to catch your field of groen feed at its very best, and if you can feeditthen it will make your cows pourout thanks for flic room tint is inside them every time they see the inviting stuff Jifst sufficient for tho day shouid be the cutting thereof, for sorglium is not improved by lying in heaps, and indeed it will soon ro.-ent such careless treatment by fermenting aud spoiling. Sow /01b to 301 b to tho acre on well prepared soil, from the end of September to January according as the district is late, early, or middling.

Argentixa.—Some of the incidents of life on an " estaneia " (station) in the Argentine Republic often arc of interest to Australians. The " Weekly Press" (N.Z.) publishes a letter of Air George Murray, stationed on an actancia, written to his father, Mr J. G. Murray, Green Park, Canterbury, N.Z., in which he describes the present condition of things. Some of the extracts are noteworthy, suih as :—" There is no doubt this is a wonderful country, but I do not like the people, and envy them their possession of it. It is a network of railways, owned by English companies—iu fact, there is an immense amount.of English capital in the conutry, and none, I believe lent under 8 per cent. Everything is taxed even fat and store cattle and sheep as they are sold. There are large cattle saleyards just outside Buenos Ayres, in the centre of which is a public slaughterhouse, where they kill about 1300 head daily for the use of the town. The butchers are fearfully rough, never hang the meat, but skin and cut it on the ground, and it is carted straight to the shop. On this estaneia, where they kill from one to three beasts in a day, they lasso an animal by the head out in the open, and another lasso is then thrown round its hind lears. Each lasso is tied to the saddle, and when the animal is thus secured a man runs up and sticks it as one would a pig, and often we are eating the meat within two hours from the time the animal is running about. Three-fourths of tbe stock sold there are imported from England, so they should soon make an impression in this country. Lincoln rams and Shorthorn bulls are being landed every day, and some of them of the very best. In fact, I do not know what will become of New Zealand produce in less than ten years' time, as the country can produce everything that New Zealand can, and besides, it is so large. Freight on the railways is very cheap on account of competition, and the lines have not been expensive to build, as the couutry is level, and there are no bridges or Buttings." There is enough in the above to show what a great rival we already have in this republic, and should the graziers receive more liberal treatment from the Government, wo shall have to face a real " cracker." RUST REMEDY. The following is the method adopted by_ Mr S. Salter, pi Wal Wal, in the Wirnrnera district, in which a proportion of manure is added to the pickle. Mr Salter's directions ' are to '• take one bag of grain and put it in a trough ; then take U gallons of cold water, and add to this water \ lb of Milestone pounded to a powder, thus making a liquid pickle; then take this liquid and throw it over the seed grain in tho trough, turn it over a few times as quickly as possible with a spade, so as to prevent the liquid from escaping. The next thing is to take tho manure (14 lb. to three-quarter bushel of seed —the quantity I sow per acre—or about 561 b to the bag of seed grain) and mix it thoroughly through the moistened or damp grain with a spade, as before, until all the grain becomes coated. The grain is now bagged while moist, taken away to the paddock and sown by band broadcast while in the moist state. I would not recommend sowing by a broadcast machine, but this process might be improved by using a drill sower. Seed should not be allowed to dry if possible, as if dry the' coating would have a tendency to fall off. Of course the amount of manure used is at the discretion of the farmer. Ho may use as much more as he likes, but not less than 14 lb to the seed put, on each acre. This is my practice. If more manure than 14 lb per acre (not bag) is used, then a little more water will be necessray. I use about 4A gallons of cold water to the ono bag of seed grain, and about 56 lb. of superphosphate manure to tho bag of seed grain." On the forogoiug a correspondent from the Egerton district writes us : —"lf a little experiment I made this last year on 16 acres of poorish land, and which has been many years under crop, is likely to be of use, here it is. I got it from ' The Leader ' last year under the name of the Salter method, the only difference being that I used Thomas's phosphate instead of guano. I take two bags of oats or wheat, whichever I may be sowing, and empty these into a largo trough or watertight box. Then make 9 gallons of cold water, and to this add 2 lb of bluestone pounded to a powder, mix them, and throw this liquid, say threequaiters of a buckot at a time, mixing with wheat in trough, and also simultaneously the abovenamed manure at the rate of 56 lb of manure to a bag of wheat. Use a broad shovel to do this, aud when nearly every grain is coated over with their mixture, and while still damp, bag and sow as quickly as possible by hand, haviug the harrows following directly after the sower. • I would, however, now recommend a larger quantity of bluestone. I got 90 bags of grain, not counting seconds," &c, off the 16 acres, viz., 40 of wheat and 50 of Algerian oats. The wheat was a fair sample, but a little rusty, and the oats were very good. The only drawback was that the crop came up a little patchy at first, owing to the difficulty in sowing the wet grain ; it camo away, however, all right afterwards, and it is wonderful how quickly it starts and comes away."