AGRICULTURAL CLEANINGS.

Waipawa Mail, Volume I, Issue 7, 5 October 1878, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL CLEANINGS.

There was but one Ayrshire at the Paris cattle show. The only Hereford bull at the Paris cattle show was exhibited by tlie Queen of England. The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, reviewing liis agricultural experience, on. tlie I’- ckskill farm as we suppose, says he 4 -o.omitted a serious .jrror in not establi hing a nursery at once.” Had he taken an acre of ground, sown the seeds of shade and ornamental trees, and put in pear, cherry, apple, and quince stocks for budding, he could, lie believes, have supplied his wants at a quarter of the expendivtir incurred, and with better stock. Holding tin’s year’s show in connexion with the Bath and West of England So- • ic(v at Oxford does not appear to have been very satisfactory. The attendance 'hiring the five days of the show was only 39,396. as against 70.477 at Bath last year, • uid 49,041 at II refold in 1876. The en- • • iev at Oxford numbered 4119, at Bath 5016, and at H< reford 3i 23. Ihe numb r of seeds of wheat in one pound is 10.000. The number of seeds in mnd of barley is J 5,100. The number of seeds in one pound of oats is 50.000. iRe number of seeds in one pound of buckwheat is 25,000. The number of seeds in one pound of red clover is 219.G00. The number of seeds in one pound of white clover is 088,400. The value of the prizes offered at tlie Paris International Show will give some of tbe estimation in which the various breeds, are held. For foreign they were : Shorthorns, £4lO : Herefords, Cl - I : lVvuns and Su. sex, £184; Chann 1 Islands. £80; Ayrshire, £llß ; Polled, £240; Highlanders, £l7O ; Kerrys, £BO ; Dutch, £200; Marsh:nd breeds, £228; Bailie, £72 ; Central Europe, £3OO ; Por- •- Indian, <scc., £120; other breeds, £1 is ; total. £2570. How much land is required for the support' of a cow ? Jiiis question depends for an answer so much on tlie circumstances of tire sod as not to admit of a very definite answer. Mr Seliull, of Little Falls, N.V., estimates that the land in pasturage and hay requisite for the support of a cow is thr : a< res ; and this is the estininic of Mr Carrington for moderately ood d: : . \ farms in England. In Belgium ten acres of land support two cows, one lieil’i r, and one yearling or calf; but when the calves are sold off young, and cows in full milk are only kept, tlie proportion is two cows lo seven and one-half acres. Column estimates three acres of pasture as requisite for a cow in Berkshire county, Ma s.. while in some towns two acres of I i aivgv are sufficient. Mr Farrington, i;t tl» * ivpoif of the American Dairymen's Association, thinks that on the average four acres are required per cow for summer and winter keep ; while Mr X. A. Willard thinks that in Herkimer County, X.Y., one and one-half: to two acres off pasture per cow will answer, and in some exceptional cases one acre. Scientific Farmer. Western Australia.—The Parliament of Western Australia have decided not to ntroducc representative institutions in that colony; and the Governor, in his prorogation speech, approves of this decision in the following language :—“ Permit me to say that, whilst earnestly sympathising with the difficult position in which you have been placed, 1 honestly’ and sincerely believe you have adopted »lie only course consistent with the best and truest in ten ts of the colony; and l en! ;rtain a strong i pe that this view—which now commends itself to a minority, but that tlie mo.-i in flu* niial portion of I lie community—will, ere long - , be endorsed by the people at large.” Cheap Raii,ways.—Mr Angus Mackay, who was commissioner for Queensland at the United Slates Centennial, is the apostle of the low cost railway creed, During his recent visit to America, lie did not remain in Philadelphia, blit travelled much and learned a good deal, and he claims to have learned, amongst other things, how to make railways as serviceable though not so showy as the present lines in Queensland at per mile half what these are costing - , and to work them cheaper and with more convenience to the public than is the ease at present. He reported to (lie Government on tbe subject, and lias done much talking and writing on it since, and lie lias raised a host of opponents, engineering and otherwise. Some ridicule him, some pooh-pooh him, and some dispute his facts, but lie keeps fighting on, and is gaining ground and making converts.