General News.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XVIII, Issue 1682, 30 March 1885, Page 3

General News.

The forests of Europe and Ameiiea coder 27 times the area of the known coal measures of the world.

it is estimated that as many as iO.OOiI.tOO .-ingle rabbits are every year brought to market in London and sold at 3s per pair. During tho last 21 years the output of coal in the United Scales has increased from lti,UOo,Oooto 1)0,000,000 tons.

The Auckland Star is wroth with Mr. Bailance for having resolutely put a stop to .Native laud sharking. It contends that to leave the Natives in possession of theit lands, allowing them only to lease, would “ certainly produce rap'd degradation of moral ehaiacter and utter debasement of social habits.” The .Star savs that " the in ee>-i:y of working with either head or hand is one of the first requisites of civilisation and st it would denude the Natives at once of their possessions. Indeed, it adds: 'I here are tribes who have parted with ail their lands except such reserves as are necessary for their cultivation. and the social condition of these tiil.'t-.' contrasts very favourably wttli the condition of those who -till retain large tracts. They resume much of the energy ot their ancestors Thev

cultivate largf-ly—in their own old fashion, it is true, but still sutliciently mh ? their wants, 'ihevare well clothed, hi r, and cleanly. And when they want European luxuries, such as tea and sugar, or money to pay for the schooling of their children (for they setid them to school), they go to the hills and Jig a few loads of kauri gum, or work for wages in the forest. The causes of this superior condition are simple : the minds of the men are ii 't enervated by the contemplation of supplies from laud whenever money is wanted, and their bodies are not dilapidated by the use to whidi the inoncy is put whoa obtained.” A further supply of rain (says the Leader) has (alien over a large area of Victoria, and, now that the crops are out of datiger, has done a large amount of good to pastures, and has softened the land for ploughing, which has become general throughout the earlier districts. There are still, however, a few places suffering from drought. In Btratbtieldsaye the prolonged absence ot rain has been a great detriment to the progress of fruit crops, grapes being very poor iu consequence. The recent dry weather has had a marked efl’ect on the countrv around Mount Moriac and the Barrabool Hills, which is quite parched. Water is also scarce, and many springs, which were of great assistance to farmers, are decreasing. Mr M’Arthur writes to us (Southland Times) that he has experimented successfully with his specific for pre-

venting the attacks of the turnip tly the young braird. He savs that sowed in drills live different kinds of turnii - ou feb. 21, tho seed having been treated previously with his mixture, Ho also sowed a mixture of all tho seeds broadcast. The whole now, he sats, drills and broadcast, shows a beautiful healthy braird ot seedlings. “ It may be too late now/’ lie goes on to sav, “ tor this year's field crop, but in future will bo found invaluable to the agricnli urist.” Having been entrusted with Ihe secret of the preparation, we can say that it is safe, simple, and inexpensive, and seems itkelv to realise tho anticipations of the inventor. Mr W . F. Johnson, Inmorarv secretary to the Waiarcka Dairy Factory Company (-ays tho North Otago limes), received by the last San Francisco mail information relative to the price of cheese in the Liverpool market m January hut that should prove inte resting to those who have invested or who take an interest in dairy factories. Tho following are the figures: Best American and Canadian cheddar. Diameter llin, depth ft jin. weight. Gibb, scaieboard top ami button), bandaged, slightly coloured, per 112 ib, tifs; Cheslute. IDs English clieddar, 7As ; Gloucester, ids. The two latter prices represent a friction over Si per lb. If anything can be deduced from the foregoing figures, it is that the two last named kinds ot cheese are the kinds that should be manufactured itt New Zealand for the Home market. It appears that English cheddar and Gloucester cheese commands a much higher price in the English market than do the other kinds, and also that the cost of making these is very little if any more than the cost of making tho others.

The niiowiug is a fac-smile of a note sent in by a native clerk in Calcutta as an excuse for his absence from the office ;—‘‘Sir,— Have honour to report, no come office this day, as have boil on neck, as per margin."

Toe poor Duke of Buceiou.- 1 '..r an income of only £270,000 a war Senator Platt, in a recent speech in i ’ ingress in support of the patent .nvs, claimed two-thiids of the ago re i/ ite wealth of the United Soi'es as due to the patented inventions. The two-thirds of the £S,GOO,OOU,OOO which represent the aggregate wealth of the Lnited Slates, rests solely upon the inventions, past and present, of America Muliiail, in his Pi ogress of t .e World, writes that in effect the invention of machinery has given mankind an accession of power beyond calculation. The United .States, for example, make a million sewing machines yearly, which can do as much work as formerly required 12,000,000 w unen working by hand. A single shoe factory in Massachusetts turns out as in any pairs of boots as 30,000 bool makers iu Paris.

Peas contain i) 3 per cent of nutriment, rice, 88 per cent, oatmeal 71 per cent.