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Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 47, 17 August 1872, Page 3

.RAILWAYS IX RELATION TO FARMING. A vf.ry interesting paper was lately read befoie the London Farmers'"Club. concerning vegetable aiul fruit fanning ; aiul though it relates to the piaciice in Kngland, there will be found matter in it worthy of the attention of New South Wales cultivators similarly occupied. Touching on the cnanges introduced by railways and better means of locomotion, the authority of the paper says—" When turnpike roads were "the only moans of conveyance, laud arouml large towns had a species of monoply in the supply of vegetables, aiul much ordinary land was forced into the market garden cultivation ; but now it is soil and the climate that have the monopoly, and some of these grounds must, be dropped out ot the market garden category and revert to ordinal} taim uses ami rents ; otherwise the perverse cultivators will come to grief, as many did last year to my own knowledge, when wholesale prices obtained for almost everything grown, except apples and asparagus, were uearly- nominal, ft thus appears indispensable to success (and this remark applies ' to secure a congenial soil irrespective ot* locally otherwise no cultivator of the present day can nope to obtain any but the most ordinary returns for his constant anxieties, midnight labours, and the speculative risks ho runs.'' Jbtc continues— A few years ago, a gentleman with wliom 1 am acquainted, commenced market ardening on <00

ncrcM of a medium soil—shallow drift on a subsoil of / ; estuary "ravel and London clay ■—simply because it ; was within carting distance of the metropolis ; but as ho had not tho natural basis to work upon. a few years' experience has imluce«.l him to reduce the area j ho cultivated to one-third the original <juautity. I Another gentl unan with whom I am acquaint*; I. Wlio- farms aa e psal quantity of lan I only a few miles o,T, ari l p issesses the right bash, namely, a 'leep alluvial sul, Jioi only competes successfully vvilh all comers in the London markets, but last . year performed the astounding feat of competing i mii;e>M.;f diy with tiie midland counties and northern : 'Towers in their o vn marke'H as far north as Chs- : gow, to which he rt-rufc Oi) per cut. of his early pro- ; duee, ;iii I from whi'h, 11 itwitiistan ling the Irish : 1 .supplies, ho obtained the mos', profitable returns. ■ ' When 1 add that this congeniality of .soil is annually 1 assist.! I by n -arly 2-1.0 •!) tuns of purchased manure, . , n.;|ii-liu.j the pemlitr in,'reheat "ground wa lie- ' bone,," this successful invasion of the north will ba j ziecounted for. Again, in Lincolnshire, around i 5 rstou, Spalding, an I in other districts, orchards ; . and market gardens are springing up, not because they arts near populous eeu'ros of consumption, but because they possess rich loamy soils an 1 subsoils ! suitable for th ; production < f fruit and vegetables. | " It we go farther alield, we iin I the otherwise j worthless sandbanks on the Cheshire, opposite J i Liverpool, let at from \~>l to "1)1 per aero, because j | tlieyr hav- been fouu I suitab'c for the pro taction of i i early pota o.js, which a:c thus grown : —' Tho pot ito : - sets are kept in warm places during tho winter to t 1 induce th :m to shoot, an I in the mouths of March ! and April they are p'a ited, generally iu larg) beds, , well-manured, covered li jhtly with soil by the spule, j ' and with litter on the surface. They a ,- e thus :

covered and ui.e >vuml daily until safe from frost.-* ; ; 1 an 1 so watchful are Llits growers -who are. a distinct ) an I peculiar class -that 'f during this time a d:m- ---! irerou.s frost threatens, they arc said to take the | ; blankets oil' their children to put t'ueia oil tho pota- J toes. fa May they Infill to dig, an I soil at 'ii GI I ' per lb., anl finish about t, tints realising from o()i J : to I !)!>/ per acre ; and from having resided several | years in the country, and seen thu caro and labour | bestowed tt[)on thu crop, [ must say tho cultivators deserve the reward they obtain.'' 1 ... - A M AIIO 1 EI) \ N PLOT. An interest'iig letter puolisucd in tlie " Tnni*s ol I idia," contai is some curious revelations, for the truta of which the editor of that journal is ready to vouch. It, seem-; that about t id midd.e of M ireh the head of tlie Patti i Police received from his colleague at <Tha/,ij>oru a letter declaring that the latter had reason to believe in the e •u-itenee of a deep laid M ihomcdau plot to in.iss icre all Europeans o.i the night of the 11 th <d" March.

Tne plot, he learned, had been concocted by the Suiri ; Mussulman-;, who threatened to destroy all the Waiiab 'es also if they refused to join i>. T'ois letter was shown to the O'lei.uis ioner of I'ativi, who laughed at what hecoiisidered a foolish ligmeut, declaring that the Maho medan- of I'utna had never been more peacefully disposed th nat that moment. Unluckily other letters of the same tenour had been s- nt out to other stations (ro.n the Police■ office at (raa/.ipore. A general panic seems t> hive been tlie result. P-ilice-odtccr-i warned tlieir subordinates and called upon the military authorities to provide against, the threatened danger. S r Henry To nos, however, who was then com n uulin.,' at Allahabad. declined to ta o any move until ho had consulted tae Commissioner at Patuu. L'iie latter gave him rnu.-h the same answer th it lie had given to the head of the P.itna Police. According to the letter written, the Comm'ssionei S drib w.,s so enraged at the-e absurd rumours, that he " burst his garments.'' The matter being ro-

p irted tu tlie Lieutenant-Governors of Bengal -and tlie j North-west Provinces, tlic-y gave the police olliecrs a j slurp scolding tor their credulity. M >an virile, however, the p anic ha.l spr ad from Ghazipore to Calcutta and from Ala labad to Simla. Ladies begin to pack up their goods, and some of tho women and children in outstat.ons sut- otf for placcs guarded by Europeans. Too bo it of the joke was that tho Mahomcdaus themselves were frightened by the stir tuoy had unwittingly caused, and looked on the precautions taken agaust them as mere excuses for some dreadful rcven.re to be taken by tiie ' S ihib log " i - or the murders of Mr. Norman and Lard Mayo, Tne idea of forcing the W ihabees to join their orti.'idox brctlnvn against the English reaches tae height of absurdity; but our laughter is checked bv strong mi - givings ot' the mischief which the frequent recurretve • these panics must produce in a count y like ludi and by the satire which this one seems to suggest oil the edieiericy of our Indian police.—"Allen's Indian Mail.' Mr. lvhies, who was known am >ng his acquaintances by tho name of the King of Suckers, has just died near liotterdam According to the JJ dgian papers, he had a nassed a large fortune i i the linen trade, and had cv eted near It itterdam a mansion, one por;i in of which was devoted to the arrangement of a col:ecti<m of pipes ace ird.'ug to their nationality and chronological orr.er. A few days before his death he summoned his lawyer, and mad,' his will, in which he directed that all the smokers in the country should be invited to his funeral, that eaea should be presented with ten pounds of tobacco 1 and two Dutch pipes of 'he newest fashi >n, oil which ; .should be engraved the naai", arm--, and date of t le decease of the testator, lie requested all his relates, friends, and t'-mcral guests to be careful to keep tueif ; pipes ali;ht during the funeral eerem cries after wliich I they should empty the ashes from their pipis on the eofI tin, 'l'he po >rot the noighbourhoo Iw io attended to j his but wishes were to receive annually, ou the uuui- • versary of his death, ten pound-; of tob.ieco and a small cask of g.'0,1 beer, lie desired th it Iris oak e.dHn should be lined with the cedar of his old Havannah cigar-boxes, ' an l th t a box of French eaparol, an 1 a [jacket ot old Dutch tobacco should be ol iced at th 3 foot of his collin.

His favourite pipe was to be placed bv his si<)e, along with a box. of matches, a flint, anil steel, ami some tinder, as he said there was no knowing what might liap- , pen. A clever calculator has ma le out that Mr. lv ae.« hud, 'luring his eighty years of life, smoked more than ! t' o ar tons of tobacco, an "t had drunk about live-huudred- ' thousand quarts of lieer. ♦ 1 Peculiar People/' —People who like the bag- • t es. People who dislike oysters. People who perloil of our commercial prosperity, when Writing-paper costs next to nothing, cross their letters. People who say leesure. interest ing, inh .snit'able, and appUckab'e. People who have poor relations. People who dye their hair. People who always know where blie wind is. People who like -et.ting up early in the morning. People who havc°moi-e monev than they know what to do with. : p'eoole who possess a stock of old port. People who have never been abroad. People who give donation; tn street beggars and organ-grinders. People who send conscience money to the Chancellor of the 1 Exehetiu. r. People who take long walks before People who spend an income in tlowers for the button-hole. People who light and leave off tires on tixed days. People who like paying Income tax Peoi)le wlio go to hot, uncomfortable theatres People who buy early and costly asparagus -niue inches of white stock to one ot green nead. People who have no sense ot humour. People who give large parties in small rooms. People who lavish their money on the heathen abroad and leave the heathen at home to take care of themselves. People who have the ice broken to bathe in the Serpentine in winter. People who look forward to a time when there shall be no In-come-tax. People who keep all tlieir old letters. People without prejudices, weaknesses, antipathies, hobb'es, crotchets, or favourite theories. Critics ! who are satisfied with the hanging of the Royal i Academy. People who have nothing the matter i with their digestion and can eat anything. People ' who take snuff. People who hold their tongues, i : People who go on sending contributions to Punch.—

' Several inquiries having boon made regarding- the properties of a new tlruyf obtuitie 1 from the Eucalyptus Globulus, or " Blue Gum " tree, the following information may ! prove inter est in.', says the ''Lancet, to oir re a ler.s. The eucayptus is a myrtaceous j tree, a native of Australia, but recently cub | tivated in Corsica and isonth Lurope. On account of its supposed efficacy in inarsh :tn 1 other fevers it h is already gained the name , of H Fever Trei "in Spain. Dr. Lornis- 1 !!', or Vienna, reports that he employed it in the treat neat- of intermittent fever with sue -ess Profes-or Gnbler has also recommend ;d this remedy in tho " Bulletin de I ncrapeuiiii is -is a tonic and stimulant. It has a!s> been u-ed in bronchitis, and a.s an antiseptic to •.voimds. Tiic eucalyptus lias been subjected • to ext.oa-ive trial in Corsica by Dr. ('a dotu, i and his very favourable rep >rt hai been | ! translated into Fr »m this rep >rt; j we Icarn that the whole of this giant troe is t | strongly impregnated with fobriiugal nroper- ; j tics. lie has used leaves, baric, wood i with success. Professor .viae!can, of Net ley, ; has als ) farnishel us with his experience of , ! this drug in the October number of the : •' Practitioner." Cigars ma le from the leaves jof this plant hive been employe lin C ises : where the use <»f antispasm ) be re nedies has | been indicated ; an I Dr. Maclean says, as tin: j result of his ex .erience at_ Net'ey, that he ! I k lows of no rem idy, wit i tne cxcepdo.i per- | haps of the subeut iue m* iu jaetiou of m »rph a , j s > eif •ctual in allaying pain, ealmiag vrrita- 1 I hion, and procuring sleep, in eases ot Oiest I inMiri.sm involving pressure on the vagus o: j its brandies, and in cardiac astlnua, as the J eucalyptus globulus. A tincture ot tne ieat j has been used iu two-drachm doses with i success in Gounany ia the treatment of iuI termitteut fever. By a rccommendati »n from ! the Minister of the Interior the eucalyptus ! was subjected to analysis by Pr > lessors j Vaufjuelin and Leiciana. I-hey ootaiu«.vl, be- ! sides, an essential oil containing eucalyptol

! or eucalypt-carrtph >r, an extract resemoling' j resin of cinchona. This extract yio de.l a | substance cipable of uont.rnlisino- tho strongI aoMs, and formiii'g ory.staliiiu salts. Tlio sulJ pi ia bo crystallise I in stars, like tiie < ii; ii 11 o ! salt ; tkis iuduccd thorn to fcfy tho acci »n of j chlorine an I a:n;n >111; i <»n tnis snbstanoj, -ml I the coloration of cjiiinmo was insta it y produced. It would bo carious, ii (j'linine should bo found in other trees than cinchonas. The oil has a lemon yellow colour, but i.i other respects it strongly resembles cijeput oil. As its alkid >id and therapeutic uses resemble cinchona, it has been g-iven in similai

I i loses. ; i i j * j , j ; It may be interesting to consu-.n n-s of coal to j ! know that experiments have recently been made to j i ascertain the amount of loss coal undergoes when j I exposed to the weather. Anthracite and canil coal j ! s idler least, but ordinary bituminous coal Ins.; j i nearly one-thinl in weight, and nearly one-half in j j gas-making q.ualifcv. From this it follows that eo:u | I should bo kept dry an I under cover, _ and that to j ! cxo ; wo it to rain or damp is to lessjn its quautity I and weaken its quality. j Hop culture in Tasmania and Victoria is going on !at a great rate. The supply from Morningco-n and I Warrnambo >1 is this year estimated by tons, noti withstanding that a great many acres were destroyed ; i floods. It has also been cultivated at Sale, b.it i I Waminnbool apyoiirs to be tha ucri'l-riLuarters. Oac , : "rower there has about thirty acres ; his yield is j estimated at over twelve hundred weight per acre, j S which at the price oit'ered fls 10 per lb), will make ; | a very satisfactory return. He has obtained expert ; ; men from Kent, and has sunk a good deal of money ; ;in the erection of kilns. Idis process appears to be i well carried out, and the sample of dried hops is j pronounced to be perfect. This being the case th-. e I is a groat market for them, and we doubt not that I fehe praspect will attract many farmer.-} to be growers ' of this plant. The <hdo;vj understands I that Mr. Hodges has purchased the hops grown by : Mr. of Yen, at two shillings per l'o. PreI sinning til ere to be 3 )0 11)3 as state-l, mis v. ill return, i Mr. Burgess 3'Jl for the produce of half an acre of 1 : land, a fact that ought to induce others to try what , i they can do in the way of hop culture. 1 i