FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 82, 7 November 1872, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

A3 to the use of plaster of Paris as a manure, if a person will aow planter wuen t.ie is dry and warm antl hlwljNx**' keep so to? a lew dfcys, lie will be surprised at tfle results, for plaster 13 a great absorb* r of carbjiuQ-acid gad, wlnoij 14 1 lie life of plants, aud not/auimuuia. assisted ; butif lie : siiocUd undertake to. sow it oa wet laud, aad m a cold, bleak turn.', iw may look with both eye's for tae good results, and he will lad to see tiietn. ' Tiie. beat remedy for'wire-worms is plenty of adies. If they infest land planted witn corn, d'rop a uandfiii of aaaes on eacu lull of corn, tbe wire-worms wdl not touch it; it will' not hurt the corn, but is good for it; it wdl take a little time and labour, but it will pay.. This has been tried where the ground was full of them, and it never fads if ashes are strong ; wntn moist they create a lye that the wire-worm cannot bear. For paint for outside wood-work, take whiting; mixed in pure, raw liuseed od ; let it stand until, it'i; thorougnly mixed ; then reduce with od, and adi. the drier sufficient to dry it. This makes the best, hardest, most durable paint for first coat of anything ever tried. .Reduce it to the ordinary thickness for priming, and apply with an ordinary brush. It must be thoroughly beaten together, so as to work out all the. lumps ,of the whiting, or, for weather-worn weather boarding, take about one-half common whiting, one-half wnite lead ; throw in small portions of red lead and chrome yellow to overcome the blackness of the wood, or add umber for a drab colour. Fresu paint is always best. L.nseed oil is to be used; a little turpentine will make the paint flow more freely from the brush. Small portions of Venet;an red and lamp black will'do for colouring to the proper shade. A proper choice of stock can hardly bo made without considering the nature of the ground stock will have to pasture on. With the most luxuriant pasture, shorhorn stock would not bo at home 011 any but level fields, or at the most moderately rolling land. It has b^pn # founJ that, when grazed on hilly pastures, they become 1 g iter budi, and more active in their movements. -But on suc.i irregular surfaces the more active Devons or Ayrshires are co nplotely at home ; and it has been due to the influence of such a condition in their native localities that their lightness of frame aad ability of movement have become peculiar to them. It is impossible to overcome the natural laws under which these races have attained their present forms and habits; and if we wish to retain these in perfection, it is necessary to accommodate our circumstances to them . Therefore it is not advisable to endeavour to make the heavy breed of stock accommodate themselves to hilly countries or farms, for the experiment will certainly result in losing the most valuable peculiarity these breeds possess.

In "Firming Hints," by Joseph Harris, we find lie following striking testimony to the value as a !i anure of a crop of clover when ploughed undor. r lo tiose who are not conversant with the application of green crops as manure, we may say that the theory which underlies their use is that they by pen. , ) rating to a greater depth in the soil than cereals and other shallow feeding plants, bring to tlic surface as part of their constituents valuable salts and other mineral constituents of plant food, which being ploughed under, fertilize the surface as much as if the same ingredients hal been produced and applied for external sources. In other words, green manure of this kind may be regarded as a substitute for deep ploughing, after the surface soil has been partially exhausted by frequent cropping. Mr Harris says : " In 1868, one of my neighbours had a heavy field of clover. He commenced ploughing it under fur wheat in June, but the groun I was hard and the crop so large that he abandoned the job. The clover dried up on the 'and, and formed a kind of mulch that kept the ground moist, and the clover commenced to grow through it. S)ine time in July the whole was turned under, anl t'ie field af'erwarl sown to wheat. It was a noble crop. After the wheat, the field was sown with corn, and it was the best piece of corn I saw that year. Tie next spring it was sown to barley, wiiich was also heavy, an 1 then last Fall, the field was a*ain sown with wheat, and I have not seen a more promising crop this season." We rnav remark that, with those who practice this kind of clover manuring, the clover seed is sown with the wheat or barley crop as the case may be.