FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 134, 18 March 1873, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

With regard to curing meat on stations, a writer says:—f may say that during in> experience of tliirty years, not 10 per cent." of (hose who tried succeeded in doing so wholly, the great, nvijjntv always losing more op less of the beast they had salted. 'Quite 'a- superstition obtains among station folks as to the capability of people to sn.lt beef* biiccessfullv, mmy men, with whatever pains they take, never being able to succeed, w'nlst others, the "lucky" as they are culled, wit \ app.uvndy \>r; ordmiry ewe, alwajs manage to do t- . After the ordinary method of salting dowuin- a cask, I could rover s\»eceed m saving- a- bei»*t m summer, and but very indifferent] v in winter: But by the following rule 3 taught me by an old' butcher, P could 1 fthwvs save every pound, and «o have others who tried them. Tlu-v nro simple enough :— I) > nob daughter your beast with ft' full stoma-h, or whilst it h healed from being driren ; slaughter at sund >w n, nnd he suiv that the animal bleeds thoroughly; let your kmvo9 and ase be sharp, or substitute n> jaw for the axe, if jou have no one who oan use th^ axe adroitly ; divss a-, cleanly and quickly as possible, an-1 hanj up for the cool air of the night Xext morning cut up before sunrise, into neat clean cut peees of 61b or 81b each, using sharp tools; and' here again the saw is much bettor than the ixe in the hands of a novice, for a dull axe makes splinters, and they interfere v\ itli the hnmls of tie •alter, and detcE him fr >m rib 1 ing iv fie nit. Rigged cuts, again, and incisions cut in the meat, serve as bidding places for flioa, and arc very trying to the hands of the inevpei lenced salter, therefore cut your piece* fairly and evenly. Cut out all the large bone*; a little practice will enable you to do tins neat ly. TJso lOlbs of salt per IOOTbs of beof ; and if you wish to make it look red you may add a very little-prunella. Rub the salt carefully into each piece, moving it about the while in order that no portion may miss the salt, hard rubbing not being at all necessary. As each piece is salted, stack it on a slanting board or table where it can drain thoroughly ; and when all is stacked, cover it with a light cloth to kaep away flies. Next morning turn it all over, give it another rubbing and start afresh, changing sides. The third morning have another examination and' re-stack it. In a weak or tern days )ou may take it out and dry it in the sun, and keep it m "am dry place as long as you please Your salting room should be in a shady plaiv.'nnd have a draught through it, the windows being covered with wire or gauze that will exclude flics but not air. The floor should" he raised and even, to allow all brine, &c., to drain away, and it must be kept scrupulously clean always. In America,, in many localities, windmills are coming permanently into use for elevating water for practical and ornamental purposes. From, the bed of a stream in the valley they are used to operate a pump to force water to the top of buildings, or some elevated' ground, not only for supplying, the- farm and barns, but also for fountains and miniature lakes in the groand of suburban residences abounding for miles around the City of New York on every side. With littlo outlay these nulls are made useful nnd'ornamental. Iron when- water is not abundant they are harnessed to a deep well pump, and call down blessings, not only upon man, but upon the Beasts of the field. A trough for supplying water to the herd, having a waste-pipe returning to the wall, may, by the use of a mill, Loop up a constant supply without waste, and saw not only labonr to the herdsman, but prevent loss and suffering to the herd. All spontaneous growths, even weeds, are- the farmers' friends, if ho knew how to utilise thsm. Like fire, like water, the) become enemies only when he fails to treat them according to natural laws. In a system of thorough cultivation, where the foil is frequency stnrred during the season of growth, no weeds can attain injurious size, and the farmer, in thus inexorably prosecuting their destruction, does precisely what he ought to do for the benefit of his crop, if not » weed were in, existence. In fact, tho-movo- weedy his land, the greater must be his incentive to active cultivation and the productiveness of his crop. In this view the wweds are actually and potently his friends, stimulating him to efforts rssulting in profits which he might not put forth but for the threat thus silently made by the friendly forces of Nature. Suppose, on the other hand,' he does not culiivate his field' at all, he has too much land, or from, some other causo is compelled to allow a portion of his ground to lie idle. Which would a thinking farmer prefer in a case like this, that his land should present a naked surface, destitute of vegetation, or become clothed, without offbrt of tois own, with a rich crop, of verdure, drawing for its support largely from the air, and eventually returning to-tho soil all it hoe- taken, from it, together with this additional matter as a huge interest for the use of the elements otherwise lying idle in the ground ? Or, if ho is simply belated in, his work, would he- not prefer a rich crop of weeds and grass to. turn under m midsummer, thus giving him the equivalent of acoat of manure absolutely without expense, to a naked surface, baked by the sun and sodden by tue rain, and in point of fertility neither better nor worse than it was three months before ?

A llobsb Fon SixrFNOE —On Thursday, the 6th instant, (says the Arnridale Chronicle,) there wm a snle of horaca at the pound jnrds. Tito prices that ruled were not excessive, One .young gentleman informed us that be purchased a lhicepbalu* for one shillinji,. and tbat one or two Rosinnntes wore exclianged for even the smaller coin sixpence. In this part of tlw world it is not a question of who would wa'k, for everybody does ride ; but seeing that we already feed a fi'w million* of English with our beef and mutton, it is almost a matter of consideration whether it would not be as well to cater for the peculiar tastes of their OaMic neighbours and tf> «npi>lv the craving hippophacriV appetites of the Parisian^ with a few consignments of tinned hor&c*