AN AMERICAN ON ENGLISH PLOUGHING.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 180, 3 July 1873, Page 2

AN AMERICAN ON ENGLISH PLOUGHING.

My notion of English ploughing was somewhat changed by my observation. It must delight any farmer to see absolutely straight furrows stretching across wide fields along mile after mile of his journey. Nothing more beautiful inthe wav of mechanical work could be imagined, and such exactness is hardly possible except in a climate where the ploughman is allowed to continue his task throughout every mouth of the year, rarely doing any other work. Whether these straight lines have any economical value is doubtful ; as encouraging neatness and skill, they are certainly hnportnnt My admiration was a good deal modified by a constant observation of the performance of the work. The English ploughs, made of iron, are probably more than four times a* heavy as ours. They run no more deeply, they cut no greater width, and they do run much more slowly They employ, nn.l I f.incy they require, much more power than ours For instance, I saw in no case fewer than three enormous horses before a plough, frequently five, usually driven tandem, with a man at the plough and a boy to drive. The furiow \%as generally rathor under than over Gin deep, and not more than lliu or 12in wide. The soil is often very heavy, it is true, but not more so than much of our own, and I have often seenthiee well-bred, active American hocses plough out an equal width and depth with pretty nearly double the speed of these sluggishi. beefy English cart-horses. We, theiefore, do our ploughing more cheaply, practically as welL and certainly 50 peucent faster. The mere fact of speed 13 very important, for when the soil is in good condition, its disintegration it much more complete when the furjow is rapidly thrown* over. With so much in English agiiculfcure to excite one's, admiration and envy, it was rather consoling to my patriotism to be able "to think that we are their supeiior 111 the important matter of ploughing— except by steam ; that, alai ! seems to make but slow way in this country, and nothing ntfers more advantages, 1E we can only sdford to adopt such expensive machinery.

We (Ai'slralatian) have ssen n telegram from London, received on Wednesday by Mr W. McCulloeh, announcing the purchase on his account of Lady Pi«ot'9 famous bull Rapid, the first prize yearling at the Cardiff Rojal show ; also the purchase of four prize Booth heifers, a part of them from Mr Booth's own stock. They bnve been shipped on board the Lady Octavia, which sails on the 30th inst. The price of the bull was 1000 guineas ; the lalue of the heifers is not stated, but sufficient is known to justify our saying that two of them have cost more than 500 guineas apiece. This will no doubt be the last shipment from England hither until after the expiry of the two years' prohibition. The accession of so many first class animals will make Mty McCullooh's herd one of the strongest in the colony with regard to females ; the quality of the bull, too, should leave nothing further to be- desired' on the male side. He is a rich roan, and was considered when shown at Cardiff to be the best hull of the year. We trust they may all arrive sahAy Our best stock lias been so highly appreciated of late years bv our Sydney neighbours that they will soon have taken all our pluina. As the minds of many sheopowneM in New Zealand are just now specially exercised on the subject of cross-breeding, the follow ing pertinent remarks, contributed by Mr Charles* G-awthrop, of Ridgmount, to the Armidale Express, will no doubt prove serviceable to the above-named important section of our community. Ho cays : — "Thinking that the assertion made by Morfc and Co, in a circular lately issued by them, relative to crose-bred sheep, may lead some sheep farmers not well versed in such matters astray, it may not be amiss to offer a few remarks thereon. Mort and Co point out the desirability of breeding cross-bred sheep as suiting the present state of the wool market, but say that it doe 3 not do to breed from the cross-bred ewes. This is a mistake, as some of our best flocks lr New England have been bred up in. this manner ; and, for an example in this country, we will tnke the half-bred Cheviot. Cross this animal again with a pure-bred Southdown ram, and I guarantee a sheep will be produced not to be surpassed, either for the butcher or to suit the present market. Tt is all nonsense about sheep degenerating by being bred from cross-bred sheep. Why did/ not our Leicester flocks degenerate ? I have now been breeding from cross-bred sheep for five years, and every year, by judicious crossing, my sheep are improving ; and the price my wool makes m the English market proves that I produced wool suited to the times; and m this New England ' climate wo must have a hardy animal. This is arrived at by ■*« the mws I irention. — Press." The Geelonq Advertiser Bays that, with respect to the intercolonial champion ploughing match, <i a letter has been received by the secretary of the Geelong Society, from the secietary of the Ballarat Agricultural Committee, intimating that the Ballarat match would 'probably be postponed! until next year, but this had not been lln.ally decided upon. It is probable that the entries will he very numerous, and' hopes are oxpre<*"ed that South Australia, New Zealand,, and New South Wales will bo represented.— Press.

On the Pointed Eak in Man. — Professor L. Meyen, of G-ottingen, criticises the assumption that the pointed ear in man is a relic of a lower species. In Darwin's book on the Descent of Man there is a paragraph, illustrated by a woodcut, in which he aseerts that certain processes which occasionally occur in the ears of men, are of a similar nature to the points in the ears of apes. Tucso pointed processes are situated) says the British Medical Journal, on the anterior margin of the helix, near its upper part. The author of the present paper point* out, however, that in most human ears there are irregularities in the development of the helix, especially at this part. In some cases the helix is almost entirely wan' mi », jn some there are greater or smaller gap« in it ; and \\ ' it Darwin looks on as points of processes, are really produced not by an outgrowth from the helix, but by gaps existing on each side of the apparent process. A case is given where the helix was absent, but at intervals there were small knobs, three in number, which wore all that represented the rudimentary helix. It i§, therefore, concluded that Darwin's pointed car is no indication of a return to tlio ! ape-like form. Something New — " We've got something new at our house," gleefully exclaimed an errand-boy, one day last week, as he entered the shop where he \va» employed. " What is it 9 " blandly inquired his master, thinking, perhaps, it was a baby, or something of the kind. " Oil, my sister is all brokn out with the small-pox," was the delighted reply. Tho firm have secun-d the services of a n^w errand-boy. Two friends mooting, ono remarked, " I have |iistmeta mnn who told me I looked exactly like you." " Tell me who it was. fchnfc I may knock him down," replied his friend. "Don't trouble yourself," said he, "1 did that myself." Prejudice is an equivocal term; and may as well mean rijht, opinions takon upon trust, and deeply rooted in the mnd,as false and absurd opinions so derived, and grcwn into it. A Western editor's statement, '• We are living at this momcut under absolute despotism," is attributed by hi» contemporaries to the fact of his haviug lately,beeiu married.