FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 189, 26 July 1873, Page 3

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

As a cure for the Phylloxera vastatrix the new vine lineage that is ranking such terrible ravages in the French And other Euiopean \iueyar<ls, and which is said to have spread to a greater or less degree in America, and Afaca, late English scientiHc journals recommend the digging in of sulphurefc of Calcium aiound the roots of vines, this they say will have a powerful effect m destioymg any Phylloxera rastatnx that may happen t>> infest them It gives rise to a tine sulphuiic acid, in conseijuence of the moisture of the -soil and the gentle disengagement of carbonic acid. It serves equally well to destroy catei pillars and other insects which aie frequently so difficult to remove from vegetation. The same subetanap is also lecommended for the destruction of miasms (or the agencies by which epidemics are transmitted), and also as not being open to the objections to the ordinary disinfectants intioduced into water closets, such as sulphate or chloiide of iron, which, while destroying the hydio-sulphnric acid, allow tfce development of more dangerous emanations. Lon<* continued obseivation shows that harness and other leather exposed to the action of ammonia continually given off in stables, become weak and rotten soonei than other leather. Even when caie is taken to piotcct them •with grease, this takes place The addition of a small quantity of glyce.me to the oil or fat employed in qi eating such kind of leather has been recommended to Keep it always pliable and soft. A farmer of my acquaintance, wiites the correspon lent of an American agncultmal journal, took pains to have his cows come in in the Fall and Winter, for the reason that he could get a better price for the butter then than jm the Summer, and that during the hottest season of Summer, when haivest work was urgent, and butter making, at the best, unsatisfactory, and the cows rendered fretful and feverish by flies and heat, then was the time to have them dry. This may l>e all true, but can you, asked T, make as much butter in Winter or as good as in Summer? He replied— l can not only make as much hut better butter in Winter ; and this is how I do it :— My hay is cut at the first blossoming and cured in the cock. My meadows are then top diessed with manure, and by September the aecoud crop is ready to pasture off with the cows, and give them a heavy feed." My fodder corn is cut early and cured carefully, and is nearly as green as when cut. In fact, all my feed is cut early, and I have plenty of it and of great vaiiety. I have oats and peas, cut green, and carrots ■and potatoes. My stabks aie roomy, warm, clean and sweet, and well lighted Theie is pure water always before the cows. They are well fed and comfortable, and nrtk more than they would have done in Summer. I feed tn\m with bran, cornmeal, and oilmeal, and the milk is rich. My dairy has double windows to keep out the cold, and is warmed with a stove and kept at a regular temperature I have more and better butter than I could get through the hot weather, with less labor, and 1 get better pi ice than in Summer. If there is any good reason why I should change my plan I don't «cc it. It took me some years to discover it, but I believe, on the whole, I shall stick to it.-™- While this man, by excellent management, made a good thing of his dairy, aud others who will take the trouble, could do the same, nevertheless it would not do for all to undertake it ; but if they should, there would be so many failures, from want of tact, that the profit to tho«e who .■succeed is amply secured. Red-top is the best graas for hay in moist nndrained soils liable to be Occasionally overflowed. Then, if cut early, it has a thick bottom, and makes a heavy crop of second-rate hay. Timothy grass on moist, drained soils is far preferable, or in uplands of fair character. If red-top is chosen, there should be about two bushels, or 28 poiiiids, sown per acre But mind, it is not recommended except for wet undramed soils' The ploughnig-m of green crops for manure is a kind of husbandry very little practised in Australia, but it has great advantages in land of which the top soil has been partly exhausted by frequent cropping and shallow ploughing. Clover and some other green crops which penetrate to considerable -depths, bring to the surface a supply of mineral ingredients to replace those which have been absorbed in surface crops. Peas, buckwheat, anil clover are considered the best crops for ploughing under. The chief advantage of buckwheat is its rapid growth, which enable t»o crops to be ploughed ■under in one season. A crop of pea* furnishes more nitrogen j to the soil than buckwheat, but its bulk is not greater. Clover not only furnishes a great bulk of leaves and stalks but a large quantity of roots in addition, which on decaying leave the sod porous and open, and in the best mechanical •condition ; besides it will yield crops of fodder or hay, and then afterwards, in the second or third jear, furnishes a crop to plough in. Most farmers manage their pigs " according to circumstances." Those do best who usually keep only pigs enough to consume food that is unsaleable at a paying price, or that would otherwise be wasted. If we keep pigs at all we should keep them well. A young growing pig should have all the food of some kind thnt it can eat and digest. If the refuse .of the house and barns and dairy, with a clover paddock, «re not sufficient for this purpose, they should have erain. If possible, let all your pigs have the run of a good clover paddock. Sows that have had pigs in spring, and which are to be fattened and sold in autumn ought to have more or less grain in summer ; but breeding sows will keep in good condition on clover alone. Machinery driven by horse-power is now extensively and increasingly employed. Such being the ense, any means that can be devised for cheapening I h<« \\ orking of such appliances will be advantageous to the grazier, and, of course through Inm to the counfry at large. A considerable item m the cost ,of working horse powers would be saved if the services of the man to drive the horse or horses could be dispensed with. In some parts of France it is common to see horses, as«es, and mules, thus used without the attendance of drivers. The mode of training them to the work is as follows : — Attach a small bell to the pole, shaft, or lever, to which the horse is harnessed for draught, in such a manner that it will be rung /Continuously, while the horse continues his round, and cease the moment he stops. Winkers or eye-blinders should be ««ed to prevent the animal from seeing whether or not any person is attending as driver. These are also at any rate of use in preventing giddiness from the continuous circular travelling. Start the animal and avoid the usual talking to him by way of urging him on, but the moment he Btop« so will the bell ; and then the whip should be sharply applied at the instant. Continue this treatment, without fail, every time the animal stops till his time for feed and rest arrives ; two hours is quite long enough for him to work without rest and refreshment. After an hour or two o r rest, yoke up and proceed as before. Q-o on in this way, never working the horse more than two hours without rest and refreshment sufficient to make him start lively, and in no case allowing him to get fagged. Follow on in tins way carefully and punctually from two to four or five days, according to the temper to be dealt with, and the Won will be learned ; the ■terror of the whip, on the hell ceasing to ring, will then have taught him jto work on without stopping, at all events for the customary two hours at a spell without attendance. Horses so trained should not he used for plough or cart work, nor should they at any time receive the regular or common driving attention. An important decision, snys the Mercury, was given (n the Maitland District Court on Tuesday last by his Honor Judge powling, which may be of some value to vendors and purchasers of crops Some time ago, in the year )871, a farmer named Lawler sold a crop of millet to Mr M. Moore of West Maitland, who agreed to take the whole of the growth of that year, nt a certain price. Mr Moore accepted delivery of all the mjllet that had been brought to bun from Lawlor's farm during that year ; but a second crop had been sown towards the end of the year, nearly all of which was fit for cutting, though none was delivered till some time in the following year. By this time the price of the article had undergone a considerable reduction, and the purchaser declined to accept delivery of this crop, on the ground that it was not the 1871 x:rop, and that it should have been delivered within that year. Lawler thereupon sold the crop (at Moore's risk) at » loss of something of £25, and brought an action in the District Court, in 1872, before his Honor Judge Simpson for the recovery of the amount, and got a yerdict for that amount. A new trial was moved for and obtained, and was heard on •Tuesday last, before his Honor Judge Dowling, who upheld the former decision, on the ground that, as no time had been stated in the agreement for the delivery of the millet, the defendant was bound to accept delivery of it, being the drop fit 1871.

TnE Bekr Ejotb at Frankfort — Our Berlin correspondent writes, under date April 23 :—": — " The beer riots at Frankfort are very serious. The brewers having slightly rained the price of beer, the mob availed themselves of a market day, when thou«ands of labourers from the neighbourhood risited the town, to attack and demolish the principal beer-housei, tavern«, and breweries The police at first hesitated to interfere, but, upon some Socialists displaying a red flap, they thought it high time to assert the muJMty of the law, and made an effort to withstand the rioters in the more exposed localities. They were beaten oft" by the mob, who, encouraged by suceeM, received the military with a shower of brick* When a few blank cartridges fired to usirn off the rioters had proved ineffectual, the offices in command at la«l reported to more stringent means, and, of course, en«ilv succeeded in quelling the not. The 10->s of life is \erv great There are 37 dead and about 100 wounded. With the exception of a few, where the rioters were received with scolding beer and steam before the military arrived, all the leading breweries of the town were invaded by the mob. No doubt there has been mismanagement on the part of the authorities, or the riot could never have assumed such vast proportions. The police, consisting chiefly of Frank fort ero, probably acted with the leniency usually displayed by South German authorities on, »uch occasions, while the militun, roinm m led, I daic say by North German oik-era, or, at any rale, bound to uahmc to tho injunctions ot tho Prussian military code, ns sooii ns they began operations, gave the rioters a taste of the stricter discipline and cternor habits of the German North. It was £he first riot at Frankfort sinco the lato remodelling of all £ frifljs in. Germany." — Times.