FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 231, 1 November 1873, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Coal ashes are useful on all soil* mechanically loosening a heavy clay aud improving »andy loams. They contain lime, alumina or clay, silicia or sand, and sometimes notable quantities of potash and phosphoric acid. u iif *i in J di^*" c ? ? d *P» Profe ««or Williams is quoted by the Medical and Surgical Reporter as saying that. ap. plications that may be used upon other animals with safety will upta-the dog produce gieat disturbance, and even death. For thu season he has abandoned carbolic acid, no matter how dilute, in canine skin diseases, as the effect is sometimes deleterious and fatal. He finds the best application as a stimulant to the skin in dogs to be sublimed sulphur a.nd carbonate of potash, each a drachm, made into an ointment with one ounce of lard In making hay, the essential points are to get rid of the moisture in the grass as rapidly as possible to the sun and air ; but the shorter the time it is exposed the better, providing it is sufficiently cured to keep^rfthout mould! ing. Above all, aim to avoid exposing cured or partially cured hay to dew and rain. It is not ,the naturafjuioe of the hay, but external moisture that causes mildew and f^S Dg ' £ t" le "?•.■** * 9u9 u » rfc to • ton, may be scattered on the hay as it is put in the' barn or stack with advantage. It u a mistake to suppose that salt draws moisture from the atmosphere. It draws it out of the nay. In raising turnips on a light soil it proper preparation for a crop wouid by a deep ploughing and harrowing as early as possible. U hen the weeds haVe 'started another ploughin | . and harrowing should be given. The land whon well mellowed should bo laid oft in drills thirty 'inches apart, by taking two furroughs with a single plough, or °",V V | ,ti Ubl ° 180U I J d -bo«rd plough, in tne drill well iotte I stable manure should be spread at the rate of ten to twelve loads per acre, or moro T if it is at hand The" manure is then covered by throwing a furrow from e.ch «r flf n ]°ll ? e ,?T Q( U 8 then ha ™>™d lengthwise of the drill and rolled. * The seed is rown either by a turnip-seed drill, or by han<l iv a light furrow made with the edge of a hoe and covered lightly. The crop should be kept free from weods. The French paper, Lea Mmides, of recent date, in commentingon results obtained by the use of a new chemical fertilizer for horticultural purposes says, that it represents the fertilizing principles of at least one hundred times its weight of concentrated animal manure, and supplies to the plants nitrogen phosphorus, potash sulphur, aud iron in a completely soluble state. The compound consists of 400 parts of ammonia ; 200 parts biphosphate of ammonia ; -60 parts nitrate of potash ; 50 parts muriate of ammonia; 60 parts sulphate of i^me, and 40 parts sulphate of iron, inese ingredients are pulverise.! and mixed. One drachm of the powder—abont a teaspoonful— is then dissolved in a quart of water, and a Jrine glassful of the solution given two or three times a weol*. in accordance with the health and luxuriance of the fetation. The plants may be placed in any kind of earth, however pure, even puie sand or may not be potted at »IJ. It is stated that certain flowers, the fuchsia, for example, may be cultivated without earth by simply placing tbe stalk in a jar, at the bottom of which is an inch or «> of water, just sufficient to cover the ends of the roots. To the fluid a proportional quantity of the fertiliser is added, as above specified, once in eight dajs. The foliaceous development of plants treated with the substance is said to be truly wonderful, and yet the rapid growth of the leaves does not interfere with the most luxuriant flowering. To this we iray add that quite recently we have tried a compound hastily composed of tbe majority of the substances above detailed, merely as an experiment, ou a small and sickly fuchsia Ihe plant was drooping nnd little else remained than a half dry stalk. After two applications of the fertili er its effect was apparent, and at the end of ten days, durinc whrh probably lialf a pint of solution had been supplied" to the earth, new shoots had kprung out, leaves formed, and the entire plant became perfectly loaded down with buds.

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