GLEANINGS.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1320, 14 December 1880, Page 3

GLEANINGS.

Plettbo-pneumonia has broken out at Roxley, Lincolnshire. The wool export from Victoria last year was valued at £2,656,528, and from New South Wales at £6,491, 198. A ton of bran fed to cows returns more than its cost in manore. In California the farmers raise pork upon clover or lucerne and roots at a cost of three cents a pound. New South Wales has over 29,000,000 sheep — about three and a half times as many as Victoria. Owners of self-bindiner harvest machines in the States cut and bind wheat and oats for 4s per acre. On analyis by the Royal A gricultural Society cf England, a sample of linseed cake (so-called) was found to contain more sand than linseed, though sold for £12 the ton. In Belgium, horses are so well trained that they are guided almost wholly by word of mouth, the driver relying upon the intelligence of his horse rather than upon the bit. By letting the hay crop stand too long, the hay is converted very considerably into woody fibre, with a good proportion of flint. Immediately after shearing, the ticks leave the sheep for the longer wools of the lambs. The lambs thus infected should be dipped in a decoction of tobacco stems, which will destroy the ticks. Many a horse has been injured, if not spoiled, by being placed in the care of a half groim boy, whose only idea of driving— and showing his authority — seemed to be jerking at the reins and yelling. A long woolly coat invariably covers a fine, richly marbled carcass of beef. It. is from tbo long experience of butchers in this respect that " hair" has been alloted such a high value in the tabulated scale of points in the shorthorn. When the plant has just formed the grain, or when it is "in the milk," is about the best time to cut the hay, for then it will dry quickly and will be filled with sugar. The hay will be tender and fattening, and the animals will like it. It is a fact beyond dispute, as any observing naturalist will affirm, that the closer the relation between animals and man, the more intelligent and docile will the animal become. The Exmoors are noted for the early production of lambs, and are the most prolific sheep in England. A two-year-old Exmoor wether will give 70 to 80 pounds of mutton, equal to Southdown ; in fact, these two breeds are of the same value to the English butcher A Belgian plough horse in an awkward situation will obey readily as many as five separate and distinct orders, the single check-rein meanwhile remaining attached to the plough handle, leaving the driver's hands free for the harder task of guiding the plough. This certainly illustrates the economy of having trained animals for farm work. In the San Joaquin Valley, and other sections where wheat is grown on a large scale, the farmers cut and thresh grain with one machine — the header and thresher combined — from 30 to 50 acres a day, with 5 men and 20 horses. They thresh from 300 to 500 sacks per day, of 1001b per safk. ■ Fallowing does not enii *b or re-tore the { fertility of soil. By the aotion of sun and air an additional quantity of plant food is rendered available for the u-e of the next crop,, which is therefore bv po much the better than a crop taken the previous year would have been. Buckwheat complete* its|growth rapidly. It is peculiar in the fact that it will thrive on any kind of soil, though, of course, it does better on a rich noil than upon a poor soil. It is generally sown broadcast, about one bushel of seed per acre. The yield varies very much ; about 30 or 35 bushels per acre are considered a fair crop. Wonderful reports come from the Swedish Colony in Maino. Upon half an acre of land it is solemnly averred, these industrious people have raised 300 bushels of potatoes, while in another case 2t 00 bushels were taken from four acres. Cows will need some fresh fodder when tho pastures become short and dry. Fod»

dor corn is excellent for, this, keeping up the flow of milk through the peason. An abundance of cool, fresh water ought to be within the reach of the oows, and aleo shade from the hot tun of the summer noon-day. Only two deaths occurred on British railways in 1879 through carelessness or neglect of the companies, with the exception of the Tay Bridge disaster. Remember in fattening animals for the butcher that every pound of flesh made will cost but a fourth or less of that which is made in the winter; besides, the growth of an animal increases in proportion to its size up to a certain limit ; and the heavier it is made the greater its future increase. Therefore sheep, pigs or beeves should be pushed forward now as rapidly as possible. Do not forget that water is food as well as solid matter and should be given with as much regularity. The Konigsbcrgcr Land and Forstioirthischaftliche Zeitung gives us an account of a new machine for skimming milk by heat ; it was exhibited by Herr Carl Becker at the Dusselldorf Exhibition, but the opinion of the judges is not yet known. The following is the working method of the apparatus : — The milk is heated in a hot water bath to 45 deg. Beaumur, and kept at this temperature for at least two hours. It is then cooled, by means of cold water, to 15 deg. Beaumur, and tne cream is removed and made into butter in the usual way. The advantages of this plan are said to be great simplicity and little cost, md the butter and buttermilk and cheese are improved by the process. The apparatus itself is simple, and can be set up in any dairy. The receptacle for hot water is filled with boiling water up to an indicated point, the milk is placed in covered pans above it, and when sufficiently heated the water is drawn away, and cold water substituted.