WHAT BREED OF FOWL IS THE BEST TO KEEP?

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1446, 8 October 1881, Page 4

WHA T BREED OF FO WL IS THE BEST TO KEEP ?

As to this (writes the Journal of Horticult i/i c) each person must judge for himiolf or herself which breed is most suitable for their .situation and ciroumHtances. As legardu laying, the main point to beattended to is that the birds mo selected simply for their laying qualities without regard to fancy points. Procure the best laying strain that can be had to start with, and then set only from the best layers mated with oockn of a good laying strain. Slight in-breeding will do no harm, but anything like close in-breeding must be avoided. Crosses between goodlaying strains of different breeds often produce wonderful layers. We have found the following crosses very advantageous: — 1. A Dorking cock mated with Brahma hens. 2. A Spanish or Minorca or Leghorn cook mated with Brahma hens. 3. A Brahma cook mated with Iloudan hens. 4. A game-cock mated with Brahma hens. Even if the laying properties of a strain have been lost by breeding for exhibition, a cross will often bring them out as strongly as ever again. The last point to which we desire to draw attention is feeding. In winter the birds should have their first meal of soft food given warm, not hot. Any good meal or pollard (otherwise middlings), mixed with boiling water, is best, If Indian meal is used it requires cooking for a nhort time. As a rule wo do not recommend the use of Indian meal for Asiatics, as being too fattening, but in severe weather it may be used with advantago on account of its great heat-giving properties. In the midst of the day a small feed consisting of scraps from the house and o little meat of some sort may be given. A feed of sound good grain at night completes the list. The meal should bu mixed well, so as to be of a dry consistency, not soft and sloppy. We have named no particular meal or grain, as all should be given in turn. Birds, like human beings, arc the better of a change of food. The mixtures of different grain sold by eorn-dealcis should be carefully avoided, as by giving all soits at onco a change is rendered impracticable. An abundance of green food is necessary. A plentiiul supply of pure water is of as much importance as good feeding, and should by no means be neglected.

Ture doctiine on wliioh the Lutheran Synodical t'oiifeieuce is splitting is pre1 destination, oue part of the Church holding to and tlie other lejecting the belief that God foieordains somo mon to be lost and some to be saved. At the end of August there were no patients in the Dunstan Hospital. It was leinarKed at the monthly meeting that the present was the only time for a number of yeais that the hospital was without ' patients. Tin' manufacture of oleomargarine butter has been prohibited in New York. Investigation discloses tho fact that peanuts, lard, and other oils, bolides alum and acids, are used in its composition. 1 The employes in the factories are indescribably filthy. The English papers just to hand seom to accept as a fact the alarming statement relative to the American wheat crop made by the Chicago papers, the substance of which is that the United States will have no moio wheat to send abroad after the harvest of 1882. Tnr.Ri. are several reasons for cream foaming in tho churn. Anything which pievents the butter from coming will cause foaming, because then the cream is beaten to a froth, and the air mingled with it causes it to foam. Too great acidity or too low a temperature are tho usual causes of this trouble. Adding a little borax to the cream is a certain remedy for this. Umilk the ruins of the Imperial Palace at >S. Cloud was found a bag containing 10,000 francs in Napoleons. The gold pieces were fresh from the mint, and the bag bore the addiess, " For his Majesty the Emperor Napoleon III." A Gohk conespondent in a Southland contemporary states that four bags of dried rabbit skins were stolen from an iron hut at tho railway bridge there and phosphorus was strewn over the floor with, it is supposed, the intention of burning down the hut and thereby removing all suspicion of theft. Some person in passing noticed a strange light where there should have been none, and j giving the alarm a lire was prevented. Ground bone is most effective when it is very fine. Coarse bone is slow in its effect, because it dissolves very slowly. It is better for corn and potatoes when made into superphosphate, and it is then very useful ; the potatoes grown by it are clean, smooth, and very thin-skinned. Darn manuro is apt to make scabby potatoes. Two hundred and fifty pounds per acre is a fair quantity to use when tho soil is in good condition, but it will pay to use 000 pounds per acre when large ciops arc desired. li, can bo used £y .scattering it in the hill or drill well mixing it with the soil. A company is projected at Oamaru for tho manufacture of .starch fiom potatoes. At the pieliminaiy meeting Mr Oldhara, tho projector, .said th.it tho whole plant, including the building, would not cost more than £1000 ; and he anticipated making a piofit of 20 pur cent. In reply to a question, Mr Oldham said ho estimated obtaining 1G per cent, of starch from the potatoes, and that a sample of potatoes from the distiict had been tested, and pave a return of over 20 per cent. Mr Hardy remarked that he had known of 27 per cent, being obtained. After somo further discussion it was decided to form a company for the manufacture of "ttirch, and a provisional directorate was appointed. Tun following American plan of proserving butter made in tho flush of the season till the prieo impiovcs should come in handy to enable farmers to market their butter in a presentable condition even in our hot summer time. After the butter is churned, pioperly worked, and salted, pack in stone jars to within an inch or two of the top ; place the jar in a clean flour barrel, having previously pu ■iin of salt at the bottom. Then fill up with salt t-o as to cover the top of the jar to a depth of 6in or Sin and place the barrel in a cool cellar. One or more stone jars can be put in the same barrel, but there must never be less than 4in of salt between them and the barrel. The butter comes out sweet, having moreover retained all the aroma usual with the ppring-made article, and tasting as if just churned. The new pure cash system now being initiated by G. and C. will certainly prove a benefit to tho public. It has been a great success in Sydney and Melbourne and when strictly carried out the customer who buys at an establishment where the goods are marked low to ensure a rapid sale must be a great gainer. G. and C sell their drapery millinery, and clothing at such prices tor cash as gives the buyer the advantages ot a shareholder in a co-operative society, without the risk of being called upon to bearapor'tionofthelossshould the yeir's business pro\e unsatisfactory. Garlick and Cranwell will aim to retain the confidence which the public have hitherto shown them, and arc determined to give the pure cash system a fair trial ; whether they gain or lose the first year. Country buyers on remitting 1 cash with order will be supplied with goods at co-operative prices ; just the same as though they made a personal selection. Furnishing- goods, such as carpets, floor cloths, bedsteads, bed 'Suip and general house furniture, the largest portion of which is turned out at our own factory, will be marked at the lowest remunerative prices, and a discount of five per cent, will be allowed to those who pay at the time of purchase. G. &C. having realised the entire value of their stock during their late cash sale, the present stock is new and cheaply nouGHi. An inspection is invited. — Garlick and Cranwkll, City Hall Furnishing Arcade Queenstreet, Auckland