RURAL NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1882, 29 July 1884, Page 4

RURAL NOTES.

., t • • Importation of Mutton.— In Jann ary and February of this year the impor tat. on of mutton into England from Australia and New Zealand was close upon r40,000 cwt., and the trade i^ steactily increasing. S^eep Sheauivg Table.— A sheep table has been patented by Mr JO3. L Addißon. of Quaker City, Ohio. The iurention covcisa bench with i evolving beat, for seating the sheep on its haunches, and above the seat is a shoulder, neck, and head rest, with straps for securing the sheep, so the shearer may employ both hands and leadily turn the seat aa desired, the fleece falling on the bench. Excellence of Fi/htCB — The Romans were so particular about excellence of fleece that they coveied thuir best she-p with skin jackets topiotect the wool from external injury. Tue plan rendoie.l it finer, more easily scoured and dyed, and brought a higher pi ice. Price or Southdowns. — Some .Southdowns troin the Duke of Edinbuigh's flock at Eastwell Park lnve 1 called the highest price that has l>een made for fat sheop in the Keutish market this spring. The Soumx — Tlie Soudm, -s\ hich lias lately become of 30 much nit 'rest, is described by Sir Srmu'l Biker as containing an immense area of fei tdo land, c\p able of raising enough wheat to supply England. Price of Whevt. -In Chicago, 00 Thursday, Mai ch 27th, wheat fell thiee halfpduc a bushel, making a fall of five pence during the pist fortnight. Wheat is now cheaper than it has been for twenty years. This state of things is largely traceable to the preemption of the importance of India as a competitor with the Western State as a grain-pro-ducing country. Cjlovi:u Si:no.— -We read that German f.umevs pme American clo\er seed because it stiffeis less fiom winter killing than the native clover It it also noticed that though American clovei has a thinner stem jet it grows fuller and yields more. Tiik llux llol'M',. — A conespondent of the New Yoik Woildsays he never found anything to take the place in the hen house of ahaidcaith door, thickly sprinkled over once a week with fresh, dry soil orioul dust ; a little ail flaked lime with it is an nnpioveinont. 'Lhe loose eaith leoeives and deodon/es the chopping and keeps the fertil./ing piopeities fiofch and soluble. The flooi should be sciajed once a week with a fine rake, and sciapings saved foi manme, ati'l the floor ie- covered with nesh euth. H> keeps a pile of diy loam on hand and under shelter for the puipose. The hen manure saved in this way moic than pays for the tiouble, to siy nothing of theimpiovcd condition of the fowls. Polled Axur-3 Cvitle— The increasing fdvoui with which tiie Scotch " Black Skins " or Polled Ani;us cattle is being legaided is exemplified in the higher pi ices which are being obtained iiom that bleed of cattle. Tlic Field Btatos — '• Chiefly owing to the laige and gi owing demand fiom Amenca and Canada for Scotch polled cattle during the past thiee yeais, pi ices, especially of the Abeuleen Angus polled, have incieased more than 100 pei cent., and in some instances 200 per cent The demand fiom the otiicr side of the water continues, but the deaiie to givp pi ices a long way into the thiee fiyuies is not so commonly mob with as it was la^t year." It isiecorded that JMi Wilken lately refused £ 10,000 fi 0111 an Ainerit an gentlemen fotjhU choice licul of] 00 head. £70 a head was leceived for 30 cruvs nnd hcifeio and foui bulls fiom the same heid. Accordtno to the Vienna Agiicultuial (ia/uttc, ib has lecontly been disco\eied that meci^chuim pipes of excellent quality, susceptible ot the highest polish, and e\<n moio icady colourable that the gi ii'iino spiuir.i diamne, may be made ot potatoes The familiar tuber, it seems, 's well qualified to comjjcte with the substance known to comnience as ' nice schaum cay. ' Its litent virtue-, in this dnection aie developed by the following tieatment Having been Ceil ef ul! y peded and sufteied e\tiaction of its " c-, es,"'a potato is boiled unintei inittently fot tluity-si\ hoius in a inixtuie of sulphuiic acid and water, after which it must be squeezed in a press until every diop of natuial or acquued nrns'uie is uxtiacted fiom it The lesiduii'n of this sinnile pioccs^ is a hard block of a dchcitc creamy white hue, evciy whit as Mutable to the manufactuic of ornamental and ni ti^ticallyexecuted pipe-hea<ls as tli" liiu'^t clay. The potato, moieovei, dealt with in the manner above descnbed, jMomises to piovc a fuimidnblu nval to the elephant's tusk. It may be convcited into bdli.udballs as haul, smooth, and enduiing as ixoiy, andean be depended upon for an inexhaustible supply of carved umbiellahandle 5 ., chessme.i, and f.m-,. As potatoes aie plentiful all ovei the woild, and likely to lem.iin so, vv ! lKt cle])hants an 1 , com;. 11 ativ ely Mica'. ni'.(, lanties, mankind at lar^o mly fauly be coiifjiiitulatcd upon the diicoveiy of a substitute for i\ 01 \, whicii can b( j pi od need in unlimited quantity,, and vb ,\n almost nominal ost, t.i King into coiisiduiation the diireicnco of puce between a pound of the best kidney potatoes and a pound of piitie elephant's tusk,

Mario, when liis childien were young, counselled them to keep diaues, and his daughtci hasgi\en mony valuable notes fiom her's to her lather t> biographer. Scotch Whisky.— Tl.e following interesting desciipton of Sandy enjoying himself we e\ti.ict fioin an aiticle in the Glasgow Weekly I foi aid in which the Biipcrioiity of whisk v over beer is ar gucd on the gionnd of its pupoiior elFects. lleiuisom contempoiaiy's desciiption of the Scotchmau " in a perfect whisk~ification " :— One dram of good whisky sends thunigh his a- £(low like a breath of A delicious air fio-n Araby the Blest : March gleam comes into his eye, an. April tint upon his cheek, and to the tip of his tongue a soi t oi May melodiousness. You would think Irom his face that ho had seen an ai'gel A second dram deepens the impiev,ion. The mau becomes kindly, chantable, and philanthiopic on quite an impel ial .scale, and he begins to propond icmedies foi the pecub.u e\ ils tluitalhct A thud chain give-> him the gift of vision. He can look into the seeds of time, and tell which will grow and which will not. Especially, he is piepaied lo expound the m^steiies of religion, and he enforces his piopositions with a, slap upon the table that makes the glasses dance. He is now inclined to be comphmentaiy to Piovidenee for the decidedly high measuie of ability exhibited in the works of Nature ; and if hi*- cionie opposite, who has of course less illumination than himself should venture to hint a doubt, ho lashes out against all sceptics, foi w hen as he easily shows, there is only one place, and that by no means a cool onp. with a fourth diam he becomes electrically patriotic. His inches visibly increase ; Ins eyes glow w ith kingly fire: he seems to weild the sword of the Liberator ; he stands up, with the help of some projection ; he lecites " Scots wha hae !" at the full pitch of his voice ; he ends, like Romeo, by taking the measure of an unmade grave on the field of the evening' 3 renown. Rats and Mice.— lf you wish to destroy them get a packet of Hiu.'s Magic Vi'rmin Kiilkr in packets, Cd, Od, and Is, to be obtained of all storekeepers, or from T. li. Hill by euclosing an cxtta stamp. Life in the But,ii— Then axd Now.— It is generally supposed that in the bush we have Jo put up with many discomforts and privations in the shape oi food. Formerly it was so, but now, thanks to T. B. Hill, who has himself dwelt m the bush, if food does consist chiefly of tinned meats his Colonial Saucb gives to them a most delectable flavour, making them as well of, the plainest food most enjoyable, and instead asjb^rd bisquifs and indigestible damper his Iwprovbd Colonial Baking Powdjer makes the very best bread, scones, ' cakes, an"d 'pastry far superior and more wholesome than yeast or > leaven. Sold by all storekeepers who canob.