FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2528, 22 September 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

_ « . A Hioh-PRICKD Bull —Tho celebrated shorthorn hull Marie, champion nt the Royal Agricultural Show at Nottingham, has been sold fnr close nprm £300. A New Beildtno Material for Dairies.—At the Melbourne Exhibition there is a specimen of a cool chamber built of terra eotta Inmber. a patent manufactured building material, composed of clay, sawdnst, and other substances. The advantage which this building material possesses is that it is almost a non-conduc-tor of heat, and is therefore calculated to be of usn in the hotter parts of this colon v for keeping the products of the dairy cool in the summer weather.

American Competition , with English Millers : Closing of English Mills.—Corn dealers in tho United States, finding it advantageous to grind tho wheat before exportation, sending only the flour away, are flooding , the English markets, and bringing down the prices to such an extent that numbers of English millers have been obliged to give tip the business, closing: their mills, thereby throwing: a large number of men out of employment, and depressing the business of the towns or districts in which thev happened to bo situated. Rkemno Okf Barbed Wire.—The reeling off of barbed wire U generally found a difficult work, the operators being liable to dangerous scratches as the wmrk is generally performed, which is obviated in the United States by the following method .-—The coil of wire beinsr laid flat down, a crowbar is firmly stuck in the srnnnd through its centre, and a horse is hitched to the loose end of the wire, dragging it out its full length. Another method practised in the States is to fix the end of the wire to a post and place the coil in a cart, but this is nut found to answer so well as the former method, which effects a great saving of manual labour.

Expected Drought in Australia — Farmers and pastoralists are beginning to Roin with some anxietv tho prospects of the coming season. In Victoria, especially in narts nf Gipnsland, the Gonlhiirn Valley and the Wimmera, the rainfall has not bneu equal to requirements, but wo have in this re»peet less to complain of than some of our neighbours. The outlook in Riverina nnd tho back country of Queensland is distinctly depressing and there is a dread that unless a change should soon occur the terrible experiences of a few yenrs back may be repeated. In and around Sydney the present year is actually one of the driest on record.— Leader.

Polled Aiffsns and Shorthorn Cattle.—A good test nf breeds of oitth ii related in thn Chieasro Breeders' Gazette. A Mr Harrison fed 40 grade Aberdeen-Anffus and 90 hisrh-bred shorthorns. All were in the same lot, ran together and ate together: the shorthorns wore three years old, and the others two and three years old. They were fed in nn open lot, as is the practice in Missouri. Their food was corn husk—just thrown into the troueh. They ate together for nine month*, and when they were shipped fint they were sent to the same market on the same day, were sold by the same man, and bought by the same man. The shorthorns brought 4.50 dollars per 100 lb., and the others 5.25 dollars per 100 pound. The Value op Luceune. —Mr S. Hardiman, of Benjeroop, Victoria, has been very succes«ful in the culture of lucerne, and the fattening - of cattle upon it. In his evidence eriven before the Vesretable Products being; asked if he thought that with the assistance of ensilage this district might be made suitable for dairvinsr, he repliod: "I would not bother with it as lone as I could grow lucerne. Lucerne grows an inch everv twenty-four hour", so that a beast will not have long to starve, if you can {five the lucerne plenty of water. I could water my ground to-day, and in a week have good feed for my cattle," He nlso stated that he had realised as high as £14 ■ per hf>ad for beasts fattened on lunnrnc, whioh b? two years rfiro on a fluid, o'f IGT) ftytsa ; antf h& b.us aiwsjT/H

been able to turn out sheep fattened in a remarkably short space of time.

The World's Wheat Crop.—A telegram from Hungary states that the wheat crop in that country has been Inrvcstud, except in the mountainous northern parts, and that the yield is generally estimated at 20 to 2j ]jor cent, less than it was last year. Throughout 'Western Kurope the crop may be now safely pronounced to ho below the average considerably, and the extra yield in Russia will not make up for the deficiency. The news from America, on tho other hand, is less gloomy than it was a month back. The July report of the Department of Agriculture is to the effect that the general condition of the winter wheat crop in the United States is 75 6, as compared with 73.3 in June, and with 100 as the standard for a full crop ; while the figures for the spring wheat crop are 05.0, as compared with 92.3 in June. Thus, while there will be a great deficiency in the yield, it will not be as great as was at one time anticipated.

A Well-Man'ackd 1(50 Acres.—ln an article entitled " Look out for Small Things," the San Francisco Chronicle asks, Why is it that " General Farmers '' are not, as a rule, more prosperous ? and instancos a farmer who had 160 acres of land, the hulk of it being devoted to pasturago. There were sor 6 acres of alfalfa (lucerne), and from 15 to 20 acres of assorted fruits, mostly peaches and apples. He kept a couple of cows, half a dozen hives of beos, and a 100 or more chickens. A strawberry patch of a rjnarter of an ■acre yielded heavily, and required but little eare. Half a dozen well-bred mares found sustenance upon the pasturage, supplemented with alfalfa, and each produced a colt every year, which, at three years of age, was worth and sold readily for from 125 to 200 dol. With the assistance of a single hired man this farmer did all his own work. When he went to town, which was not seldom, there was always a big basket of eggs, some rolls of butter, caus of honoy or boxes of strawberries to be sold, and tho iucome from these trips generally exceeded the outgo in lar#e measure. The fruit was sold either green or dried, and its excellence was so well-known that people came for miles and paid large prices for tho apple". Now, had this farmer devoted his 160 acres to grain growing, ho would have never made more than a scant subsistence. Had he done nothing but raise horses, the chances aro he would have not more than made expenses—that is, with no more than 160 acres. But by the judicious combination outlined he not only made both ends meet, but laid by a handsome sum and led a comfortable life.

Improved Dairy Appliances.—At the show of the Royal Agricultural Society at Nottingham, several novelties were introduced by the Dairy Supply Company of London. Entirely new is a milk heater, to be set over the Laval Separator, so that the milk can flow into it and over it and be brought np to the proper temperature. The heating is done bystnam, and there is a thermometer to indicate temperature. This is a very useful invention. Not less useful is auother novelty for raising the skim milk after it flows from the separator, which the Laval machine has not been able to accomplish. Power is obtained from the spindle of tho separator, so that the milk can be raised to a height of 16ft , if required as it flow* away. Kerr's patent butter-printing machine is another novelty on this stand; it is a very ingenious contrivance for pressine; butter into pats of various sizes, and stumping them. Different machines are required for small and large pats, one of them being suited for pound pats. The Sandringham Milk Balance, or Dairy Herd Recorder, is a remarkably handy apparatus, which i 3 certain to come into common use. It consists of a, self-regis-tering spring balance on a tripod, and all the milker has to do in weighing his milk is to hang his pail on the balance. Yet another new introduction is Blanchard's factory butter worker and blender—quite a different form of machine from the other workers in use. The principle of operation is that of direct pressure between tivo large wood-covered cylinders, which do not break or tear the butter, but preserve its granular condition. Last, but not least, among the novelties on this prolific stand is the steam turbine churn, worked by a boiler and turbine, instead of a steam engine and boiler. The same boiler will serve for the Laval turbine separator and the turbine churn.