FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 2805, 5 July 1890, Page 6 (Supplement)

FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD NOTES.

Feed |the Orchard.—An under-fed orchard is apt to prove as unprofitable ns an under-fed animal. Tho" fruit is scanty in quantity, size, and quality, and such fruit gets less and less profitable every yenr. Orchards must receive manure and attention just as a grain field, and when they get it, will pay as well as, or rather more than, most crops. The Value of Quicklime.—Quicklime is an excellent remedy against moths and other insects in the orchard, Dusting it by hand on the leaves, stems, and around the roots of tho plants is very effective, but, perhaps, the best way to apply is to slack tho lime in water, pass it through a sieve, to tako out any lumps, etc., then syringe it on the plants as a strong milk of lime. Tho best time for carrying out this work is when tho weather is a littlo damp and tho air still. The German Agriculturists. — According to a German contemporary, nine-tenths of the fields of Germany are mortgaged to urban and foreign usurers. Tho great majority of these are Jews, who, it is alleged, act iu many cases as the jackals of English capitalists. In England, wo are informed, there is no system of land or mortgage registration, and, therefore, Englishmen are compelled to seek foreign investments for their capital The " therefore " is not altogether obvious. HoLMiuowiNC! in Canada.—Although still being persevered in, hop-growing in Canada has not up to the present been attended with that success many had predicted. Iu a letter from a Stewart Town farmer, recently received, the fact nieuticned that tho crop of ISSO was a very light one—not over 3001b per acre,

and the quality was variable, those iu Eastern Canada being extremely poor — "' mere trash" according to brewers. Several growers had not succeeded in disposing of their growths, aud the prices quoted for the best lost ranged from 10 to 10 cents per lb.

Fekdi.no Pios eor Pkokit.—Youup pigs, weighing oOlb. at weaning in May, may easily be brought to a weight of 1801b. or 2001b. by November, by feeding with skimmed milk—sweet, or slightly sour—and buttermilk, with ground oats or barley and an equal part of bran. The meal should be stirred in the milk ns it is fed, and three quarts of milk with Hlb. of meal will be amply food for one day per head, Over-feeding should be avoided. As tho pigs grow tho feed may be increased to a daily allowanoo of 31b. of tho meal per 1001b of live weight, the milk added. Tho pigs may be kept fat enough for pork all the time.

Cooperation Amonii French Farmeks. —Despite opposition, tho agricultural syndicates continue to progress in France, and to eradicate the middle man abuses in purchases and sales. One refora is at present encouraged, the purchase of live stock by weight. The farmer is thus no longer tho shuttle cock of guesswork or at the mercy of blind chance. The newspaper being forced to give quotations in accordance with the new departure. Cattle and pigs can now be bought or .-old with tho samo ease and certainty as any other industrial product. Many farmers who have no fixed weighbridge on their holdings meet the drawback by patronising the waggon weighbridge, just as they do other collectively owned or co-operative machinery. Garden Products i'romthe Channel Islands.—The Channel Islanders are congratulating themselves on the marvellous expansion of their export trade in fruit, flowers and vegetables—done almost exclusively with Loudou. Possessing only some 10,000 acres of land susceptible of cultivation, but with glazed buildings covering almost every convenient spot, the island of Guernsey, besides feeding its own population of 35,000, last year sent across the Channel, principally- to Covent Garden Market, nearly 400,000 packets of garden produce, being a large increase on the previous twelve months. In the last seven years tho increase in exports under these heads has amounted to nearly 300 per cent. The growers arc for the most part amateurs, engaged in other pursuits, and possess only small holdiugs. Small Fruit Trees.—These are often sadly neglected, being allowed to overgrow themselves and out-grow themselves. Gooseberries and currants should be planted now, and tho sooner tho better. There is nothing like replacing old worn out bushes of these by thriving young ones as fast as the former get past their best; and both are so easily propogated by means of cuttiugs put in in the autumn, that there is no excuse for not keeping a healthy young stock always coming on for the purpose. Both kinds prefer a sound, deep, and somewhat rich loam to any other description of soil, but the gorseberry in especial is by no means particular, and will succeed in almost anything that falls short of saud on the one hand and clay on the other. Estab-

lished plants may also be pruned now, but where birds are troublesome it is best to leave tins till the spring. Salt as a ALtsniiK.—As a general fertiliser common salt is often valuable. Its general properties for agricultural purposes are thus described by a recent writer:—lst., in small quantities it promotes decomposition of tho animal and vegetable matters contained in all cnl;ivated soils ; 2nd, in small proportions it acts as a direct plant food ; 3rd, when applied to fallows it lies tho power of destroying noxious insects, slugs, and weeds ; 4th, it possesses stimulating powers on growing plants ; sth, it has the power of preserving the juices of plants, and the soils, on which they grow from tho effects of sudden transitions in tho

temperature of the atmosphere ; Gth, it increases the power of certain soils lor absorbing l moisture from the atmosphere. Nine bushels of salt pet acre, distributed broadcast, is about right. Wheat, oats, barloy, and rye do better when salt dressed ; it strengthens tho straw, increases tho yield, and protects the grain from mildew and parasitic diseases. Cleveland Bays.—There is no better breed of horses in tho world (writes a correspondent to tho Mark-lane Express) for working our strong land than tho Cleveland bay, and tho mares, if required, can breed a good foal every year as well. I much regret that they are so source amongst farmers. Where is tho aniiniil that can jro to so many different kinds of work, and do uaeh as well, if not better, than many horses do the only one they have been accustomed to and trained for? They will work u Shire or a Cleveland to death on ordinary two-horse ploughing land ; they can run our dog-earts to market quite fast enough for tho present times, either with a heavy load or a light one behind them, and us for breeding, what can't they breed? I'll tell you, gentlemen, what they can breed, and that is tho best of weight-enrrying hunters and the very best of carriage horses, when crossed with thoroughbred sires. Yes, such huutera as we now seldom see, but nevertheless hear about from what used to bo the hard riding men of Cleveland and North Yorkshire; and most of the best cart horses that used to be sold out of this district 15 or 20 years ago were bred off Cleveland mares and by a strong carting stallion. But, perhaps, unfortunately for the oountry and good for us farmers, owing to our American cousins having found out the sterling worth of this best of all breeds of horses—in fact. I may Bay the only pure breed general purpose horse we have in England—we are breeding them to swim the Atlantic instead of to work our land and take our wives to market."

The Manufacture of Oleo-Marp.a--risk.—ln the course of his recent annual address to the Chemical Society of Washington, the president, Mr Edgar Richard, referring to common food substitutes and adulterants, described the manufacture of oleo-margarine. The ingredients which enter into its composition are (1) neutral or loaf-lard, used in the proportion of from 25 to 50 per cent., mode from the leaf fat of freshlyslaughtered hogs ; (2) oleo-oil, used in the proportion of from 20 to 50 per ceDt., made from the caul and suet fats of freshly-slaughtered beeves ; (3) some liquid vegetable oil, as cotton-seed, sesame, peanut, used in the proportion of from 5 to 25 per cent., made by crushing the seeds and extracting the oil by pressure or solvents ; (4) milk or cream, used in the proportion of from 10 to 20 per cent.; (5) butter used in the proportion of from 2 to 10 per cent., generally bought from the best creameries for its fine flavour ; (6) salt; (7) anuatto, or other colouring matter. Some factories employ no vegetable oils in their oleo-margarine, preferring to use a large amount of " neutral" lard, with a small amount of butter to obtain tho desired butter consistency. In tho higher quality of " croamery butterine," tho proportions of oleo-oil are reduoed, the vegetable oils are discarded, and butter is used to make up the charge for the churn. The method of manufacture closely resembles that used in ordinary butter-making, except that the churn is steam jacketed, and the animal fats used are previously melted before being placed in it.

No Waste by American Slaughter Men.—This is how the Americans utilise dead oxen : When a steer is taken into a modern, well regulated slaughter house there is no part of it wasted. The blood is caught and sold to make albumen for sugar refiners and other manufacturers, one use of it being the cheap substitute for hard rubber and other plastic material used in the manufacture of buttons and other materials. Hext the hide is taken off, and after the meat is dressed tho contents of the stomach are removed, dried and baled for manure, and the stomach itself is prepared as tripe. The hide goes to the tanner, the head is skinned and denuded of flesh for the sausage maker, the horns are knocked off and go to the comb-maker, who takes out tho pith and sells it to the glue manufacturer, who is ever ready to take all the refuse from the steer. Tho horny coverings of the hoof are almost as useful as the horns for making buttons, Ac, and the feet make oil and glue. The shin bones make the finest of bone handles for various purposes, and all the remainder of the bony structure which the butcher is unable to sell with the meat finds its way eventually to the manufacturer of bone fertiliser and bone black.' With the hones there is usually considerable marrow, grease and glue stock, all of which is used by the bone men in various ways. A tew of the tails are absorbed iu cold weather in the manufacture of ox tail soup ; but usually " the tail goes with the hide" and becomes spoiled for domestic use while lying about in the tannery. Every scrap of the skin of the animal—even the skin of the pate, as the skin of the heali is called—is used in one way or another, and the refuse of the tanneries forms an important part of the income of the I establishments.

A Few Miiking Notes.—Some milkers try to burrow their heads into the cow's flank and against her leg, under the impression that it keeps her from kicking. It doesu'fc. The best plan is to keep your head iu an erect position, so that you can see what you are doing and what the cow is doing. You can milk a cow " diagonally"—that is, tlie left front teat and the right hind teat together, if you think you will get any more milk by so doing; but the better way is to milk the two teats that will give about like quantities of milk, then you will fiuish a pair at once. When you have milked two teats until it is necessary to strip them, don't do it until you havo milked the other two, then strip the first pair milked, and finally the lust pair. But when you are done be done, and don't sit there wondering if another drop will come; go and sit down beside the next cow. Some advise having the stool made long enough for the milker to sit on one end of it and the bucket on the other; this is done to keep the cow from kicking the bucket, and also to save the milker the labonr of holding the bucket between his knees. The man whs requires that kind of a stool had better try to treat his cows so that they will not desire to kick the bucket or anything else; then he can put tho bucket on the floor and save his strength, temper, and tho milk at the same time. When you see a milker stick one of his legs straight under the cow—and if it is a long leg it will show a foot on tho other sido of the cow—you may set it down as a fact that milker and cow have considerable confidence in one another. On the other hand, whon you see him hold the buclcot between his knees at an angle of 45 degrees and squirt the milk into it at arm's length, thoro is danger that tho milking stool is a combination of stool and club, aud used about as oftun for one purpose as the other. When you sec a milker sitting 0.1 his stool singing or whistling a lively tune, and keeping time with his hands, you enu depend upou it he is a good one, and will get all the milk.