[Monthly Calendar]
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OPERATIONS FOR JANUARY.
JANUARY.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR JANUARY.
|
|
Mean Barometer.
|
Mean temper.
|
Rainy days.
|
Total rainfall.
|
Prevailing winds.
|
| Auckland
|
29.800
|
71.6
|
7
|
3.16
|
SW&NE
|
| New Plymouth
|
29.885
|
66.8
|
15
|
7.36
|
W&SW
|
| Napier
|
29.804
|
661
|
5
|
4.51
|
SE&NW
|
| Wellington
|
29.800
|
62.1
|
13
|
9.57
|
N&S
|
| Nelson
|
29.882
|
66.0
|
6
|
10.33
|
N & NE
|
| Christchurch
|
29.809
|
61.2
|
8
|
4.10
|
NE&SW
|
| Dunedin
|
29.872
|
57.5
|
21
|
4.91
|
NE&W
|
| Invercargill
|
29.875
|
50.3
|
17
|
6.87
|
W&NW
|
THIS is the middle of Summer, very hot and very dry, and is the harvest month in the Northern Island of New Zealand. We will begin with the Cereal Crops--be careful never to allow this crop to get over ripe before reaping, as in our dry climate a breeze of wind will sometimes shake out a large quantity before it can be secured. The Wheat should be cut when the stalk is yellow the whole length, and the head still upright--it not only saves the grain being shaken out by a strong breeze, but the sample as compared with that cut when dead ripe is brighter, contains more flour and less bran per bushel--and the straw, if used for fodder, contains nutritive matter more easily digestible-- if the wheat is on bush land and very rank, leave a good high stubble, and after the wheat is cleared off the land and the stubble dry, set fire to it, and it will burn out a great many surface roots, weeds, and vermin--for this purpose some farmers burn their grass stubble as well-- but be very careful before burning to see that the ground around your buildings, stacks, and fences is not connected
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or liable to be enveloped in the fire. Barley seems not to succeed on new land, but fine samples have been produced after a crop of turnip fed off with sheep. The volcanic soils appear well adapted to the growth of barley, and it is probable that land after having been in grass will grow good crops of barley. As the straw of Oats is used for fodder, cut it early or before it is fully ripe--although it generally ripens unevenly, the unripe heads, after thrashing, will make excellent fodder. During this and the next month all sowing must be discontinued, as the ground is too dry--but new ground, if not too hard, may be ploughed and harrowed, weeds, fern roots, and all rubbish may be spread on the surface, and when quite dry, gathered into small heaps, covered with earth, and burnt, keeping the ashes on the top. Maize is ripe when the leaves which cover the corn are withered and dry--strip all the leaves off except three or four which will answer to fasten as many heads of corn together to hang them up to dry--farmers should never allow their crops to get too ripe before reaping--for a strong breeze of wind, as we have already said, will shake out a great quantity--and what makes this more important, the first ripe grain, and the grain that first shakes out, is always the best quality. Hand reaping has given place to the scythe, and even in New Zealand the scythe will soon disappear before the reaping machine--but hand reaping has this advantage, the straw not being so valuable here as at home--with the hook you can cut higher and leave more stubble, which can be burnt off, and you have a saving in carting, stacking, and also in thrashing, there being less straw to pass through the machine. If you reap during fine, settled weather, stacking may be dispensed with--you can thrash out the grain at once, for at this time we have generally clear settled weather and long days. Remove the grain at once to a safe place, while the
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roads are dry and carting can be easily done--but if you stack the grain see that it is thatched at once, for we hear it often said that much loss is sustained by our farmers through carelessness in the field, or neglect in protecting the grain after it has been reaped. Cart fencing and other timber, and make or repair bridges.
The cultivation of Tobacco in Victoria is thus described: A dark loamy soil is recommended as the best suited for tobacco culture--and the month of August is indicated as the most eligible for sowing the seed. One ounce of Virginia is said to be sufficient for an acre--the seed being deposited in the first instance in a bed prepared as if for onion seed, and covered with boughs to protect it from frost. As soon as the young plants are fit for transplanting, and in moist weather, draw them carefully, leaving as much earth at the roots as will adhere. Put them in straight rows with a dibble, three feet apart each way, the same as cabbage planting, leaving two shingles by each plant, to be placed in such a position as to shelter it from the noonday sun and from sudden gusts of sharp wind. If a plant die, draw it, and supply its place from the bed. When grown to the height of ten or twelve inches heel the plants with a hoe very carefully, clipping between the rows to prevent the possibility of weeds appearing. When they attain the height of one and a half or two feet, perform the same operation again, which will generally be sufficient. Attend in the afternoon to the suckering. The suckers are small shoots which sprout at the stem of the large leaf. Nip these off, and also the top of the stalk, should it branch into suckers or run to seed. By this means the leaf will become much larger, and this is a desirable object to the manufacturer as well as a gain in weight and price to the grower. As soon as the leaf changes from green to yellow
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it is ripe--cut early in the afternoon, at about two inches from the ground, laying the stalk carefully down so as not to break the leaves--after sundown, or perhaps sooner, there will be no danger of breaking them by removal into a shed prepared for the purpose of hanging them up. This shed should be so constructed that the air can have free circulation, and the tobacco be well protected from rain and the rays of the sun. Inside place saplings across like tie beams, to which tie each stalk by the butt end--not crushed together. When the leaf is fit to take off the stalk, it will assume a dark yellow color. In moist weather the leaf will be quite limber, and at such seasons take off as many as the hand will hold easily by the butt ends, and tie with a single leaf so as to hold them together.
A ton an acre is a not extraordinary yield, the unmanufactured article at 9d. per pound would give a return of £84 per acre. Here appears to be a branch of agriculture which might be advantageously combined with those ordinarily pursued by the farmer, holding out as it does the promise of greater remuneration than is derived from the cultivation of many articles of produce. Indeed, the success of farming will always depend on the variety of the crops cultivated and the consequent equalisation of the risks incurred. The agriculturist who, to employ the language of the homely adage, deposits all his eggs in one basket, may be ruined by a single disastrous season--but he who distributes them in several baskets can afford the loss of one or two, because the unexpected produce of some of the others will compensate him for the partial calamity. The Colonial yeoman whose scheme of husbandry includes the cultivation of a vineyard, an orchard, a tobacco patch, &c, combined with a dairy and poultry yard, may defy the accident of a bad season.
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OPERATIONS FOR FEBRUARY.
FEBRUARY.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR FEBRUARY.
|
|
Mean Barometer.
|
Mean temper.
|
Rainy days.
|
Total rainfall.
|
Prevailing winds.
|
| Auckland
|
29.804
|
70.4
|
9
|
2.79
|
NE & SW
|
| New Plymouth
|
29.981
|
64.6
|
10
|
3.62
|
W&NE
|
| Napier
|
29.946
|
69.7
|
1
|
0.10
|
NE&SE
|
| Wellington
|
29.906
|
64.1
|
8
|
3.10
|
N& S
|
| Nelson
|
30.003
|
63.5
|
7
|
6.08
|
N& NE
|
| Christchurch
|
29.844
|
60.4
|
6
|
1.65
|
NE & SW
|
| Dunedin
|
29.95S
|
58.1
|
16
|
3.93
|
NE & W
|
| Invercargill
|
29.882
|
55.6
|
15
|
5.58
|
W&NW
|
THIS month is generally hot and dry, and seeds sown now will not germinate--however there is plenty of work to be done, as ploughing, harrowing, burning, fencing, ditching, draining, clearing water courses, carting a good stock of manure, as guano and bone-dust for top-dressing, and making general preparations for sowing autumn crops next month. The main crop of Potatoes if properly ripened may now be taken up and put away in an open shed, first selecting your seed for next year--pick fine formed smooth-skinned flat-eyed middling sized potatoes (some farmers will use none but the largest ones cut, leaving one eye in each set), spread those for seed in the open air to green before storing away. Having removed the grain from the field and eaten off the grass and weeds with stock, proceed to plough up the land. Collect the rubbish and burn it--this will assist to destroy insects and weeds and is the easiest method of getting them out of the way, and the ashes are excellent top-dressing manure. One writer says--in the operation of paring and
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burning it may at first sight seem wasteful thus to burn and dissipate in the air what by decay would yield organic food to plants, but the fact is that most of the organic matter destroyed in this process is unfit for any useful purpose--for in many soils the organic matter accumulates too rapidly and attains an objectionable proportion in the soil, in such cases burning supplies us with the best means of getting rid of it. In foul pastures or land full of roots and weeds, paring and burning is resorted to for the same purpose, and it is an excellent method of cleaning such land. In the case of weeds or inferior grasses, much benefit will result to the soil from their destruction by fire--as they when allowed to grow, remove from the soil many useful mineral substances, but when consumed by fire all these are recovered and returned to the soil in a condition that can at once be appropriated by cultivated plants--thus the ash obtained by paring and burning is a mixture of burnt clay and earth with all the mineral constituents of the vegetable matter used in the process, and together constitute a valuable manure, especially for root crops. Cape Barley and Oats for green fodder may be sown this month--it may not vegetate very evenly, but if it is in the ground it will be ready to spring with the first rain.
The Californian Prairie Grass grows to the height of eighteen inches, or even taller--will bear cutting three or four times in the year--thrives well in this country, is a permanent grass, and does not appear to suffer from drought.
Tares are a good green crop, and by well covering the land so improve it that they may follow wheat, and will after they are taken off, have prepared the soil for another crop of wheat, without injury to the field. -- Australian Farmer.
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OPERATIONS FOR MARCH.
MARCH.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR MARCH.
|
|
Mean Barometer.
|
Mean temper.
|
Rainy days.
|
Total rainfall.
|
Prevailing winds.
|
| Auckland
|
29.909
|
67.6
|
7
|
2.45
|
NE & SW
|
| New Plymouth.
|
30.063
|
61.1
|
6
|
0.76
|
SW&W
|
| Napier
|
29.985
|
62.5
|
2
|
0.28
|
NE&NW
|
| Wellington
|
29.931
|
60.5
|
8
|
0.33
|
N& S
|
| Nelson
|
30.044
|
59.0
|
5
|
4.77
|
N & NE
|
| Christchurch
|
30.025
|
55.5
|
7
|
3.14
|
NE&SW
|
| Dunedin
|
30.067
|
53.9
|
13
|
2.76
|
NE&W
|
| Invercargill
|
29.987
|
51.9
|
15
|
4.42
|
SE&NW
|
THIS is also a dry warm month, but the days begin to shorten and the sun is not so powerful. All bush ready for burning should be burnt off during this month, as wood seldom burns off well after rain. If the bush is cleared and intended for grass, when the ashes are cool and whenever there is the appearance of rain, it is as well to sow the grass seed to enable the plants to get a start before the heavy rains set in--but should the weather continue dry it will be as safe to put off the sowing till April. In sowing on the surface early and in dry weather, the seed being moistened with the dew partially vegetates, but the hot sun again dries it up and destroys it. It is quite different however on cultivated lands, where the seeds can be covered with sufficient soil by the harrow to protect them from the rays of the sun. As no seed will grow without moisture, it should always be carefully covered to the proper depth. The process of vegetation is thus described--first water is absorbed by the pores of the external covering and decom-
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posed, the seed gradually swells, its membranes burst and the germ expands--the root is at first rapidly developed, the materials for its growth being derived from the young leaves, and when it shoots out its fibres or rootlets, these absorb nourishment from the soil, and the young stem is developed rising upwards in a contrary direction to the root and expanding into stem and leaves--for this growth the presence of air is requisite, for if it were carefully excluded, though there were heat and moisture, the seed would not vegetate--and thus it is that seeds buried very deep in the earth or in stiff clay will not grow, but when air is admitted to them by turning up the soil they then vegetate--it is therefore obvious that the different requisites for germination are attained by placing the seed just under the surface of the soil (for too much light is injurious to the growth of the seed), where, warmed by the sun's rays and moistened by the humidity of the atmosphere, it is excluded from the intense light and the air has access to it. This matter is of great consequence to the farmer, and should not be forgotten, as it often gives a bad name to good seed. The fern land that was ploughed up in December or January, or even earlier, after being thus exposed to the weather, may now be sown with grass, not less than one bushel to the acre, along with about one hundredweight of guano--do not cross-harrow it, but when the grass begins to stool roll it, so as to level the ground for mowing. The ram should be turned to the ewes this month, if you can depend upon having plenty of food for the lambing ewes in August. If the potatoes are ripe for digging, that is if the stalks are withered and the skin firm on the potato, if they were not dug last month, now is the time to take them up. McEwin recommends new settlers when digging out potatoes in March, to sow each evening the ground dug during the day, with oats about four bushels
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to the acre, and rake or harrow it in at once--in July he had green oats four feet high and as thick as they could stand, and early in September he dug in the second growth of over two feet, and had on the same ground a second crop of potatoes better than the first--two crops of the same kind are not generally allowed to follow each other--he says that potatoes of early kinds planted about the middle of March are found to produce as good crops as when planted in spring--well raised ridges or lazy beds are preferable to drills for winter crop--a little bone dust will stimulate them and be useful to the succeeding crop. It assists very much to clean the land if this crop is taken up early, and when there is a large breadth of potatoes it is usual to plough them out, the pickers following the plough--it is not so clean a way as the fork, but where labour is scarce and expensive the plough makes quick work, even though some of the potatoes are left in the ground. If you pit the potatoes for three months--which is as good a plan as any-- you can cover them with straw, rushes, or fern, but never use the haulms, as they so often contain the eggs of the moth, which destroys the potato--cover the sides of the pit with earth, but not the top, as the potato would heat, and if the vapour thereby created could not escape, would rot them--but whatever you do, keep them dry during the winter. Sow turnips, rape, clover and oats (oats and turnips for green food), and on dry land Cape barley--get everything ready by the middle of the month for putting in the main winter crops--give new land three ploughings and harrowings previous to sowing or laying down to permanent pasture--if the ground is naturally wet, lay it up in twelve or twenty-four furrow ridges, or if on a hill, side, angle the furrows, for if at right angles the best soil will be washed away. In sowing, choose a still day and mix all together before doing so, and harrow lightly--cover
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slightly to exclude light, but not deep enough to keep out the air, one quarter of an inch is sufficient. Sow no oats with the grass, but if the ground is much exposed, a handful of oats along with the grass seed would not do much harm, as the sheep might be turned on it in two months hence. The quantity of seed required per acre is eight pounds of clover (4 lbs. white and 4 lbs. red) and one bushel of rye-grass; or six pounds of red clover two pounds of white clover two pounds of trefoil half a bushel of rye-grass and two or three pounds of cocksfoot. The new hand sowing machines will enable you to sow each sort by itself separately if preferred, more carefully and with equal expedition as sowing all at once by the hand.
Lucerne is a valuable food for this country, being little injured by continued dry weather--deriving much of its nourishment from the depth the roots penetrate. It likes a good friable sandy soil, with a good sub-soil. The ground must be ploughed at least a foot deep--and the soil, if not good or exhausted, must be well manured before sowing the seed. The drill system is preferred. The drills drawn fourteen inches apart, and the plants kept free from weeds, and hoed out so as to leave a distance of twelve inches between them. They will bear transplanting. If kept clean while young they thrive fast and soon cover the ground, keeping it free from weeds. Lucerne may be cut at least five times during the season, and is valuable feed for dairy cows as well as horses--but must be cut some time before use, being from its moist nature liable to blow them. The seed of lucerne is very similar to that of white clover, but larger and paler--and care should be taken to procure it plump and new, as it does not grow freely when more than one year old. The seed should be covered about an inch, or less in strong soils. --Australian Farmer.
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OPERATIONS FOR APRIL.
APRIL.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR APRIL.
|
|
Mean Barometer.
|
Mean temper.
|
Rainy days.
|
Total rainfall.
|
Prevailing winds.
|
| Auckland
|
30.007
|
62.8
|
10
|
3.63
|
SW
|
| New Plymouth
|
30.146
|
60.7
|
10
|
3.08
|
W&SW
|
| Napier
|
29.942
|
57.7
|
4
|
1.28
|
E & SE
|
| Wellington
|
29.916
|
57.4
|
3
|
1.01
|
N& S
|
| Nelson
|
29.934
|
58.0
|
3
|
3.44
|
N& SW
|
| Christchurch
|
29.861
|
52.4
|
6
|
0.75
|
NE & E
|
| Dunedin
|
29.899
|
60.8
|
10
|
0.72
|
W& SW
|
| Invercargill
|
29.985
|
49.1
|
19
|
4.51
|
W&NW
|
WE have in this month generally fine weather with some showers, and if there is sufficient moisture the grass grows well--the autumn is more congenial than the spring, being less subject to cold winds. You may continue to sow oats for green food as recommended last month, but more particularly on land foul with small weeds, such as sorrel, &c, such lands after the grain or potato harvest should be well fallowed and the weeds and rubbish burnt, then you can sow it with oats three bushels to the acre, to be grazed or cut by the end of September or October. This crop will during the winter keep down small weeds, and after being well grazed out should be ploughed and laid down with grass and clover, sowing at the same time two bushels of maize per acre, this would shade the young grass and clover from the scorching summer sun, and would also be fine feed for cattle the following March, when green food is scarce and the ground firm. Rape is excellent to sow with grass seeds, as the leaves spread and assist to
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keep the ground moist, thus affording shelter to the young clover, but be careful not to let the rape get too high, as it would then injure the grass--it affords an early bite for sheep, and they help to consolidate the new land, which is much required here--it is astonishing how much good sheep do to newly laid down pastures if the land is not a stiff clay--four pounds of rape to the acre. During the wet winter months cattle should not be allowed on young grass as they injure it. Land intended for wheat should now be well ploughed and harrowed--potato land is preferable to any other, if it was well wrought and manured for the potatoes, but always remember that in breaking up land either new or old, the land broken up during dry weather will grow the best crop. If September lambs will be soon enough for the farm, the rams should be with the ewes this month. Sow cabbages, Swedish turnips, mangolds and early stone turnips, to be eaten off with sheep in the spring. Sow winter vetches with oats, as the oats will keep them off the ground--hoe and clear off weeds, and mould up and thin out the above as they require. Finish burning off for the season by the end of this month.
Clovers of various kinds are found advantageous for feeding stock, particularly the red clover, care being taken to cut it a few hours before it is given to the animals, particularly if it is wet from rain or dew--otherwise it will be apt to blow them.
The flesh-colored Clover is a desirable kind, as it will grow all the winter, and early in the spring may be fed off by sheep, or left longer and cut as green feed, or made into hay. --Australian Farmer.
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OPERATIONS FOR MAY.
MAY.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR MAY.
THE wet season will now have set in, and out door work must be regulated accordingly. In sowing wheat, bush land, requires very little being done to it, just sow the seed and chip it in with a hoe--the finest crop of wheat we ever saw in the Colony was sown in April--but then you must have the land clean, and sow not more than two bushels to the acre, as it has time to tiller out. After the wheat is sown, sow grass seed and draw a bush harrow over it--this for bush land just cleared--but for the regular crop, if the land intended for the wheat is in a fit state, begin sowing about one and a half bushels per acre, if the seed is good and you cover it properly. This is less than is usually sown broadcast in England, but our winters are mild, and there is not frost sufficient to destroy any of it. In New South Wales and Victoria one bushel only per acre is sown, and found at harvest to be as thick as a crop in the old country from three bushels. In reference to thick and thin sowing some farmers contend that poor soils should be sown thick,
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as the crop is never found too thick at harvest, and that fertile soils should be sown thin, as they seldom produce thin crops. Other farmers say that poor land should be sown thin, as the soil is not able to produce a thick heavy crop, and by sowing thick some plants will die for want of nutriment, and by their partial growth will deprive the other plants of some of their food and consequently weaken them -- that fertile soils should be sown thick, as they have strength sufficient to perfect a greater number of plants--we incline to think that this latter idea is the most reasonable--but all early sowings should be thin, and late sowings should be thicker, because the plants will have less time to spread, and will be forced on to maturity in a shorter time. Thin sowing developes a large ear, grain, and stem, but delays maturity, it is best in autumn--thick sowing is best on newly broken up ground, as it keeps the roots nearer the surface--on old land in high condition thick sowing is bad. The wheat crop varies considerably in different countries, and even in the same country in different seasons--with regard to seasons the probability is that winter wheat from its being longer in the ground than spring kinds, the roots will have more time to collect food, and thus the grain is likely to be better developed, and consequently more valuable than spring sown wheat, all other things being equal. It is proverbial among farmers that thunder weather is beneficial to the filling up of grain crops, and scientific men have established the fact that rain falling during a thunder storm contains more nitrogen in the shape of nitric acid than at other times, and consequently would be more refreshing to vegetation, but whether the cause of this was the ammonia volatilized from decomposing organic matter or from the action of the electric spark, or the constituents of the air which are also the constituents of nitric acid, is a matter of doubt--
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Cavendish was the first to observe that by a continued passage of electric sparks through moist air its volume diminished, and an acid soluble in water was formed at the same time, and this great philosopher proved by a series of decisive experiments that the constituents of the air-- the nitrogen and oxigen united--form nitric acid when exposed to the influence of electricity. If this is correct, of course it is the explanation why wheat grown in or near the tropics--where thunder storms are more frequent than in the temperate regions--contains more gluten than that grown in colder climates, and for this reason wheat grown in Australia should contain more gluten than that grown in this country, as lightning is much more frequent in Australia than in New Zealand, and this is said to be the case.
See to the furrows and ditches and keep the mouths of drains clear, and never allow water to lodge on ground under crop. Young stock and milch cows must be kept up in condition and the yards and sheds put in repair. Have plenty of litter, fern, and any other material that can be converted into manure spread in the sheds. See that you keep the cattle dry and comfortable, for when exposed and without shelter to the cold winds and rain, it very soon takes the flesh off them. There should also be plenty of food, such as Swedish turnips, mangolds, carrots, sugar grass and maize, with a little hay in very wet weather.
Saintfoin is a valuable perennial, more nutricious than lucerne, and having the advantage of not being apt to blow animals fed on it when first cut--indeed they can be turned into the field where it is grown to feed it off, or even be tethered on it without injury to themselves or the plants-- only one cut can well be taken from it in the year, as a second is apt to weaken it.
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Saintfoin is a deep-rooted perennial, with spreading stems and showy red flowers. It is a native of England and other parts of Europe, and much cultivated there for its many valuable qualities. Though it cannot be grown to perfection on land deficient of lime, yet it may be cultivated in poor gravelly soil, or even on sandy soil, where no other crop would be worth cultivation--and should the plants be thin, it would be a good plan to let them remain for seed the first year -- which would thicken the crop for the following years. The seed no doubt would sell well, and the straw make good feed for horses or cattle. The land should be ploughed deep, and well cleaned from weeds. The seed being somewhat large must be well covered--for this reason it should receive a light rolling after being sown. It thrives well sown broadcast, four bushels to the acre, with a bushel of barley which shelters the young plants. Or if the drill system is preferred, the barley can be sown in the usual way by drilling, and the saintfoin sown in nine inch furrows across the barley. When the ground is very dry it is advisable to give it a light harrowing previous to rolling, that the seed may be well covered. It cannot be sown too early in the spring. Oats or buck wheat may be substituted for barley if desired, a crop of green feed or hay may be taken, and afterwards it can be fed off by cattle, horses, or sheep--either by tethering or confining them in hurdles--or the crop may stand for seed. It will continue in a profitable state for eight or ten years, if a top-dressing of ashes and soot is given it in the beginning of the year--and by this time all stalks must be removed, or the plants will be injured. In saving seed the crop must remain on the land till the husks turn brownish, and seeds are plump and firm. Best time to cut it is when most of the seeds are well filled, the first blown ripe and the last blown beginning to be full. --Australian Farmer.
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OPERATIONS FOR JUNE.
JUNE.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR JUNE.
THIS is the first winter, or rather rainy month. Our winters are very mild in New Zealand--in the North or Auckland Province we have neither frost nor snow, but if the wind blows from the South for two or three days continuously we may have hoar frost and even a slight black frost. In the Middle Island there is both frost and snow with a vengeance-- very bitter and destructive to sheep and cattle--the cold showers of May, June and July are injurious to live stock if they have no shelter, such as bush or shed to run into, in fact farmers will find it very much to their interest to have sheds in their inclosed paddocks, as the cold rain causes a loss of heat to the animal--which of course is equivalent to a waste of food. Although grass grows here all the winter it is very watery and less nutritious than spring or summer grasses, and most live stock require some nutritious food in addition to grass during this and the next two months, and in exposed situations they will be all the better of a little good hay up to the middle of September--good hay is about
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as good as anything, the grass being excessively watery, the hay will absorb some of it and prevent animals from purging. In connection with this matter we find that young and growing animals require a more concentrated and readily digestible food than full grown or store beasts--as the food for growing stock has not only to supply the daily waste of muscle, but must also increase the weight of the animal, and as the process of renewal in young animals goes on more rapidly than in full grown stock, the food of the former should contain a larger supply of flesh-forming substances and of bone-forming materials, hence the great value of linseed cake and linseed jelly for young stock, and the poor condition of young beasts fed upon too much chaff, as we find to be the case in the old country--the yet tender organs of digestion require a more easily digestible food than that upon which store beasts may be fed upon with economy--and of course it is found that the food which may be valuable for store beasts will often be totally unfit for young stock--thus beans are highly nutritious when given to horses, while for fattening cattle their value is much less. Cut straw given by itself may support store cattle, but it will not for any length of time sustain the life of sheep or horses. Some animals--like the Herefordshire cows and shorthorns--are naturally good fatteners, while Welsh cattle and Kerry cows will never become very fat, even though they were kept for a long time on abundant supplies of the choicest food. The harder the animal is kept at work the greater will be the waste of muscle, and consequently the food ought to be richer in flesh-forming matter for working horses or bullocks. Grass and clover left uncut till it becomes dead ripe is not easily digested--but the soft fibre of young grass and clover is readily assimilated and transformed into starch, sugar, and finally into fat. Experience shows that horses require a less bulky and more
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concentrated food than cattle. We have said so much on the subject of feeding, because it is so sadly neglected in this Colony, not being so much required as in England-- therefore observe the golden maxim that the quieter and warmer we keep the animal--and the more we facilitate the assimilation of food--the more rapidly it will become fat--and remember there is no profit in keeping a beast too long--keep it growing and feeding, and as soon as possible turn it into money, for rich feeding makes rich manure, &c, boiled food with a handful of salt in it is better for fattening pigs than green food--and salt by the way is good for all stock, it keeps them healthy and prevents disease--it is one of the ingredients required to make healthy blood, and without its constituents animals cannot digest their food. A practical farmer says that salt as a condiment promotes easy digestion when given in moderate quantities, but used in excess produces the opposite effects. The gastric juice--so important to the digestive system--is little else than hydrocloric acid, which is derived from the radical salt. Salt increases the quantity of milk as well as the quality--it accelerates the growth of sheep and their wool, rendering the staple considerably finer and the mutton sweeter--the flesh of cattle accustomed to salt is better flavored, more nutritious and easier digested than is the meat from those receiving none of this wholesome condiment. On all runs or enclosures having retentive subsoil and damp surface a little rock salt will improve the condition of stock ten per cent., and be the means of saving five per cent, from the bills of mortality. Horses are as fond of salt as sheep or cattle, its use becomes soon apparent by the gloss of their skins, and is much safer than arsenic--which is in England given for this purpose. No stalled cattle are fattened in Britain without a piece of rock salt in their troughs or in their steamed food--but, in conclusion, in
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reference to salt, it must not be given throughout the year. In spring, when the young verdure decks the fields and plains, salt should not be given at all, but when the food becomes dry, less nourishing and harder of digestion, salt may be properly administered, and then will its action be found to best advantage. During the winter months see that you have plenty of succulent oats for milch cows--this increases the quantity of milk, but not the quality, and when on this subject it is curious that the large breeds of cows give very large quantities of poor watery milk--that the milk in spring is supposed to be the best for drinking, and this makes it best for calves--in summer it is best suited for cheese, and in autumn for butter--cows less frequently milked give richer milk, and consequently more butter--the morning milk is richer than that of the evening, and the last drawn milk of each milking at all times and seasons is richer than the first drawn. Small breeds of cows give less milk, but it is of richer quality. Continue to sow winter wheat in dry weather, two bushels to the acre. To prevent smut, steep the seed for ten or twelve hours in a solution of one pound of bluestone or sulphate of copper to seven gallons of water, which is an effectual cure. Pigs intended for bacon may now be killed. See that young pigs are well littered with straw or fern--give them plenty of food, such as potatoes, carrots, turnips and refuse from the garden. Open drains while the ground is soft, the water will show the level. Sow oats on fern land which has lain fallow, two bushels of seed to one hundredweight of guano per acre--harrow once before sowing, and then harrow in the guano with the seed--pass the roller over when it is about three inches high--if skinless oats are used, one bushel per acre will do. Turn cattle into bush land grass where it is too rank. Hedges may be cut any time during this and next two months--furze hedges are getting common, but they are bad and ought not to be encouraged.
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OPERATIONS FOR JULY.
JULY.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR JULY.
THIS is generally the severest month in the year, continuous cold, sloppy weather. Cattle will require more than ordinary attention--there is very little strength in the grass. Now is the time for indoor work--have everything put into repair. See that the water courses are clear--allow no water to lodge on newly sown ground, and as a general rule never work land during wet weather--it is more profitable to keep the horses in the stable and let the land alone. When the weather will permit, new land may be ploughed the first time. Keep your heavy stock on high land, and see them daily. Cows calving will require attention, keep them in during cold wet nights, and give hay and green oats. Sheep must now be watched and also kept on high ground, give them hay and turnips in an open shed, and let them have some rock-salt to lick, it prevents disease--as they lamb, remove them to better feed near the homestead, and frequently examine them, and tag those that require it-- pare their feet now and until the walk gets dry and hard.
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The fly, that great pest, never troubles sheep in this country. Give horses dry food and keep them dry to preserve their good condition. Cart manure, make a heap and cover it over with mould, to be ready for spring potato planting or anything else. Towards the end of this month in light dry soil, plant a few early potatoes, in drills twenty inches apart and ten inches between the sets--cover them three inches deep, and when they are about four inches high earth them up. Finish sowing oats on fern land this month, and commence clearing bush land to burn off in the autumn. In clean dry land sow oats and barley, two to three bushels to the acre--sow also winter wheat on good land, two bushels to the acre. Sowing at this time allows the young plants to get ahead of small weeds, but if the land is very wet, it will be better to put off sowing winter wheat, and put in spring wheat the following month. The advantages of sowing these crops early is to harvest them before the caterpillars make their appearance, for they will sometimes destroy a field of twenty acres in three or four days--they eat the single seed stalks of oats, and the grain falls to the ground, and the barley below the head in the small parts of the straw, and soon the ground is covered with heads. The arable farmer will have to turn his attention to manure, the value of which depends on the ingredients it contains--the mechanical effect it may have on the soil, and its absorbing power--for instance, gypsum is an excellent manure for all leguminous plants, as clover, pease, &c, and is only found in very minute quantities in the grain crops, but by its power of absorbing ammonia from the atmosphere it becomes a valuable addition to the soil, and even for cereal crops. The bulky organic manures, such as farm yard manure, besides containing all the chemical ingredients in small quantities necessary for the growth of plants, effect in clay soils a great mechanical
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improvement by increasing its porosity, giving access to the air and water--promoting decomposition, and enabling the clay to absorb the ammonia, and supply it to the roots as required--but with regard to the kind of manure it will depend upon which is easiest procured, for if the farmer is situated near a town, or where weighty manures containing large quantities of water are plentiful, that may be the cheapest food the farmer can procure for his crops--but if he has to cart it for a long distance, he will find it better to purchase some concentrated manure that can be easily transported to his farm. One thing we have hinted al two or three times, make as much manure as possible on the farm, for this is the very essence of good farming. Keep the stock in good condition, feed and bed them well, and keep them clean, and save all the manure both liquid and solid--for all special manures may assist, but cannot supersede this--the richer the food you give to the animals, the richer will be the manure--for it is said of food generally that about one third to one fourth of the money value, and seven eighths of the valuable matter appear in the manures made on the farm, which is in the two valuable ingredients, ammonia and phosphoric acid, and that of sheep especially. Farm yard manure is called general manure, because it contains ammonia for the cereal crops and phosphoric acid for the root crops, and also the other necessary matters, as potash, soda, &c. In this mild climate it is not necessary to house ordinary cattle--they generally have hay or some other additional food, besides the grass supplied to them during three or four months (June, July, August and part of September), in some sheltered situation, or where there is a bush to run into. If the New Zealand farmer crops much and wishes to improve his land, or even to keep up its fertility, he must make use of manures, and as a matter of course if
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he has far to cart it he will find it to his advantage to purchase some of the concentrated manures. Peruvian guano, if genuine, is a very powerful manure--its color, if good, is that of coffee with milk, if grey, it is earthy, and if brown, it is wet, a strong, piquant, caustic flavor shows ammoniacal salts, the smell like ammonia, touch oily, the small grains when broken, shining and chrystallized, these are good signs--but if these small grains are stones or gravel, it is bad--a bushel of guano should weigh 68 to 70 pounds. Bone dust as manufactured in this Colony is an excellent manure for root crops and pastures, and answers well on active volcanic soils. In bones we find about two thirds of its weight consist of mineral salts, the remainder being animal matter of the same description as that composing skin, gristle, &c, called gelatine, with varying quantities of fat. The value of bones as a manure chiefly depends on the gelatine and the phosphoric acid they contain, the former substance in common with all animal matter, except fat, by decay in the soil yields ammonia-- while the phosphoric acid, combined with lime and magnesia, under the same treatment, is slowly dissolved by the moisture of the soil and conveyed into the organism of the plant--there to perform the important function allotted to it. Gypsum, plaster of Paris or sulphate of lime, is a powerful manure for all leguminous plants, as clover, pease, &c, a valuable property of gypsum is its fixing ammonia. Lime in itself is not a manure, affords no nourishment for the growth of plants, but only conduces to the fertility of the soil by the manner in which it acts upon its constituent parts. The various substances in the soil necessary for the growth of plants, whether organic or inorganic, are by the action of the lime set free and brought into a state of solution adapted for being absorbed by the roots of plants. The action of lime on old tilled soils is
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more observable when applied soon after the use of the ordinary manures. It is frequently the case to find farmers applying lime in copious dressings of from 100 to 150 bushels per acre, and to make matters even worse, in actual conjunction with the manure. Now the effect of this copious application is at once to liberate in the soil a far larger quantity of the volatile salts and substances than are absolutely required for the growing crop, however strong and luxuriant. The surplus, remaining in a state of solution, is either carried away by the excess of rain water passing from the soil, or evaporated in the atmosphere. A smaller dressing more frequently repeated, say 10 to 15 bushels per acre every two or three years, would have all the effect necessary and at the same time save this ruinous waste. The commonest application of the knowledge of its chemical effects would lead any one to hesitate in adopting the too common error of using lime in actual conjunction with, manure of any kind, particularly such as guano, as so near an approach would entirely deprive the manure of its ammoniacal properties.
Lime must be applied near to the surface, hence it is generally harrowed in on naked fallows at home, previous to turning over the last or seed furrow--which is a light one. On heavy clay soils lime is also valuable for its disintegrating properties, causing such soils to fall or become pulverised with greater ease, while sandy or light soils become consolidated and made firmer by its application. On soils of this latter description a smaller quantity of lime is used than on clays. Its effects are more observable upon the grass than on any other crop in the rotation, but applied immediately to potatoes, its effects are rather injurious than otherwise. How or when applied, it should be at some little interval before or after the application of manure, and in dry weather only. Upon
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soils of a peaty nature and those--as many of them in this Province do--containing much fibrous matter, lime will act most beneficially, counteracting the acidity and astringent properties these Soils contain, rendering them firmer by its action, decomposing the inert vegetable matter, and converting it into substances more assimilated to the requirements of vegetation. Upon clay soils its beneficial effects will be very great, but in all cases--for the reasons stated above--small doses frequently repeated are more economical in their use than larger ones repeated at longer intervals. A compost of lime and earth for grass land is a better top-dressing than either of them would be separately, the proportion should be one fourth of lime. A useful manure for some soils is also to be made by mixing line and common salt, in the proportion of three of lime to one of salt--these are mixed together and heaped up in a covered shed some three months previous to use. The use of lime in the formation of composts cannot be too much urged-- in many parts of the Province, more especially on farms bordering upon salt water creeks, there is an almost inexhaustible source of manure to the farmer. If the mud and slime were removed at low water, carted into large heaps, and when dry mixed with lime in the proportion of one of lime to ten of mud, a very valuable compost would be obtained. The effect of this compound upon wheat has been attended with the most satisfactory results, both in thickness of the crop upon the ground, and the increased size of the ear. It is a common saying among farmers at home, "Muck goes to straw, lime to corn." Weeds, green rubbish, in fact all refuse about a place should be carefully gathered, thrown into a pit dug for the purpose, and occasionally sprinkled with lime. This will be found a valuable manure on small holdings--by attention to these particulars the Chinese have raised their soils to a high state of fertility.
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OPERATIONS FOR AUGUST.
AUGUST.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR AUGUST.
ABOUT the middle of this month the crocus and peach blossoms make their appearance, the buds fill and nature begins to show life again, but the weather is changeable, and it is a trying time for stock, more particularly in open exposed situations, they require more attention now than at any other time during the winter; the weather is wet, and there is little nourishment in the over succulent young grass, it is apt to scour them. See that the horses are kept in condition, as the working season is coming on--give them hay, corn, carrots and green oats--it will keep them in healthy working order. Store Cattle, but more particularly late calves, fall off about this time--give them a little hay, and house them every night to keep them comfortable. The cows will be coming in--give them plenty of green food till the grass starts--do not let them fall off in milk now, because next month they will be able to take care of themselves. Put in cuttings of thorns in nursery lines, to be planted in hedges the following autumn. Spring wheat
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may be sown on good, soil after twice ploughing, and any land laid down before, and not doing well, should now be broken up for oats or potatoes, as there is no crop so good for cleaning land as potatoes -- first work it well and give a little manure. Grass generally takes well after a crop of this sort--sow it down with a little guano and rape. About the middle or towards the end of this month the main crop of potatoes may be planted, if the land is in good tilth, but if the soil is strong and resting on a retentive clay, September will be soon enough for early crops. We prefer moderate sized potatoes cut in pieces with at least two eyes in each set--many now however prefer the largest well formed potatoes, cut to one eye only--some also use whole sets, but too many tubers are formed, and they are never properly developed. The soils best adapted for the cultivation of the potato are those of a light, sandy, drained, peaty or loamy nature. The potato thrives best in fresh soils, newly broken up meadows, old bush lands, or the sites of old yards or buildings--it does not do well on wet clay soil, although large crops have been grown here on peaty soils, the potatoes are always watery, and many of them hollow--fine crops have been grown on broken up grass lands, but the potatoes are never so good as when grown on new lands. All decomposing organic matter evolves carbonic acid gas and ammonia, which has a very invigorating effect on young plants, increasing the branches and leaves, and this of course increases the means of obtaining food from the atmosphere--hence the great crops of potatoes grown from broken up meadow lands--but planting the potato under the green sod requires careful management--the grass should be eaten down close with sheep before the land is ploughed--use the wheel coulter and harrow as soon as possible, to prevent the grass and weeds from coming up between the furrows, and also
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harrow frequently till the plant is above ground. It has been found that cut potatoes rot more frequently under the green turf than in a well wrought, loose soil--of course, all decaying matters have a tendency to impart the same action to other substances in contact with them, and the decomposing matter in the sward is more likely to communicate the action of decay to a cut potato than to a whole one, and more so if the soil is stiff, as the plant will be a fortnight longer in making its way through the close furrow. In all stiff, strong soils, you must first well pulverise, then set the potatoes in drills, keeping them clean and well moulded up--and remember that better crops are produced when the potatoes are six inches deep than when they are set three inches only, as those near the surface are frequently destroyed by the worm, while those five or six inches deep are free from this pest--well pulverised soils give less chance for the moth to deposit her eggs near the potato. The best manure for the potato is common farm yard compost partially decomposed, also decayed leaves, sea weed and any other organic matters, which, while affording nutriment, have a tendency to make the soil light and facilitate the extension of the roots--lime is not good, but pond mud or ditch scrapings, with each cubic yard of which a month previously a bushel of refuse common salt has been mixed, is excellent. As many cows calve about this time, for those engaged in dairy management we may add a few useful remarks to what we have said in June. In milking cows observe regularity, gentleness and cleanliness--always wash the udder with a little cold water before milking-- have the hands clean--milk the cow dry and without interruption, as a little milk left in the udder would ruin the cow. If the cow has sore teats, use milk warm water instead of cold--treat her kindly and milk quickly, there must be no trifling. In sitting down to milk, do not be
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afraid--speak to the cow, and sit down, resting your hand on her side--if she has sore teats she will lift her leg, slip your arm down and let it go with the leg, and she cannot hurt you--dip the points of your fingers in the milk, and with the two fingers and thumb grasp the tit near its extremity, pressing well up into the udder at each stroke, using both hands at the same time. The milk dishes must be kept thoroughly clean--the milk house or dairy kept free from smoke, well aired and clean--have no potatoes, fish, onions, cheese, or anything likely to impart a strong smell in your dairy, as the milk soon takes the taste of it. When the milk is brought in from the cows, strain it through a fine hair or flannel covered sieve or drainer, and put it into the milk pans. A tin skimmer with holes in it is best for taking off the cream. The churn, whether plunge or barrel, should be carefully washed, dried and aired immediately after churning. The butter, on being taken from the churn, should at once be put into fresh spring water, where it should remain one hour at least, to make it firm, and then it should be salted.
Cattle ponds may be made successfully in dry, rocky pastures, by choosing a low situation for the purpose--then excavating 10 or 20 yards across, and spread over the whole a layer of refuse slacked lime and coal cinders--then spread, trample, and ram down a stratum of well trampled clay, about four inches thick, and upon this spread a second bed of clay, in a similar manner, of the same thickness. The whole of the bottom and edges must be paved with rubble stone, and small stones several inches deep spread upon the pavement. Trees look beautiful round ponds, and they are useful in shading the water from the sun, but the leaves fall into the water, and by their decay render it unwholesome for cattle to drink. --Australian Farmer.
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OPERATIONS FOR SEPTEMBER.
SEPTEMBER.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR SEPTEMBER.
DURING this month we have generally some fine showers, which warm the earth and draw up vegetation -- the weather is getting mild and the days lengthen. The first work of the month is to put in the main crop of potatoes--if in fallowed land, harrow well, and roll to level the ground before planting--then plant the potatoes behind the plough in every third furrow, along with guano, two hundred weight to the acre--harrow them lightly, and when about six inches high mould them up. Or another plan is to plough the land and let it lay for two weeks--plough again and roll and harrow, then with a double mould plough draw drills two and a half feet apart--put manure in the drills either above or below the potato. As we said before, some prefer large potatoes cut to small ones whole--they say it yields more weight per acre. After planting, split the furrows to cover the potato, and about two weeks after, harrow the drills. Potatoes on new fern land are not recommended. About the end of the month sow maize in holes
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four feet apart each way, about an inch and a half deep and eight inches in diameter--put in five or six seeds, then cover and firm them--when about eight inches high, pull up the weakest plants, but leave three of the strongest in each hole--draw the earth well round them. Those pulled up will do for the cows or pigs. Where hay is required, turn out the cattle and close the paddocks about the beginning of the month, but if good grass seed is wanted, the closing of the paddocks may be deferred till the beginning of next month; the crop of hay will of course be lighter, but the seed will be much better. Sow oats for hay, three or four bushels per acre--thick sowing makes the best hay -- if grass and clover seeds are to be sown among the crop, two bushels of oats will be enough. The New Zealand farmer often complains that his grass crop proves a failure--this will happen if it is a heavy one, for the grass and clover will be weak, and some destroyed--at harvest the crop is removed, and these young plants exposed to a scorching sun--in some seasons for weeks--and withered up. On the other hand, if the crop is thin, the grass and clover being more exposed to the sun and air, will be healthier, stronger and less liable to be injured by the sun after the grain crop is removed. As food for sheep, in the latter part of summer sow in well pulverized and manured land Swedes and rape, also mangold wurtzel. Sow field pease either broadcast or in drills two feet apart, two and a half bushels to the acre: Peas and beans do best on a limestone bottom. Sow spring vetches thick, as they will clean the ground. Finish sowing grass, and if any of the autumn sown has failed, add a little more seed, then bush harrow and roll--a little guano, say one hundredweight per acre, would not do much harm. Milch cows now come in plentifully, and many have wisely turned their attention to cheese making, and some of our farmers are already famous. Milk as an article of diet--
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either in its natural state or in the form of butter or cheese -- being so wholesome and palatable, it follows as a matter of course that its production must be profitable. Many plans are followed at home to make the cows give large quantities of milk, but in this country for some time to come the quality will be of more consequence. Butter is made either from cream only, or by churning the whole milk and cream together, but the best quality is obtained from the cream which rises during the first twelve hours after milking, and the next best by churning the whole milk--in the former case the new milk, after being carefully strained, is poured into shallow vessels of glazed earthenware, tinned iron, wood, lead or zinc, of which the three first named sorts are the best. The wooden vessels, from the difficulty of cleaning them, are objectionable--the lead and zinc, from the noxious salt which is produced by the action of the milk on the metal. Cows should never be flurried or driven fast before being milked, but should be milked as fast as possible, and the milk at once taken to the dairy. The process of milking we have already described. The yearning or rennet is the skin of the stomach of a sucking calf--it is salted and kept about twelve months--then a square inch to about ten gallons of milk is put the day before it is required into a cup containing half a pint of lukewarm water, and a teaspoonful of salt, and this is the mixture that curdles or coagulates the milk. With regard to the cheese, the different sorts have all admirers, but the best English cheeses are Stilton, Cheddar, Cheshire, and Gloster. The Stilton is made from the cream of one milking added to the new milk of the next. The Cheddar and Cheshire are made from new milk, or rather from milk in which all its own cream is retained. The difference between double and single is that the double is twice as thick as the single, and takes longer to
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ripen. The Scottish Dunlop and the Gouda are full milk cheeses. We will now describe the process of manufacture. Dunlop cheese is thus made--say at six o'clock morning and evening--the steeping tub in which the milk is coagulated is set in its place, the frame and sieve are laid across, and the milk as brought in from the cows is strained to free it from the hairs and motes--when all the milk is strained, the froth on the top is skimmed off, and again put through the sieve until it has all disappeared--the rennet is then added and mixed by stirring with the skimming dish, then left alone to coagulate--a cloth is now thrown over the tub to prevent too rapid cooling and to keep out dust. On Sundays this process is modified--the milk is stored in coolers in the milk house until Monday morning, when it is skimmed--the cream put into the steeping tub, and the skimmed milk into the boiler to warm--when the temperature of the latter is raised to a little above the heat of new drawn milk, it is emptied from the boiler into the steeping tub amongst the cream, and along with the Monday's new drawn milk--it is then set with the rennet and treated exactly as above described. The quantity of rennet is regulated best by practice--as much as will coagulate the milk in about fifteen minutes. When the curd gets cold and firm, cut it across from top to bottom with a long knife, into pieces of about two inches square, and after a few minutes it is more minutely broken with the hand--the curd is then allowed to settle, when the whole is carefully pressed and the whey separated from the curd, which goes to the bottom of the tub--the whey is now passed through the sieve to save all the curd, and it is then cut into pieces of four or five inches, and again gently pressed for a little with the hand until it attains the proper firmness, and then put into a dreeper. The time taken up from the coagulation until the curd is put into the dreeper,
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with the resting or settling intervals, will be about an hour, and the mean temperature of the curd when put into the dreeper abut 79 degrees. To effect the discharge of the whey and make it ready for making up into cheese, it will require eight cuttings and changings--when the milk is steeped at night, the curd, after receiving three or four cuttings, is left in the dreeper until morning, and at an early hour the process is resumed, but the time occupied with and between the cuttings and changings is usually about two hours--if the rennet be added by half past seven, the curd should be ready for making up into a cheese by twelve or one o'clock. Now for the curing of the curd--a little salt is sprinkled on it when left in the dreeper at night, and the same in the forenoon if the weather be sultry, but the salting and curing is always completed with the last cutting or breaking of the curd, and it is proper here to mention that curd left over is now added, being first warmed before the fire. The salt should be in the proportion of one ounce to three pounds of curd; when the salt is added and well intermixed, a clean cloth wrung out of warm water, to prevent the curd adhering, is placed inside the cheese vat, and the reduced curd firmly pressed into it with the dairymaid's hands, and rounded on the top, over which the ends of the cloth are lapped and fastened in to the edges of the vat, the lid or sinker being adjusted on the top. It is now ready for the press--but before doing so, place it near the fire for about two hours, turning it carefully until it is warm all round, with no other pressure at first on it but its own lid, and afterwards a light weight of twenty or thirty pounds: --the vat is then placed in the press, and pressure gradually applied. If put in the press the afternoon before the cows are brought in for milking, the young cheese should be ready for changing when the milking is over, or about two hours after being
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put to press--this changing consists in removing the wet cloth and applying a clean dry one, reversing the cheese in the vat, and again putting it under the press--before bed time the second changing is given, and early the next morning it receives another dry cloth--it is again changed at ten o'clock and at two o'clock, and if it has taken on a uniform yellow color, and has an elastic feel to the touch, it will be ready in the afternoon to be taken from the press--although some prefer to leave it twelve or even twenty-four hours longer--if the cheese is large, this may be necessary. In some dairies, before final removal from the press, the cheese is put under pressure with a cloth wrung out of hot water, to give toughness to the skin, and afterwards put into a spare vat for half an hour or so, with a slight pressure on to smoothe the surface, it is then removed to the cheese room and turned daily for ten or fourteen days, and at longer intervals as they become firm and dry. The approved method of making Cheshire cheese is--after the rennet is added to the milk, and when the curd is firm enough to discharge its whey, plunge the hands to the bottom of the vessel, and with a wooden spoon stir the curd and whey, and then carefully break to the size at least of a hazelnut all the curd--then, after it settles, take the dish and lade off the whey into a milk dish to stand for cream, to be churned for what is called whey butter--but this is peculiar only to some districts--having laded off the whey, you spread the straining cloth and strain the curd through it, returning the curd from the cloth into the cheese tub. When you have got all the whey squeezed out by the hand and lading dish, you cut it into small square pieces, this lets out a little more whey and makes the curd handy to be broken into the vats. Now take a vat of the proper size and spread the cheese cloth losely over it, then re-break the curd carefully, sqeezing every part of it by the hands,
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then fill the vat heaped up, rounded above its top, fold the cloth over it, put it into the press, and apply the pressure. During the first day the cheese is in the press, skewers are thrust through the holes in the sides of the vat. After it has been in the press for two or three hours, the cheese is taken out and put into a vessel containing hot whey, and allowed to stand an hour or two to harden its skin--then removed, wiped dry, allowed to cool, and covered with a clean cloth--the vat is now wiped dry and the cheese replaced and put in the press again. In the evening, supposing the cheese to have been made in the morning, it is again taken out, another dry cloth applied, then turned and replaced---it is thus taken out, wrapped in a clean cloth, turned twice a day for two days, and finally removed and taken to the salting apartment, and put (being still in the vat) into a tub filled with brine, in which it is to stand for several days, being regularly turned at least once a day. The vat, with the cheese still in it, is then removed from the brine tub, and the cheese is taken out and placed on the salting bench, where it is to remain for eight or ten days, salt being carefully rubbed over the whole cheese every day during that period. H the cheese is very large, to prevent its breaking with so much handling, a wooden hoop or a cloth band is put round it. The cheese is now washed in warm water or whey, and when well dried with a cloth, it is placed on the drying bench, where it also remains eight or ten days, then removed to the cheese room, where it is to be turned every day, twice a day, or every two days, according to the state of the weather--if the air is cold and dry, the windows and doors of the cheese room are kept shut as much as possible, but if close and moist, as much fresh air as possible should be admitted. After ten days or so the cheese is washed and scraped. We might describe the manufacture of several other varieties of
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cheese, but perhaps we have said enough for this time. As this is the month for sowing tobacco seed, we may as well describe the whole process. For a quarter of an acre have four boxes about two feet square and twelve inches deep, fill them to within an inch of the top with light rich sandy loam, and make the surface smooth and level, then take a little seed between the finger and thumb and sprinkle it evenly over the surface--the seeds are so small that about the eighth of an ounce will grow a sufficient quantity of plants for an acre. After sowing the seed, sift some fine earth over the top until the seed is covered to a depth of nearly a quarter of an inch--place the boxes in a warm, sheltered situation, and water them with a watering pot, and the watering must be continued at intervals to keep the soil moist in the boxes. If the plants appear too close or thick in the boxes, you must thin them out to about an inch apart. When the leaves of the young plants have attained the size of a half-crown they are ready for transplanting. The land intended for the plantation should be rich, deep worked and well pulverized--the plants should be three to four feet apart each way, to enable the grower to move about amongst them without touching the leaves, for when growing they are very tender, and the planting performed either in the morning or in the evening. Water the plants well before removing them from the boxes, then with a sharp pointed trowel proceed to take up the plants singly into a shallow box or tin dish, leaving a little soil on the roots of each--the line being set and the ground marked at a given distance, with the trowel make holes large enough to receive the plants, and set them in carefully so as not to remove the soil that was taken up with the roots--use the trowel to smooth and level the surface round the stem of each plant; this done, the plants must be well watered and shaded, and in about four days
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the roots will be sufficiently established to remove the shades--and the plants that have missed are to be replaced from those remaining in the boxes. The principal trouble now will be to keep the ground loose by stirring among the plants, and keeping them free from slugs and caterpillars. The leaf at this time is very tender, and these insects attack and devour the leaves, or cut the stem just below the ground. A little hot lime dusted round the plants in the evening will settle the slugs, but the caterpillars must be hand picked daily, for they very soon spoil a number of leaves. To produce a fine sample of tobacco, six leaves only should be allowed to grow on each plant, and when you have got this number, pinch back the leading shoot to increase the bulk, &c, by preventing other leaves forming. When the blossoms appear, top the plant and remove all side shoots. We say six leaves, but some parties grow eight, ten, or even twelve--when only six leaves are allowed to grow, they will be large, whereas when ten or twelve are left, the lowest ones will begin to wither before the upper ones are full grown. The time for gathering the leaves is when they get yellow and spotted--cut them down immediately under the lower leaf, and lay them carefully in small heaps until they are slightly withered.. After the first cutting, young shoots will sprout from the old stem, which must receive the same treatment as the first lot, and if the ground is good and the season favorable, you will have a third crop. When the plants are carried from the field, they are tied in pairs by the butt ends, and hung across light poles among the rafters, arranged to hold as many as possible. When it is drying, the tobacco should be sheltered from the sun and from rain, and should have free circulation of air among the leaves. When the leaves are sufficiently dried, that is when they become yellow all over, and the leaf-stalk dry and withered, strip them from the stems and tie them in
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small bundles--the best time to strip them is before sunrise, when they are moist, and will not crumble in handling-- then take as many as you can conveniently hold between the forefinger and thumb, twist a small leaf round each lot, and lay them in small stacks to make the leaves heat. When the centre of the stack feels decidedly warm to the hand, open the heap and let the air in until the bundles are quite cool and dry, but if not sufficiently heated you must stack them again, and after a final airing the bundles are tied into small bales, and packed in boxes or casks for market. The best variety for manufacturing purposes is the Virginia.
Root crops, as Swedes, turnips, mangolds, carrots, &c, are cultivated solely for their roots, or rather bulbs. The habit of these plants is to gather from the soil, during the earlier stages of their growth, a larger quantity of nourishing materials than they require for present use. This extra quantity of food they store up and accumulate in their bulbs, and it is afterwards disposed of in maturing the seeds, during the latter period of their development. Thus we learn that during one period of the growth of these plants the bulbs continue to increase in size, and to become richer in feeding materials up to a certain period, when a change in the reverse direction takes place, and the bulb is called upon to supply materials for the sustenance of the other organs of the plant. Hence we see the necessity of gathering the roots or bulbs when fully matured, in order to obtain the maximum quantity of feeding materials. If we leave them longer, the amount of woody substance in the root increases, and the root becomes less nourishing; and when the plants are allowed to perfect their seeds, the bulbs are found after the operation to consist chiefly of woody matter. -- Voelcker's Agricultural Chemistry.
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OPERATIONS FOR OCTOBER.
OCTOBER.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR OCTOBER.
THE mild, spring weather of this month gives plenty of work to the farmer. The principal crops--both spring and summer--should now be in the ground. Potatoes may still be planted in low damp situations--if the season turns out a dry one there will not be a large crop, but they will do well for seed. Grass on clay soils frequently succeeds better when sown in spring than in autumn, for the cricket and the wet winter destroy many of the young plants, and beginners will find a few tons of oaten hay valuable in winter for working horses, oxen and cows, therefore, if required for hay, sow a few oats now. It was recommended in April to sow oats thick on foul land for a rotting crop. Now is the time to work the land well--use the roller, get it fine, and sow two bushels of maize per acre, then give it a light ploughing to cover the seed, harrow in the grass seed and roll down, but don't stock the crop until February, when the green maize will be fine feed for horses or cattle. Cabbages are very nutritious, and farmers and dairymen would find a few
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acres of drumhead very useful in the summer months; they deserve to be more extensively cultivated as a fodder crop, they are richer in oil and nitrogenous matter than many other kinds of green food. Cabbages are most valuable as food for milch cows, they increase the quantity and improve the quality of the milk, and the butter made from it is free from any unpleasant flavor. Land intended for fallow should now be ploughed up, before sorrel and other weeds begin to seed, and before the ground gets hard and dry. Root up the docks as they show themselves, collect them into heaps, and when they are dry burn them. Cutting docks below the crown in summer will very often kill them, but whatever you do, prevent them from seeding. Sheep will sometimes nibble and kill them in dry summer weather. Hand or horse hoe the potatoes as soon as the drills can be seen. Sheep in paddocks should be shifted once a fortnight, to allow the grass to start. The shearing will begin at the end of this month. Keep the rams in a small paddock by themselves; examine the flock every fortnight; see to their feet, and tag any that may require it. Cows will have plenty of grass and winter oats--store stock can now find enough for themselves. See that pigs have plenty of food, attend to the young litters, give them a dry bed and a little milk, and keep the sow in condition. Plant maize for a crop, in rows five feet apart and two feet six inches from hill to hill, five seeds to each hill, and when they come up remove two for green food. Keep the land clean with the hoe, and earth the plants well up, first when they are about a foot high, and again when about two feet six inches. Maize is a very nutritious grain, and succeeds well in the Province of Auckland', but as it is not generally fit for harvesting till the autumn rains set in, there is a difficulty in getting it dry. New beginners on bush lands should grow some maize by planting among stumps, for their pigs, poultry, and
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horses. The relative value of horses and oxen we may notice now, as this is the working season. Oxen are preferred by new beginners, as they live cheaper than horses, but where grass is plentiful and there is much ploughing to do, horses will be found more economical--for horses are capable of performing all kinds of farm labor, and they adapt themselves to every road and every degree of temperature--there is no occasion to select their particular kind of labor, as they may be employed in any work--be attached to any vehicle or employment on the farm--horses work more expeditiously as well as continuously, thus keeping those who labor with them more fully employed than is the case in working with oxen. Oxen are better than horses for ploughing, and are not so expensive to keep, the first cost being far below that of the horse, their harness less costly, their food cheaper, and oxen, when well fed and not overworked, will increase in value, thus almost paying interest on their original cost, they are less liable to accidents and diseases, and produce a greater amount of manure than horses--horses decrease in value, and unless you finally eat them (turn hippophagi), they will become a dead loss. When on this subject, we may as well give a few hints on the art of driving or managing horses. Keep always to the left or near side, except when passing another vehicle, which you do on the right or off side--do not turn sharply round corners, and give a full sweep to allow room for any other conveyance coming in an opposite direction. When you pull up or turn round, intimate your intention by holding up your hand or whip--this will give notice to those behind you of your intention. When going down hill, hold the reins tightly, this will support the horse and prevent its stumbling--when going up hill, the reins may be held slacker, but at all times keep them firm in the hand, to be able to check the horse the instant he stumbles. Spare
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the whip, do not tug capriciously at the reins, or force the horse faster than his natural pace--this will spoil his temper, harden his mouth to the bit, and make him callous and indifferent to your commands. Avoid trotting or galloping a cart horse. When a horse has the habit of shying, draw him gently aside from any startling object as you approach it, and hold the whip on the shady and not the sunny side of his body. If a shoe gets loose or comes off, have it rectified at once if possible. If a horse runs away, do not abandon all control over him, but try to guide him as if he were going at an ordinary pace, for the horse, if firmly but gently managed, will yield mechanically to the rein, and thus danger may be avoided. Let your general treatment be gentle and kind, stroke his neck occasionally with the whip, pat his back, and now and then call him by his name--for remember that Rarey's great horse taming secret was kind firm treatment.
Wheat thrives best on land naturally rich in mineral fertilizing materials, and requiring only working and tilling to yield these materials to plants. On soils of this description--and to a less extent on lighter land--ammoniacal manures are found greatly to favor the growth of wheat. These manures supply the nitrogen requisite for the formation of the gluten of the grain, and at the same time stimulate the plants to seek a proportionate quantity of the other kinds of material the plants require. -- Voelcker's Agricultural Chemistry.
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OPERATIONS FOR NOVEMBER
NOVEMBER.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR NOVEMBER.
WE have now fine clear summer weather and plenty of work, keeping down weeds, and getting the general crops of the season finished--remember that when weeds are allowed to grow among crops, they deprive them of a portion of the nutriment required. Hoe the ground well between the drills of potatoes, Swedes, mangolds, &c, to keep down weeds and finely pulverize the soil--this will facilitate the absorption of aqueous vapour from the atmosphere, which is always more plentiful in hot weather than in cool, and without which no commonly cultivated plant could flourish, and few exist at all. Providence has therefore ordained that this should be ever ready to meet the demands of vegetable life, and that its quantity should vary with the temperature--for the closer and warmer the atmosphere, the more moisture, and the cooler the air the drier it is. The cultivator will derive many advantages from a careful investigation of the support yielded by the vapours of the atmosphere to his plants; he will also per-
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ceive that its unvaried presence affords an additional reason why the air should be allowed to circulate freely through the well pulverised and loosened soil to the roots of all growing crops. The watery vapour varies in amount, but is never absent from the atmosphere. Never be frightened, as some of our farmers are, to let out the moisture by stirring the soil well and often. English farmers have now found out this fact, and the horse hoe of the east and south of England--in the driest days of summer--may be seen at work in the large sandy turnip fields of Norfolk and Suffolk, not merely to destroy weeds, but to increase the circulation of the gases and vapours of the air. The crops being now all in, pay great attention to keep down weeds. Continue to plough foul or new land for a clean fallow, for now is the time to do this, as vegetation continues active all the winter, except you wish to grow rotting crops of oats, turnips, &c. Sow sorgum early this month, on good land previously broken up, in drills two feet apart, and when they come up, thin out to eighteen inches in the row. No insect will touch this crop, and it may be cut two or three times in a season, it is valuable food for horses and pigs, more nourishing than green maize, and would pay well for dairy feeding, both as food and manure. Sow white Belgian carrots early this month, in well prepared ground, eighteen inches between the rows, and afterwards thin them out to four or six inches in the row. Give sucking calves plenty of milk, and see that mares with their foals, cows in full milk, and pigs intended for bacon, have plenty of good food. Now is the time to cart scoria, or any other heavy material required for draining, fencing, &c. See that this is done in dry weather. Under-draining must not be neglected--it is the principal part of good, healthy, successful farming--making the ground we tread upon drier, and the atmosphere we breathe healthier,
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it prevents drought in the ground, and furnishes an increased supply of atmospheric fertilizers, warms the lower portions of the soil, hastens the decomposition of roots and other organic matter, accelerates the disintegration of the mineral substances in the soil, causes a more even distribution of nutritious matter, where the roots traverse the soil it improves the mechanical texture of it, it enables the poisonous matter of plants to be carried out of reach of the roots, prevents grasses running out, deepens the surface soil, renders the soil kindlier in the spring, it can be worked sooner after rain, in fact well drained land is neither injured by long continued droughts nor by rains, but it is enriched by the rains that percolate freely through it, leaving the rich ingredients behind in the soil, while the best and richest parts of undrained, cold, stiff soils are washed away by heavy rains. The late Mr Weston says, "On well drained and manured land, the crops shoot up vigorously and are strong and healthy, on imperfectly or non-drained fields, crops look feeble weak and sickly, from the effects of stagnant moisture."
The Parsnip is by some considered even superior to the carrot in feeding qualities. It may be cultivated the same way as that root, giving from three to four pounds of seed to the acre, when cultivated in rows from fifteen to eighteen inches distance, according to soil. The plants should be left from nine to twelve inches apart. The after cultivation is the same as for the carrot, but as the plants are more easily recognised, their culture is more simple, while the produce is greater and quite equal to it in fattening qualities. The parsnip, though hardier than the carrot, requires the land to be as well and as deeply pulverised, or the roots will be forked. It is given to cattle in the proportion of thirty pounds weight three times a day, that is
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morning, middle of day, and evening. The small ones are given whole, and the larger ones split into two or three pieces, according to size--and a perfectly lean beast has been fattened on them in three months. Pigs and poultry fatten sooner, and their flesh is more delicate than when fed on any other roots. The parsnip is a good winter food for milking cows, and the butter made from the milk of cows so fed has a fine yellow color, equal to spring made. The leaves of parsnips are more bulky than those of carrots, and should be mown before taking up the roots. These may at once be given to every description of stock, and will be eaten with avidity. Parsnips grow well after potatoes. The roots may be stored as the carrots, or dried as a substitute for hay. The seed may be obtained by planting out the best roots. --Australian Farmer.
Leguminous crops, as pease, beans, vetches, saintfoin, clover, &c, all partake of the character of the pea, which may be accepted as the type of this family of plants. The prevailing mineral constituent of these plants is lime: for this reason they are sometimes called "lime plants." As we might for this reason expect, these plants flourish most luxuriantly on lime soils, and are cultivated most successfully in limestone districts. For the same reason, the addition of lime to soils containing but little of this substance greatly favours the growth of these crops. Another mineral constituent required by these plants is sulphur: hence the addition of some combination of sulphur is generally attended with benefit to a crop of this description. A substance well fitted for this purpose is gypsum, or plaster of Paris. This compound, as already noticed, contains sulphuric acid and lime, and on this account may be regarded as a special manure for leguminous plants. -- Voelcker's Agricultural Chemistry.
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OPERATIONS FOR DECEMBER.
DECEMBER.
THE CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND FOR DECEMBER.
This is the haymaking month, the time for mirth and fun, with beautiful clear skies, delicious fresh breezes, warm enjoyable summer weather, and the season of all seasons that comes but once a year draws on, the Merry Christmas, and in the middle of summer, crowned with the scarlet rata and the rewarewa, abundance of rich ripe fruit in the fields and in the gardens, and being haymaking season, we may remark that the value of hay depends on many circumstances, such as the kind of herbage, the age, the making, and the state of the weather at the time. Hay made from young grasses is more nutritious than that made from grass approaching to maturity. Another point of importance is the proper time to cut for hay, this should be done when the plants are in flower, so as to obtain bulk and digestible nutritious matter. Haymaking in Britain is attended with much labour and anxiety, spreading, turning, and cocking it for several days. In New Zealand it is different, for the weather being generally dry at this season, the cut grass is
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soon withered, and the swathes fit to turn the day after mowing, and turned into windrows before night; the second day it should be cocked to keep its color, and prevent it from being bleached, and if you are not prepared to stack it, make it into larger cocks about the fourth day: but remember, if the weather is at all unsettled, it is better to let it alone for a time, and watch for a better opportunity--it is far better to let it spoil standing than when cut down. Try to secure the seed from rain, and this can only be done in weather when you can cut down one day and secure it the next. Oaten hay makes excellent food for stock, when properly made, but it should be cut as soon as the milk is formed in the grain, if not before, for if left until the grain is nearly perfect, the coarse parts of the straw will contain a great proportion of indigestible woody fibre, and be refused by horses--it requires less making than grass or clover hay, and is also less liable to be injured by wet weather. New beginners should make some oaten hay as soon as possible, and this might be done by sowing some oats with the grass and clover seed even on the surface in bush land among the stumps, and if chipped in with the hoe all the better--of course among the stumps the crop will require to be hand reaped, but it will well repay the trouble if the owner has a cow or two or working bullocks. The hay of clover and artificial grasses contains more flesh forming matter, less woody fibre, and a little more bone material or ash than the meadow hay, and for hard working horses and young animals the seed hay is best, because it contains the greatest quantity of the materials for making flesh and bone. Young animals thrive best on new grasses, while full grown ones fatten quicker on old. When there are several kinds of grasses growing together, they should be mown when the greatest bulk is in flower, but it is always better to mow too soon than too late. In
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warm climates lucerne is cultivated and advantageously made into hay, or used as green fodder for cows and horses. It is said that in New South Wales, on some rich lands, by mowing five times during the year, as much as ten tons of lucerne hay has been taken off one acre of land--from experience we have found that oats will produce quite as heavy a crop of hay as grass, is also easier made, and will stand more rain without injury, and does not heat and mould so readily in the stack: when the horses in Auckland were principally fed on oaten hay, it was rare to see a broken winded one. Maize is in some countries made into hay. A few years since we tried it here, but--though sufficiently dried, and put into a small stack about seven feet high--it shrank to about eighteen inches, and when carted out for manure, had the appearance of tobacco. Amongst the causes that lessen the productiveness of pasture lands the presence of stagnant water holds a prominent place--land that from imperfect drainage contains stagnant water, encourages the growth of a coarse sour species of grass deficient in every useful quality, and although the soil may contain the elements of fertility, these useless grasses will always prevail; but by draining such lands, the inferior grasses will slowly disappear and give place to a sweet wholesome herbage. Grass when first cut will retain its quality longer in swarths than if it is thrown about, but when it turns yellow under the swarths it should be turned over, but spread as little as possible. In fine weather, the more hay is tossed about the better, as you then make hay while the sun shines, but do not allow the sun to bleach out the fine qualities. The rain washes out the very substance, and even the dew at night will do as much damage as these two put together. The very best weather for making hay is when the sky is dull and cloudy.
In Britain large stacks of hay have chimneys up the centre
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to let the heat escape, but here in New Zealand you must take a contrary course, for the hay is nearly always too dry before it is cut, and then it is thoroughly bleached by the strong weather, and when stacked it is little better than straw--and this we believe is the cause of so many broken winded horses in Auckland--the hay being poor in nutriment, the animal is obliged to consume a greater quantity to obtain the necessary support, and consequently overcharges the stomach; it will also cause a horse to drink too much water, and violent exercise taken afterwards will have the same effect--the horse will be permanently broken winded, with bulky food after long fasting it overgorges itself, and the full stomach pressing against the lungs impeding ordinary respiration, the very natural result will be a broken winded horse. The hay stacks should be at once thatched or covered with a tarpaulin. The plume thistle, which has spread so universally over these Colonies, is a biennial and difficult to kill during the first year, but the second year, if allowed to head up and then cut off with a hook or scythe, it will easily be killed: but prevent the seed flower from expanding and sowing itself, and you will soon gain a victory over it. After saying so much about hay, we now proceed to more general work. Mould up potatoes and maize, then cut the maize for green food as you require it. If the growing oats is attacked by caterpillars, it would be better to cut it down at once for hay. Keep the docks and other noxious weeds from seeding. Hoe and thin carrots and Swedish turnips. Hoe, thin and transplant mangolds. Plant out drumhead cabbages, hoe and mould up those planted last month, and give them plenty of room. Hoe and transplant sugar grass. Sow a little maize broadcast or in drills for autumn green food. Towards the end of this month prepare to break up new ground, if it is not too hard. Working bullocks are best for this sort of work,
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they take it so steady. Try to get under the fern roots and expose them to the sun and air for a month; then drag, burn and cross plough; a good plan to clear off fern is to stock hard with cattle, and plough up again. The art of grazing is either not understood, or little attended to here. A few maxims may be useful, thus never stock pastures in spring until genial showers have warmed the earth, and the pasturage is abundant; never allow the grasses to run to seed, nor any part of a field to be eaten bare, leaving other parts to get rank and coarse. Spread the droppings, remove stagnant water and extirpate tall weeds. Adapt the stock as to breed, size, condition and number to the pasture, to secure at all times a full bite of clean fresh grown succulent herbage. In moving stock from field to field, see that the change is to better fare, never to worse. Never allow the flock to remain long in one field, but frequently shift them. And now let us add a few useful hints for all seasons. Observe, that the presence of weeds is a sure indication of the want of drainage or of slovenly farming-- a weed or any plant growing where it has no business-- thus a potato plant growing amongst a crop of wheat, or a turnip amongst a crop of barley, or any of the cerials amongst a crop of different species and not intended to be there, is a weed. Clear away the fern or scrub from any hidden creeks or holes where cattle may get bogged.
Be careful in selecting your seeds of all kinds. Those of Colonial growth are to be preferred, if grown by an experienced person. English seeds often do not grow, to the great loss and disappointment of the settler. Thrash out your wheat, oat and grass seed as soon as possible. The rats and mice make sad havoc amongst them if left standing long in the stack, except you fall upon some plan of erecting foundations, to prevent the vermin from getting at the grain. Keep good cats about your place, and the rats
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and mice will disappear as your farm gets opened up. Plant out a few fruit trees every year, in the season, and procure good varieties from a practical nurseryman. In this climate good sorts are as easily grown as bad ones. Plant the trees at twenty-five feet apart in the garden; they will not interfere with the cropping of the ground for the first three or four years. The New Zealand settler can boast of more luxuries in the way of fruit than many gentlemen in England, as a great many of the tropical fruits grow here luxuriantly in the open air. Most kinds of stone fruit begin to bear well the fourth year after planting. Sow and plant all your crops in dry weather. Rather wait a few days than put anything in when the ground is wet. A fishing net is valuable to settlers living on rivers or near the sea, as fish are very plentiful and good on the New Zealand coast. The net should be set at high water, across the mouths of creeks and narrow inlets, and left until the tide ebbs. It may also be hauled in places where fish frequent, if the bottom be clear of rocks and the water not too deep for the net. A two-inch mesh is the best size for general use.
AGRICULTURAL ODE.
Give fools their gold and knaves their power,
Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall;
Who sow's a field, or trains a flower,
Or plants a tree, is more than all.
For he who blesses most is blessed,
And God and man shall own his worth;
Who toils to leave as his bequest
An added beauty to the earth.
As soon or late, to all that sow,
The time of harvest shall be given;
The flower shall bloom, the fruit shall grow,
If not on earth, at least in heaven!
