312 



3- All birds to be bred' by competitors. 



4. All birds to be examined on arrival at the college and 

 any suffering from disease to be rejected; in the event of a bird 

 dying, the competitor to be allowed to replace it. 



5. All eggs to become the property of the Department of 

 Agriculture. 



6. The competition to be decided by the greatest total number 

 of eggs laid by each pen. Eggs under i4- ounces not to count. 



7. The market value of the eggs laid to be recorded and the 

 weight of the eggs from each pen. Prizes to be given for the 

 greatest aggregate weight. 



8. Records to be kept of the total quantities of the various 

 foods consumed and the average cost per head. 



THE HOUSE SPARROW. 



This bird is rapidly spreading in New South Wales. While 

 the bird is inflicting much harm it is recognized that it also does 

 a certain amount of good. It is believed that the bird cannot 

 be exterminated, but eventually when all the opposing hostile 

 factors to its increase are in operation it will find its definite 

 place in what is known as the "balance of nature." Among its 

 enemies are included" the mosquito, which causes mortality among 

 die young birds. 



THE CROSS-BREEDING OF SHEEP. 



Under the above title, Rl H. Gennings contribues a well illus- 

 trated article to the Agricultural Gazette of N. S. W. for May. 



GUERNSEY COW RECORD. 



A Guernsey cow, bred in England, and now in America, 

 possesses the following remarkable record : At two years old 

 she produced 9,958 pounds of milk and 533 pounds of fat for the 

 year. At four and a half years old, she yielded 13,636 pounds 

 of milk and' 714 pounds of fat, the average being 5.24 pounds. 

 She was lately sold for £800. 



RAMIE FIBER. 



The fiber of the Ramie plant is about the best, the longest and 

 strongest known. The difficulty of extracting it from the stem 



