THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



619 



Bark. 



" When I came here there was an im- 

 pression that the locality was too cold for 

 the mollisima wattle, but I gave them a 

 trial, and they have done capitally. About 

 150 acres are in, and I intend in future to 

 plant some fifty acres every year as long 

 as I have the 'land to spare for this pur- 

 pose. The most are in strips, the primary 

 purposes of which are to serve as fire- 

 breaks, as wind-breaks, and shelter from 

 the sun, I have planted in the open, 

 without fencing against stock, and the 

 prophecies of my neighbours that the 

 trees would always be broken down and 

 never get away, have not as you see, come 

 true. Of course an open plantation in a 

 small enclosure would sutler badly, but 

 where stock have plenty of room the 

 damage done is by no means serious. The 

 strips are from 10 to 15 yards wide. The 

 bark cutting is made over to a contractor, 

 who does all the work on shares. 



Poultry, 

 " The best all-round farm bird," said 

 Mr, Simmons, " is the Plymouth Rock, in 

 my opinion. I have always kept to that 

 breed after trying most of the other 

 breeds. Birds bred here have beaten im- 

 ported ones at shows, the well-known 

 Mr. Cook being the judge. I have started 

 hatching by incubators — Abbot Bros'." 



Conclusion, 



Tn many respects Bray Hill is a speci- 

 ally interesting farm. Not only does a 

 visitor see model stock, but he is enter- 

 tained by one whose energy and enter- 

 prise are exceptional If the owner thinks 



a departure feasible he spares neither 

 money or pains, and in several directions 

 he has proved that things previously 

 thought impracticable are practical)le and 

 profitable. One of his latest projects is 

 the growing of osiers along his river 

 boundary. He argues that there is a 

 great and growing demand for baskets in 

 the Colony, and as Indians are particular 

 adepts at basket work, the growing of 

 the osiers should prove profitable. For 

 this river reach, some one and a half miles 

 in length, he is breeding English wild 

 ducks. The barns are large and well 

 arranged, and the crushing of mealies and 

 cutting of forage, etc., are dune by horse 

 power. The large and profitable business 

 now done every winter with Durban, 

 Maritzburg, and elsewhere in cabbages 

 was started some ten years ago by Mr. 

 Simmons The stockyard has a curious 

 feature, two sides of the enclosure being 

 made of the "horse boxes," in which he 

 he has imported live stock from England. 

 Mr. Simmons never dwells on failures or 

 difficulties. Everything connected with 

 farming he regards with cheerful, en- 

 couraging optimism. For farming at- 

 average all-round prices realized during 

 the last ten years there is no country in 

 the whole world, according to his opinion, 

 that equals Natal. The sanguine views 

 which he expressed in a letter which ap- 

 peared in the first issue of the Journal 

 he still holds to firmly. A visit to Bray 

 Hill would be the best prescription for 

 any who are suffering from an attack of 

 despondency arising from losses in stock, 

 drought, hail, locusts, labour troubles, or 

 such like afflictions. 



Agricultural Chemistry for Beginners. 



CHAPTER II. 



By Archibald Pea roe. 



OXYGEN, HYDROGEN, ACIDS, AND BASES. 



HAVING somewhat cleared the ground, 

 we shall now proceed to describe 

 two of the elements named, selecting 

 Oxygen and Hydrogen first, because they 

 enter into the composition of so many other 

 substances, and in describing them we 



shall pave the way for the understanding 

 of certain important classes of their com- 

 pounds. 



Oxygen. 



Oxygen is a gas which is so widely 

 found in Nature that in the free or un- 



