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TB E AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



Gieaningsm 



Should bad farming be penalised ? Expressed 

 in that form, the subject is too broad to be con- 

 sidered, but bad farming by neglect of weeds to 

 the detriment of a neighbour's farming may yet 

 require to be dealt with as a correspondent says 

 it IS in the Isle of Man. 



A sugar contractor who arrived recently at 

 Cairns (Queensland) with white labour to feed 

 the c-ine carriers has relinquished the contract. 

 After a week's trial at 4d. per ton his men 

 struck, saying that the work was not fit for 

 white men, although there wcie 19 whites em- 

 ployed for the same work which 15 Hindoos 

 were accomplishing. Ten of the white men 

 were the tons of cane farmers at Bundaberg, 

 and were used to handling cane. 



Mr. George Vulder, principal of the Hawkes- 

 bury Agricultural College, wr tes in the " Agri- 

 cultural Gazette" of New South Wales: — 

 " Cabbages are well suited for feeding to all 

 classes of farm stock, particularly dairy cows, 

 being regarded as superior in value to turnips 

 and rape. They do, however, sometimes slightly 

 affect the flavour of the milk and butter, but 

 this is generally due to feeding the animals to 

 excess on cabbages. Provided they are fed in 

 combination with other fodder there is little 

 risk of this. The open-leaf cabbages are of 

 better feeding value than the hearting ones, and 

 it is generally considered are not liable to taint 

 the milk. In Europe cabbages are largely grown 

 for feeding to dairy cattle." 



The largest transaction in timber on record 

 has just been completed in California. A hun- 

 dred thousand acres of heavy timber, consisting 

 of sugar pine, yellow pine, fir, and spruce, have 

 been sold to one buyer for the sum of 2,500,000 

 dol. The purchaser is one of the largest lumber- 

 men in the [Jnited States, and has accumulated 

 an immense fortune at the business ; his five 

 sons will carry on this extensive affair. 



It is interesting to learn that a new species of 

 coffee (Ooffea robusta) has been introduced by 

 the Belgian Societe Horticole Coloniale from 

 the Congo, which, from observations made upon 

 it in its native habitat, is believed from its great 

 vigour to be able to resist the disease which has 

 made such terrible inroads upon plantations all 

 over the world. It is at the .same time a very 

 free-bearing species, and produces berries of ex- 

 cellent quality. C. robusta is handsome as a 

 decorative plant, with its broad, shining leaves 

 and abundint bleom. The Scented flowers of 

 pure white are succeeded by green berries, 

 which become first yellow and finally turn red, 

 80 that the plant is ornnmental at all stages. 

 Should it prove on further trial to be absolutely 

 disease-proof it will (says the " Garden ") be 

 gratefully welcomed as an international boon. 



It is suggested that the Dairy Show authori 

 ties should request the exhibitors of roots to 

 state the quantity as well as the kind of manure 

 used. 



At Hiam-kill-marsh-priest, in Kent, the 

 farmers had a peculiar method of washing their 

 sheep in the eighteenth century. There are in 

 that district numerous creeks which are muddy 

 when the tide is out, but which at full tide are 

 deep in water The farmer tied ropes to three 

 or four of his flock and hauled thim across, 

 when the rest followed quite willingly. This 

 operation was repeated till every sheep had 

 cro-sed seven or eight times, which was as often 

 as the flock could find time to cross at one tide. 

 Farmers claimed that this mode of washing was 

 preferable to scouring and rubbing. 



Throwing cream out by centrifugal motion is 

 old. Now they jerk chicken feathers off by 

 wind. It is done this way. The fowl's head is 

 chopped off, the body is put in a place provided 

 for that purpose, then two tornadoes are turned 

 loose on the bird. They are called " cross cur- 

 aents of air from electrical fans." The chicken 

 jiggles an instant and the feathers are gone. 

 The fans are pretty lively things themselves, 

 turning at the rate of 5,000 revolutions per 

 minute. 



A silver-mounted horse-hoof in the form of an 

 ink-well was shown in the Industrial Hall of the 

 Glasgow Exhibition. This relic of the Crimean 

 War was found in a Boer wagon by Private A. 

 Hester, of Govan, now in South Africa on ser- 

 vice in the King's Own Scottish Borderers. The 

 hoof is well preserved, and the inscription is as 

 follows :— " Th,e hoof of Donnybrook, the char- 

 ger of Major-General Johnstone, C.B., late 33rd 

 Duke of Wellington's Regiment, during great 

 part of the Crimean campaign." The lid of the 

 ink-well is the Crimean medal of the major- 

 general. How this relic got into Boer hands is 

 a mystery. 



Mr. Edward Lisle, whose " Observations on 

 Husbandry " was published in 1757, describes 

 the method employed by his " oxhind " or cattle- 

 man to break cattle to the yoke :— " He yoked 

 two of the Steers, being two yearlings, together, 

 and 80 suffered them to walk about the ground 

 where there were no pits nor ditches for them 

 to receive hurt by. He also tied together the 

 bushy parts of their tails : the reason of which 

 was because they should not be able to turn 

 their heads to each other, so as to strike one an- 

 other with their horns, or, by bending their 

 necks too much, by endeavouring to face one 

 another, and then striving, break their necks." 

 In this condition the oxhind let them go on 

 the ground, if without holes or ditohes, all night, 

 or else turned them into an empty open barn so 

 yoked, and thus treated them two or three times 

 before he worked them. 



