J ANUARY 1, 1903. _ 
‘THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
17 
appear. When they blossom is the time 
*“ to incréase the crop. by artificial fertiliza-’” 
_ tion. 
Many growers do this by shaking 
the supports in’ tlie middle of the day, thus 
causing a distribution of. the pollen, but a. 
_surer method is to brush the anthers 
"lightly, so that it is. wafted about, by the 
; ; ; supplies of water and liquid manure. 
eo ousifrRits 
breeze. Do not neglect asparagus beds at 
this period ; it is important to keep up tl 
errehkep: Prien nike oy 
The past generation has seen a remarkablp é 
spread of the interest in the cultivation of oe 
the raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, 
currants, and gooseberries, says “Country 
Life” in America.. Not so very long ago 
_ they were considered to be quité’ unworthy. 
the serious attention of the cultivator, and. 
this feeling still lingers among the farmers, 
From mere garden accessories, however, 
if 
ad C8 
age se 
-o: At sTowa Homestead 
the small fruits have come to be commer- 
cial crops and the main reliance of many 
fruit growers. ~ te Bea PIED TR 
They all yield quickly to good care. The’ 
shallow roots depend largely on the’ good’ 
tilth and richness supplied 'to the surfaced of 
the soil. Bearing in summer, the excel- 
lence of the fruits depends very largely oxi” 
stored and saved by good tillage. Without 
this raspberries and blackberries may be 
so hard and juiceless as to be hardly 
worth the harvesting. 
Cultivation is the first requisite to suc- 
cess in. bush fruit growing. : 
SROSs SSS830=> 
tea. WRINKLE WITH TOMATO PLANTS. 
correspondent 
sketches his plan of setting out tomato 
-plants:—I let the plant get a good size; 
-- and then I set it deeply in the ground 
DL 
and cover the stem on an incline, usually 
leaning to the north. ~ A reservoir is left 
for watering the plant. Give one quart of 
water to each plant when set, another the 
next evening, and the next morning fill 
the hole full of dirt. Every joint on. the 
stalk will put out roots, and heat and mois- 
ture will start nearest the suface first. The 
plant will withstand whatever season may 
come. If the season is wet, the upper roots 
will push the plant along ; if dry, the lower 
stratum will not let growth check.: 
Hand-Feeding Stock. 
By T. R. Scorr, Inspector of Stock, Moree. 
‘Mr. Guthrie’s pamphlet on hand*feeding - 
stock has been received with a good deail of 
interest in districts where ‘ hand-feeding 
has been largely resorted to during the 
present drought. Fs 
The following notes, made from: personal 
. sebhyee months. . This gave good results, and 
-ifs about 15-per’cent. lambs were saved. On 
sults.” 
observation during my tours in the district, 
‘may prove of interest.. I have distin- 
~ guished ‘the various places by numbers, to 
“ayoid giving too much publicity, as some 
., owners, do, not wish their names mention- 
_.ed, for vatious reasons. . 
+ No. 1 Station.—10,000 ewes and lambs 
were fgd,on an allowance of 14 lucerne hay 
Pex, tper day for between two and 
same station 10,000 weaners were fed on 
".. ‘barley straw and molasses, the latter at a 
strength of 1 to 14. The method adopted 
was to soak -the bales with the molasses 
‘overnight, ‘spreading out the straw next 
day... The results were not satisfactory ; 
‘the -sheep lost condition, and were begin- 
‘ning to die. The feed was then changed 
to 1} lb. good wheaten and oaten chaiff, 
~with. plenty of grain in it, and they have 
‘been about four mdnthg on; this ration, 
with’ occasionally a little lucerne hay or 
mangels for a change; when this was given. 
the’ allowance ‘of chaff was reduced pro- 
‘portionately. The sheep improved soon 
--after the change from molasses and barley 
straw to chaff was made, and have since 
“done fairly well, with very little loss. 
Had there been sufficient scrub on this 
' property, hand-feeding would not have 
the supply of moisture in the soil, which is been resorted to. 
The manager considers lucerne hay the 
most satisfactory feed, but, owing to the 
high prices and scarcity, it has simply been 
a matter of using whatever feed was pro- 
curable. ; ? 
“On. No. 2 station 6,000 ewes were fed on 
' ration of } 1b. wheat per day, given night 
and morning in equal feeds of } lb. per 
head. At time of visit thé sheepi had been 
‘fed-for three months with satisfactory re- 
The wheat was soaked for twenty- 
four hours, and given in galvanised iron 
troughing. The ordinary half-round gut- 
tering was used. The sheep had no other 
feed, but were looking well and evidently 
doing well on their allowance. No loss to 
speak of was experienced after feeding was 
resorted to. , : 
- On No. 3 station 12,000 sheep were 
being fed on scrub and maize, } lb. maize 
per day being the allowance; the results 
were satisfactory. 
being fed on $ Ib. oaten hay and 3 oz. maize 
- . The method adopted was to 
scatter the corn broadcast on the ground 
over 3 or 4 acres, keeping the sheep back 
until the feed was all spread. The sheep 
were then allowed to come quietly on to it, 
and by this means all got an equal share. 
Of this lot of 2,000 ewes, previous to being 
fed, 100 were lostin a week. After being 
fed for a week, the loss was one only, thus 
showing the value of the feeding. 
On No. 4 property the stud sheep had . 
been fed for several months on an allow- 
ance of 4 lb. of maize spread broadcast, 
varied with a little lettuce hay and man- 
gels when procurable; these sheep were 
pulled through without loss, and a good 
many of the lambs saved. 
Re Prickty PrAar FEEpine. 
I have lately visited a number of hold- 
ings in the district where prickly pear 
feeding for cattle was resorted to. 
On No. 1 400 head of cattle had been 
fed on prickly pear for four months with 
a loss of 1 per cent. per week. The owner 
was satisfied with the results, as the cattle 
were very poor when he began to feed. He 
estimated the cost of feeding at 6d. to 7d. 
per head per week. Seven (7) men were 
employed in ‘preparing ‘the feed. . The 
method adopted was boiling and steaming: 
to destroy the thorns, and, after cooking, 
cutting the pear up into moderate-sized 
pieces. I consider the method of steam- 
ing the pear much the best, as it is drier 
and easier to handle, and no slop as when 
boiled. An ordinary 400 gallon tank with 
the head cut out was used. The portion cut 
out was punched with holes and let down 
into the tank, on blocks about a foot from, 
bottom. The water was then put in, and 
under the false bottom, and the tank filled 
with pear and covered over. In about an 
hour it was fit for use; that is, the thorns 
were destroyed. 
(To be Continued.) 
PT 69305030 S> 
Hand-Feeding Sheep. 
In a communication to the Hon. the 
Minister for Mines and Agriculture (for- 
warded through Mr. J. B. Reymond, 
M.L.A.), Mr. N. A. Gatenby, of Forbes, 
states: “At the Forbes Show concert I 
made the statement that for some months, 
until the river failed, I had fed 15,000 
sheep off 200 acres of irrigated lucerne. 
“The plan adopted was this: Some 6 or 
7 acres of lucerne was mowed each day, and 
carted out to the sheep, which were in lots 
of about 1,000 each. Within a day or so 
of cutting the lucerne was watered, and 
by the time the 200 acres was cut, the first 
patch mowed was ready to cut again. Had 
the river not failed, I could have continued 
this practice right through the summer. 
“T may mention that in 1898—another 
year of extreme drought—the river did not 
fail, and I irrigated from September to — 
May. I cut the lucerne twice for ensilage, 
twice for hay, and three times for feeding 
sheep in the manner above described. 
The cuttings could have been continued, 
but rain fell, and I stopped cutting for the 
season in May. In the winter the lucerne 
will not grow much. 
“In that year I fed 8,000 sheep during 
February, March, and April, off 120 acres 
cut as above. TI had also 2,000 sheep 
grazing on other irrigated paddocks that I 
did not cut. 
“No one knows the value of irrigation in 
our district better than Mr. Reymond, and 
T am sure that both he and I look forward 
to the time when great head works will 
be commenced with a view to giving us a 
more certain water supply.”—“Acricul- 
tural Gazette,” N.S.W. pe se 
