‘May 16, 1906 
»* The Seedsman’s Decalogue. 
The “Journal of the Council of Agriculture,” 
Tasmania, publishes the following. quaint “ Ten 
Commandments” for seed collectors, composed by 
_a German agricultural professor and published in 
the ‘ Deuteche Landwirthschafts Zeitung ” :— 
Ist Commandment—Reéflect thereon that the 
parent plant and seed bequeath’ equally their 
good points and bad points, ‘their virtues and 
faults, 10 their offspring, and that it is incumbent 
on thee, not only for thine own profit, but also 
for the advancement of Nature, to do thy share 
towards the improvement of. plants. ‘The efoie 
shalt: thcu:do thy best in this matter, for. “the 
‘seed is the beginning of life,” is 
2nd—Thou shalt gather the seed from’ such 
plants as outwardly bear the stamp of being true 
to their species, for the characteristics are ev dent 
to the eye, As a man’s breeding can be judged 
from his features, so can the character of a p!ant 
be seen. 
8rd—It is the plants coming early to, proper 
maturity which yield seeds that. in their turn 
produce early creps. ‘Iheretore thou shalt not 
collect seed from p'ants which Lave run to seed 
before due time or in sny other way are not satis- 
factory, tor the faults, no less tuan the good 
qualities, are passed on to the third and fourth 
generation, 
4th—See also that thou takest the seed from 
_ plants distinguished for fruittulness and) for 
growing crops of the best quality, 
5th—‘Vhou shalt not gather seed from plants 
that show evident signs of weakness or which 
suffer from any disease or insect pests; for the 
seed may carry the diseases and the pests to the 
next generation, 
' 6th—Thou shalt not take seed fiom a plant 
grown on a soil which has not been cultivated 
with a iotation ot crops; for au exhamnsted soil 
caunot priduce a plaut.Learing seed of good 
germinating power, 
7th—Neithcr shalt thou take seeds from plants 
grown upon soil which has been too heavily 
manured ; for luxuriance is always the begetter 
ot vice. ‘I'herefore give thou pref. rence to plants 
grown under natural conditious, tor such produce 
ihe best offspring. 
8th—Thon shalt not gather seed from those 
plants which ripen latest ; the first fruit yield 
the best seed. No proceeding is more foolish 
than that of using the first fruit and collecting 
seed from plants which ripen last and may be 
hitten by early frost. Moreover, such late seed 
possess: s less vitality, An old cow gi+es birth to 
a weak calf, and an cld plant poor seed. 
9h Troushalt not take reed from plants near 
to which plants of the same sort, uv uuvther 
yariety, are grown, as this might give rise to a 
crossing of variety, and such bastards are usually 
worthless. 
10th—Gather not seed from late-ripening crops: 
on heavy cold soils, for then the seed does not 
ripen sufficiently before the beginning of winter, 
aud the seed is feeble. On the other hand, thou 
shalt not collect the seed too soon, andin¢t before 
it begins to fall out, ‘Ihe ripening of the seed. 
shalt thou further advance by storing the seed in 
a sunny, dry, and airy place 
Hold thou by these commandments, £0 ‘shalt 
thou have pleasure in thy crops and profit in thy 
work, ’ : 
Conrenr OF A *1L0.—One ton of silage will 
occupy 50 cubic feet, ‘I’bus, all you have to do is 
to calculate the cubic content of your silo by 
mult plying Jength, breadth, and height into each 
other; then divide by 60: If your bnilding is 
18 feet long. 18 feet hi hand 13 fect’ broad, it 
will hold about 85 tons."It will take about 6 acres 
ofigreen maize to fill it,andiwill supply fodder fom. 
mmore than a dozen cows for'séveral months, 
ONG: 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
oak 
- 4 orrefield Barley 
Petalomia and Munburnie 
Incubators 
BROODERS 
Everything in the 
Poultry Line 
hea” Write for our Catalogue to 
F. J. Anthony and Co., 
Payneham Road 
_ ST. PETERS. 
Telephone 948, 
—————————————— 
Seasonable Items, 
Buy breeders, 
Isolate newcomers 
And examine for lice, 
Get an advt, ready for June. 
Select breeding hens with care. 
A little price will m+au a dangerous deal, 
Don’t overdo the birds before the season starts. 
Pay every penny you can afford to give for 
pen birds. 
Don’t delay purchasing until sonieone else gets 
the pick of the birds offering. 
Watch the little eolds:and doctor them bc fore 
they grow intv dire calamities, “ 
Some of cur breeders sould have beeu in 
’Frisco Jast month—they wan: shaking’ u 
‘he breeding stock is half the battle; buy 
carefully and mate judicicvusly, 
Remembe: the chickens have two opportunities, 
They will inherit curtain tendencies ; but, in other 
respects, they will be just what you make then. 
Make up your mind to think more kindly of 
more ready to overlook faults 
in others thin iu yoursef. ‘Lu be charitable and 
ind this season will ‘prove 
our fellows; to be 
geneous in all things 
the happiest you ev¢ 
‘By ent, : 
THE POULTRY YARD, 
Feeding and Fattening’ 
‘Chickens, a 
——— 
ALTHOUGH Many 
‘country keep fowls,sfew P 
then squeezed dry. B 
not do to feed chick 
used’ is that j 
bread. 
read and 
water would 
ens on. 
tacts the uy aaven 
Water doves not do this, hence bowel 
as the Seeeeud a % anes anh 
reece is a conbination. He cyan 
be ane oe og combination which should 
Cracked wheat. 25 Parts 
Hulled or cut oats, 15 parts 
Mhliet seed (white), 12 parts 
Small cracked maize, 10 parts 
Small cracked peas, 6 parts 
Broken rice, 2 parts 
Rape seed, 1 part 
Stall grit, 10 parts 
Rolled gats may be used in ¢ 
hulled oats where they cannot be o} 
Perhaps better results even c 
where quick growth is require: 
'Y Sysiem and part ground me ily damped, The 
great advantages of the dry System are: the 
Suing cf time, as sufficient food for the day may 
he ee down in chat® or other suitable 
material for scratching for the di: Q 
avoidance of bowel troubles pe by a EO 
he place of 
dtained, 
an be secure 
Uby feeding part 
Fattening. 
_ The fattening, of p vultry in some esuntries: 
Isreally louked upou as a profession in itself; 
and may be looked at from two points of view, 
namely, the producer’s and cousumer’s, * 
The consumer’s point of view, When you 
buy a leaa chicken you buy a'tremendous lot of. 
offal and bone, and very little meat, f 
The producer’s point of view, Does it pay the 
produccr to fatten chickens? } 
The follwing must Prove the advantages of 
fattening: Before Starting an experiment ona 
rather iarge scale, three average chickens were 
killed, dressed aud cooked. It was found that» 
the meat uf the three chickens Weighed 2 lb 
6 oz, and the bones | lb 2 uz. The remainder cf 
the chickens were then put into crates atid 
fatted, and at the end of that period three of 
the average chickens were killed, dressed ind 
cuoked ; the meat from these three fatted: 
chickens weighed 6 lb 6 0Z, and the bones 1 1b 
11 oz, This éxperiment showed with thé fatted 
chickens a gain in choice, edible meat of 5 Ih, 
anta gain in weight of bone ouly 3 oz for each 
chi ken. Moreover this dovs nut ta e illto con- 
sideration the improved quality of the flesh of - 
the fatted chickens. ‘This experiment, ry 
tended far longer than was nece.sary. 
