Lal 
1 May, 1898. ] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 353 
applied, and harrowed, cultivated, or hoedin. Cotton-seed meal, gluten meal, 
linseed meal, dry or wet fish, castor pomace, and other nitrogenous material 
may also be used in connection with such a compost, on account of the richness 
in nitrogen.— Adelaide Observer. 
BRUSSELS SPROUTS. 
On paying a visit last summer to the Queensland Agricultural College at 
Gatton, we were shown a bed of fine Brussels sprouts which were equal to any 
grown in the old country. The soil on which they were produced is a rich deep 
black loam, which works down to a very fine tilth, and which appears particu- 
larly adapted to the growth of all the Brassica family. The cabbages and 
cauliflowers grown at the College certainly cannot be excelled in any part of 
Australia. Now, if Brussels sprouts can be successfully grown on the 
Lockyer, why should they not be equally well produced elsewhere, under 
like conditions? They are no more expensive or difficult to produce 
than cauliflowers, and yet we never see them in any vegetable or fruit shop in 
Brisbane. If the seeds aresownin June or August, and again in November 
and February, given a fair season and suitable conditions of soil and cultiva- 
tion, success is almost certain. The cultivation is the same as for cabbages, 
but owing to their height they require more room. The proper distance is 8 
feet between the rows, and the plants 2 feet apart. The plant rises with a 
very long stem, which has a spreading head at the top. In order to facilitate 
the formation of the sprouts (which are really only diminutive cabbages), the 
large leaves should be broken down at all the joints in the stem. The sprouts 
will then form in a thick cluster round the stem from the root to the top. They 
should be gathered when they look like half-open rosebuds, and it is advisable 
when removing the first crop of sprouts to do so with a sharp knife, so as to 
avoid making a large wound, which would be the case if they were plucked off. 
The Brussels sprout is a most delicate vegetable, and is relished by many who 
do not admire cabbage as a dinner vegetable. For table purposes it has the 
advantage that the quantity required for a given number of perséns may be 
cooked without, as in the case of a large cabbage, destroying a considerable 
portion of it. 
FOUR YEARS’ FARMING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 
> 
Unver the nom de plume of “ Boss Cockie,” a New South Wales farmer gives 
his experience of four years’ farming to the Sydney Stock and Station Journal, 
as follows :— 
_Hereunder is an accurate statement of farming operations for the last four 
years :— 
Cost of Plough- | Gost of Harvest- 
i ing, Seed, ; a LOLS , “ 
Year. MAfora Weed, 2S {OM SPDeE Bee res Yield. Prices Realised. 
Repairs, &e. 4 | 
per acre. per acre, per acre, » per bushel. 
s.. da. i d. Ss. a bushels. 8.) -d. 
1894 2) 511 14 1 112 2 0 
1895 (an, 5 1 iy 7% 4 0 
1896 12 6 5 9 18 3 10 4 4k 
1897 mil % 6 5 18 0 112 37 
Averages... 15 9 of tied OF, 3.6 
Net Return, 20s. 1d. per acre. 
