1 Ocr., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 4.25 
immediately. We should first fill the jars about one-fourth full of the berries, 
and then work them down on the sides with a silverplated knife, so as to fill the 
jar compactly with the fruit and expel all air then. Do not stir the syrup after 
it boils, but by putting in a few agate marbles they ill act as an automatic 
stirrer and prevent the syrup from burning. Should the jars not be airtight, 
dip a piece of writing paper in warm brandy, place on top of liquid, and over 
this place a layer of cotton batting. This will prevent the berries fermenting. 
Raspberries canned in this way are also very nice. 
CANNING TOMATOES. 
Att who have tried the folloving method pronounce it the most successful of 
any they have used: —Scald the tomatoes, dipping them first in hot water one 
minute, then in cold water one minute, then remove the skins. Place in the jars 
either whole or sliced, packing closely by working down on sides with silver 
knife. ill the jars full, put on rubbers, and screw the lids part way down. 
Place your boiler on the stove, put in the bottom of it a perforated tin, on 
which place your jars, and fill boiler with lukewarm water sufficient to cover as 
far as the neck of the jars. As soon as the water boils, steam 10 minutes. 
Then take out one jar at a time, screw lid on airtight, and replace in boiler. 
When all have been replaced, steam 18 minutes longer, being careful to have 
the water completely cover the bottles this time. At the end of that, remove 
the jars, allow them to cool, and screw the lids on tighter if possible. 
BLUESTONE AS A MEDICINE FOR DOMESTIC ANTMALS. 
A Parmer has been poisoning wheat to destroy Sparrows with bluestone. The 
fowls found the wheat and picked it all up, yet no fowls died. Was the blue- 
stone merely a fraudulent imitation? No. Tt was probably sulphate of copper, 
-but a solution of 1 1b. of bluestone to 6 gallons of water is employed for 
destroying the Stronqylus contortus, » wire worm which infests the fourth 
stomach of sheep and goats. It is not the quantity of bluestone swallowed, 
but the improper strength of a solution, which may kill an animal by causing 
acute inflammation of the stomach and bowels. The bluestone should first be 
dissolved in two or more bottles full of boiling water, and then the remaining 
cold water is to be added. No iron vessel must be used, as bluestone acts 
injuriously on it. Wood or earthenware vessels should be employed. 
The doses, as given by Mr. D. Hutcheon, €.V.S., in the Agricultural 
Journal of the Cape of Good Hope, are :— 
Age. ; j Quantity of Mixture, 
Kids or lambs 8 months, 6 drachms or 1 large tablespoonful. 
F s (8 a 15 ounce or 2 large tablespoonsful. 
12 2% 3 
+f op “ ” z ” ” ” 
Goatorsheep 18 4 3 Ale Anns ” 
” i Df ees 3x to 4,, 45 to 5 
MAIZE IN VICTORIA, 
‘GIppsLAND has a moister climate than most parts of Victoria, and hence is able 
to produce larger crops of maize. Some 30,000 bags are annually sent from the 
Snowy River im barges to its mouth, where the corn is loaded into small schooners 
for conveyance to Melbourne. The cost of picking is 4d. per bag. In good 
- seasons and on good land the erop may reach 80 bushels per acre. In open, 
clear paddocks the planter, such as may be seen at the Queensland Agricultural 
College, is used, the wire being stretched right across the field, and the knots 
on it 80 inches apart. One farmer settled on the river says that for ensilage 
purposes he can raise 40 tons of green maizestalks per acre, but this very fact 
prevents much being made into ensilage owing to the cost of handling. 
