526 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, [1 Junz, 1900. 
wheat has entirely destroyed the perennial saltbushes on most of our northern 
farms. Almost ever since the bureau was established, the necessity for preserv- 
ing and cultivating our indigenous saltbushes and other shrubs has been urged, 
but with little avail. The oft-repeated recommendation that several acres on. 
every farm in the North should be set apart and planted with saltbush as 
reserve for stock in seasons of drought has met with ridicule from many, but 
there is little doubt that if some of our farmers would try the experiment they 
would receive ample reward for their labour and expense. There is no doubt 
whatever that the saline properties of saltbush greatly tend to keep stock in 
good health, and, although at first it may be difficult when other feed is available 
Bo stock to touch it, as soon as they get used to it they will eat it with 
relish. 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 
“Wo wants agricultural education?” asks Sir Edmund Verney in the 
Humanitarian: Not the labourer, he says; not the farmer; very seldom the 
landowner. The people who want it most are “those who know least about 
agriculture.” Sir Edmund playfully criticises all the advocates of technical 
education in rural districts, and tells this story:—‘‘ A body of farmers in a 
purely rural district complained of the way in which the technical education 
money was spent. When pressed to say how they would like it spent, they 
agreed at last that nothing was so much wanted as instruction in hedging an 
ditching. With some difficulty the county council committee was induced to 
apportion funds for this purpose, and a neighbouring landowner offered prizes 
for those who learned best. When all was arranged and circulars were printed, 
‘for some reason not one of the farmers would send a pupil to learn. At length 
one of them honestly blurted out that he did not wish his men to learn, oF 
they would leave him and get better-paid work elsewhere. At the same time 
some eight or ten young men, out of work, were seen disporting themselves 
on the ice; they were invited to attend the three weeks’ course and to compete 
for the prizes; but they declined, saying they did not go in for that kind of 
labour ; they preferred to amuse themselves until they could get their usual 
unskilled work.” Notwithstanding, Sir Edmund himself is an advocate of 
agricultural education. Unhappily, he does not see many more able than those 
he pokes fun at to say what agricultural education should consist of, or how it 
should be taught.—Mark Lane Lexpress. 
EXPORT OF HONEY. 
A smaun shipment of honey (says the Sydney Mazl) was lately made by Mr. 
Dight, M.L.A., to the London market. He shipped about 14 tons from his own 
apiary, which is a small one. At that time, the best offer he could get for his 
honey was 13d. per Ib. The returns he received from London recently showed 
that it realised the gross price of 2°571d. per Ib. The expenses amounted to 
‘633d. per Ib., leaving a net return of 1:908d. or almost 2d. per Ib. This is, of 
course, a small price for London, but it exceeded local values, and is, therefore, 
encouraging. 
TO CONCRETE A MILKING YARD. 
A. CORRESPONDENT wishes to put a concrete floor into a milking yard and shed 
50 feet long by 30 feet wide, and asks for particulars of the work to be done. 
The concrete should be made as follows :—1 part cement, 4 parts gravel— 
the gravel should contain, naturally, enough rough sand for the purpose—2 parts 
broken metal or stone, not over 2 inches cube; but all gravel—z.c., 6 parts—would 
do as well as, if not better than, stone. ine sand should not be used under any 
conditions. 
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