286 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Oocr., 1902. 
PRICES FOR CATTLE FATTENED ON PRICKLY PEAR. 
In August last 120 head of fat cattle were sold at Homebush, Sydney, by 
Messrs. Pitt, Son, and Badgery. They averaged £13 12s. perhead. They came 
from Womblebank Station, in the Maranoa district, where there is a large 
quantity of prickly pear. The bullocks had been two years on the run when 
the drought was at its height. All this time they have existed on raw prickly 
pear, as do several thousands of cattle on the same station. This first lot of 
120 were driven to Roma, a distance of 100 miles. Arrived there, they received 
1 ton of lucerne hay. Then they were trucked to Chinchilla, where they were 
dipped and fed on 8 tons of lucerne hay. They were re-trucked to Wallan- 
garra, again dipped and received the same quantity of oaten hay. Here a 
Sydney buyer offered £11 per head for them, but the offer was not entertained. 
The cattle were delivered in Sydney in prime condition. There are plenty 
more fats on Womblebank which have never fed on anything but prickly 
pear. Yet this plant has for years been looked on as a curse, and a reward of 
£5,000 is offered for a cheap plan of getting rid of it. 
HOW TO CAN VEGETABLES. 
To Can Corn.—Boil the young corn in the ear five minutes. Then cut 
from the cobs and pack it into the jars to within an inch of the top, and fill 
the rest with water. Put on the rubbers and tops and screw partly down. 
Put the jars then in water and boil two hours. ‘hen screw the tops down 
tightly: Corn canned in this way will keep perfectly. 
To Can Beans, Grenn.—Wash and string the beans, break them into 
inch lengths, pour over them boiling water, and boil fifteen minutes. Haye 
the jars ready filled with hot water to heat them thoroughly. ‘urn out the 
water and quickly fill the jars with beans, adding as little as possible of the 
water in which they were boiled. Fill the cans until they are overflowing. 
Fasten on the tops and set away. 
To Can Tomarors.—Take sound, ripe tomatoes, scald, peel (and if large, 
cut into quarters), and fill the jars with them, also letting some cook at the 
same time in another vessel to fill the jars up withas the tomatoes shrink in cooking. 
Put the tops on only partially screwed down, then put them into a kettle of 
water and boil them until the tomatoes are cooked thoroughly. When done 
fill cans to overflowing with the separately cooked tomatoes, screw top down 
tightly and leave in the kettle to cook slowly. Tomatoes canned fin this way 
retain their form well. 
A LONG VINTAGE. 
Mr. BE. W. Haberecht, of Woodstock, North Queensland, appears to have 
been very fortunate in his vintage last season. He certainly has a small vine- 
yard, as it only covers a little over half-an-acre, but its size enables him to give 
it every attention and to irrigate the vines. He thinks the last vintage was 
the longest on record. He sold grapes from the beginning of December right 
up to the 13th June. Having made some alteration in his pumping gear, he 
-could not get sufficient water, and had therefore to depend on the rainfall. In 
February there were 4 inches of rain which brought on a heavy late crop. The 
weather proved mild, and most of it was got to market in splendid condition. 
From 1st May to 13th June half-a-ton of grapes was sold at from 10d. to 1s. 
per lb. The vines were then cleared of all the grapes remaining, and 40 
‘gallons of wine of very fine quality were made. 
The sales of grapes, taking them at 10d. per lb., would represent £46 138s. 
4d., and 40 gallons of wine at, say, 2s. 6d. per gallon would come to £5 more. 
Such wine is often retailed by the makers at 4s. per gallon. A return of 
nearly £52 per half-an-acre is not to be despised, and should encourage all 
who haye command of surface or well water to irrigate as much of their 
land as possible. 
