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------RURAL LIFE.

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RURAL LIFE. BY A SON OF THE SOIL. r ———— CALF REARING. This country pays nearly £ 40,000,000 a year for imported dairy produce, and while I ad- mit a considerable proportion of this produce is sold at prices which seem to defy competi- tion, there is undoubtedly a huge market which the home producer might recover. Yet what do ive We find that during the last two years there has been a heavy decline in tli number of caitle and though probably thi decline has been checked in the past six or nine months, we are still far short of aver- age numbers. The price of dairy cow.s con- tinues to be vary high, proving the scarcity of the necessary sources of supply upon which our dairy industry depends. There can be no doubt that there is room for great expansion in this industry if only we had more heifers and cows available. The chief reason for the scarcity of cows is the excessive slaughter of calves. Some people have gone so far as to suggest that the sale cf veal should be prohibited.! A better method is to show how economically calves can be reared nowaday? and, provided tht good breeding stock has been used, calf-rearing ap- pears to be profitable, even though a mar- ket has to be found for them some d;finlien awa.y. Many experiments have been conducted in calf-rearing during the past two years with the object of ascertaining the profitable 71 substitutes for whole milk, and it has been found that calves can be reared quickly and in good health at less than half the cost of 1. 'J "1 AUTOMATIC CALF FEEDER. roaring on new whole milk. Of course, surplus milk in spring cannot usually be ordered at current market prices, and therefore its use may prove to lie more profitable at this tie of the year. I am afraid 1 cannot enter into the question of suitable-substitutes here, but I should be pleased to assist any readers who are interested to obtain further information on the subject. The question cf the trouble irvolved in calf-rearing lias to be recognised, and it is essential to have someone trustworthy to look after the ea.'ves to ensure.steady and rapid growth. Much trouble is sa ed by cmp!ov:ng calf-feeders like that in the sketch. Internal derangements ai-e frequently caused by forc- ing calves to feed from a pail in what is, to them, an unnatural position. The feeder shown in the sketch has proved satisfactory. It is an American invention, but it is obtain- able in thia country. As will be seen, the de- rice can be fixed to a. wall cv building by means of the wooden block from which the metal part lifts out. The pail i held m place by means of a latch, and its contents, milk or rueal. are raided by the calf's suction through a tube. Many calve3 have been reared satis- factorily though fed from pails, but the arti- ficial teats save labour for the attendants as well as digestive troubles in the calves, ond they arc worth trying. Only milk should be supplied the first week. Thereafter an in- creasing quantity of gruel may be given. The gruel may be prepared at home, but excellent and reliable calf foods ready prepared are now available at moderate prices. AN OXTOX PEST. Much trouble in onion culture is experi- enced in some districts through the preva- fence of an ugly, dirty white grub or magjrot, about one-third of an inch long, which feeds on the bulb and makes it rotten and useless. Let us just look at the life history of the pest. A'bout the middle of April a flv. rather a housefly, and slightly emaller, makes its upF-ainuee. 'it is dark grey in colour with black bristles and legs, and on the upper part of the body has four bright brown I stripes. It lays six or seven whit-e oval eggs on the necks of the young onion plants (see E in sketch). A week later the grubs hatch out, work their way down to the young, bulb, and make an entrance at H. After about a fortnight the grubs turn into a brown chrysalis, from which a fortnight or three weeks lrittu- a fly emerges ready to lay more eg;3. And so on right into November or Dec-cmbcr, when the insect hibernates after having done immense damage. INOTT. it will oe readily seen tnat tne oniy way of saving the crop where the fly abounds is to prevent her from laying her eggs. This I I is best done by spraying on some offensive preparations at the present time or soon. A (1) A Young Onion, (E) Eggs, (H) Hole wher« grub enters Bulb. (2) Female Fly (magnified). ONION FLY. knapsack sprayer for this and many other purposes is a most useful apparatus to pos- sess, and can be bought for any amount from 15s. upwards. For small crops a special syringe sprayer is sold at 10s. or under. The best preparation is a mixture of three pints of paraffin and "half a pound of soft soap, with one gallon of boiling water; when thoroughly mixed, add six gallons of water. It should fall on to the onions in the form of a fine mist, and if rain comes soon afterwards should be repeated if necessary two or three I times. Other methods of preventing the pest are (1) by mixing sand with paraffin and putting I it round the young plants or working it into the soil; (2) by dusting the plants with a finely powdered mixture of two bushels of lime to oi c of soot; (3) by growing parsley with the onions, as the fly has been noticed to avoid land where this strong smelling herb grows. Any young onion plants which are noticed to droop and turn yellow should be at once dug up with a fork with very great care and burnt, and a little paraffin poured into the holes. After an infected crop has been lifted dress the ground with three or four tons of gas lime per acre, and after a month or so deeply trench the ground. To CONTROL PLANT DISEASES. A conference between chosen representa- tives of the various nations has recently been held at the International Institute of Agricul- ture. Rome, and the final draft of the text of the proposed International convention was discussed and agreed upon. Adhering States pledge themselves in the first place to take whatever legislative and administrative measures arc necessary to pre- vent the distribution of all diseases of plants in their own countries, but especially to orga- nise an effective service of supervision over nurseries, gardens, glasshouses, and other IfSiablUjbiticuts which cajtx ()J,1 a trade ia smug picint?. TIlC measures wmen acriiering States woulcl pledge themselvc-s to take in- clude the erect'ion of one or more institutes for scientific studies and research, the orga- I nisation of an ef'Vctive service of supervision over nurseries, including the packing and dis- | patch of plants, and the issue of certificates. They would bind themselves only to admit plants accompanied by certificates issued by or from a. competent official authority, exc-epi in the case of plants which are imported for scientific research at an institute authorised by the Government. j The conference was particularly concerned to interfere as little as possible with trade, and to harmonise the interests of plant hygiene with those of commerce. A special article prohibits adhering Stales from giving better terms to those outside the convention I' than is accorded to those inside it. GOATSBEARD." Herbaceous spirseas are wonderfully vigor- ous subjects, succeeding in almost any soil, while at the same time they possess a certain elegance, both in habit, foliage. and flower, ¡ that distinguishes ihern from everything else. If they were tropical plants, requiring to he grown in a high temperature, under glass, they would be prized a good deal moro highly than they are. The large, solid roots, which are neither bulbs nor tubers, nor rhizomes, only requira to be planted at the present time in soil that been well dug and moderately manured, and they will scarcely ever fail to grow and increase in beauty year by year. A mode- 1 rately light soil, is the best, but they will succeed in quite a heavy staple their chief requirement is moisture—they will grow and do well in an ordinary herbaceous border, but attain much greater luxuriance if planted near water, or where the -soil is al- most always in a saturated condition. S-ome of the numerous kinds, such as S. japoniea, require a little shelter when grown in the open, as, being somewhat precocions in I I SPIR.^A ARL'NCUS. J growth, they are otherwise apt to get nipped by late frosts and cold winds in the -spring. Some of tlle kiii 113 are largely grown in pots, as is well known, but when iheso are over, there 5* no need to throw them away, a-s many do, but plant them out in the garden in the dampest spot available, « and they will become objects of beauty for I years. If increase is desired, the unwieldy roots should be divided into smallish pieces, p'anted out in some light but good soil, and well supplied with water, when, after a j 'f>ar'r¡ growth, they will be fit for forcing xgain. Some, however, appear to be more vt home in the border th2. in pots. One of hcse is S. aruneus, shown in the sketch. ih.? grows to a height of from 3ft. to 5ft.. nd is very vigorous and- hardy. Both its oliage and bloom "are beautiful, and the are produced in June an-1 am vvxltlo in colour, and are often nown M goatsbeard, a name also given to a ellow wild plant, which eotnev, hat re- rmble-5 a dandelion, and is cVjsely related to he root vegetable known. as salsify. All correspondence affecting this column should Ie addressed te A Son of the Soil," care of the Editor of this journal. Requcsis for special in- 'ormniicn must be accompanied by a stamped .ddressed envelope. _n-

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------THE SIN OF INGRATITUDE.

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