NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2308, 26 May 1898, Page 5

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

A meeting of a kind that might be imitated with mutual benefit to the Inspectors stock inspectors and farmers and throughout rabbit - infected Farmers. districts w«s held at Milton

recently. A meeting of farmers, it seems, was called tc discuss the bnrning question of r&bbft-po«6oni»g, and the local otock inspector attended that meeting with the view of expressing his opinion on the matter. This appears to be a new departure, and whether Mr Bree b»s broken fiedh ground without the cognisance of his chi*f is not placed on record. Whether with the consent of. the Minister at the head of tbe departments or not, the new departure seems a good one, and no doubt much might be gained by an occasional conference between the stock inspectors and the farmers. As a rule the inspecbora give notice to the farmers to lay poison at certain dates, whether convenient to them or nob ; but oa the occasion referred lo the inspector asked the farmers to fix a date foe themselves. This io surely a rational way of dealing with tfce rabbit question, *nd-Mr Sreo deserves comm&nd&tioia for initiating a sensible reform. If ths inspectors could all approach the farmers in the same way and show that they are the Mends not the enemies of the farmers, the question of rabbit extermination would be oi.e of less contention. But not every inspector appoiufced by the present Government baa tha tact of Mr Bree, and unfortunately too many of them like to show their authority. The Tokocaaiiiro farmer*, after discuf sing the question fully, resolved to commence simultaneous poisoning on July 20. With thai the inspector concurred, but expressed tha opinion that the date fixed appeared to him to bs on tbe late side. That, however, altogether depends uoon the ehamoter of the season. If ws have «• fine ©pen winter the rabbits will not be so hard pressed for feed, and by che end of July there may be some growth of grain. However, as a rule feed is very ohcrt about that time, and the chances are that the peiion will be taken freely. It is a good plan for the farmers of any district to agree amongst 'themselves at a public meeting to take simultaneoua action, from which the bsftt results are likely to spring.

Afc the same meeting of farmers the stock inspector replied to a number of Oilier Means, questions bearing upon the rabbit question. Speaking of the aatural enemy, Mr Bree did not appear to hold a very high opinion oi febe efficacy of stoats and weasels for keeping the rabbits in check. There was & time whera much was hoped for from these natural enemies ol the rabbit, but the hopes of that day have not been realised. The enemies appear to be scattered all over the rabbit area, but they are not numerous enough to do much good. A sufficient time has elapsed now to prove that the natural enemy theory has failed. There are many circumstances that combine to prevent any material increase of the natural enemy. For one thing, whenever rabbit trappers catch a stoat, weasel, or ferret in a trap the animal is promptly killed, when the magnitude of the trapping operations is considered the slaughter of the natural enemy must be great. And, again, the open country infested with rabbits affords but little cover or shelter for the stoats and weasels. Chicken cholera bas likewise proved a failure. For my part, I have often wondered why Mr Gilruth attempted such a thing as inoculation with the bacteria of chicken cholera in the face of its rejection by the. New South Wales Government, who offered a large sum of money for some effectual menus of rabbit extermination. But as Mr Gilruth was very young at the time (he matter was being considered by the New South Wales Government, he may not be aware ol fcha fact that in the opinion of the experts who thorettfchly taveeU gated it chicken cholera Is resultUss. Within a amhll enclosure where the rabbits ate &ft In close contact It kills them off fairly well, but in a state of nature it has not the slightest effect. At first a

Cocoanut Oii< Oaks, sold by Ninjmo a.nd Blair, Dunedin, is the finest flesh-producing food known for dattr cov^i and ftfcook of nil

few vinlima may be found, but the disease certainly does not spread beyond a very limited extent. Killing rabbits with chicken cholera would be a more costly business than first oatching them and killing them afterwards. A kindred subject al&c discussed by the Tokomairiro farmers is the small A Kindred bird question. While the Subject. rabbits contribute to a reduction in the farmers' profile all the year round, the small birds are only active at certain seasons. They perform their most Berious ravages while the grain is ripening, &nd sometimes they even attack ifc long before it re&ches that stage. I have seen a fine field of whose or oats completely shelled not long after the grain had been formed in the oar and while still ia a milky condition. Then again tha small birds are very troublssome at seed <-time, and especially is their influence felt when the tvrnip seed is brairding. During the rest of the year it is set down to the credit of the sraill birds that they do good work destroying insects and grubs, but the fai-mer feels that the amount of good done in that direction can never compensate for the amount of harm done at other times. The Tokomairiro farmers seemed to favour the ide* of offering a bonus for egg and head collecting. While that must h«lp to reduce the birds to acme extent, ; especially where sufficient} inducement is held out to the ymall boys of the district to wage j war against the hires, I think simultaneous poisoning must be resorted to if the ranks of j the small birds are to bo appreciably reduced, j At the meeting referred to some of the farmers j complained that the poison supplied by the | county council was not very effective. I have heard of a farmer feeding his hens upon grain supplied to poison finall birds, and the hens thrived upon it. If that is anything like a common occurrence, the sooner the Government supply a standard quality of bird poison the better. I have Been advertisements by firms offering bird poison in which the proportion of strychnine wan stated, yet the poisoned grain was sold at a less coat than th« price of the poisoa it was supposed to contain. Properly-prepared grain l»id under Suitable conditions will do its work in an effeotual manner. I have seen as many as 100 dead birds picked up within as many yards of a bundle of straw round about which poisoned grain was laid. I prepared the wheat myself, and made sure that it oontained a sufficient quantity of strychnine, so that every single grain eaten meant cevtaia death to the hird eating it, The best lime to lay poison for birds is either during a snowstorm or when snow is lying on the ground.

A Waimate farmer, "H.," requests me to a.dvise him re manuring wheat . Wheat After and barley. He has a paddock Wheat. of food land which was in

crop last year (by last year I take it be msans last season — that is, the grain ssjasou just ended), and is thinking of cropping it again. A portion was in barley and the balance in wheat -both good crops— and he wiahes to know whether it will be ad_yisable to use manure, and, if so, what kind. As he threshed 33 bushels of wheat and 37 bushels of barley per acre it is not probable that he will get such a gcod result; again without using fertilisers. Strictly speaking, it is not good farming to adopt the course proposed, as in the usual order the portion in barley should have been sown down in grass with that crop and the wheat etubble should go into turnips next spring. The prospect of good prices for grain next year is "promising, however, and' will, no doubb, account for a large area being put into grain wherever possible, ana if a'profitfcble'crop can be grown by' expending » few shillings per acre in manure it is advisable to adopt that plan. " H." says his land lies on limestone, therefore the soil will be well supplied with lime, and whatever deficiency in fertility there may be can be supplied by one or more of the three staple ingredients necessary for plant food—namely, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash. These three essentials are contained in all manures, but are combined in different proportions in different classes of manures. In nitrogenous aianures — guano, for example — nitrogen predominates ; in phosphatic manures phosphoric acid, and in potash manures potash, of oouKfr, is the chief ingredient. " H."< will have some idea as to what was removed from the land in question by the last crop, if he , looks up Warrington's table showing the average composition of ordinary farm crops. From this he will see that his 30-bushel crop of wheat removed 481b of nitrogen per acre, 281b of potash, 211b of phosphoric acid, 961b of silica and smaller quantities of various other substances. A 40-bushel crop of barley takes a like amount of nitrogen from the soil, 681b of potash, 201b of phosphoric acid, and so on. In answering " H.s " query I cannot do better than repeat what I said a few weeks ago anent manuring wheat — drill lewt or I+cwt of highclass superphosphate with the seed and sow the wheat at early as possible. Nitrate of soda is very expensive here, but English farmers topdress with it in the spring, sowing or broadcast over the young wheat. This substance is extremely soluble, and the first, rain washes it down to the roots and stimulates the growth. The local manure works are supplying special cereal manures', and if " H." thinks fit he may try a portion of his land with them and compare results with the superphosphate. I have not much faith, however, myself in special compounds. Bonedusb has been us_ed as wheat manure with good results, but it does not matter what 1 Jta ftaktttfifl «ai|p4 ?p long as tt supplies the 'ioil with itbuti is required As b&rieJr and

wheat are pretty much a? ike as regards the extraction of ingredients fioni the soil the same manure wil l suit for both. " Barley, however, will require a larger dose because it is shallow-rooting, while wheat is deep-rooting and li able ';o obtain nourishment from the subsoil.

Aut'imn-gown wheat can do with less manure than spring wheat under similar conditions, because autumn wheet is several months longer in the ground, and therefore has more time to snarch for plant food and more leisure to assimilate it.

Ih the old country wheat is aot looked upon as a crop to be directly manured, Wheat in a but is supposed to be sown Rotation. only when the land is in good

hear!: from a, system of iudirccbmr.nuringj aa when it follows roots which huvfc bsen manured and fed off on the land ; or when ifc comes after clover kas- or a green crop. Kera we >'eokon to prepare for wheat by giving '■foe land a spell in grass for a few years, or by growing and feeding a crop of turnips. - A strong loam on a clay subsoil i* quite capable of growing good crops of wheat, season permitting, with special manuring, if the land is judiciously naanaaed.' Of course the- tempting prices now prevailing arc- enough to cause a departure from orthodox rotations, and if we do overtax the land a little just now in 6*der to make a " rise," we can givtf it a good spell when the wheat booxa bursts and the price rues down to half a crown per bushel again.

Good husbandry consists in tilling tl^e land efficiently, expeditiously, and Gang ftlso as cheaply as possible, Ploughs. for the lowei the' coss of production the greater the margin of profit, to tha producer. Ploughing is one. of tbe most tedious and most expensive of the tillage operations and al#o tbe most important, as it is the foundation of all others. In the days of virgin la,nd and tough native Rod we required heavy ploughs with long mouldbo&rds to turn and paok ths furrows, and even then big tussoofej fir rushes or scrub would cause the furrows to stand on edge in spite of the efforts oj: the ploaghman. Now, however, most of our land has been ploughed many times, and the only tough sod is caused by couch, qoxrel, yarrow, or some such important noxious weed. Where the land is clean and not too stiff and heavy the three and four furrow ploughs of American pattern make excellent work, and by economy of horses and men reduce the Cost of ploughing to a minimum. The Canadian gang ploughs are light and strong and are so constructed that the draught is Jight enough for five horses to draw a four-furrow plough. Tho frame of the plough is of steel in. the form of what is known as "angle iron," combining lightness with strength. The aaving 1 in-powcr required to draw them is chiefly owing to the get ol the mouldboards, which are short and high, »o as to turn tha soil completely Qvar without pressing or packing \ in fact, the principle is the earns as that employed io the digger ploughs,' only that these are horsekillers, while the gang ploughs are horse-«avers. I have seen six horses labouring more in drawing a two-furrow digging plough than five horses do is drawiug a four-furrow Canadian plough. The share cuts an 11-inch clean off at the bottom, and the breast of tbe plough is bo keen that in loose, friable l*nd the skeiths can be dispensed with.- These latter are hung ou a pivot, so as to fpllqw the line of draught;, and can turn aside to allow of any obstruction to pass through. I had my doubts about .the working of these skeiths until X saw them at wojck, and Iwu surprised : fco ste how well Ihsy answered. These ploughs turn the farrow completely npaiae down, and if nob too stiff thß soil is left smooth, and level ou the surface, ready for" the drill without any harrowing. They are no use for breakij?^ up lea or a tough sod of any description, but ,^ is a waste of time to use a double plough* % land whioh is fit for a four-furrow, which can* turn over about seven acres perday with one man and five horses. The man rides on a seafc at tbe back end of the plough and is within easy reaoh of the four levers necessary to adjust the plough. The depth o*n be altered while in motion, and the plough also lifted out of the ground at the headlands with the greatest ease. The plough is well adapted for skimming and burying weeds, but can ba worked to a depth of 6in without unduly taxing the powers of a good five-horse team. As our climate is very variable it is of great importance to get ploughing done with despatch when the land ia la^ fife condition, and if the farmer, instead of hating eight horses and two men turning four furrows with two ploughs, can turn those four furrows with a man and five horses and have the other man and the three other horses workiDg-a drill at the same time the saving in time, labour, and money is very apparent. I believe in encouraging looal industry and supporting locally-made implements as muoh as possible, and when local firms can construot an implement similar to tha one under notice I shall be very pleased to

The two-year-old son of W. L. Furgason, of Bolton, Miss., had whooping cough. "After several physicians had prescribed for him, without giving relief," writes Mr Furgason, "I persuaded my wife to try a 25-cent bottle of Chamberlain's Cough Bemedy. The first do«a had the desired effect, and in forty-eight hours he was entirely free from all cough. I cop,* aider your remedy the best in the market, esijeV csjajly for, Ohildreo, and fceoiniflen£ flUfc all timetu" Sot sale blVftllkacliDjtOliemlSti,

patronise theaa ; meanwhile S&o v.o'u hesitate to avail myself ot tha Advantages gained by vising a plough made by Briton* in Canada m place of one mads by Britons in New Zealand. It is hardly necessary to add rhas the Canadian gang plongh cannot altogether supersede the locally jnade strong and heavy double plough, but the former has come to stay wherever the loil is suited for ib.

Aurioola.