LAND STOCK & CROPS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 78, 12 January 1928, Page 6

LAND STOCK & CROPS

NOTES AND COMMENTS. (By "The Tramp.") Cereals should be cut as nearly as possible at the correct stage of ripeness (says the " New Zealand Journal of Agriculture.") If cut too early the grain shrivels, and! if cut too late there is a risk of loss by .shaking. Four main stages or degrees of ripeness* can be easily recognised. In the milky stage the contents of the grain when squeezed are fluid, and if cut at this stage the grain shrivels; next comes the stage of yellow ripeness, when the contents of the grain are doughy and may be easily cut through with the finger---nail; in the fully ripe stage the graaSi* is hard, but the straw yellow; in the final or stage of the straw is white and the nodes shrivelled. The time occupied by the grain passing froni the first to the fourth stage depends on the season. In hot, dry, weather the change is very rapid, and where laTge 1 areas have to be dealt with a start must be made on the early side.

Wheat should- te harvested at a definite stage in yeHow ripeness, and this has ben described? by Dr. Hilgendorf as follows : —"General aspect of crop—-itipe-eoloured, buti ohse scrutiny showed green tinge. Straw—all yellow except about 1 per cent.. r which showed Sin. of green above the top knot; all knots green. Heads—ripe coloured except about 1 per cent., still green. Grain—that in ripe- heads would not squeeze out any kind) of dough, but cut easily with thumifr-nail." This stage is the earliest at which wheat can be cut without causing loss! in weight from shrivelled'grain. The prevalence of strong- wind's in wheatgrowing areas, and the serious loss that is often caused; thwragh; shaking in a ripe crop make it unwise to delay cutting beyond-the stage-oii ripeness, j

Oats can be cut slightly greener than wheat, and if intended' for chaff early cutting is desirable: Oat varieties differ in evenness of ripening and liability to shaking. Duns and Tartars for instance, sihake badly because the grain ripens very unevenly; Garion's Abundance ripens fairly evenly,, but loses grain badly if left-till, quite ripe.. Generally speaking, the crop should be cut when there is a nice uniform- yellow colour all oyer, but just, before the greenish tinge has. entirely gone.. The grain should be well-filled- and fairly firm, but not quite hard. Barley for malting.- is l usually left tilt dead ripe, as if cut before this the germination of the sample is uneven, which is a disadvantage- in: the production of high-class malt. At the stage y£ dead-ripeness- the ears tend to bend over, the individual grains are hard with pale yellow wrinkled skins, and the straw is practically dry. Cereals should be stookedi as-soon; as; cut, and the work of stocking is lightened considerably if the binder is fitted with an efficient carrier andi the : man operating the binder, drops l - the v buntdles in straight rows. The stooks should be placed so that the prevailing wind may blow straight through. The crop usually requires at least a fortnight in the stook (before it is ready to stack or thresh. If stacked,. it shouM not be threshed until at least six weeks after stacking,, so* as-; to allow completion of the sweating process to which the grain is subjected; in the.. titatik.

An unusual ease of i lambing'; is: ported from Elsdon,. Northumberland. A black-faced ewe, the property of. Mr T. Keith, of Elsdon, gave birth, to; a dead lamb on October 5) but. not in the usual manner— the. lamb making its appearance from the ewe's abdomen, whence it was taken, away by the shepherd. As she gave birth to a lamb in April, and nursed it-throughout the summer, it is supposed that the eAve must have carried the later Ihmb six months longer, and that- there; ought to have been twins born in April.. The ewe is doing well..

An example of what may b'e achieved in a day by the use-of modern farm machinery for hay-making was shown on Mr F. W. Walter's- farm? near- T& Aroha recently, when a stack: 116 ft. by 25ft. at the base and 30ft. high was erected in a day of 14£ hours. A start was made at 4.30' a.m. with 11 men, three hay sweeps and a stacker, and the last load was placed'in position at 7 p.m. The machinery to hoist the hay was worked''by a tractor;, eliminating the necessity for the pitchfork..