LAND, STOCK & CROPS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 149, 5 April 1930, Page 7

LAND, STOCK & CROPS

NOTES AND COMMENTS. (By "The Tramp.") in arable farming the thorough cultivation of the laud is believed to aid materially the action of manures. The more favourable the condition oi the soil the greater are the returns the farmer can expect from the application of fertilisers, for the plant is enabled to make fuller use of the nutrients supplied. The beneficial influence of cultivation on productivity, especially in conjunction with fallowing, is definitely exemplified by results of cropping by Rothamsted prior to and subsequent to two years fallowing operations undertaken in 1926 and 1927. to eradicate weeds which had become prevalent under continuous wheat culture for a long period of years. They demonstrated the interesting fact that the whole improvement resulting from the fallow was not attributable to the cleaner state of the seed bed, the greatest proportional benefit being observed on plots which were almost too poor to grow weeds. The. most striking result was that the yield on land which had received no manure since 1839 was increased three and a half times by the fallc ing operations, raised, in fact to the level of ordinary cropping standard on this particular class of land. The crop on land which bad received generous dressings of farmyard manure was more than doubled, while that on land that had been receiving ample plant food in the form of artificial manures was increased two and a half times.

"It would be an exaggeration to say that wool buyers and users are in a state of panic. They are too paralysed, too bemused to be panicky." Thus the Bradford "Wool Record" comments on the state of the market, and this trade authority goes on to say that buyers and manufacturers have prayed for cheap wool and now that their prayers have been answered "they are overwhelmed and sit silent and abashed before the auctioneers."

This authority predicts that—as the situation appeared early in February last—there might be lower prices, but it added "it is certain that we shall see them considerably above the present level," i.e., the January-February London series, and it should be borne in mind that "when the revival starts it will be greatly accelerated by the rush of buyers starting to get in at the lowest point," ■ The Bradford trade has been conducted for a comparatively long time now on a hand-to-mouth basis, and stocks in hand are reported to be exceedingly low. A "bull" rush is confidently expected by the "Record" when the turn comes. How far off that "turn" may be no one in the trade seems to be able to say. Growers, brokers,, buyers, and manufacturers appear to be unable to say. Some indication of the trend of the market may be given at the London sales. A turn in the wool price tide would have a wonderfully ' heartening effect upon all directly concerned in industry and finance in Australia and New Zealand. This Dominion, it is estimated, will be £5,000,000 short tin's season on account of wool. The holding of wool in the stores with now about a month to go to complete the sales is said to be enormous, and in Wellington alone it is reported there are 100,000 bales of wool awaiting disposal. Some wool is being shipped to London on owners' account, but the quantity is believed not to be large.

The ' most usual way in which manures favour the suppression of weedk is by enabling good smothering crops to be-grown. A well-measured dressing of nitrogenous manure will often enable a good plant so to fill out and cover the ground that few Meeds can make headway below it.

The "scorching" action of most soluble fertilisers when-left in contact with tlie leaves of crops, observed, for example when topdressings of nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia have lodged on the tops of mangold or sugar beet, has also been tinned to account in combating weeds. The effect consists in the abstraction of water from the leaf cells by the strong solution which is formed when the fertiliser dissolves in a trace of moisture on the surface of the leaf. Tf /a sufficient leaf area is damaged in this May the plant is killed. A special grade of finely divided kainit is used for this purpose, says the British. Journal of Agriculture. ft is best applied as a dust cloud while the leaves are covered with dew and hot weather is likely to follow. This can be done even when the weed is growing in corn, for the upright waxy leaves of the cereals suffer little permanent damage from the treatment. A strong solution of sulphate of ammonia has been used to some extent for the same purpose, but applied as a liquid spray; in bright weather. A further case is the utilisation of the caustic properties of calcium cyanarai.de. The bad effect of this manure on germinating seedlings, guarded against as far as the crop is concerned by applying it a few days before the sowing, no doubt eliminates a number of weeds whose seeds happen to be at a vulnerable stage. Moreover, the burning effect of this fertiliser on foliage i.s used against charlock and other weeds in corn by broadcasting dusty cyanamide, by means of a "blower" or dry sprayer, under the same' conditions as are required for kainit. In addition to damaging weeds these substances also exert a good measure of their usual fertilising effect, which may in itsell justify their application.

There are no doubt many instances of the failure, or partial failure, of crops, without apparent reason, that are entirely due to an insufficiency of lime in the soil. In the absence of a certain quantity of lime, the natural fertility in•the soil, and planL food which is applied artificially, fail to act beneficially, because the plant food has not been acted uyon byj the lime and made available for plants, not to mention the injurious acids that all lime-deficient soil contain. In a pasture there are visible indications of the lack of lime, such as the absence ol clover plants, the prevalence of poor, wiry grasses and sorrel. Often there is a mat of undecayed vegetable matter on the surface of the pasture, and the colour of the herbage is dingy, instead of a dark, bright green. Yorkshire fog and the fine-leaved fescues are grasses that seem to thrive fairly well on lime-deficient pastures.

Contrary to general opinion, moss in pastures is not destroyed by liming. It has also been noted that basic slag has little or no beneficial effect on many pastures that are deficient in lime, writes an authority. Ground burnt lime should not lie applied in wet weather, as it coagulates into small lumps, and the benefits arising from line division are lost. In many pastures there are patches that stock avoid, because of the unpalatibility of the herbage that grows thereon, and it will usually be found that the soil

of those patches contain little or no lime. In some cases, a heavy application of lime has no visible effect in the season following, but in the second and following years the herbage improves, and takes on a vigorous appearance. Of course, if the soil is lacking in plant food it must be manured with phosphates and other lacking manures, otherwise the beneficial effects of the liming will be greatly discounted. In the case of arable land, the crops that show the injurious effects of the absence of lime to the greatest extent are turnips, Swedes, and all other members of the brassica family, clovers, and barley. Potatoes, rye. and oats are more or less tolerant of sour soils. It has also been noted that crops grown on soil deficient in lime are less capable of resisting drought and the attacks of insects and diseases, few, if any, of the legumes thrive in the absence of lime, and. clay soils become so sticky that it is almost impossible to obtain a fine tilth until burnt lime has been applied very liberally.