THE LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 95, 22 April 1921, Page 9

THE LAND.

By AUP.ICOI_

LAND DRAINAGE. land drama;' 1 ' i- of the greatest intporUnee '•■ Sew Zealand. There are great area- "i the land of the Dominion that cannot he truly produ.".ivc until they arc eti'e. i vely drained. Tho object of draining land is to re ni.ivo the ox..'-- of water and tho ovil effect* which r.-ul' from it, pre-H-nco. There an- many indications when tinland need-, draining, in the cum- of psi — lur c> water !.\ in,; plants, as nishe-. are pn'M'iit: wet -0.l conditions favour them. The ,-olour oi tin- en>-» aud berba-re and water reinainuij on tho surface are the indications that the land require.? the -pad- of the drainer. In the rase of arable land the glazed appearance of the newly turned furrow j, an evidence that the land retain.- a puperabundan.'e of moi-ture On midrained lan.l crop- do not -row vigor- ' uuslv; they cannot resist tho attacks of insects or fungi >o well as those on welldrained soil. Water lying on :he -nrfaee . prevents the penetration nl air. aud when it cannot -.. penetrati- the conditions are not favourable to deep root- | ing of tho plant. On water -saturated, ! midrainod soil root- cannot ramify,; either widely or deeply: in drained land j the air circulate-:- to a greater depth i than in nnd rained land. Deep rootling! of crop- i- further promoted where there is sufficient air in the soil: the drought I resistance of the plant- of the well; drained land is increased, the root sys- i tern is vigorous, the ability to secure ; moisture at a greater depth in the soil is larger. In a well drained and well ventilated soil the action of the beneficial bacteria in the soil is encouraged, vegetable matter will undergo decay and yield plant food: where land is not! sufficiently ventilated, as in the ease id" | waterlogged soil, this vegetable matter \ accumulates and remains unavailable as ; plant food. In water saturated soil one | clts- of bacteria may break up valuable | roil nitrates, and if fertilisers, as nitrate of soda, are applied to such -oil- the \ nitrogen which they contain may bo broken up and the effectiveness considerable reduced.

I'ndrained land give- rise to sour soil conditions. Although lime will be effective in temporarily reducing it. draining is the chief want. Land drained and afterwards limed will retain a sweet condition longer than if limed only: it will he necessary to apply it oftener than when the land has been more aerated by draining. An acid soil condition militate- against the activity of the bacteria which fix the nitrogen of the air on conjunction with leguminous crops. Drainage provides the conditions of the soil that are the most suitable for these plants; through their aid Nature has provided a ready means of securing supplies of nitrogen from the air. and the quantity secured by one crop will benefit those that follow.

On undrained land a good tilth is not j so easily obtained as on drained land: i the undrained remains waterlogged during the winter months. In spring it cannot be ploughed so early as that w'.. n lias been so drained; cultivation i- con- i isequently delayed until the natural , drying agents —sun and wind —have operated. It is well recognised that the '; cultivation of laud in an tinsuflicLemly dry state impairs its condition for crop j growing: on grass land animals, do not thrive so well on undrained as on I drained soil, and it militates against the healthy condition of depasturing stock. Among the beneficial effects which result from draining are the following: The excess of water is removed: draining assists in destroying the close texture of i-tiff clay, making it easier and les> expensive of cultivation: the depth of the feeding ground for crops is increased and the maximum amount of plant food is converted into crop. wool, mutton, beef, etc.; the accumulation of substances harmful to crop growth are prevented: drainage promotes the production of soil nitrates: the conditions are rendered more favourable for the bacteria engaged in fixing the nitrogen of the air in conjunction with leguminous crops: a greater quantity and a better quality of crop can be grown; the carrying capacity of land for stock is increased: more winter feed can be produced: land can he worked earlier after rain: the condition and texture of the land is improved for the growth of crops, and its value is increased.

The autumn is a favourable time for farm draining: it is now- that the work should be proceeding PIG MARKINGS. The markings of the pig- are one ot t'.ie most important indications of purity of hreed. In certain races they are more pronounced than in others, i.e., they are more necessary to obtain. Of tho older breeds the Berkshire has probably tile nost difficult colour scheme to secure. Tin- white blaze at the forehead, the white in the feet, the white hairs on tne tail, may seem insignificant in themselves, but tlie comparative regularity with which they are thrown shows that they are indeed a breed characteristic, and without them the Berkshire would lose much of Ins dignity and certainly » great deal of his value. There are »o many way- in which a little white can obtrude, that the breeder takes the Srcatesl precaution against that most insidious of all intrusions, a little -white in the ear. It seems a little difficult sometime- to breed out, but it is not only unsightly from a Berkshire point of view, for it. may be held to indicate an alien intrusion. Nest to that, perhaps fie holding of the white Ha- aloft causes more trouble than any other. How often do we find very good pigs without even the regulation three white hairs on the tail, and three white hairs Lave been held to pass a pig which is Otherwise well marked. The white blaze in tiie forehead is usually very consistent, aud sometimes there is liable to be a liti le white round the mouth. One finds occasionally a white splash in the s:de, and these mi-marking's destroy to a considerable extent the breeding laltie of tlie pig. Some may consider that too meticulous a regard is paid to tlie ujlour scheme, but tin- breed, as a breed, only achieves its type when it can claim to fulfil what breeders regard as essential. The old theory that the pig should have first consideration, ami that type as indicated by the finer points should come second, is hopelessly wrong. We muot put type first just as long as a pig i- constitutionally vigorous, and no striving after particular points has been attempted to the detriment of the pig gcneralh-.

In the newer breeds one finds more or less trouble with the colour. For instance, tin- Wessex Saddleback may have a wij,. , )r a narrow saddle. It may liave a |..u; saddle which doe- not show any white below the white hairs.. It may ha\.. white bind feet where they shouli* be black, and until the type becomes mii.-h more constant in litters

than it is, those variations will necessarily exist. The Wesst'X and the Kssex have* sometimes been confounded l.y those who could not draw a definite distinction, but tho types of pig are i cally dissimilar. The Wessex is a longer pig and the white hind foot is not accepted. It is not so dished in the face as the Essex, and generally conforms more to the old-fashioned type ot bacon pig than the latter. The jrreat advantage of reselling this class ot animal from the oblivion which threati r.ed it is that it enables our resources in pig production to be greatly strengthened. These breeds arc not yet represented in New Zealand.

It is quite possible, by the way, that a new black pig will yet he evolved, and an all-black pig which has not quite the scale of a Large Black ami combines what may be called both pork and '-'eon characteristics, may yet he iiuiie a dominant feature in pig breeding. That remains, however, to b.- .-een.