THE LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 152, 28 June 1924, Page 20

THE LAND.

PIG FEEDING "WET AND DRY. Pome interesting experiments have l.v.Mitly been carried out to test the comparative merits of slop and dry feeding /or both bacon and pork, and the results are very interesting. It was found that under wet feeding it took 4.01b of food to secure lib live weight increase, a> against r>.llb when dry fed, for baconers, the respective costs to produce one score dead weight being 12/0 and 13/5, For porkers the cost to produce one score dead weight was 9/3 wot and fl/G dry feed. Whether it 'is actually cheaper to feed slops will depend upon the question of the labour involved, and each individual will have to decide according to 'his own particular circumstances. Many people feed wet mash in a far too sloppy condition, with the consequent result that the pig is compelled to consume very large quantities in order to get the necessary amount of nourishment. In .■old weather it is 'most undesirable to give food too wet, because it will cause the animals to shiver, and a shivering pig never thrives. It. is being realised that young pork is much cheaper to produce than the larger carcase for bacon. For sows, gilts or young pigs which have their grass runs a ration which lias proved most valuable is composed of fiO per cent middlings, 30 per cent barley meal and 10 per cent fish or meat meal, but where they arc confined to sties it is necessary to provide a more elaborate menu, such as 50 per cent middlings, 30 per cent barley meal, 8 per cent meat meal, and 4 per cent bone grit. Pigs after weaning should have middlings 40 per cent, barley meal HO per cent, meat or fish meal and. maize meal 15 per cent each. A fattening ration may consist of barley meal 60 per cent, middlings 30 per cent, meat meal 5 per cent, or the same ration but half the barley meal, substituted by the same quantity of maize meal. AGRICULTURE AN ART. Correctly speaking, the tilling of tho soil ia an art rather than a science, and it is an art in which tho most capable and experienced cannot hope- to attain perfection. The cultivation of the soil, and the maintenance of ita fertility, is so much influenced by local conditions, and so intricate in details, that there is absolutely no hope that the hard and unyielding rules of science ran ever be applied with unvarying success. While we must not forget that science has aided the farmer, and will continue to aid him in many ways, yet we must also remember that the best rules which have been laid down as a guide to the farmer in cultivating the soil are simply the result of much practical experience and reasonable deductions. The idea that the rules of science could be applied to the cultivation of tho soil without deviation was the cause of many costly mistakes in the days gone by. Many years ago, Jethro Tull laid down the rule that "Good cultivation is half manuring," and it is an axiom which science will never alter. A BIT OF HAT. The other morning, when the beads of moisture hanging on the grass indicated the fact that there had been a frost, we stood in a shed where a herd of dairy cows brought in to be milked were being given a feed of dry, sweet hay before going out for the day. The very way they stood quietly chewing away was proof of how they were enjoying it, and the "bit of hay was doing its work —keeping the cows in condition, maintaining the milk yield, and preventing the scouring which is prevalent when animals get nothing but graes at this time of the year. Depend upon it, there is no false economy about giving milking cows a bit of hay in the morning at this time of the year. PLANT FOODS FROM A NEW VIEWPOINT. Here is a new comparison in classifying the four great necessities of plant food—nitrogen, potash, phosphorus and lime. They are compared with the four great essentials for conducting a farm business—cash, -credit, equipment and good judgment. Nitrogen represents the cash. No growth of crops or quick return is possible without available nitrogen. We see this in dozens of cases where farmers try to produce a crop on poor, worn-out land. Just as cash will often save a business by giving a chance to buy goods to advantage, so the use of nitrogen will save the crop. And potash represents credit, because it gives character to the crop. Aside from its direct value as plant food, potash helps in the formation of starch and in the life of the plant, and also to some extent in helping to overcome disease. Credit can only be -obtained by people of sound character and health, which makes them a good risk. Phosphorus represents equipment, such ns implements and working outfit. No animal can have a strong skeleton or frame, no plant can stand upright, no seed can form a vital germ unless there be an abundant supply of phosphorus. Xo farmer can expect to keep up his business if he is constantly lending or losing his tools or leaving them out in the frost and rain. The comparison between lime and good judgment may not lie so clear, 'but lime does correct the faults of the soil and gives it what we may call a better organisation. Some meif keep their cash in their pockets or in some place -where they can always get at it. They find it slipping away from them for all sorts of useless purposes. If they had most of it in a bank or in good securities it would not back away—just as nitrogen does from an unprotected barnyard or in a soil without a autumn cover crop. On most of our stock and grain farms the most essential need is phosphorus, because that element has been sent away in the crops. Every ton of live stock "arries away 35 pounds or more of ■phosphorus, and every ton of wheat nearly 20 pounds. When this drain is kept up for 50 years the available phosphorus in that farm is greatly reduced. It is like a farm from which half the machinery has been borrowed and never returned, so that even with money and good judgment it is not possible to produce full crops. Homely comparisons of this sort will help a farmer to understand the principle of fertilising.

HORSE MASTERS. Because! of t he fnct that power tractors are rapidly prtiiiiiiipr i" popularity it. does licit iiiWssnrily follow that there is Irwx iiecil tliiin tliere was for the men on tlip land to understand the potentialities and tlip requirements of horses. In reality, tin; need was never greater tliun it is now for the farmer to maintain liiH horses at the highest possible standard of ellii-iency. and obtain from them maximum useful power. Why .should that be so * For the simple reason that (rood horses cost a lot of money, and tliere are not too ninny available. Furthermore, overhead expenses continue very heavy, and it is essential, therefore, that tlie fullest use should be made of both energy and opportunities. There are some men who are bom horse master*. Xot only do they get together animals sound in wind and in limb, but also mares which, when mated with pood sires, are likely to produce shapely and vigorous foulx. They provide well ventilated and comfortable stablee for the accommodation of the horses, ivhii-h are regularly groomed and otherwise cared for in such a manner that they do not suffer in health, but are always ready to give the most effective service. These men understand horses thoroughly. There are plenty of others, however, who do not. They'seem to think thai the stock will thrive on anything, and appear to lie surprised when they <ro off their feed, lose condition, suffer from stoppage and generally depreciate in value. GREEN MANURING. Should anyone doubt the economic value of green manuring to a soil known to he. through various causes, not too well supplied with humus, or what is called mould, let him sow a small patch of red clover and plough this under in a paddock intended for oats. Later, when the oats grow and mature, let him note the difference between the green manured and the untreated areas. He can, if lie desires, cut the oats on treated and untreated areits of the same size, and so estimate the difference per acre, either in chaff or grain, produced by green manuring. Seeing is believing, and this simple and easily-handled experiment, if properly carried out. will in all probability astonish many people by its results, especially on cropped soils and on lighter soils of the country. This question of profitable farming and maintaining a permanent fertility is of great importance, and one which is by no means receiving the attention it deserves. On heavy clay soil the large amount of green matter in clover fcrops when ploughed under, has a tendency to divide and disintegrate us well as lightening the soil by its mechanical effects, and in its decay prepares plant food in the soil. These effects and the well known advantage of a wealth of organic matter in. the land have led to a very large and constantly increasing use of clover crops, and Us advocates are to be ■found everywhere. THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE PIG The prejudice against pedigree animals that still exists among a certain class of pig-breeder is not always due to a failure to recognise the value of the system of breeding by pedigree. Such people, says a writer in "Pigs," are often ready enough to admit that pedigree pigs are "all Tight," but they qua-lify the statement by adding the words, "for those who can afford them." Put into the simplest language, this means that there is a very general impression that pedigree pigs are not always —and perhaps never—worth the money asked for them. They are all very well for the man who goes in for breeding pedigree stock with the idea of selling all, or most of, his animals as pedigree as opposed to utility pigs, but for the man who is not interested in pedigree pigs as such, and is concerned simply with the commercial or market pig, these "fancy" animals are much too dear. Those who hold these opinions, even if they admit that the pedigree pig in which bad points have been eliminated, and good points perpetuated, is worth more than an ordinary pig, bred in haphazard style, will still declare that the price asked for all the trouble that has been taken is too high. They will argue that it costs no , more to rear pedigree pigs than mongrels, and that statement, so far as feeding alone is concerned, is perfectly correct. But feeding is by no means the only cost of producing pedigree stock, as anyone who gives the matter a moment's thought will easily understand. Into that matter we need not enter here, but will come at once to our point, which is simply this —that all the arguments and all the theory in the world are worth very little as compared with actual experience. It may be asked how this is to be arrived at, short of getting the man who has his doubts I to purchase some pedigree pigs, which is the very thing that he is unwilling to do. But there is a great difference between trying to persuade a man to scrap the whole of his mongrel herd and getting him to give just one ]>edigree pig a trial. If one can get a breeder to go so far as this, it is a hundred to one that before another twelvemonth has gone by he will be a convert to the pedigree system, and will be only too anxious to clear out everything else. Under such circumstances, however, the pig. to invest in is not a sow, but a boar! No matter what sort of pigs one breeds, it is the boar that will leave the greater mark on the progeny produced. This is what many a farmer who takes his sows to , the nearest boar —simply because it is the nearest—fails to recognise. The sow, of course, has something to do with it; but if anyone doubts the statement that in pigbreeding the boar is of far greater importance than tiie sow,,, let him try mating an indifferent boar with a good sow and vice versa. He will most assuredly find that, so far as the majority of the progeny are concerned, the indifferent sow mated with the good boar will have produced the better pigs. Among the thousands of farmers in this country who have kept pigs all their lives there are still a great many who have never had anything to do with pedigree pigs. To such as these it may be suggested that the pedigree pig of to-day would never have attained its present position if it were not worth while. But, as we have already indicated, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Let anyone who lias misgivings as to the value of the pedigree pig for commercial or utility purposes try what a really good pedigree bear will do with the ordinary sows that he already pos-

sesses. It will not cost him much to' try this experiment. Generally speaking, a good boar can be bought for less money than a good sow, for the simple reason that the demand for boars is naturally much smaller than the demand for sows or gilts. The pedigree breeder knows well enough that it is never worth hie while to save any but the very best of the boars he breeds. Therefore, if the would-be purchaser of a good boar will go to a breeder of reputation he will not be running very much risk of failing to obtain good value for his money. Let us suppose that his boar costs him twenty guineas, the animal which he buys at that price being fit for service. And supposing that this boar in the course of a year or eighteen months sires two ■ hundred pigs—well, the cost ] per pig produced will not be very heavy, will it? If each of these 200 pigs produced is a matter of only two or three pounds better in a given time than those previously bred from the same sows, tho cost of the boar will be repaid in a very short time. But that ia not all. A young boar will go on for several seasons, and once he has shown what he can do, his owner will soon find that there is a good demand for his stock. SOU. FERTILITY. The thorough cultivation of the soil brings about the condition best suited to whatever action is necessary to develop plant food. The ideal soil condition is one where there is just the right amount of water, air, and other elements, and a great deal may be done by tillage. Nature responds to those efforts. Soil fertility is possible to a very high degree in almost every soil. The requirements are drainage, tillage, and usually the addition of fertilisers in reasonable quantities. All the processes of agriculture look to the development and the maintenance in the soil of this fertility, which is all essential to plant growth. The lea or the stubble is turned over, not merely to pulverise the surface for a seed bed, or to destroy weeds, but with a view to creating a condition of soil suitable for the development of fertility of the soil, and to render that fertility available to the crop. The experiences of many generations have fully demonstrated that the yield , of crops may be largely increased by utilising more of nature's abundant , resources, such as heat, air, water, and light, and the key to this is thorough tillage of the soil.

1 REQUIREMENTS OF PLANTS. All cultivated plants require water, air, food, and suitable soil temperature, and all these factors ore influenced by cultivation. It has been estimated that an average annual farm crop requires about 600 tons of water per acre, and this amount scarcely ever falls during the life of the plant. It must be stored during the months of winter and early spring, and the amount stored will be determined by the thoroughness and depth or otherwise of the ploughing and cultivation. Skim ploughing and shallow cultivation will not aid in the storing of moisture. Deep and thorough cultivation not only aids in the storing of moisture, it also assists in removing stagnant water, in the presence of which no plant can thrive. If there is an excess of moisture in the soil, and it does not move freely through it, necessary air can only penetrate in limited quantity, and tho temperature of the soil will be comparatively low. All plant food is dealt with, in the first place, by the minute organisms with which the soil tcoms. But those organisms can only be beneficially active when the soil is thoroughly cultivated; indeed, the soil conditions that favour the plants also favour the organisms. Injurious substances in the soil are rendered neutral by the free admission of \ air. which is brought about by deep and thorough tillage. , During the whole life of a plant, its roote continue to spread and penetrate • the soil in all directions, hence anything i that improves the tilth must also aid i the beneficial root growth. Plant roots l have, undoubtedly, great penetrating powers, but when the soil is well culti- : vated to begin with the roots spread more easily, with the result that their 1 supply of food is much augmented. To put the matter in the fewest possible > words, good cultivation helps to put soil fertility in an accessible form. i . Wherever phosphoric acid is applied ' J artificially there is a substantial in- , crease in the phosphate content of the ! herbage. It is clear that the application r of liberal dressings of water-soluble I phosphates to the soil brings about a I marked increase in the phosphate coni tent of grasses, clovers, or other plants grown on that soil.

OXVUS (.Auckland) asks: (1) When to | gather Aspnr.igiw I'orn seed: can it be sowu in the open, and when? tZ\ I have a flower bed badly Infested with oxalis. Would it bo Ix-st to cover it a foot or so with cut grass with a view to smothering it? or would it he better to dig it deeply and let the IMrds and fowls eat It? (3) My Roses havp. many •>£ thorn, shoots seven feet live or six to the plant. Lnet year 1 hard-pruned a large plant, and it simply refused to grow anything but small twigs afterwards.—U) Pick the eeed wheu the berries beeln to turn red or black. They can be sown in the open, and are best sowu as soon after ■gathering as is possible. [?) Tho best means of settiug rid of the Oxalis is to keep the soil Imp. nn«l let fowls have the run of it. It the soil is kept loose so the bulbs. Any means by \vhirh the ; little bulbs can be kept from making i foliage will eventually result in death. | Burying them with grass or burning . would not be so successful us the fowls. I (3) Strong-growing Koses, as you appear , to have, should not be linrd-pnined. Tin* i long shoots can bo poslßßil down, or it this is not possible reduce the shoots Uy . half their length. Such stron«-growiiis varieties should be planted with plenty of room, ho that they can form large bushes. J. P. (Mataloke'i writes: I have half-an-acre of good land and wuuld like to plant Artichokes. The land is liable lo be covered with water for twenty-four hours occasionally during winter. Can the Artichokes be lifted and •■pitted" like Mangolds? Would super be a k<k>' 1 manure for them?—lt would be a jrood idea to plant the ground as you suggest. The only trouble the flooUim: so long as this did not 0.-cur too often it would be nil light. The tubers could be dug and stored like Mangolds. Super would io as a manure. AUSTRALIS (Takupuna) asks if Acacia Baileyana siml A. p.vcnautlia are hardy and will bloom in Auckland? J have a flowering shrub called "Latann." but have failed to obtain new plants from it. 'Can you 'give information cm same"?— ■Both A. Bnileyana and A. pycuautha are quite liardy, and flower well übout Auckland. I do not know "Lataim": you apparently have tin- name wrong. There is "Lantana," but this latter roots freely from layers or cuttings, ami cau usually be Increased by suckers from the root. CHRYSANTHEMUM CUTTINGS. The importance of strong, healthy cuttings cannot be over-rated in the raising of young stock. Select the healthiest stools or plants for this purpose, and if any of them have had less feeding than others, they will provide the best cuttings. Some growers keep a plant or two of each variety without feeding for the purpose of supplying cuttings. Another point is that as many as possible should he rooted early. Especially is this so with those varieties which produce large blooms, and require a long time to get sufficiently strong.

The weather has improved a little, ' sufficiently anyway to allow those who are dealing with light soil to get a little work done. On heavy and badly drained soil, however, it will be better to wait a few weeks. Where work is possible in the flower garden, annuals and spring flowering plants such as nemesias, stocks, antirrhinums, forget-me-nots, calendulas, cornflowers, candytuft, delphiniums, are amongst those that can be planted now. Where the ground has got very weedy between rows of points the best method of dealing with it is to ekim it with a digging fork, turning the sod over and burring the weeds. The rows can be hand weeded at the same time, and the weeds buried. Herbaceous borders should be dug and any clumps of plants which have not been divided for a year or so should be divided. Pull off two or three pieces from the outside of the clump and plant them in a triangle allowing about a foot between each piece. This applies to the strong growing varieties; in dealing with the weaker grower.! more care must be exercised and the dividing must not be so severe. The narcissi are through the ground and skimming with the fork is the best means of dealing with the weeds. Anemones and ranunculi have suffered from the bad weather but should come on fast with improved conditions. Hand weeding is the only means of dealing with these plants. In the rose garden there is plenty to do in the way of digging and topdrossing. Pruning is best left till the end of July just before the plants commence to grow. Climbing roses can be thinned out and trained to their supports. In dealing with vigorous ramblers all old wood should be cut out. It

is a mistake to let them get into a thick tangled mass which cannot be handled. With other climbers of the H.P. and H.T. types all that is required is to cut out dead wood and the removal of weak laterals, and, of course, keeping the plant within its bounds. Planting of new roses and shrubs can be done when the soil is in condition, but better to wait a week or so than plant in sodden ground. If the plants are on order and arrive but cannot be planted at once, open the bundle and lay the roots in a shallow trench, covering them with soil; choose a fairly dry position where you arc sure that no water will accumulate in the trench. This is a good time for the overhauling and general cleaning of tools, mowing machines, etc. Clean, sharp tools ready to hand make a job a lot easier. AVell clean and grease all metal parts, rough vaseline is as good as anything. All wooden handles should have a coating of linseed oil, a little attention in this way will save a lot of labour later on and make work a pleasure instead of a labour.

YOUNG FRUIT TREES.

When a tree is young is the time when pruning should be done, so as to form a good base for a well-shaped tree in after years. The leading shoot should be cut back to twelve inches from the base of this season's growth. The side branches should be shortened back to eight or nine inches, and any thin sublateral shoots should lie cut back to two or three buds so as to form spurs.

EARLY POTATOES. Many Potatoes kept for seed purposes are attacked by disease through being left in a sack or a heap during the winter. Where seed is being kept it should be closely examined and any showing signs of disease should be discarded at once. The sound tubers should be placed in shallow boxes, not more than two layers in a box, and the

boxes placed in a dry, light position. This should be <lone no matter whether the Tubers are to be planted early or late. It is particularly essential with early ones, and with a season like the present, when it i.s impossible to plant, having the tubers iboxed, and nice green sprouts on them will make up for lost time. Sprouted seed is at least three weeks earlier in maturing, and not only that, but the seed keeps much better and is more free from disease.

COREOPSIS.

The best perennial Coreopsis is O. gTandiflora, on account of its large golden flowers, and the freedom with which it produces them for the greater part of summer. In heavy Boils it often dies out the first year after flowering, and in that case it requires to be sown annually to keep up a stock. The long stalks make it one of the best flowers for cutting. The stalks of C. eaneeolata are not so long, and the flowers are a little smaller, otherwise it stands the winter better in heavy and wot soils. There are two smaller flowered varieties, which are very pretty. C. verticillata, the leaves of which are cut into narrow strips, and give an impression of numerous leaves at each joint, but actually there are only two both very deeply cut. The flower, are yellow, and the plant forms a compact, erect tuft. A similar habit has C. rosea, with rose-coloured flowers. They are all ideal plants for the roekerv aY they keep strictly within their ' own boundary, and do not encroach upon their neighbours. They can all be I easily raised from seed, which can be sown any time during autumn or sprinIt should be sown thinly either in shallow drills outside, or i n boxes -v soon as the seedlings are larg e enough

they should be transplanted, placing them six inches apart. They soon grow into nice clumps, and ran lip placed into their flowering quarters. By sowing a batch in autumn and another in late spring blooms can be had nearly all the year round.

CLUB ROOT IN CABBAGES.

Club root or finger and top disease \u Cabbn K e, Cauliflower and allied plants is very serious in many gardens. Tt is due to a bacteria and is said to be en* couraged by an acid condition of the soil. I-iko most diseases, it must be introduced into a garden by planting in. fected plants, and if a plant is suspected.

CLT.'B-ROOT IN CABBAGES. it should not he put in but burnt at once. Heavy liming of affected ground and not planting any of the Brassica tribe for live years or more is the only effectual means of getting rid of it. It attacks Cabbage, Cauliflower, Turnips, Brunei Sprouts, and Broccoli. The disease causes swellings on the roots and lower parts of the stems, the plants make little or tio growth, and eventually go quite pulpy and rotten. The illustration shows examples of club root in an old Cabbage root and also in young plants.