GOVERNING FACTORS.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 179, 30 July 1924, Page 13

GOVERNING FACTORS.

PRINCIPLES . _ jij. J. C. Jenks, Assistant in Agriculture, given at £$to PannJehooL) PART 1. haS to l>o remembered that a JL dimate and comparatively abundrainfall. &**■ is B0 favourable to m \ troduotion in this country, is also ?8 il iUited to the cultivation of many and that intensive livestock farmf*ridch ia the foundation or New Sud'B prosperity, is helped and ?«nkted ttt every turn by the use of ttfXugb for the P roduction of . JtUry feed and the renewal of f !e S= Expensive land and labour ri » vitally necessary that every „ tStiwted should be thoroughly t,rf We cannot afford to employ the rS-and-cover" method of the North i ericaa prairies. Artificial fertilisers Z a comparatively modern invention; It crops do not necessarily date from Cr introduction. Our forefathers obL vielis that would be considered * factory even to-day by tho careful J ftoroußh use of such crude impleiKMey possessed. Tho bare falCwas relied upon for maintaining /fertility Of the land, not merely in ricr to give the soil a "rest "but be- " su a vcar's tillage put it in such a lute tto't accumulated stores of moisture and plant food became readily available to the succeeding crops. Because *c can to-day skim rapidly over tie "mound with our modern implements and can dose our crops with concentrltsd Jiipplies of readily available plant iood we are apt to overlook the impute of cultivation. Were we to carry iut -the thorough tillage of tho old IJsteldmen cheaply and quickly with our modern implements and then supplement With adequate quantities of injiiurc, our land would be freer from vreeds and our crops would bo heavier and lea uncertain. The eucccss or faUn« of Manuring depends primarily upon tie vigour of the young crop and the esfent to which it can avail itself of the mlnure given to it. Hie objects of cultivation are:—(i) Tlie improvement or amelioration of the physical nature of tho soil; (ii> the destruction of weeds and harmful crbwtts, and the conversion of unrtiited vegetable matter into humus; (iii) tie creation of a "seed bed" that provides the best possible environment for the crop eohtj. After clearing and draining, the soil nguircs pulverisation and aeration, the l»tt«r. being achieved during the process of tie former. The free passage of air through the soil sweetens it by stimulating beneficial bacteria and hastening the decay of vegetable matter. Pulverisation consists of the separation of the fine soil particles of the solid mass which constitutes untilled land, and tho redaction of this solid mass to smaller clots or groups of soil particles so that aSr,'riin water, and plant roots can penetrate freely. The plough is the prime instrument of cultivation,.because it lifts and inverts (work no other implement can do), expoting fresh surfaces to the weather, and moving the whole of the soil bodily instead of merely moving through it ac do discs and tines. He implements that supplement the fork of the plough can be divided under three heads.—(i) Discs: The diirp edge of the disc as it Tcvolves call through the clods or hard-packed mi, partially inverts the soil, and moves it to one side. The firmer the resistance; the better the disc works so that is ig of most value on stale ploughing or rolled land. Tho disc does not operate well among loose clods because ™y sip .to one side, and it has the disadvantage that the larger lumps are r™ by finer soil instead of tog brought to the surface, (ii) Tine implements: The heraiest of these is fctft ™^- ger r lods vhen the y are V S wT^ on - Ifc aeratos ™". but «42ft 7 ,S a when it is The C T V Übbish to tip f lffl P lefflen ts P«re and ■Z££ n T su / face clods fe y tw o Ws Jf M Cr " sn "s: There are the cl of-<:ru S h e rs; the first is fceSMS i°l*ll Which is "ometimee **,SdKf 7 • CraCklng the BUrfaee k ° VIOUS that to do this **• tm' ». r iSO the ma -JoTity of the »il «W P U3hed J °to the 60ft « a W h -, The other Element a heme-made plank harrow, or life m it 1S T n t0 the "«™ disabi»«s iLrT hr ' Bince its effective- ! fiL° n ]t , S scrub bing the clods W t - nnder surfi »ce: the plank «fe'«,?"".■ aot so flexibl e as the ttae'fflav „ mi l Ses any small hollows Cl™ Both these implements, 1 a valuable means of Cw consolidating the ground. "Cst^ c L 8 ? oUld P ,an t0 ffiak e the e W tf P Ulver!s the more nZV soil is of a heavy fift*SV ffect of frost ou the soh dofo or 5 OWn; tbe m °isture in the q«« B V UrrOW - Crests ice re5wS -r- m , than d ° C% the water Mansion +V 8 formed > consequently part n ir l t S >****■ and the soil - *Ctr f ,° rCed a P art - In Realities ftedish^. er % frosts are not common, of toST* 10 ?™** by tho beating and I* and b y alternate wetting j£f« po f lble ,and shouw be fen n v Ut^ mn and left in high-cut iittL a . M eXposed t0 the weather Cfl,f c If worked too Particle n t ? erely washes the fi ne ***sllJ ?" a?ain into a solid tie aerati ° n and mak ™S Sprißfrim V reStOre ln the B P rin^ CU Ughing o£ cla y 80ils m eaii ß an Tf£ w^ and un - tio n irr°7 f d bedß) cultivate Z «?}■? mhed thro «s;h without P »V c gather. Light soils, Vndtf 7 CrUmbly and free - are less fi tvlrth I ffeatherin S. tut aro beneCuul a f h t e P es i s by constant stirrin c' 1 "y after heavy rain has fallen. ■ (To lie continued Saturday next.)