FARM WORK.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LX, Issue 10829, 30 March 1932, Page 1

FARM WORK.

ATTENTION TO HARROWING. The present' is an ideal time to gel on to the harrowing of pasture land, states the Stratford Demonstration Farm management. During the past tew months with harvesting and cropping this phase of pasture work has probably been neglected wltih the result that stock droppings have accumulated in the paddocks. This is very undesirable in the interests of pasture management in that it means a loss of the most valuable fertilizer, while the droppings cause a deterioration of the pasture sward. Despite good grazing methods that may have been practised and resulted in good utilization of the growth, there is always a certain amount of useless roughage on the pastures, chiefly consisting of fog, etc. A good harrowing now will tear a lot. of this uesless herbage out and result in a much cleaner pasture in the spring. The harrowing of the whole farm should be carried out gradually so' that too many temporarily dirtied paddocks, the result of the harrowing, should not occur. If much rain is experienced the manure is soon washed into the ground and again the paddock affords good grazing. The matter of top-dressing must now bo given serious consideration. Slow-acting fertilizers should be applied without delay, while slag maybe profitably used any time now. If slag has been giving good results in the past it will probably pay to topdress at least some paddocks with this manure. This will ensure continued good production on at least some of the farm. On the other hand, if slag has been used fairly constantly during the past several seasons there is no apparent reason why super used this season will not give practically as good results. The continued use of straight super, however, requires to be watched carefully Root crops will require very little attention from now on. An occasional walk through the crops to remove any weeds like fat hen which have shot up and may possibly seed will prove very beneficial. This is a. good time tp get on to the spraying of blackberry with sodium chlorate. It Is not claimed that a single spraying will eradicate this weed, but one spraying will check it to such an extent that other methods of control may successfully deal with it. Two or three sprayings, however, practically settle the blackberry. The same applies to the Californian thistle, but, unfortunately, not to the same extent. This pest with its underground runners proves a harder nut to crack. Drains and water courses should be given a little attention now to ensure that they will be functioning freely when the constant wet weather sets in. A' little attention now will save a lot of trouble later on.