FARM AND STATION.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20772, 4 February 1933, Page 7

FARM AND STATION.

ALDINGTON MARKET.

% WEDNESDAY'S SALE. The ilturp decline in the values of fat cattle at Addington on Wednesday brought beef to a cheaper level thau within the memory of the oldest buyers arid auctioneers. The supply was jjreater than normal by SO to .100 head, and with the average quality better Than for some weeks buyers could afford ia pick and choose. There were some outstanding lines of steers forward, with some particularly attractive peus of "baby beef," which made the average quality of the yarding better than at recent gales. The demand for tiil classes was poor, and competition was restricted to two or three buyers only on each pen. A. quantity of the "baby beef" —which usually holds a ,premium on other grades—did not bring more than 17s 6d a 1001b. There were-very few ■•uttle which brought 20s a 100lb —and lho great bulk of the ordinary s'eer beef made between 133 Gd and 15s fij. The top price of £o 17s 6d for cows tvas the lowest to top that section of the r-a.tion for a great many years. Addington is not. alone in its low values for lieef. At the Burnside market in Duncdiu on Wednesday the top price for cows or heifers was £5 7s 6cl. For Ktecrs it was £& 17s 6d, and the bcot beef was worth ISs 6d a 1001b The following is a comparison of the prices .it this and the corresponding sale last year: --

Store Sheep. There were over 8000 store lambs penned, and tbe average quality was a good deal below that at the two preceding markets. Halfbreds predominated. The thice-quarterbreds -were low in condition. 'There was a large attendance of buyers, but there was a tendency to restrict limits. Over the whole sale there •was a slight decline. In the adult section of the store fihccp department about 3000 head were penned. One large line of: ewes from tlio South was passed in at auetion, 'but otherwise the entry was readily absorbed at rates practically on a basis with those ruling last week. There is not a great buying -strength evident , yet. and the principal demand is for C two,, four and sir-tooth wethers. The. ft demand for breeding ewes is restricted ""' mi far. fanners apparently not being

Tat Lambs. Manv of the fat lambs forward ihow-cd signs of having been cheeked slightly, and; the average quality was not nearly as good as at last week's •ale. The export buyers took a big proportion of the entry, paying up to the schedule rate of 5R and -butchers had to extend their limits slightly to Mwrc supplies. Altogether the market v..*«. a firm one and encouraging "o i endors. . "

Tat Sheep. . There was little of interest in the " *at sheep section. The entry of 4700 •*a» a normal one and the auction was a-, stead v values.' Light-weight ewes T.trc inclined to be a shado easier, but * all other classes wore absorbed at <stfce3 on a par with those ruling at the previous market. Exporters were prominent ia the competition.

The farm page illustration to-day *hoiF» a fine crop of onion seed on the frrnr of Mr O. Harding, Tomplotoa, i»hicS» makes an arresting . Sight to pt*M»-bv. The area comprises slightly *»er a quarter of an acre, from wluch tta owner expects to secure about 5001b ftf wed. As the prico ranges about 8s to 19« per lb. the return i* rather attractive when compared with other farm products.

By " Straggler."

WHEAT GROWING.

XV—HEADER HARVESTERS. (By the Wheat .Research Institute.) There are now at work in Canterbury about 'Jo header harvesters. Most of these are by two makers, though each maker has several designs, varying from laud-wheel 'drive as in the binder, through power take-ofl's, up to engine functioned machines. While these machines were primarily designed for wheat most of them are harvesting other crops as well. They show the greatest reduction of harvesting costs in the case of peas, but they have also this year allowed the saving of considerable areas of very tangled ryegrass, which owing to its* certification had a special value. Costs of Operating. In j931 the Institute worked out the cost of operating an average header harvester as 8.7 d a bushel of wheat, including repairs, interest, and depreciation. .Of course an average figure does not give any indication of the cost of a particular tractor in a. particular year. The greater the area and the greater the yield an acre, the less the per bushel cost of harvesting it, because the overhead charges remain constant. With this year's heavy yields, and with the use of machines on peas and rye grass as well as wheat, the costs are probably well below the average figure for 1931, A good deal of contract heading is being done at Cd a bushel, and in one ease a much lower figure was quoted. Such prices must be regarded as very favourable to the grower, and can only be quoted by the 'contractor because he has this year the advantage of heading large areas, with high yields. When to Head. The chief difficulty with headers so far has been to secure that the grain is marketed in gpod condition. Qf course' in this respect the header is greatly at the mercy of the weather, but given a reasonably fine season the grain should be saved in good condition by adopting the following procedure: Leave the wheat until it bites quite hard, and all the knots of the straw are

quite ripe from top to bottom. When this stage is reached put in the header some afternoon and head a .few rounds. Take a large composite sample, and from it take a small but very representative sample, and put it in a tobacco tin with the nanie of the sender and his telegraphic address. Hound the junction of the lid and the tin wrap a piece of sticking plaster, or electrician's adhesive tape. Post to the AVkeat Research Institute, Christchurch, by an afternoon train, so that the sample reaches Christchurch that night. ' The Institute will then test for moisture and advise before it is time to start work next morning what the moisture content is, and whether the crop is fit to head. The only cost to the farmer is the cost of the telegram. It is plain that the value of the advice given will depend entirely, on the reliability of the sample forwarded.. • ' • I Paddock Treatment. j After the wheat is headed the sacks must be well bedded on straw, or if possible raised off the ground on logs or branches. The stacks of bags should be very narrow, which, of course, will tend to make them long and high. Their length should run north-east and southwest, so that the north-west wind may. blow through them, and special open spaces should be left for the wind to do its diving work. Where it is possible the covering should be moveable, so that

it csyi be taken off the top and southerly side during line, hot days. The length of time the stacks should stay in the paddock depends on the initial moisture of the grain, but in no case should it bo less than two weeks, or it may reach the miller's bauds just wheu it is in the sweat, and therefore much damper than when the sample was taken. * If the moisture content at heading is as low as 12 per cent., as much of it is this year, then the two weeks' paddocking is enough. If, however, the moisture content is round 15 per cent, the period of paddock drying should extend to at least three weeks, and possibly longer if the weather is not good. With a large surplus of wheat as we have this year special care should be taken to ensure that wheat is delivered ia good condition.

RAMS FOR HAWKE'S BAY.

CORRIEDALES FOR WOOL PURPOSES. r Phe sale has been effected by Pyue. Gould. Guinness. Ltd., ot a number ol Corriedale, Southdown, and English Leicester rams to Air J. •). Uateuby and Air J. S. AleLeod, ot Hawke's Bay. The rams were selected by Air Gateiiby, who is. well known as'a' judge <>' merinos, both in Tasmania and at Royal Shows in New Zealand. The sheep selected were 50 Corriedale rams from the flocks of the estate of the late H. T. Little (Hui Bui) and Mr W. Anderson ("VVaiau), whose stmt is also founded on Hui Hui blood. If is the purchasers' intention to put these rams on their JCoinuey cross ewes with a view to securing a finer and more saleable type of wool tbaii that commonly grown in Hawke'.s Bay. In addition to the C'orriedales. a number of Southdown and English Leicester rams were bought from the studs, of Air D. Sidey (Efawnrdenl. an*"' Mr E. S. Taylor (Ravenswood. Woodendl. The same firm have also shipped a line of 90 Southdown rams, bred by Messrs Frizzell Bros. (Swarmanoa) for use on Air" B. B. Wood's stations in the AVairoa district.

| USES OF LUCERNE.

FEEDING TO POULTRY. Observations have been made on the Farm page from time to time on the neglect of lucerne chaff as a poultry and also a general stock feed. A correspondent (Mr Geo. Toogood) iu a Wellington paper very usefully elaborates this point. There is another use to which lucerne can be put, which appears to be little known in this country, he says. Jn California, where the plant Is cropped six or seven time," 'a year,, lucerne is sun-dried and then boiled as a food for poultry, pigs and young stock: "When broken up in its i dried state, the thicker stems and ! branches of the plant contain a great \ deal of food material which, -when | boiled, possess almost as much flesh- j forming nutriment as ground wheat j pollard, or maize. In these times, when economy in production means so much to the farmer, it is advisable that the possibilities of lucerne as a substitute for the more expensive stock and poultry foods should be fully investigated, i when it will be found that the plant is ! capable of much more varied uses than j its ordinary green state would suggest. Whole books and pamphlets have been written on the subject, and it would well repay a little study on the part of the poultry-man or the pig-raiser to follow up the matter more fully. In addition, of course, it can be used in its dried condition for auy other stock. As a base,, when mixed with seconds, pollard, crushed maize, wheat, etc., it goes a long way to •reduce'.the cost of "hard feed" and is almost-as fattening itself as anv of the foods mentioned. The "wheat control" bugbear nov? j eomplained of should have no terrors j for the farmer, if he will but turn his j attention to the possibilities of lucerne (or alfalfa) as a substitute for the j better known meals or as a cheap base I •with which they can be mixed. j

PASTURE PROBLEM

PART PLAYED BY IRON. THE HEALTH OF STOCK. Mr T. Rigjf, Dr. H. O. Askew, and -Miss E. B. Kidson aI, the Institute have for some lime pasl been conducting investigations into the part played by iron in the soil on (lie growth and development of pastures, and upon, stock health. While the investigations are not yet completed, and a great deal remains _to be done before a full understanding of the part plaved by iron in stock health and nutiitioii is concerned, vet useful progress has been made which throws interesting light upon a number of New Zealand farm problems. As a result of the work of Mr B. C. Aston, ami others, it has long been recognised that a deficiency of iron in the soil is connected with the production of stock anaemia, known as " bush-sickness,''' which occurs very commonly in the bush areas of Hie central, part of the North Island, in (he vicinitv of Rotorua. and extending to the' Bay of Plenty. The soils of this area and of. : large portions ov the "North I'shud have a 'volcanic origin, having been ejected volcanic cones in past ngcx. 'I he same disease is also found in other parts *>t New Zealand, and occurs on soils derived from granite rocks ne.ir f-ilen-hope in the Nelson province. Low Iron Content. Chemical analysis of the volcanic soils shows that the nature of the material which has been ejected at different times, from different craters, varies considerably in its composition. •Some of the showers possess a very low iron content, while, others do not. A review of the results' which have, been secured to date indicated that all localities which are definitely associated with bush-sickness have conparatively low amounts of available iron present in their composition. These percentages are much lower than those found over volcanic soils which are known to be free from bush-sickness. '.Reviewing the iron contents, and grouping them, the soiJs of New Zealand which have already been examined range as follows: — "Pakihi soils, 0.07 per cent.: gumland soils, O.H; Kaharoa shower, 0.49; Taupo. 0.07; ftlenbope granite soil, 0.57: other volcanic showers, 1 1o -.2.i; alluvial volcanic. 1.8 to 1'; healthy soils in volcanic areas. 2.8; Nelson nonvolcanic loam soils. 1.1 to 0 per cent. It is significant to note that the stock anaemia trouble is associated with the group of soils whose iron content is less than 1 per cent., and does not occur on th» pakihi and gumland soils with the low iron percentage content of less than 0.1 per cent. From these figures it seems reasonable to draw the conclusion that absence of iron is associated to some

' extent with the occurrence of bushI sickness, but that iron is not the only ! contributing factor, as is evidenced by the fact that stock ou the pakihi and gumland soils do not suffer from the malady. Treating Bush-Sickness. Farmers in the bush-sick areas have considered that by turning their stock into the bush the resulting recovery could be attributed to the fact that the animals fed on certain native plants. If iron is the material necessary for. effecting a cure of this trouble, it was thought that probably the consumption of bush foliage effected a cure on account of its'higher .iron content. Con-I : sequeutly,. analyses of the foliage of i a. number of native plants growing on j J bush-sick areas were made, and de- | I terminations of the iron and manganese j ! contents worked out. With the excep- i i tion of one, Carmichaela, or native I ' broom, the iron percentage of none of j ; these native plants exceeds 0.01 per | cent., and in general they are very much j j lower. Whatever is the curative effect . 1 of the animals grazing in native bush j it seems that this cannot be attributed to their securing supplies of iron thereby. AUTUMN SHOWS. | ■ • The following is the programme o£ Canterbury autumn, shows: — March 25. —Mayiield. March 28. —YVaiau. March ;iu.—Teimikii and Hern Mine, j March 31. —Hawarden. i April 3. —Methven. April 6.—Oxford. ' April 17. —FairJie. i April 22. —Malveru. [ ____ . j \ When babv slitters from a cough ov j cold, a few drops of "XAZUL" on his pillow or •'nightie'' will give hiui prompt relief. It's the most etiectivo I and economical of all ttough and cold j .specifies. GO doses for Is t>d ; 120 doses 1 far 2s 6d. —*

CLIB BOOT.

DISEASE OF TURNIPS, RAPE, ETC. Club root is a disease of turnips, rape and related crops. It appears to be more common in Canterbury this year than in former years, and some growers, not .haying had auy previous experience with it, are unaware of the methods which may be adopted to prevent the disease spreading over the whole farm. In view of ihe fact that club loot may spread rapidly in ihe foot hills and in the wetter parts of Canterbury if precautions are not taken at the outset, the following nole on the symptons and control methods i=< supplied liv the staff of Lincoln College. Incidence of Disease Infected plants, which are usually in well defined areas, are stunted and somewhat discoloured, and in dry weather become 'badly wilted. The most; characteristic symptom is the presence of irregular swellings, varying in size from that of a small pea to that of a cricket ball on the roots and lower parts of the bulb, lu advanced stages these swellings frequently There is no i-uro for the disease once it has started, but prevention is possible when a farmer realises that he is dealing with a serious infectious disease. Infection of the crop takes place from ihe soil. The disease may be confined to a large or small area or the whole field may be infected: but, it. does not spread of its own. accord beyond the area of contaminated soil. The soil becomes contaminated mainly by sheep feeding on diseased roots and then, moving on to- healthy ground—either in the same field or in another. The disease may also be spread by carting diseased roots on to healthy ground or by moving stock and implements over contaminated ground. Causes of Infection The organism causing the disease will live for several years in the soil, so that stock should not be removed from a diseased crop on to a field in which it is intended to grow turnips or rape during the next five or si.t years, and a similar period ninst elapse before growing a crop again in the same field after a diseased crop. The practice of growing one susceptible crop after another —e.g., turnips after turnips, or turnips after rape and so on,. is one of the. most common causes of heavy infection if the disease is present in the first crop. The destruction of wild turnip, shepherd's purse, and other cruciferous weeds forms an esseutiaJ •part of the treatment. By adopting these precautions the disease, if present, may be prevented from

spreading, and may in time be exterminated. AVet and sour soils favour the development of the organism, so that draining and liming may assist in the control. Lime at the rate of one to four tons of burnt lime per acre according to the acidity of the soil, applied at i least three mouths, but preferably j twelve months or more, before sowing, j will considerably reduce infection. | The Bruce turnip,, recently int.roJ duced into New Zealand from .Scotland, J has proved to be highly resistant to : club root, but: the seed is not ye! J available in commercial quantities. 1.. _ . ■ j . j MILDEW. j EFFECT ON YIELDS. j There is little doubt that yields will I be affected more by mildew than vvas j anticipated some weeks ago. Several I crops inspected during the week by "Straggler'' contained patches that will be some bushels down, tcompared with the remainder of the field. When the heads of wheat iu stook are rubbed out only a few grains are pro■lueed. and the sheaves themselves are light enough to .remove, any doubt as to the disappointing character of yields where the paddocks are affected. It is reported that some crops have been so badly damaged that they are not worth cutting. None such has come before "Straggler's'" notice, but srmi«! have been seen that will bring j yields down by 25 per cent. j . However, the great bulk of the I wheat north of. the Selwyn, most of I which is now in stook, will yield well Jup to the best years. Where threshing lias taken place 60 and 50 bushel returns are quite frequent on paddocks I which last year averaged about two- | thirds of these figures. The light land this season is doing something to compensate for the three bad preceding years. ' There will not be many 15. to 20 bushel yields this season. There were numerous areas last year that Drodnced no more than hall' thes"; figures.

WOOL FOR JAPAN.

INCREASING HOME SUPPLIES.

Japan is determined, to take a leading place in the wool industry. Competion at New Zealand wool .sales has been greatly' stimulated by Japanese orders, and in Australia the purchases on her account have been a big factor in the niarkej.. However, tins outlet may shrink as time goes on. Competition in the world market may soon come lrom Manchuria and Mongolia, according to an article in "Contemporary Japan,'' by Baron Kimmochi Oiibura. Under tiie heading, "Tapping Manchuria's Resources,'' he states that as soon as improved methods of breeding are introduced the quality of Asiatic wool is bound to improve, while its quantity will increase. After referring to the immense numbers of sheep and oxen, grazed on the Mongolian plains, lie writes:^— "Since 1913 the (South Manchuria Railway; station has been experimenting on improving sheep breeding to get a better crop. By mating merinos from North America and Australia with the native Mongolian breeds, a very good half-breed was obtained. This in turn, was crossed with merino and a quarter breed (three-quarter bred merino?) of high order obtained. It has beeu proved conclusively that these two erossbreds give from' 20(1 to 240 per cent, more wool than ordinary Mongolian sheep. The improved breeds are now being mined evervwhere on the Mongolian Plains.

WHEAT SEED.

HOT WATER TREATMENT. An excellent 13 acre field of Tuscan wheat is to be seen in stook on the farm of Mr F. A. Tutton. Bioadfield. The yield of a portion of it will be badly affected by mildew, but the remainder should thresh 60 bushels to the acre, a very satisfactory return on medium land. Mr Tutton used certified seed that had been subjected to the hot water treatment, and. there is a complete absence of smut in his crop. It is recognised . that .the hot water treatment is the only complete, preventive of loose -smut, but, it is rather tricky treatment for , the, average farmer. The seed requires immersing for two hours in cold water,- then in hot water at fc h temperature of 127 deg. for two hours, and finally cooled off-very rapidly. Any variation from this treatment may damage .the seed, and some farmers have found this out. to their cost. , .

[conditioning wheat.

ADVICE TO GROWERS.. The Wheat Purchase Board desires strongly to urge on wheat growers the necessity of seeing that their wheat is properly conditioned before being dispatched from the farm. In the few lines that have so far been delivered this season there has been an unusual proportion of rejections solely on account of the wheat being out ot condition. These lines of a necessity have now to find an outlet as fowl feed, which market is certain to be over-supplied' this season. ■ When milling quality is at a fixed price there is nothing, to be gained by rushing wheat oil' to the market, but there is much to lose. Even at this early stage of the.season the best North Island offer for' fowl wheat is 3s 3d f.0.b., or less than 3s on* trucks. If the proportion of rejections l should be in-' creased through indifferent attention on the farm it is., inevitable that there will' be a very heavy surplus of. undergrade wheat, for which a market will be. difficult to secure. Milling quality is exempted from the market influences inseparable from undergrade, so that" it is singularly ill-advised to risk rejection when a matter of a few weeks •on the farm would ensure the wheat at-: taining f.a.q., standard'.' " : ; .-. Tbe» Wheat Purchase Board has ar-, ranged to reimburse growers ioAhe required attention by allowing liberal monthly increments in the price. These increments in themselves are more than sufficient to pay, interest on the crop, if held on the farm. The ideal conditioning process is to stack the wheat, but when, threshing from the stook or heading is practised the sacks should be stacked in a manner that will allow the free entry of air about them.

SMALLER FARMS.

SUITABILITY OF ELLESMERE COUNTY. A correspondent hi a North I bland paper —one of the type that "challenges contradiction'" —contends that only in isolated cases is our first-class "land being farmed to its full capacity. "I maintain that on such land as lies between Ohristchurch and Southbridge, in tllJesmere County, etc., thousands of settlers could be placed on 60 and SO-' acre blocks and thereby become an asset to this country. For intensive cultivation, dairying, pig and poultry raising, the laud to which I refer will stand all tests- and hold itß own with Denmaik in quality and area.'.' There are now many farms in this belt of less than 80 acres, so that there might be a squeeze if thousands more were accommodated. But why is our first-class land not being worked to its full capacity, the writer asks? Why are wheat-farmers being spoon-fed at the expense of the community while it .is impossible to make a success of poultry-farming or pig-raisng'on account of the high price of the nccessajy foodstuffs. This ba Uy-.i.formed correspondent can secure from Australia pollard, bran, ciacked Biai»% and barley tag; iia

■ ;■■. ; ' <n;< t J \ ' ,'; „ \k ,' pigs duty and primage the bran and pollard into the bargain-~2os to 30s a than-the domestic;price pig-raising cannot exist; under, nviW/'Vj favoured treatment the/jEuture .dppe Bqfc'i ' *,' look very .bright for it. ,Nori<h-iir:slai»d" &'■ critics seem . to -labour* .under 'Twjjfl" misapprehension that there d§, a* ■ dutjvv ' <A on wheat .offals.,. There^' hag-beea,■ duty for three years.hand,. if New Zealand exgortybQand pollard to Australia'' "have to, bear a,duty, of «£l*fa jtJ^'fl")gTO\£' ,| | primage and sales tax. ' ' ,j

St«r« — £ y £ £ T.X pi imr: h "n » y ._. In 1 1 »< _.-. to 10 Prime )iea Prima ii tedium s to 104 6 10 6 weight 6 to' l-\ ."> to 7 Ordinary r. In r> 2* to •Ai Light to '-' '1 --- to si H«;fe«Ks. prime — (o '.) — to 74 'Prime* •vi to 7 ■ ■■k to 34 Medium 3 to 5 2* to 3 4Lig*' to 2.'t — to 2i 1'v. prim* _._ to r '\ — to 6 Prim* 1 fo H -i to 4 Medium 24 to 34 u to «5 Usht — io - il to IS

p Tcaa>'. Feb. 3, Fnh. I, loa: 1933 8. Lirab»— Good m.«. --- to <t 11 to irs Ord. m.». fl| t" S 94 to lrtjf Backward 44 to fi 74 -to «» Cult 3- to 4 5 to (14 ■Eve*— Hood 2-th *h«i - - to in — , — Ord. 2-th Jbd 4 to «!£ -— ■ F.m. Jbd —- to y$ — E«r» good ilid s.m. — — to Hi G<wd 6 and 8-th *bd — — 10 i to 103 ft id. 1 *nd 6-th iibd — to Ik —~ Kj.. sond 6 and 1.14 ii-tn 'Horn. —:. — — to Good - and 4-tii 1 Komner ..... — — to 1-4 Weill <!T» — On). 4. * and 4-th ibd 7J to n —* *~~ Go«d 2 and Jbd '-1-th — __ — ' to HI Good 4 and 6 th 10 JW — — —> to (3f.i?d i. and f.m. t * ft«l ■ — —. 6j. to i%

w w —~ to U6J — t arime ." .* 18 to 174 to 181 fi'rnii . . 16 to 171 IB to 174 HI 1 urn 8 to ifti to Hi 1.1.4 to 11 to j.->4

W»»hws~ - Piirae heav v • to 17, to 103 18 -— lo 16} to 18 fctium v. ;i~ht IKilHI 1 - , . 114 lo Hi 4 Hi to 16| O-dinary 11} to 13} 12} to 14 tjjjht, m to It 104 to VJ E«w— « ■F'saj') heavy . . — to 13 4 — to 13 to ijj Uiifmn weight >»irim» fli to HI 9i to ni <>c4Jtiarr 7i »0 .9 8 to 74 tight 5 to 7 6 to