GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1336, 13 January 1912, Page 8

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

The season for the inoculation of calves is now well under way in Taranalci. In tlio Ilawera district the officers of the Stock Department will bo kept busy for tlio next low months, and already quite a large number of calves have passed through their hands, it is anticipated that about (10,000 calves will bo treated in Taranaki this season, an increase of 20,000 over the number in 1910. A Masterton farmer, nnablo to secure men for harvesting on . week-days, has, says the "Age," adopted the novel method of employing hands from sur-. rounding farms tuid doing his harvesting' on Sundays. Masterton farmers aro being offered £3 ss. per ton for oaten sheaf chaff. Many are said to bo refusing to sell at this price, believing that the market will harden at an early date. The maize crops about Carterton and Masterton arc reported to have made excellent growth during the past few woeks. Several Gtacks of ensilage are at present being put down by JLasterton farmers. Experiments with lucerne have recently been made by Mr. Earlc Vaile, of Broadlands, Waiotapn, who has done so much to test the quality of flic North Island pumice soils, writes tho Auckland "Herald." He put in 20lb. of Hunter Kiver seed to the acre about October. 1. and in spito of tho exceptionally cold spring, the seeds germinated well, and the plants are now up several -inches high. Th 6 importance of lucerne to thr pumice country can scarcely be overestimated, for this crop, besides providing the maximum amount of nutritious fodder, is a nitrogen accumulator, and would do much to prepare these soils for future crops. Mr. Vaile states that the luccrno crop is looking strong and vigorous, and that with a spell of wa" weather it should provide quite a lot of feed during the summer. There are now 750 acres on Broad'ands under cultivation, Resides a considerable area surfaco sown in grass.

Fanners Tound about do not view tho prospect of winter any too cheerfully on account of the terrible weather experienced during the last two months of the year, says thp Maketawa correspondent of the Taranaki "News." It makes rather doleful reading to hear accounts o£ oat crops stunted in growth and thin iii quantity; barley heavy with smut on account of too much wet; turnips planted early coming up in patches and disappearing; maize rotting in (lie ground aud second sowings barely growing; grass simply swamped. Those who ventured a small area of carrots report complete loss. Many bits of dairy wisdom were spoken by Secretary Wilson of the United States Department of Agriculture in-his address, at the opening of the National Dairy' Show in Chicago recently. The following are extracts from that address:— "When we make tho most 'of our time ■and acres, wo will sell no cow feed to Europeans to maintain their soil fcr- \ tility and reduce ours as wo now do. "The cow should be bred for milk and I fed for milk. Her health and comfort are as important as our own; sho provides us a perfect ration from calving to old age. "The dairy cow is ono of the most economical producers of human food and can therefore bo profitably kept in populous regions where land values aro high. "Tuberculosis is a great problem confronting the live stock industry. A comparatively recent estimate of the Department indicates that on an average more than 10 per cent of the dairy cattle in the United States aro affected with tuberculosis." An interesting article on "Practical 1 Irrigation," and which incidentally deals with botany, mil be found on page 14 of \ this issue. Tho article has been specially written for this paper.