FOR THE MAN ON THE LAND

Franklin Times, Volume XXV, Issue 128, 4 November 1935, Page 7

FOR THE MAN ON THE LAND

MEASURING POTASH VALUE. Notwithstanding that leading agricultural scientists of the world declare that the most important thing in animal nutrition is the correct balance of the mineral matter supplied there are still many people, experts among them, who measure grass value by only one element, phosphate. Certainly this is the most necessary mineral but its full value will never be secured unless it is combined with the right degree if lime, phosphate, and, in some cases, nitrogen; indeed, there are lesser minerals which are necessary to some soils if the full effect of phosphate and lime are to be obtained. In some cases a deficiency of iron is said to be responsible for failure of animals to thrive no matter how much phosphate is supplied, but here it is probable that it is some other mineral than iron that is responsible. But the worst mistake made by superficial observers is to measure the result of applying a small dressing of such a manure as potash by the appearance to the eye of the grass. With crops it has been found that there must be a difference of at least SO per cent before the difference can. be really seen, or recognised, and probably with grass the difference requires to be at least 25 per cent. But is mere length of grass everything? Indeed, it may be said that the mistaken idea of measuring a manure by the actual growth it ensures is one of the worst mistakes made in experimental work in this country. Especially has the blunder been bad of allowing plots of grass treated with different fertilisers to go to hay and then determining by the weight of hay the value of the different fertiliser applications. As with almost everything else it is quality rather than quantity that counts. And the animal knows the grass it wants. The result has been that the grass carrying the mineral matter the animal needs is eaten more than other grasses, and too often this fact has been ignored and the improperly fertilised grass that has not been eaten so well has been considered the best. When Sir John Russell was in New Zealand he emphasised more than once that it was not the heavy application of one particular mineral that was needed but the right balance. And in one of his latest addresses in public Mr A. H. Cockayne, Assistant-Director-General of Agriculture, declared that the greatest thing before the country was the balanced fertiliser. But the main doctrine of the scientific world at the present time is the vital need of balanced food, and balanced food necessitates balanced fertilisation.

SEED POTATOES. Potato growers are reminded by the Department of Agriculture that the only way to make quite sure that seed potatoes are certified is to see that the sack or crate has attached to it a certification tag signed by an Instructor ol' the Department and countersigned by the grower. If certified seed has been contracted for and the seed arrives witiiout a tag attached to each sack he is entitled to refuse acceptance of the seed on the ground that it is not finally certified. Tags are occasionally lost in transit but any line which has not a certification label attached to each sack should be accepted reservedly, while a line with only a few sacks tagged should not be accepted as certified seed under any conditions. The Department is now certifying potatoes packed in crates containing 1 -41 b., 281 b., or 561 b. In the case of these small parcels they cannot be opened without breaking the string. But the supply of these is riot great and difficulty may be experienced in obtaining them. LONDON’S FIRST MILK BAR. It is said that the only good thing prohibition did for the United States of America was the effect it had in introducing the milk-drinking habit. And what prohibition did for milk in America higli taxation of beer and spirits is doing for milk in Germany and Britain. As part of the drink-more-milk campaign in England a milk bar was conducted at the last Royal Show of England, and now London is having its first milk-bar. A corner site in Fleet Street is being prepared for it. Tin's may lie regarded as just beginning, and that milk-bars will Soon be working for the benefit of Die dairy industry in all the leading provincial cities and the principal seaside resorts.

WHEAT RUST. It is stated that about 7,000,000 acres of prairie wheat country is affected by rust. This is a fungus disease in which the leaves and stem of the wheat soon show yellow pustules, like warts. Wheat fields affected with rust lose their healthy green colour and produce smaller heads of grain. Other closely related species of rust attack rye, oats, barley and various grasses. The rusts as a class reduce the value of crops in the aggregate by millions of pounds a year throughout the world.

MECHANICAL CULTIVATION. The more jobs we can do by mechanical means the greater the saving. This is being proved every day on farm and garden. Too often the small grower says he hasn’t got the money and therefore can’t lay it out to save money; yet all growers should consider the various machines on the market and see if it is not posisble to afford one of them to help with their job. Not only is there a saving of - labour, but it is the quickness of job that is so important. Take, for instance, the introduction cf the roto-tiller We’ll say your Chrysanthemum plants are ready to put out but the ground is hard after a wet period. You want to get it down to a fine tilth very quickly, as every day will make all the difference to the production of the bloom in the autumn.

In the normal course of events the ground would have to be dug or ploughed and left for some time, perhaps; then, when ready, it will have to be forked or hoed down to a fine texture. These operations take time and it may be a week or ten days before you can plant. But with the roto-tiller, although the ground may be panned down hard the rotary tines are run over it, and in the twinkling of an eye, so to speak, the whole soil to the depth of 9 ins or so is in a perfect condition for planting. Rotary tines may be likened to the hind legs of a dog which, when scratching, produce fine soil behind him.

Take hoeing, for another example. You are growing in a wet season and the weeds are attempting to overget you. Hand hoeing takes time, but your mechanical cultivator gees over the ground very quickly, and cuts these down before they’ve had a chance to grow. Modern improvements have enabled the grower to fit all kinds of tools behind his motor so that he can hoe up to the plants or away from them, just as he pleases. One point more. Intensive cultivation and continuous cropping make for greater production. Greater production should, in turn, produce a higher revenue per acre. When the crop is cleared the ground needs to be prepared in the shortest time for the crop that is to follow. It is not so much cost then as need for speed. Plants will not wait for man. If they are ready to go in they must be planted or they may get hard and be spoilt. In a similar way, if seed has to be sown, a week or so may make all the difference to getting the crop on the market before, or at least as early as one’s neighbour. All these points mentioned should surely persuade a grower to go prospecting.

Rail fencing: When fastening up rails against cattle, don’t drive nails in straight, as is usual, but at opposite angles to one another, and it will be found almost impossible to force the rail off.

Heating milk: Some farmers’ wives have to heat milk for calves, etc. I have found it a good plan to prevent the milk from boiling over, to place a funnel (such as is used in a piedish) in the saucepan, when the milk will bubble through and fall back into the pan.