FARM AND FIELD

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 April 1920, Page 8

FARM AND FIELD

NEWS AND TOPICS. '■*■:, (^"X " ) ("X" invites contributions from farmers on the Coast on general matters of interest to the farming community for insertion in this , column).

' INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS.

The executive of the Taranaki Farmers' Union, learning that Mr. W. T. Wells, of Manaia, had recently conducted some interesting agricultural operations, wrote to him for information, and he replied as follows (says the Star):—"This season I drilled 15 acres of Algerian oats on turnip land, with fiewt of cargonate of lime drilled in the same asi manure. Result, a beautiful crop, estimated to yield 55 to 60 brshels. It stood the gales and rain, the grain was heavy and good, and the straw bright and strong. Another 5 acres of Algerian oats was sown with 2cwt of super. There was a heavy crop, but inclined to -rust, and the straw was soft and went down, and did not finish well —about 50 bushels. The next five acres was sown with the local Farmers' Co-op. manure at the rate of 2cwt. to the acre. Though

sown just as the other paddock with land just the same the seed did not come up (he same; it was rather thin and hung for a time. Then it came away, beat super, and came close'up to the limed patch. The cost of lime was 8s Gd, super 225, and Farmers' Co-op. 22s per acre. Oh grass (25 acres) sc\vt of lime and 2cwi: of super per acre gave good results; on 16 acres of grass scwt of lime and 2ewt of basic super (Hodder and Tolley's) was very good, and on about 4 acres lOcwt of lime was just about as good. Perhaps basic super shows a. little better, but 1 find on all- paddocks when limed a decided'change in the grass has taken place, and ryegrass: and clover have reappeared. Although as you know, hav crops this season were light, mine were easily the best I saw about here and the after grass could not be beaten. • I may say that I also cut another paddock of (>0 acres without lime —the same sort of land, only better if any-thing-—but not nearly the re'sult of limed land. I also put a lot of calves on both —about 05 in one paddock that had not been limed, and 15 as well as forward cows, on the limed section, and the calves on the latter showed a good bit of difference in their coats in their favour. 1 do not know how long you can use lime, but on another /arm of mine I used it

v»iu \ju .im'inci iill in Ul. MIMIC l used 11 a lot for the last few years, and my idea is to use it while manure is so dear, and when it becomes cheaper I can put it on again. ' I found th«t during the <\vy weather we had before Christmas the limed land stood the tost much the best. On my Mejemere farm lime made more difference than at Manaia, increasing the milk yield and causing a second-class yield of milk On the poorer end of the farm to become quite equal to the herd on the first-class land on the other end of the farm. The treatment was 5 cwt of lime, 2cwt of super for two yenvs. and I had ordered seven or eight trucks of lime for this season before we sold out, thus proving our faith in lime." **# * # Tho Superintendent of Experiments of the Department of Agriculture in South Australia (Mr. W. J. Spafford)

iii reply to the question, "If a promising crop of peas fails to pod, either through frost or dry weather, and ie is cot while green, 'will it h,e of anv value as hay?" said that"'pea*, if properly handled make very fair hay. Most of our cultivated'plants are at their maximum of gj'owth a short time "after flowering, and, from a hay point of view, are still very digestible at t!iis stage, and so it is found that when out soon after flowering and made into hay, the maximum amount of digestible' foodstuff is secured. Peas are no different from our other hay crops in this respect, and for the purpose should he cut shortly after the bulk of the plants has flowered, say, a. fortnight at tne outside. In this hay the'leaves are of greatest, value, and in curing care must he taken to see that the leaves are not allowed to become dry and brittle. -For the best results it should be cured in a manner similar to that adopted with lucerne, being put into comparatively small'cocks* and only turned in the cool parts of

be done in one year to convince a 1 critical public of its utility. 1 Therefore, the programme of work

and the funds with which to carry it out should bo extended over a period of at least three years. It is the growth of ••team-thinking" that determines the real value of an organisation. Co-operative thought is the only means a community has at hand to bring about changes for the better. If you are a doctor, or a dentist or a lawyer or a grocer, y OU will find that all your individual efforts, no matter how clever, cannot disentangle you from the limitations of°a "dead town" where you live. Yet you cannot remove to another place without sacrificing that priceless public confidence built up by all your preceding efforts. Each passim.- year makes your own personal problem, increasingly difficult; your family and its future, so -to speak, are "invested" in the tpwn. The one and only way, then to extricate one's self from a "dead town" is to join with other men and "liven" it up. The people of Greymouth and surrounding districts will be given an opportunity of combining together for advancement of their community by supporting the local Progress League, a meeting in connection with which will be held on Thursday next Now is the opportunity for the people to exert their united influence for the common good. Never was there such, an opportune moment, never was the position faced with such- tremendous possibilities. That . the people of the district will fully realise the responsibility of citizenship I have not t)\e> least doubt in my own mirid, ./ J \

the day (morning or evening) and * stacked before it becomes too dry. * * * * t* The yearly toll exacted by the kea throughout Canterbury is estimated to lie .close upon 20,000 sheep. An instances of the difficult of dealing with the kea pest was narrated by a prominent member of the Canterbury Sheep Owners"' Union. Recently he shot a. ''killer" and in the vicinity there were several sheep lying that had been killed by keas. Owing to the bush providing plentiful cover, he found it necessary to wait in hiding till this particular b'ird came down to start his nightly operations. The kea began on a mob of sheep on a spur about a quarter of a mile front his hiding place. When he had worked his way towards the bird and had shot it, lie found that the kea had succeeded in attacking the sheep's kidneys. Last his head shepherd killed thee keas while each was in the act of eating sheep. During the past season lie estimated that lie lost 2000 as the result of the ken's fondness for the fat in tbe vicinity of the kidneys. -X- 7r -X- -X- •?.- A leading Victorian dairy farmer, Mr. A. W. .tones, who has nine silos in connection with his dairy herds, again suggests* the importance of silage to this country. It is recognised with our system of dairy farming that the feeding of silage is not always convenient But this suggests the great importance of having a cov-ered-iu feeding place near the milking shed, with racks of hay and troughs for silage and roots, in which the cattle can be kept in bad winter weather and on stormy nights. as the standard of our herds is raised it. will be imperative that we adopt means such as these to maintain them at their full profit. The heavy producing cow is only profitable when ' she is effectively handled and fed. : Ample feeding and effective shelter ; cannot, be ignored under a. system of >' /.lairy farming where tbe maximum profit is to be expected from heavy producing animals. -x- # * * #

Details just to hand from America indicate the very serious character of the milk record frauds, in America. The president of the Holstein-Fries-ian Association of America, Mr. D. D. Aitken, in a statement sent to members, gives some details- of tire extraordinary fraud which the perpetrator, in the presence of member.-; of the executive committee at a meeting- in Chicago, confessed that lie had "made" 40 to 50-pound butter records with Holstein-Friesian cows. The confession, sworn to and signed, is in the custody of the corn-

mittee, He "made" cows '"make" phenomenal records by introducing several pound* of cream into the pad at each milking. It is stated that he carried the required quantity of cream, diluted with water, in a \ libber hot-water bottle, which was fastened ro and suspended from a band round his neck, and concealed u loose jumper. A rubber tube extended from the water bottle down inside the wearer's overalls and, through a slit in the crotch, was introduced into the pail. A stopper in or clump near the end of the tube was removed at the right time and p)ace, and the requisite quantity of cream ran into the milk pan when the latter was full or ''foam-full.'' It was a .vimple triok, performed with

considerable skill. The conditions surrcuudhig the performer were important. Tiie stall required to be built or arranged so that while he milked a cow m it there should be no room at her head or tail or at the left side for a supervisor to sit or stand. The supervisor, looking on trom the only position which it was physically possible for hint to take while the milker handled the cow, could not see what was done. * * # * -xBy steeping mangold-seed in water ten hours before sowing it will germinate quicker and show up in the drills before weeds appeal- in quantity (says the Auckland Weekly News). It is necessary to put a stone in the bag to ensure the seed sinking below the surface of the water. After about ten hours' immersion hang the bag up to drain, when the seed will lie ready for sowing. If this method is adopted the ascrifier can be run through \\\q crop at an earlier date, thus reducin-'' the cost of cleaning. In arise more than one variety of mangold-seed is used, it is recommended that separate vessels of water be u-'.ed for steeping- seed, so as to avoid the risk of spreading disease, if present, from one variety to the other.