FIELD NOTES FOR JANUARY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 4 January 1926, Page 4

FIELD NOTES FOR JANUARY.

(By J. W. Deem, Instructor in Agriculture, Wanganui.) The season being late, Harvesting operations will not be so general during January as usual, and it will be well into February before most of the crops are ready. As the area is below normal and the crops, on the whole, light, it is probable that good prices will rule for all cereal crops and farmers should do everything possible to save their crops in first-class condition. Stooking should he avoll done and the stooks should not be too large, from S to 10 sheaves being ample. If the stooks are kept small the material dries quickly and may be either stacked or thrashed out of the stook much quicker than where big stooks are put up. This is very important where the weather is as unreliable as it is on this coast. ROOT CROPS.

The sowing of root crops—turnips and sAvedes —should be well advanced by the end of the year. Where this work has not been completed it should be pushed along if the weather is favourable. On the higher situations and where the rainfall is good, sowing may continue right up to the end of Janu--ary, but in most situations it will ba found more profitable to sow turnips than swedes after about tlie 20th of January, as they come quicker and the chances of a good crop are greater. Hardy or Imperial Green Globe ara suitable turnips for January sowing. If any later, better results will be obtained from 'White Stubble Turnip. The land should he worked to a fine tilth to insure moisture for a rapid germina tion. Super or basic super at 1 $ to 2 cAvt per acre - are suitable manures. If more than these quantities are being used at this season (particularly if tho ground is dry) it is best to broadcast half of it and harrow in, sowing the balance with the seed. There is a danger in dry warm weather if large quantities of manure are applied with the seed, of it having a detrimental effect on the germination of the seed.

MANGOLDS AND CARROTS. The thinning of these crops should be pushed on as rapidiy as possible so as to encourage as much growth as possible Avhile the weather is warm. Carrots should be thinned to about 8 and mangolds to 12 or 14 inches apart in the rows. In thinning root crops, care should be taken to leave the most vigorous plants oven if it is necessary to leave them a little closer or a little Avider apart. Where Gureande carrots are being grown for sheep, weeding is desirable, but they should not be thinned. If mangolds are not growing freely or the leaves are inclined to be yellow, a top-dressing of lewt of nitrate of soda at this period would give them a good push along. The nitrate is best applied on a wet day. Early sown crops of millet and rape should be ready for feeding towards the end of the month. To get the best of these crops, feeding should start on the millet when it is 6 to 8 inches high. If this is done it will stool out and give a lot of feeding during the autumn, and stock will do better on it. Rape, on tho other hand, should be allowed to ripen before being stocked. When the leaves take on a bluish tinge it is about right. If urgently required it may be fed earlier.

Lambs confined on rape are inclined to scald and, where possible, they should have access to some other fod. dor, and, where available, millet is very suitable. The alternative is a run off on grass or clover. If rape or turnip crops are being badly attacked with aphis or moth, it is good practice to oat the leaves off quickly with lambs or other suitable stock, and thus starve out the pest. If this >s done the subsequent growth is usually fairly clean. A number of farmers now grow peas for lamb fattening, and a good many inquiries are received as to the best time to stock them. This is just when the main portion of the peas are firm and turning colour in the pods. If stocked earlier, lambs do not take to thorn readily and there is considerable waste. If the weather continues dry practically every pea will be picked off the ground. Lambs should not be confined to peas for a start as it take 3 them a few days to get accustomed to them, and during this period they should have access to other feed. After about a week the peas arc eaten readily and the necessity for other fodder is not so great. All the same, lambs fattening on peas will always do better if they have a run off, even if it is in a bare grass paddock. Lambs on peas should, if possible, bo provided with good clean drinking water.