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ON THE LAND.

HRIST.MA> IN THE SEVENTIES (Fr.u.i ’ Sydney Herald. ') In these days of machinery's whirr and whirl it is good to tread tor a few moments the .lavs of long l'.g<>. Forty years ago the "wheat belt was a very mil row one. I lie vagat'ics of fashion ami the variations of fortune were alike hidden from us in their nnfoldings of tiie days to be. We journeyed out westward I’l-.m the farming diistrict vvithiii t'city miles of Bathurst, or a little ftnther aioag the Botirke road may!>e. and we smiled indulgently when a publican or a genera! storekeeper showed ns some fine heads of vv neat brought from the paddork where Im 21-ew iiis hay. and tried to spoil liis seeing of visions l.y the remark. "All. if you only had the rainfall!” And then we got back to our favoured zone to b ok with prim* upon the billowing' iiplamis vrh.'re the wheat ■roj. t ’i -:.st:n.-’.- was "beginning io >nr:i.” It may l>e tliat on jotirnrytngs out or in we had Le -n accosted by sundry nmn v?itli their swags earrievi perpendicularwise, with jaunty tread, or the more familiar horsecollar fashion speaking of shorter stages, with inquiries as to tht? harvest prospects "down Orange or Bathurs’. way. These men bad

■ waited till the law dr<l wa« >-;tf out ■<cii lei- k. ’ ;'.’iii vv ■ )-.'- ]>ow' making in for a f'W woi k< a::i<mgs’: tlirkies.” Ami a- vve ili.-iv near li<,ti,e th ■ lit;'<• i-i.- iotiy it ’ i-s b<.:-e pH.iinncnily amoug-t their outdoor ■dt.-ssings an iincouimon su-kle with ■ its finelv st-i-ravd edge, ami its legend BYS or BY<f. AA’Lere tl.e initials - came fiom we m-vi r km-w. but we knew what the sickles were for. And in two or three weeks’ time flies:.- . iv.-agim-n would be corning, ar.d we ’ cc-.ild gang - the three-quarter-acre a day men partly by the size cf the ■ -ickle gh-aming through the swag [traps. ■ But ('ii)-istmas I'ay wa* not vet ipaiscd. and tlif- reaping ti.m- was j ahead of :i“ as yet. Hay making was I ihi- order of the day through the [.-ailier part of December, as it. had '■ been ordering the farmers labour [.hiring the preceding month. And on jUhristnias Eve one stack would be ■ shaped, with th? thatchoi- at work, ■ perhaps another stack in growing .o- lit ion and in the paddock, while th" drays with their ungainly i "frames” were receiving tiie forkfuls, which at eraged nearly half a ; .-m-k. 1 he long windrows were being [gathered up by willing hands and well-worked rake and pitchfork. F-;.- , to-morrow is th<- day of days, and we ;'l'd not mind if we put in eighteen ;in.ms of labour on that day. so that we need not do a stroke on ('hrist- - mas Dav. And when wo went to ; - -.upper we km-w that with the half- ; stack covered with a good tarpaulin. am! tin- <-<>i-ks in the paddock well [raked down, there was 1 nothing that i will hint even if it. does rain.” ■ But who thought cf rain mi it liristmas Day Such treason [scarce found utterance at any rate. ; Ami when the morning found as. I Low d< lightfid it was to turn c-v i r ■miec more ami clo.-e our eyes to the I sunlight. Om- of us might turn out li arly is he liappene.i to be "sweet ■ mi one of the girls,” and had volun- | let red the night before to "get. the Imilk liefore it gm too hot." But i .ithcis of us <■< nld lie till breakfast |tmi>-. And after breakfast we just j 1-iy about, told some more stories. ] or refitted the old one aljout ov.r | trip "out back” to AVarren with the ;cattle. And then some cf the neigh- | hours’ sons came along with a towel [ oi’ two. And we took the hint and [ some nmre towels, ami w rut down i to tiie long water hc.ie at the creek, i ami swam and "I’ogicd” for an hour [ »)• mon-, alternating the cocl shades j under tl-ie weeping willows with the i sunnier spots. Then we found our [way to the orchard where the -lier- [ lies were ripest, and entered into : inoii: h-filling competitions, to lie !judged by the carefully counted [stones produced frv.ni each hand laftr-i- tin- effort. | Then came the dinnei;. which was jserved with all the conservatism [which only a perspiring but pi-ond [ Iniotlu r and daughters could display ;(.-n Uhristinas Day. And while some [of the lads volunteered to help or I l imit r at the washing up, the others late more cherries. At 3 o’clock the [meeting of the day took place. i War after v. ar we met on the tlal ■ [before the cottage of an old English-1 [man. who combined wifii his provm- . c-al dialect a skill for making use of ■ odd corners > f his orchard for glowing in profusion raspberries, goose-) ! beriics ami tiie tike. And he oh: : i man iimi other talents likewise. It. [ ; was a treat to watch him at. -.he: wicket, especially if you had hern | | "j i-ked" on the f.amt- side- as he. ] I He had made most «,f the bats f- .- | 'us out of slabs of scare,ned weeping, [willow. And he had a daughter. . [aid he had goos.ebr n ics. So lie was! I m vv r given mil by the umpire ’ ill [he was ready to retire. And to cive | | him liis due. I.<- was rot. easily bowl-; ]ed. His eye was as useful in timing ; ■ the ball as ii had proved itself in! [ judging a milking cow or 1.-argaitiing ; i:>v.T the sale if a 1 :> of potatoes.] | And his ontspi ken comments from [ ] the shade of the elderberry tree up m | [the play of some of the boys was. ti < say the hast, di scom-f-rting. None ]of those who knew and remembered I "Gid Sammy” were taken aback I when, in after yiars. they read of [ [••How MacDougall Topped the; I Score.” for "Sammy ” mostly did it. ] And there were other glances i which vve did not forget. The girls ■ in their white dresses under the row; [of cherry and plum trees just inside •the fence, showed occasional part'sI ansilip as they rested, after tiie [morning's cocking: but "barracKI ing” had not. yet become fashionahi' 'and we should have time amongst • the- gooseberry bushes presently to < xph-.iri that unlucky ‘troke; and if [the play was hardly scientific, it was fa-t enough >:n a Lumpy pitch. And flhen, when the baskets were being! opened, we lads sought the creek] again, and swam and splashed and ’ divid and shouted with the abandon ! of a happy youth. Our tastes were ■ simple and out wants were few. T’i ’railway had not come near us yet, AA’e wire sure ef five iliillings a [bushel for our wheat at the local mills, ar.d four shillings for ourtoats. 'and the h.ny would feed tiie draft of ] colts and fillies through the next ■■<b v time. while the clover of tl> ; flats had put the fat on the bullock* alrv-adv. and another month or -ex ■ weeks' would top them up. We] gathered handfuls >,f v. ild raspberries ii) .:i the crock bank: we des : ! 'patched the snake which dared to 1 crawl forth ns the sun sank lower : or even swam the water before our i eyes, and pr< sently we should have a tea fit for a prince; and. ef*'r| gathering at the house of a musi-al 1 familv for an hour or two. we vu nt singing, laughing home-wards, and, though we had to turn to a-'-’ti ’■■) Boxing Day, vve had had a .vl;.’iv Uhristmas. IX PER IM ENTS IN L-tiR.WE (ROl’s. . Tim C anterbury Frozen Meat ( ompany have now got a very complete ll’tle experimental farm in full -.wing at Belta.st. and a vi-it thereto [presents features ot interest. The plots are situated alongside th r ‘ railway upon som<- property recently acquired by the company, and tlm extent of the portion set aside-“*“-ux-periim-ntal work is e.xac.,. Tour r,-r<->. of a typical i ieh loamy, sod. The idea of running a series of iorage ciop experiments took definite -'■apo lasi -i:n:i and the Guvern-

!n:-i"it Agrieult'.iral Department w;mi :■ k.'il t<« ■- ■ -op." n t;-s it was) iboright tlial its aid would give an I cfiicial stains to the work carried| out. The co:.--."nt of the depart men- ■ ial authoriii’-s was lea.hiy obtained. ‘ a::<i it was d-.'<--d“d that the expertd ments should b<- earned out under j the siipervisi.m of the officials of the) A.gricn!tura! Department, The Go-i vernment- agreed tn find all the- seed I and supei vision, ami the .Meat Com-’ puny found tl.e land, the labour, ami ; tl.e manures, hi spite of the rather limited time available, matters were -i. ;:i put in hard, and Mr. .A. I’D Hopkins, the vvoiks manager, who takes tli? keenest interest in the ex-; P'»riments. deserves the greatest) (■icdit for the rapidity with which he; ciy-t-ed out all the preliminaries, and tints saved a season.- i

It was decided to carry out expert- [ mental work in the form of a com-) plete s-*t of variety tests of different] kinds of fodder plants, and the fol- ■ lowing crops were shown : — J

Mangels (27 vaiieties). —Brock’s R:-d Interim diate. Monarch Yellow; Globe, Golden Globe, Champion) Orange Globe. Brock's Yellow In-j t-?i mediate. Select Golden Tankard,; New Lion Yellow Interinediate. New Golden King. Kin ver Yellow Globe, Monarch Yellow Globe. Long Red .'.ianimeth, New Smithfield. Yellow: Globe. Golden Tankard, Mammoth; Long Rm!. Crimson Tankard. Sugar) Mangold, Prize-winner. New Zea- ■ land-grown Yellow Globe. Long Red; and Golden Tankard. Leviathan Longi Red. Half-sttgar Giant Red. Half-; sugar Giant Rost-. Half-sugar Giant; White, and Corner's Yellow Globe. ■ Turnips and Swedes (28 varieties).; -Imperial East Lothian. Perfection.) Lord Deibv. Kangaroo, Select Alon-1 arch, XL All. Best of All, New Em-] piie. Giant King. Imperial. New! Buffalo, Standard. John Bull, Queen Crimson King. Champion Purple [ Top. Elephant, Magnum Bonnin. Pio-' neer. Model. Given Tankard, Per-| feetion. C'oopvvell, Jncomparabte.: Keepwell, Superlative. Victory, and Skirvings.

The other crops include six varie-l ties of marrows, three varieties of ; pumpkins, six varieties of potatoes,! seven varieties of carrots, one of i soya beans, one. of cow peas, two of i kohlrabi, one of horse beans, two of; maize, four of millet, two of rape, ■ two of kale, one of chou mcellicr, one' of silver beet, and two of grasses. [ The land was ploughed three times i altogether, the first time deep (s'x inches), and the two subsequent times a little shallower. It was then I thoroughly cultivated, sown, and, rolled. The sowing was done byhand with a Planet Junior seed sow-! ing implement. AA’ith each different ! crop sown, manure at the ra-i. of. three hundredweights per acre v,as [ applied ; these manures being tiie ■ mixtures specially made up and sold ; by the company as suitable fcr par- ; ticular crops. It will thus be seen! that tiie test is not a manurial test, I but a variety test pure and simple, ; and when tiie crops have come to ; maturity and have been weighed for ■ yield peracre and analysed for the | leidiiig value valuable data should' be obtained as to the value of the ; several varieties sown. Every row ! of seed has been planted under as ) similar conditions as possible, arid ; has been thoroughly well done by, , ami it is fairly safe to conclude that if a particular variety does not prove ) iatisfaetc-ry under the test condi- ' lions, it would not be satisfactory! unde r the co-idit ic-ns it would pro- ■ L.tbl.v meet <n the average farm. At; present most <.-f the varieties look ; first rate. The niangds, turnips, | rape, kale, kohlrabi and chou mceiiier are well grown ami look in look in splendid condition, and then- ; is hariily a trace oi blight to be; found. The potatoes are veiy fair, ; imported seed doing much betterthan home grown, v.-hiie the maize. | millets, soya beans, and horse beans ) are inclined to lie backward. liie cow peas and some of the tropical ; varieties of millet vvill almost cer- ) .ainiy be failures. This is not as- ) lonis.hing in regard to the millett, [

tint the cow peas should have germinated. and the probability is that the seed was bad.

The potatoes will be sprayed over | half the plots, one half being left as [ r control. It is interesting to note ] that the experience of Mr. R. E- ) Alexander, the Director of the Can-j tqrbury Agriculture College, regard- i ing imported as against heme seed I is supported at the Belfast plots. ; Mr. Alexander imported some seed ■ of Up-to-Date variety of potatoes j from Southland, ami sowed them | under exactly similar conditionsalongside of seed grown at Lincoln. I The heme seed was quite as goml | as the Southland seed in appearance ! but the latter has done twice as well | ml tin? two lots are very noticeable i in the paddork. At Belfast the seed ] of some Robin Adair potatoes was [ got from seed that was imported ] from Home last season, and this is I doing very much better, and is far i better grown than the plants from ' seed grown in the j It is the intention of the company i to have a farmers’ day about the [ third week in January, when it is : hopeil that a large number of agri- ; culturists will < . urn anil inspect tne ) experimental pli is which should' then be looking their best. I

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBTRIB19111230.2.10

Bibliographic details

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume II, Issue 15, 30 December 1911, Page 3

Word Count
2,229

ON THE LAND. Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume II, Issue 15, 30 December 1911, Page 3

ON THE LAND. Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume II, Issue 15, 30 December 1911, Page 3

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