FOR THE FARMER.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XX, Issue 2118, 23 May 1925, Page 2

FOR THE FARMER.

This is a suitable time for.' liming operations, it being a. great advantage to. get the. carting done before the land is too- wet. Lime is best applied to the ploughed surface, as it quickly works downwards.

There is no particular season when it is specially advisable that chain harrowing should be carried out. Whenever there is a noticeable sprinkling of animal drojnpings throughout a pasture, it should be harrowed. An enquirer from, Tapanui wants to know if it is necessary for a farmer to fill in an income tax return this year. The reply is that if a man works his own farm, and pays land tax, and lias no other incline, he is not expected, to furnish a return, or pay the tax, bu|t if he derives incomes from rents, shares or other properties, lie is liable for those.—Farmers’ Weekly.

ELECT!IIC'ITY ON THE FARM

HEATING OF ENSILAGE

The use of electricity on farms is becoming common throughout New Zealand and an interesting experiment in the use off electric current is to bo tried by a Hauraki Plains farmer. It is recognised that maize ensilage is eery slow in heading, and to assist in raising the heat to a proper standard 1 the farmer ha.s conceived the idea of utilising electric power. He lias induced the Thames Valley Power Board to make an experiment in this direction, which will ho the first of its kind carried out in this district and possibly in New Zealand. The proposal shortly, is to provide a, metal plate at the bottom of the pit, and another art the top so that current will he transmitted through the ensilage, bringing it up to the desired, heat. The initial outlay will apparently be very costly, but the fanner concerned is willing Ito provide all equipment. The Power Board approved of the following recommendation from the special finance committee:—“That the electricity be supplied free for the experiment conditional upon the farmer suggesting the experiment supplying all appliances and giving an undertaking indemnifying the Board against any liability-.”

J’ICS AT RUAKURA

IMMENSE ANIMALS RAISED

Pig breeding is carried out under ideal conditions at the Ruakura Experimental Farm, in the Waikato district, and; some of the largest pigs in the world are reared there. The pigs are comfortably Infused in clean, dry and well-kept sties under one roof. They are kept in the sties for fattening purposes and farrowing. At other times they are permitted to roam in a number of fields among the thick clover, rye-grass and lucerne. They are quite docile, and-grow to an immense size,( the average being from 3501 b to 510 lbs dressed. One animal killed last week turned the scale at 4501 b dressed. Pedigree Berkshires only- are bred; on the farm, a.nd are found to suit the conditions pertaining at. Ruakura. A ration given to the pigs in addition to skim milk, windfall apples, pulped pumpkins and green feed, consists of dried peas in the straw. The farm manager, Mr A. W. Green, said that here was less waste when peas wore fed t <>i the pigs in this way than when the peas were crushed. The dried peas were kept in receptacles over the sty, and wore fed in armluls. The pigs took a good deal of Lime in eating this fodder and thoroughly digested it.

MANURING LIGHT SOILS

USEFUL HINTS

The great need of light oils is for organic matter," and farmyard manure therefore stands easily first among (the manorial requirement lor tins type of land. Of the artificial manures, potassic and nitrogenous fertilisers can be usually relied upon to give good results. Kainit and 20 per cent potash salts are useful sources of potash for mangels, peas and iclovers, three crops that respond well to this type of fertiliser; while the muriate or sulphate is hotter suited to potatoes, the sulphate being preferable where high quality is desired.

Of the nitrogenous manures, nitrate uf lime is very useful on light soils deficient in lime, as many of them are; nitrate of soda, as is well known, is equally rapid in action. Sulphate of ammonia is less useful on in the absence of lime is iit may injure some of tlie crops, especially clover sawn in the barley. If, however, lime is added during the rotation, or if the land is well chalked, this* difficulty disappears.

VALUE OF SUB-SOILING

nm I UNEIUT.I VE OPER ATION. It is not enough to plough and cultivate only the /top soil, states the British Ministry for Agriculture. If no more than that is done the crop will bo much smaller than it might be. There are two methods of working the soil 'to a greater depth. One is by deep ploughing, such as is employed in the potato lands of Leicestershire, and the other is by sub-soiling. There are many cases where deep ploughing would be positively injurious, since to bring the subsoil to the surface would mean a serious loss in fertility, but it is possible by sub-soiling to stir the sub-soil without bringing any of it to the surface. Sub-suiling is particularly necessary when a pan has formed below the top soil, either because continual plougliings at a certain depth liavbe converted the soil at that depth have converted the soil at that stratum, or because by chemical 1 action a lmrd pan has been formed. It is very probable, however, that sub-soil-ing will be beneficial even where there is no pail. A series of experimental tests which were commenced two years ago have shown that on a wide range of soils, from sand and gravel to clay, snbsoiling is a highly remunerative operation. Increased, yields of as much as 50 per cent have been obtained in the first year with potatoes, and as much as 25 per cent with barley and wheat. Similar increases lia-vo bene given in the second year with no further subsoiling. Although we cannot a/b once jump to the conclusion that sub-soiling will be universally beneficial, there is a strong presumption that on wide, areas the operation will be followed by substantially increased yields. At the present time the best advice which can be given to farmers who are in-

dined to think that sub-soiling would pay them is to experiment with half a field and compare it- with the other half.

In a, few years’ time the experiments which are in hand at* the Institute of Agricultural Engineering at Oxford should show the precise reasons why sub-soiling gives increased yields, and it should then be possible to say in exactly which circumstances sub-soiling will pay and when it will not. At present thje general understanding is that sub-sdiling will increase the drought-resisting property of the soil, and will improve the root development and general well-being of the plant. Further advantages are that many soils are made warmer and cease to be “season” land, . that is, land which can be safely cultivated, in the drier times of the year. Weeds are eradicated and the labour bill eventually reduced.