BUSY PERIOD AHEAD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 3372, 1 October 1931, Page 2

BUSY PERIOD AHEAD.

On most farms an extremely busy period is at hand, provided weather conditions permit of field work being proceeded with. But it is well to bear in mind that more harm than good may come from the working of wet soils. Just how wet a soil may be and still be cultivated without suffering injury is governed by the nature of the soil itself. Some of the sandy soils may be worked practically at any time, whereas great care must be taken not to work clay soils when they are too wet, It is at times safe to plough old grassland when adjacent land which has been under the plough for some years could not be cultivated without injury to its texture. Hence it is at times possible to keep the implements moving by diverting attention to old grassland earlier than had the conditions been drier. A common cause of relatively poor crop yields is that the sowing of the seed has not been preceded by sufficient cultivation, and on many farms the only way to rectify this weakness is to miss no opportunity at this season of pushing on with tillage work. Grass Harrowing. Grass harrowing is likely to be much needed on those paddocks on dariy farms on which stock have been held for winter feeding, in particular, fields from which it is planned to harvest silage or hay during the coming summer should be thoroughly harrowed a short time prior to the date of closing them up from stock.

Top-Dressing,

Profitable results, as <a rule, follow the application of phosphates to a •pasture shortly after it has been sown. The addition of quick-acting nitrogenous material to the phosphate may be worth while if cold conditions prevail, as probably will be the case in the Southern parts of the Dominion. Such top-dressing tends to provide the seedlings with extra vigour, which aids them in passing successfully through the critical young stage.

Top-dressing in September of established pastures which have not as yet been dressed will secure extra growth, but it is an open question whether it would not be better to postpone the application until November or thereabouts. If there is promise of an ample supply of growth for all requirements up to Christmas, including ensilage and hay, then the case for September top-dressing is definitely weak. Generally fields which are to be set aside for silage, hay, or seed production should be topdressed just before they are closed from stock, if top-dressing has not been done fairly recently. j i