SEASONABLE NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIX, Issue 6873, 10 March 1883, Page 3

SEASONABLE NOTES.

(OmUrhwmTimtt.) Many farmer* in tho earlier dUtriote haw flashed hameting and wn thmhiDg. and theie fortunate once »»t° on hairing eseaped the bad weathetj which, it i* to be feared, will seriously «Mnjm crop, in the later districtsthie harvest, taking ha* been very trifling* * ft* oaeee los.wa. *u*t*lt£ from experienced about the middle of Sebraavy. Burt ha. bee. more than for eome the late,t oropsm U"'«' ...»*hu* (he beet, and indeed the only oSCwhiohaiy reliweeii. tobe plaoed.S eari* •owins. No doubt inetanoee can be brought forward of crop. wWoh were sown In good time being attaeked by thie most dee-

tractive fungus, ssperially on very rich land, where there!* a rank growth of straw i but, a* a rule, crop* that are well forward, and which, therefore, have the benefit of the longest day* and the shortest nights daring the period of ripening, are not badly effected, even in lesions most favourable to the production of the fungus. That the average yield will be good is beyond a doubt, but it is not the less certain that many of the samples will be some degrees below first-olas*. A number of (amen are somewhat inclined to be careless in threshing, and do not take sufficient pains to divide (he good from the bad. If a portion of tho crop ha* become sprouted, either in the field or in the stack, it is much the best plan to keep the sound and unsound grain separate so far as it can be done, and to sell each sort lor what it is worth. Under the present aspect of the wheat market, it is probable that the majority of growers will prefer to sell here to shipping on their own account. When wheat is at about four shillings a bushel in the local markets, it is questionable wisdom on (ho part of farmers to take the risk of shipping nomo. A bird in hand is worth two in tho bush, and a payable price directly after harvest, even if it only leave* a moderate profit, has much to recommend it, while tho chances of doing hotter by shipping may be likened to a bird in the bush which may never be caught. After threshing, if it follows oloso upon harvest, a farmer has time to look about him, and to form bis plans for the year. In early districts it is not always necessary to begin preparing for wheat sowing immediately, and tho weather does mot always admit of the plough being set to Vork at once. This season, nowever, after tho reeeot heavy rains, ploughing may be pnt in hand at any time, ana in wheat sowing it is much better to be on tho early than on the late side. There' is nothing like being prepared for an early winter. As a general thing, we do not get weather which materially interferes with work till towards the end of Juno, but there is no certainty about the matter, and ploughing or sowing when the ground is saturated with moisture is very miserable, and generally unprofitable work. On retentive soil the wheat requires to be sown early, in order to avoid risk from excessive ram daring the winter; and on light land early towing is necessary, so that the plant may get a good atart, and be in a position to hold its own in the event of dry weather setting in early in the spring. The time for wheat sowing, however, is materially ruled by the climate of a district. There is a difference of from a fortnight to a month in the seasons between the various districts in Canterbury alone. Experience makes it every year more apparent, that unless wheat can be sown in good seasonable time, with the land in fair order, it is better not to sow it at all, but to substitute some other crop in regard to which those condition! can be complied with. Farming of the scrambling sort never pays; crops put in in a bony, and out of season, or at tho extreme limit of the season, come to harvest late in the autumn, and the risks always incident to grain growing are greatly increased and intensified, and the chance* of success are proportionately reduced. The seasons never pause, and unless a farmer gets a fair start in the race, a lame finish is only in the natoral order of things. There is, however, Wther work of importance in the autmnn to be attended to besides that of preparing for the wheat crop. Where sheep are kept, culling is a very necessary matter. Unless the inferior and aged breeding ewes are thrown out annually, a good profitable close of sheep cannot be looked for. In disposing of surplus stock, whether they are sold in a fat or a store condition,, depends, of course, on tho supply of feed available, hut in any case over-etockiag during the winter is to bo avoided above au things. During the mellow autumn months, it is too often not sufficiently borne in mind that in the winter vegetation will bo at a stand still, and that every mouthful oohsnmed by the stock reduces the supply by that amount. A man who has farmed the same land for several year* get* to know It* carrying capacity very closely, but to a man now to the countiy, or who has recently entered upon sheep farming this is a somewhat difficult problem. The novice cannot do better thonketp a sharp eye on the doings of his more experienced neighbour*. Most people, however, prefer learning by their own experience which is perhaps the most effective course in the long run, only it takes time and invariably comes expensive. Dipping is an operation which should not bo neglected, ana which pays for doing in more ways than one. Being freed from the irritating effects of lioa and ticks the sheep naturally thrive better, there is a considerable saving of wool, and ft saves the fences from being incessantly nibbed against by the sheep, and from much consequent damage. Bearing upon tho subject of sheep feed, if any grain has been shaken out daring harvest it pays well to harrow tho etubble, ae by eo doing a material addition to the stock of winter feed may be obtained,and the land is also cleaned for futnre crops. In warm localities or on a quick soil a little stubbls turnip seed may advantageously be sown. It is good practice to obtain os much vegetation as possible from every acre in the coarse of the year. A green crop fed off not only does not tend to exhaust the soil, but adds to its fertility, and recent investigations of soisnoe teach us that land which carries vegetation of any kind during the winter retain* much of the nitrogen which ie inevitably lost in a bare fallow.