RURAL TALKS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16606, 18 July 1914, Page 5

RURAL TALKS.

(By RUSTICUS.) Wo have safely passed the shortest day, and when these notes appear in print we shall have commenced the month of July, the second half of the year. We have had good weather up . | to the shortest day, and although " tne -.;, " cold strengthens and the days lengthen," we somehow feel that the winter can only be of short duration after July commences. June has not been a frosty month; in fact, it has, on the whole, been a mild one. Some more severe frosts will do the ploughed land good, and the showers wo are experiencing are sufficient to keep the land moist enough for the frosts to get , a hold. July is, generally speaking, the coldest and wettest month of the year, and very little progress can be made in team work. The horses may be pat: to grain-carting, but unfortunately produce of any sort is 60 dull of sale the farmers do not like to market at present. It may not be a square deal to the local bodies to cart grain over the public roads in the middle of winter, but farmers have to consider how they can best employ their teams. They find that while the weather is good and tbe ground is dry, it does not pay them to take the horses off the land in order to cart grain. When cultivationwork is stopped, that is the time to do the carting, even if it is in the dead of winter and the roads are compara-j tively soft. It may cost a little more" to keep the roads in repair under such a system, but it may pay the farmer to spend a few extra pounds in rates to cart his prain and other produce when it suits him best.

Winter wheat may yet be sown on dry land, particularly in the north, but generally speaking it is better to. leave the seed out of the ground than to put it in when the dead season is. on. Next month there may be some life about, and the sowing can be deferred till then. Of course everything; depends upon the season and the state' of the land. If sowing is caried out; ' the seeding and the manuring should' be on more liberal lines than during, the autumn. Should a wet time come some of the seed is bound to rot, and_ provision should be made for this. To avoid as much of the waste caused wet weather as possible there should be some surface drainage done, unless there are already underground drains ornvided a rather unusual thing. I do know of farmers, however, who have gone in for tile and plough draining combined, and the results have been very good. But the majority of farmers depend upon deep ploughing and surface drains to carry away surplus water from their land. Indeed deep ploughing, whereby tbe subsoil is broken to a considerable depth, is one . of the very best ways of absorbing and holding moisture in the land, at the same time giving more scope for the roots of the plants.

Any ground intended for spring or summer cultivation should be ploughed now. so that the effects of winter on the land may be obtained. _ There can bp no doubt thatthe mellowing and pulverising effects of the frost are almost invaluable in soil cultivation. Many farmers assert that they cannot depend upon getting a decent crop of rape or turnips unless the land has been ploughed in the winter. Not only does the frost get to work upon soil so ploughed up, but moisture is also stored there ready for use in dry 6pells of weather. It is here that sub-soiling work shows up to advantage, and it is becoming a recognised fact among farmers that it is better to put in a little crop of any kind, roots, cereala or fodder, and to put it in well, than to put in many acres in an indifferent way. A fellow farmer told me only the other day that he has a email patch of swedes, a few acres only, that .will, provide, .sufficient feed for his mob of five hundred ewes through the worst period of winter. The hard pan on the subsoil, formed by continually ploughing the land at about the same depth, should be broken up now and again for several reasons; to give better drainage, more root hold for plants, and more plant food and soil water. If a little clay is turned up at this season of the year, it becomes mellowed and sweetened by the action of the . frosts.

A good deal of farmyard manure will no doubt be formed about • the stables, piggeries and cow byres during the winter months. This manure should be carted out to the plots where mangels, swedes, carrots, and potatoes are to be sown, preferably close to the homestead. This will help to maintain the fertility of the soil, and restore 6ome of the humus that i 3 continually being used up. Not a great deal of ground can be covered mwi way, but it will be found to benefit the plots that are treated very materially. In the paddocks fertility can be restored by ploughing in green •.re and this should certainly be done to a much greater extent than is usual at present. The farmyard manure had better be covered now and again with sand or soil, in order to prevent excessive fermentation. The gaseous matter escapes if the heap of manure is left quite open;-the fibrous texture of the vegetable matter will be found to be destroyed, and the manure will become soft and cold, and therefore less valuable than when properly cared for. The gorse fences should now com* in for as much attention as possible. There can be no doubt that the winter months are by far the best for gorse work. It is a decent job for the winter time, and on a cold day there are many worse things one can be set te do than chop a fence or grub out the seedlings that are spreading along the fences. Gorse hedges require a vast amount of endless work and care, and sometimes one is tempted to wish that all the fences were standard and wire. But gorse has many points m its favour. It makes a thoroughly stock proof fence, and it givesa great deal of very acceptable shelter m rough weather.

This is probably the most trying month of the year on stock, and there, fore a good deal of attention should be devoted to the farm animals. Dairy cows should now be supplied with plenty of good hay and roots and also good rugs. lam persuaded that it pays Ix> cover the milch cows Butter is dear at this time of the year, particularly nowadays, so that it is worth while giving the dairy cowt every chance of producing as much as they possibly can. They must be at* tended to, in order that they may <not go back in condition. They now require a few hours on turnips each day. They should be turned off each night, and put on again after the frost haa ' left tho roots in the morning. It is remarkable how long a small patch of really good turnips will last a mob of ewes, if they are given only a fpw hours per day on them each • a>. If the ewes are in good heart they will keep up their condition on a small amount if such good feed as turnips and hay. Ewes like a dry. clean place to lie on at night, and this ii best secured by turning them off tba turnips altogether each evening.