PRACTICAL FARMING

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1977, 6 October 1886, Page 3

PRACTICAL FARMING

A drive in the country a few days bin k led into Mr David JJishell’s farm, on the New Ret)wick Road, and a very pi sant hour or two was spent in going ovir the p’aro and inspecting the various imptovetm nts brought about by its ontir-p-i-ittg and po s a-o ing proprietor. Those of our i eaders who recollect the conditi, u ,n which this hu d was in when Mr l!i.hell look it. in hand and who have not had an opportunity of seeing it under its much altered eoiidii 'oo, wou'd, like ourselves, be struck with the amount of bit or expended on it of late years by way of | nomine it improvement. At the oul- - we may state that. Mr Bishell’s J'orlc b draining, an 1, as far as we are able to jud,-0, Mechi him elf could not have turned his la'ents to better account in this direction had the farm in question bten plac 'd iiml x It is control for the purpose of Inhiring it into cultivation. Mr Bisheb’s farm c mprises an area of 225 aures, 125 of which is freehold and the balance leasehold. There are 185 acres under erop this year, as follows 100 acres in wheat, (iO acres in oats, 8 acres in peas and 17 acres in potatoes. The orchard covers 2 acres and the balance is iq grass, Y.d'i ig the crops throughout we venture to siy there ;.re none more promising in the district, and, if the season and marked nrc tip to the average, there can be li'th doubt but that Mr Bishell will this um git, a return commensurate with tiie amount, of lima anl labor expended by him in bringing his land to the advanced c minion it is now in. It will not come as a !> pi pise to those residing in the more immediate neighborhood of this farm wlmn "e state that, in an area of leas than ICu nerve, it has’,been found necessary to put down over 300 chains of drains, or speaking in the abstract, drains which, if pl.eed in one continuous line, would reach about four mil s. These dr,.ins ere tor tin most part coveted in and are conCtrueted of Iplai king cut from the heart of black birch. The innumerable springs which formally covtte.l the face of the best land on the farm have entirely disappeared, being adroitly intersected and led away on the southern side into a large open drain at the bend of ‘‘Doctoi’s Creek ” which, some tiin- ag'*, formed the

<:<(,«« belli of a law suit tune on the im- ,< .riant question of drainage. f)n the eastern side of the farm draining operations have been conducted so as to concent rate the* water into what is known as ti e “ Co-operative Drain” in the back boundary of the se ti nts facing respectively the Old anl Middle Renwiek K<>.(is. The soil dealt, with by Mr Bisl.o’.l may be desciibed as a peaty surface w th a rich, fragile, warm clay Mtb.V)i'. Wo are informed th it many farmers thought that much of the land taken in h out hy tlw present occupier was quite until for cropping purposes, but many "'ell ip a'ilied to express an opinion after go.ng over th s farm unreservedly say Hi it the laud b of such a quality and has bee a so well treated that light or ten ooneeeutive e ops may lie taken from it without deteriorating iu quality or exh.lhliog the land. Our chief object in writing this notice is to show what ha 3

I'l't'n done by Mr Bishell iu the matter of draining, bu’, before concluding, we may remark lint the comfortable but unpretentious two story farm-house, the wellappointed stock of modern fanning implements, the u eful well-cared for and not too numerous cattle and horses on the f irm a'l go to show that the proprietor is an imelliiTubt cultivator. It is the land that i, to give him his return and on the la'id, tlierefore, he lias expended It s tiro 3, hisl.borupd his money. The healthy appearance of crops on land which a few months ago was nothing short of a bog, affords practical exemplification of the

benefits of draining—i> let igent draining* there are bund eus of ores ef equally go id land i the Wair u, tb- owners of which would profit la-gely by 'ubmitting it to treatment similar to tint, employed by Mr Bishell in improving his farm. Mr BishtPm y, in so far as duv: age works go, claim to have a model form.