INTENSIVE CULTIVATION.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 118, 16 May 1912, Page 6

INTENSIVE CULTIVATION.

The problem of successful farming nowadays, and particularly the. problem of small holdings, must depend for its solution in intensive culture, which means that the-crops grown -one after'the other in q~uick succession must be sowa in soil worked into a condition as perfect as possible and must be regularly nourished* with ample supplies of available plant food. If horses are put. to extra hard work they are supplied With extra rations, including energy-producing grain. Similarly the-soil, if expected to produce a quick succession of exhausting crops, must be supplied with the' nourishing material to enable it io bear with success thestrain. Farmyard manure applied ,in moderate quantities will maintain the soil in. a good physical condition and keep it supplied with humus. Then _phosphoric acid and ; potssh in suitable forms must be used liberally; the fertilising elements in them are not liable to be washed away, and, therefore, any balance not utilised by one crop "remains available for the next. By the growth of clover between other •crops a supply of- nitrogen can -be stored in. the ground, although it is necessary to. ejive the crbps also the advantage of more available nitrogen in the shape; of guano, nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia or other quickly-acting material. Deep ploughing and thorough harrowing must be given before all seeding, for we must understand that one great advantage in using fertilisers is : that they are so fine that they may be worked, or mixed through the soiJ, and unless the soil itself is thoroughly fined this cannot be done. .