The Farmer

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 2694, 12 July 1923, Page 8

The Farmer

It in understood that representations are to lie made to the Mastcrtor. County Council to have the protection removed from hares in the Masterton County. At the "Willowbank" clearing sale at Palmerston North, Mr F. E. Jones, of "Vale Royal," Halswell, purchased eight of the best milking Shorthorn cows on the stud, all the progeny of Matangi Pride and the I best cows of this well-known herd. The infusion of this fashionable blood | should male:-' the- "Vale Royal" herd 'one of the best Shorthoro studs in 1 the Dominion. With a small outlay for practical experiments, a fanner can learn more in a season regarding the requirements of the soil he cultivates than in any other manner, and the value of such knowledge, will enable him to produce the largest, possible crops with the smallest expense for fertilisers. He can dispense with such materials as he has proved to be not necessary on his soil. On the other hind he can add an extra quantity of any ingredient which Iris experiments show to be especially necessary. A South African paper, commenting on cattle dipping, mentions a story of the difficulty experienced in the early days of making native chiefs conform to the "dipping' law" in regard to cattle. An official in an upcountry district, charged with the duty of seeing this law carried out arranged a. 'demonstration for the local chief. In his presence he had half of his herd dipped. and then invited .the chief to return In ten months' time and see the difference between dipped and undipped cattle, On the appointed day the chief returned, and noticing the glossy skin and fatness of the treated cattle against the miserable condition of the others, impoverished by the tick, turned to his chief induna, and said decisively: "Fetch my three oldest wives!" FIELD NOTES FOR JULY. (Supplied by Fields Instruction Branch, Department ot Agriculture.) On the lower country cows will be coming into profit toward the end ot the month and all repairs and preparations for a busy season should be Ipushed along, especially repairs to 'milking sheds and yards. The longier concrete stands before being used ! the better. Where a milking plant is installed, it should be thoroughly I overhauled and th e engine put in good i repair. In agricultural districts the I plough, seed, drill, etc., should be put iin order for a busy spring. FIELD WORK. If the land is dry enough ploughling for spring sowing ot* wheat, and ! barley should be pushed along so as to have the land ready for sowing from the middle of August onwards. 1 Generally speaking the. end of August |is quite early enough for spring wheat. !Several varieties ar e suitable for North | lsland conditions. Among the best 'are Major, Marquis and John Brown. I During' the last two years, the former has beaten all other varieties, for I yield, and has the great advantage that the straw is very strong and will 'stand up on most land. Besides this it is a quick maturing wheat, and may be sown as late, as the first week in October. "Spring wheat requires a | heavier seeding- than autumn, about j 2A bushels per acre being t'he correct thing. Superphosphate from one to two cwf. per acre, is a suital.de manure. The seed-bed should bo worked deeply. The cultivator does better work than the disc, as it works the line soil down and brings the clods to the surface. These afford shelter for the young plants and are later broken 'down by the roller. All seed-wheat Ishould be dressed for smut before 'sowing'. Formalin is the best dressing. Use the. ordinary 4 0 per cent. fo»malin, as supplied by chemists, at I the rate of one pint to 40 gallons of I water. Spread the wheat out on a and tpiJnkle with spray pump or watering can until all the grain lis wet. using a shovel to do the necessary turning. It should be left on the floor all night and bagged in the j morning. If by any chance any wheat is left over when sowing is completed |V may be used for fowl feed, there being' no clanger from poisoning. Early sjwn Holds of oats or wheat that are shewing much growth should lie fed down if the land is dry enough. Follow with a stroke or two of the tine harrow to open up the land, and. do not be afiaid that you will hurf the .crop, TOP-DRESSING. When not already done, this should I bo pushed along. Suitable manures I for July are: Basic slag, basic super, super and Nauru half and half, and in the. earlier districts superphosphate alone will give best results. Where lime lias been applied earlier superphosphate should b ft put on from rhe I middle W, the end of July. I Keep the harrows going to scatter all deposits of manure. This is a (good time to give a final harrowing to ! 'i top-dressed paddock and close it up for early calving -cows or early i lambing ewes. Remember there is no betret tonic for a freshly calved cow or lambed ewe than a bit of nice clean pasture. FEEDING OF ROOTS. This will now be general, and where !several varieties such as swedes, carrots and mangolds aro grown the. swedes should be used up for the dry eews, reserving the carrots for tho : cows'as they come into profit, and the mangolds for August and September feeding. Last month the feeding of ij mangolds was fully dealt with, but it is well to repeat that: these should not be fed to dairy cows until they have been out of the ground for some 1 weeks.. If not already pulled, pull at once, and mangolds that have been pulled or harrowed out for a few weeks are splendid for ewps both before and after lambing. Where ewes

have been fed mangolds for two or three weeks before lambing they set over most, of vh e lambing troubles aud come in with a good How of milk. FEEDING THOUSAND-HI3ADED KALE. In some districts thousand-headed kale and similar crops are provided for August and September feeding and where these are grown, great care should be taken to see that the feeding to cows is not 100 liberal, otherwise red-water and other stomach troubles will result. If this class of crop is cut and allowed to wilt for a day the danger is greatly reduced.