ON THE FARM

Northern Advocate, 3 July 1928, Page 8

ON THE FARM

PREPARATION FOR SPRING

SOWN CEREALS. Spring oats and wheat arc- usually sown in August and early September, and barley in September and very early October, so as to avoid the crop being flooded in the early spring. The nature of the preparatory cultivation for these crops will depend on the idass of land and the position they take in a given paddock rotation.

Land after swedes or soft turnips is usually not (dear till the end of July or middle of August, so that the st-ed-bed for spring cereals after roots may be quickly prepared. Cultivation work should bo pushed ahead during all good weather, and the nat crop is usually drilled before a start is made on the preparation of the seed-bed for the barley crop. Ou light land the roller can be used with advantage in consolidating the seedbed, but on heavy land its use should he avoided, as it causes the soil to settle down and cake. Spring-sown cereals benefit from a rolling after drilling, but unless the land is light the rolling should be delayed till late September or early October, when the land is drier. Rolling hardens the surface, breaks the clods, and lessons the amount of dust at harvest-time.} ]n places of low rainfall cereal crops! should’ 1 not be rolled until the crop is Sin to Idiu high, so that moisture will

not be lost by evaporation from the bare, rolled surface.

Oats do belter after grass than any other cereal. On light land the ground should bo ploughed in July, rolled on the furrow, disked to a fine seed-bed, and harrowed and rolled before drilling. On --heavy bind the 'ploughing can often be best done with the digger plough with a skim coulter and knives attached to the tail-plates, which leaves the land in a lit condition for disking. Spring cereals often follow a winter fallow, am] are usually taken in this place when the land was prepared for autumn ami winter cereals and the weaklier prevented sowing at the proper time. Barley often does best when taken in this position in the rotation. If the laud has settled down badly in the winter, it should j be ploughed and worked down again before- the crop is drilled.

Cereals sown in the spring require a heavier seeding than when sown in the autumn, because less tillering takes place than is the case with autumn-sown crops. Also with cereals for threshing, a light seeding in the spring will give rise to a number of late tillers, and consequently a high proportion, of shrivelled grain. The average seeding for spring cereals will be about 'll bushels to the acre, but the amount will vary from 2 to J bushels, depending on the cereal and the local conditions of soil ami climate. PASTURE-MANAGEMENT.

All dairying pastures will benefit from thorough chain and tripod harrowing during the winter. Especially so is this the case with pastures ou which winter supplementary feeding has been carried out. The organic matter of the spread droppings lias a wonderfully stimulating effect on both clovers and grasses, and frequent chain harrowing is essential for the maintenance of a good even turf. In harrowing old pastures it is not sufficient to spread the droppings only, the tripods should be heavy enough to slightly tear the surface and allow Ihe aeration of the surface layer of the soil.

Top-dressing with nitrogenous l fertilizers to promote winter growth of grass for the early spring is now becoming a practice iu dairying districts. The promotion of an earlv spring growth of grass is most successful whore the pastures have been brought to a high state of fertility and production by means of phosphatic dressings—that is, whore perennial rye-grass is the dominant grass of the pasture. Most dairying pastures consist mainly of a mixture of rye-grass, cocksfoot, and white clover, 'the main period of rye-grass growth is from March to December, whereas cocks!oot does not start vigorous growth till the late spring, though it throws a good deal of fetal during the autumn. The rjuick response of pastures to winter dressings with nitre-1 genous fertilisers, and the amount of, feed thrown, depend mainly on the amount of rye-grass present in a pasture.

MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OP BREEDING-EWES.

Breeding-ewes on iat-lamb-raising farms should receive careful attention during July to ensure that they get sufficient exercise to keep them in a healthy condition. Ewes on turnips should be moved off at night to a bare grass-paddock, and not be put back on the crop until the frost is off the ground. Care should be exercised that the ewes are not hurried or crowded when moving from one field to another.

On or about the l-Ifitli day after putting out the rams lambs may he expected, and on North Island fat-lamb-raising farms a few lambs will be dropped during the latter part of July. The raising of early fat lambs necessitates the careful provision of feed for the early spring, and on North Island grass-farms the secret of success lies in systematic topdressing, careful grazing, and under-

stocking during the winter, so that

some of the winter growth of grass .nay be saved for the spring. A selection of well-sheltered, clean grass paddocks is very necessary at lambing-time, so that the unlambed ewes can be kept separate from the lambed ones. The ewes should be gone round each morning before breakfast, assistance given to any that require it, and any stray lambs collected and mothered.

—P, W. .Smalltield, B.Ag., Instructor in Agriculture, Auckland.

THE ORCHARD

PRUNING OF PIP-FRUITS. (.'outinning last month’s notes mi t In* mibject of pruning, it must be reiix-inbcn .1 that practically the same general prineiples apply to pip-fruits as to stone-fruits —that is, the build-ing-up of a sturdy tree capable of producing the maximum amount of the best-quality fruit. It is impossible in these notes to give full details of pinning; only a. few of the chief points are mentioned in the hope that they may be of some benefit to those growers not experienced in the art. The Orchard Instructor for the district is available if required, when the many diderent conditions, according to locality, growth, soil, etc., can be fullv discussed.

APPLE TREES, Apjde trees in the orchard may generally speaking be classed under two headings —spur bearers and lateral bearers—and it is this bearing habit that to a large extent decides the method of pruning to be adopted.

Of the spur-bearing typo probably the Stunner is the best known, while 1 the Jonathan is a goO(j example of j the lateral bearing type. Although the Stunner is known as a spur bearer it does not follow that fruit will not grow on the laterals. As a matter of fact, during the past few years laterals have been cultivated in this class of tree with the best results, and jn most districts this practice is to be recommended. It is quite a contrast to the old style of pruning, when the cutting of ail side-growths, cither back to the base or leaving a stud w-ith <Jnc or two buds, w r as adopted, leaving from six to ten bare polos from which direct fruit-buds wore expected to carry the fu) ure crops. On Iho other hand I ho cutting of all side-growths in the lateral bearers —Jonathan type—toaek to the base to produce fruit buds or spurs usually leads to disaster.

Vigorous trees growing on good land will usually produce more laterals than arc required for the welfare of the tree; consequently these should be thinned out, selecting the shorter, thinner laterals for fruit-bearing in preference to the heavier and stronger ones. In the majority of cases these laterals should be left intact the first season, allowing them to form fruitbuds during the following season. -Should it be necessary to retain some of the heavy and strength- laterals in the tree, those may be cut back to a well-developed bud, probably a third of the length back from the terminal

bud, but never stubbing to within t-wo or three buds of the base. During the following season’s growth these laterals should develop fruit-buds as tv ell as make growth, either from the terminal bud or from the first and second buds nearest to the cut made. The 010 practice of culling back to the Irnit-buds the following year is not recommended. .Sometimes this is done with the spur-bearing varieties, but much beller results will be obtained by treating the growths made from the

previous season's cut, reducing them to one, and cutting hack throe or four hud.s according to the growth made. This will provide for tin; development of foliage above the fruit-buds, with the result that better fruit will be obtained. From now on these laterals will produce fruit-buds as well as fruitspurs, with a short extension of growth from the uppermost loaf-buds. These extensions should be tipped wherever possible to produce a HttJle growth, and for the purpose of pumping up the necessary sap for the production of fruit.

In the case of Delicious it is sometimes found that the continual cutting ol thi 1 laterals, however slight, will

j anlv f) rod nee wood growth. In such i cusps it is well to leave the laterals j uncut for a season or two until such j'inie us fruit-buds develop on the lateiul, when they can be cut according to the growth made, leaving sufficient leaf-buds to cany on the growth. It must be understood that the practice of leaving these laterals uncut indefinitely is not recommended; it is only intended for heavily growing trees, and even then it will be neeessafy for the prnner to watch his trees, or weak spnrs and buds will develop, resulting in poo.-, undersized fruit. With such a free spur-bearing type of tree as the Stunner it will be found necessary as the tree matures to prune the spurs and buds eliminating a good proportion to promote growth and prevent overcropping—serious drawbacks to the Sturmer if not properly attended to. With the lateral-bearing type of tree

it is most essential to prune to keep the tree growing vigorously and to produce

m-w growth every season, without which the crops will gradually diminish. By studying the laterals produced on the Jonathan it will lie noticed that the buds near the base are undeveloped ami small. Cutting to these buds to produce growth for the following season usually results in the death of the

[stub. Although in some cases a small lateral may be left uncut for to produce fruit from its terminal bud the following season, a good practice when pruning the Jonathan is to cut every twig, the length of cut depending on the growth made, selecting a good healthy bud about one-third to one-half of its length in the ease of strong laterals, and not quite as much with the laterals of medium growth. These cut laterals will produce both fruit-buds and new growth the following season. These in turn may bo cut and kept growing, as upon these growing laterals the fruitfulness of the tree depends. Should growth slacken off to any appreciable extent, harder cutting must be resorted to for the purpose of renewing vigour. The leaders of the Jonathan type may also be [pruned harder than the heavier-grow-ing spur-bearing types, making the cuts to produce growth as strong and upright as possible, thus correcting the spreading habit of this class of tree. CULTIVATION. Where no green crops for ploughing under later in the season are beinggrown, and it is intended to give the orchard two ploughiugs, the first should be completed as soon as possible. This is preferably done, ploughing away from the trees, leaving the on-plough-ing till later in the season. The action of frosts, etc., have a beneficial effect on the soil, not only sweetening it, but making later cultivation much easier. ■ —G. Stratford, Orchard Instructor Motuekn.

CITRUS-CULTURE,

The first important work among established citrus-trees at this period is to constantly guard against excess water at the roots. Under-drainage is one of the first essentials, but even where this is thought to be. adequate excess water is apt to accumulate during th? rainy season, A furrow opened up with the flow from low-lying-areas, or a temporary surface ditch opened with a spade for lesser areas as

a moans of removing excess and particularly surface waiter, will repay for the timely attention. Excess, and particularly stagnant water, oven though of temporary duration, is repugnant to citrus-plants.

Harvesting of lemons which attain correct size should be done, and the fruits put away for curing and storage. It is very marked that at this season lemons which are left on the trees to

attain lipe condition are most suseep-' tiblo to citrus brown-rot, and after harvesting readily become infected with blue mould.

Poorman oranges should bo given continual attention. This is a crop which is not all available for picking at the same time. The larger-sized and earlier-colouring fruits should be picked, and the smaller sizes allowed to remain, and then picked as they progress in size and maturity. Once the earlier picking has been done it is usual to find very marked improvement in the quality of the remainder. Such extra quality is not attained whore the whole crop is left- until late in the season.

Where the recommended precautions

•have been taken to guard against brown-rot little trouble should be experienced, but it will be as well to apply a spray of Bordeaux, 4 —4—40, during a break of fine weather. Where brown-rot shows up every care should bo taken to collect and destroy diseased fruits, rather than allow them to become the source of further infection. —W. H. Rice, Orchard Instructor, Auckland.