SOILS OF THE PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

New Zealander, Volume XVII, Issue 1584, 22 June 1861, Page 5

SOILS OF THE PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

(No. 10) CL'LTURK OF GRKRN CROCS

That flic practice of agriculture in this Province is attended with less profit and regularity than it otherwise might he, is attributable to the almost entire want of system, under which the most ordinary farm operations are conducted, and the want of attention to those fundamental rules, any deviation from which, the farmer at home well knows would end only in his failure anti ruin. The growth of wheal, potatoes, ami oats which can he immediately turned into cash arc alone thought of. Any attempt to introduce the systematic mode of culture, under which the produce of the lands of England has during the last twenty years been more than doubled, is laughed at as chimerical—the old cry of expense and want of labour is raised —the old exhausting system pursued, so long a« the land will return fhe seed, and our really produc live soil and climate stigmatised as infertile, when the fault lies entirely with those, who forget the old adage, ex nihilo nihil fit , (from nothing, nothing comes). We tire led to make these remarks from the absence which wo observe, in all those farms with which we are acquainted, of a fair | roponion of green crops. We arc all well aware that our open lands are not as a general rule capable of producing crops of grain, year after year, in I lie same manner ns the rich bottoms of Canada and America—but we do know, that in texture and capability, when judiciously treated, they arc equal in their productiveness to those of any portion of the world. This we are inclined to attribute in part lo the magnificent climate, and partly to the belief, that though deficient in one or two of the constituents necessary to vegetation, Ihe soil contains others in such abundance, that these deficicnces being artificially supplied by means of manure, the result is, as we all know, a more than proportionate return for flic amount of the manure used. JgAs a general rule one-fourth of that portion of the farm devoted to agriculture, should be sown or planted with crops to bo consumed by cattle upon the farm, and returned again to the land as manure. Another fourth in the production of green crops, such as potatoes, beans, &e., intended for use or sale, and only one half, ut the very most, should lie used for the growth of white crops, such as wheat, oats, or barley. If is the want of some such system, by which alone the gradual deterioration of the land can be prevented, that has given rise to any truth in the cry “ that cultivation wont pay.” Cultivation even without si rent or taxes, cannot be expected lo pay where only a tiiird, or at most but half, a crop is raised. Thcreis the same expense of tillage, seed, and harvesting—and only hall the returns.

| We have known instances where 40 and 50 bushels { of wheat, where 12 and 15 tons of potatoes were 1 grown to the aero— but under what circumstances? Ex- ! ccptional cases, where the land had been enriched to an unusual ilcgrec. That these exceptions might gradually become the rule is within the power of those whoso interest it is that it should be so. A former neighbour of our own, a bluff John Bull, and one, bye th ; bvc, who has succeeded within the last five years in establishing himself from a small beginning upon what then seemed a very unpromising section of land, was wont to say, “ that the land in New Zealand did not require swee/cnint/, hut rather to be made to stink. 1 ’ Tnerc is much truth in the remark, and wc cannot impress too often or too strenuously on our country readers the absolute necessity, as well as the immediate advantage of stimulating the soil with artificial manures in the first instance, and of laying down their future system of operations on such a plan as to insure the manufacture of farm yard in.mure, and the consumption, as in England of a portion of the green crops on the ground where they arc grown. Nor need the farmer imagine that in devoting a portion of his cultivated land to the growth of crops, which arc not directly sold but are consumed upon the land, that he is narrowing the annual money return of his farm. Ear from it—for he may reasonably expect that that portion on which his directly saleable produce is grown will yield fully the double of wbat it would have done under the present scouring system. Nor will he find the growth of green food one atom less profitable—his turnips, rape, green oafs, or other produce will be co..verted into mutton, beef, butter, and cheese—his returns will in fact be more than doubled, nor will that alone form his only profit. Contrast the difference in value of two otherwise similar p cccs of land, the

one cultivated on this system, the other upon the too prevalent present plan. How readier would the former be leased or sold, and at how much higher a price! True, the extra summer culture of green crops, and the attendance upon a large number of stock would be attended by an increased expenditure for labor, but small however in proportion to the extra profits to lie realised, the more so that there is now a constant and sufficiently low priced supply of labour in the market. The country at large would he benefited by such an absorption of any surplus labour —the stimulus given to agricultural operations would tend to the still further spread of cultivation in our out-distriets, and create a solid source of industry and wealth, which indirectly would cause the development of those resources of the Province, which the scantiness of our

population and the moderation of our wants allow at present to He dormant. Foremost among these crops is liie turnip, valuable as food for either sheep or cattle, either to he carried to the latter and consumed with the straw and hay in yards and sheds constructed for tin; purpose, or when the ground is dry to be fed off upon the land where they arc grown, by sheep. The latter plan, where ;t can be followed, has this advantage, that the carriage of the turnips from the field to the paid is saved, as al.-o the carriage back of’lbc manure from the yard to the field. The cultivation of land for the turnip crop wil he precisely similar to the cultivation of that intended for potatoes, with this advantage, that as turnips are sown later, a portion of the fine spring weather will he available in preparing the land. Swedes should he sown during October; yellow turnips any lime before Christmas, and white turnips may be sown even a month later. Where, as on new farms, there is no dung, artificial manure must be applied. In the application of manure, as a general rule, the greater will be the result; for instance, dung used alone, at the rate of forty loads per acre, will not produce as large a crop as when used at the rate of twenty loads per acre, along with 2 cwt. of guano—nor, on the other hand, would 4 cwt. of guano yield

as large a return as would he produced by applying half quantities of each. As a staple manure for turnips none can be mote suitable than bone dust, containing as ii does the very properties essential for the growth of that plant, but unless the bone dust, or rather some portion of it, can be manufactured intosuperphosphate of lime, so as to insure a stimulant to the growth of the young plant in its very earliest stages, it will he advisable to use part guano,—say 1 cwt. of guano and from 3to 7 cwt. bone dust per acre. The use of the guano would he to start the seed, and support the young plant until its roots have reached into the soil and found the hone dust. In turnips, as in

many oilier crops, a quick and rapid growth in the earlier stage is of the utmost importance. For this reason we prefer sowing the Swedes early in October, in preference to leaving them, as some do, until November and evCn December, hence the value of a manure immediate iti its operations, and which will at once push on the young plant beyond danger of drought or caterpillar. To manufacture superphosphate of lime the following simple process need only he observed. Mix a given quantity of oil of vitriol (/’. c. sulphuric acid) with twice its bulk ot water in any convenient vessel, when the mixture will evolve n considerable amount of beat. But into a large tub or trough, double the weight of bone dust as of acid used, and pour the mixture of acid and water gradually, and by times, over it. An action will soon be observed arising from the escape of carbonic acid gas, and in time, on stirring, the bone dust will be entirely dissolved, and form a muss with the acid and water. Tiie mass may be dried with riddled snw-dust, dry ashes, or line vegetable mould, and is then fit for use, Uncrushcd bones, (and how many lie mouldering uselessly away within our roach), will answer the purpose as well as crushed, but the acid will take a much longer time to act 11)1011 them. The sulphatcd hones act more beneficially on heavy soils than does the common bone dust. The main crop and the first sown,

will consist of Swedes, these, although producing a far less weight to the acre than the other sorts, arc the most valuable turnips as feed Where farming operations are carried on extensively, proper implements will he used both for ridging tip ilie land and drilling both seed’ and manure, as well as for the summer culture of the crop by means of horse-hoes, scufilcrs, &c., but on a small scale the work will be done by hand, drills will he marked out with the hoe, the manure placed in them and the soil again drawn lightly over the manure, and the seed dibbled, or dropped by baud upon the surface, and simply pressed in with the roller. The nearer the surface the seed lies, the better. Where the ground is tolerably free from weeds, as is usually the ease in newly reclaimed land, the shortest plan will he to sow both the manure and seed broadcast, though the after work of clearing the laud and singling the plants will, in such case, be attended with more trouble than where they are sown in drills. Where sown in drills, at a distance ol twentyeight inches apart, the artificial manure should be drilled in immediately under the soil in which the seed is sown, in order that the young plant may the readier seize upon it, for the more quickly it grows in its curly stage the more quickly it will cover the land from drought, and beyond the reach of in-

sects, —as it is well known, in regard to the habits of those which attack lbs turnip, that they become innocuous after the full development of the leaves. When about three inches in height it will he time to commence the operation of singling them in the rows, nt distances of about 15 inches apart from each other for Swedes, and 12 inches for other kinds. Singling turnips should only he prosecuted when the ground is dry, and the plants dry likewise, as they then separate from one another, and from the ground more readily. Whenever the ground becomes cloggy on the hoes, even with a slight shower, the work should be deferred until it. again becomes dry enough. AVliere blanks occur they may be filled up by transplanting Swedes, wurzcl, or cabbage—but any attempt to transplant the true turnip, and tlie white globe, or yellow, will bo attended with failure. After the singling has been finished, flic hoe should be passed over the ground to remove die weeds from between the plants, and to loosen the soil around them. In most eases, in this country, where we have hut few weeds to contend with, and a more rapid growth of vegetation, no second stirring of the ground between the rows and plants will bo required, and the crop will need no further attention, until they have arrived at their full growth, when part may he pulled for removal to the stockyard, to bo there stored for autumn and winter consumption by the cattle, and the remainder left unpulled in the field to be fed off upon the land by sheep before the wet weather sets in. The usual plait is to run a temporary fence of hurdles, or netting supported on stakes, from ono side lo the other of the field, thus parting off a space proportional, of course, in extent to the number of sheep, and when this portion has been consumed to shift the hurdles so many rods further on, enclosing a fresh piece of turnips—each portion of laud as the turnips tire eaten off being ploughed up in readiness for the barley crop—but in this country for the sowing of wheat in May and June. We had intended to have treated of the equally useful plants, rape, and wurzcl, but have already exceeded our limits.