FARM AND GARDEN NOTES FOR SEPTEMBER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6810, 14 September 1883, Page 6

FARM AND GARDEN NOTES FOR SEPTEMBER.

Farmers invariably find that. August is about the worst month ql the winter season, and last month was.rio exception: to this experience: Bitterly: cold and wet. were many of the days; frosts prevailed for more than a week. The; 23rd was a dreadfally bad day, with., .a keen, cutting wind, snow falling in several places south of' Auckland. With the approach of September,, better weather is of course anticipated ; and. unless the spring is backward, grass begins, to start, farmers beiog thus relieved frpm the task of hand feeding their Cattle;, though, by the way, not a few had. fioished.. their fodder soine weeks ago, which of course was all the worse, for the cattle, especially dairy cows that might, have oaly.ed. So far the present month has not been any great improvement on the past, the weather having continued very unsettled, a great, deal of rain hating fallen, as a consequence the ground, in most places is in a wet and sloppy condition. There are. indeed complaints from all quarters as to the wretchedly bad weather, stopk Buffering, and unable to get in the. usual crops. Ot course in all countries where agriculture receives proper attention, the approach Of sprmg brings plenty, of work, in the shape of crops to get in, land to be worked, fencing to be done, and so on. But

unless the weather is favourable, spring work has to be delayed, and the planting of crops deferred Until 2.11 improvement takes place. Stephens, in the: preface, to his *' Book of the Farm," has said, truly,, "the progress of agriculture—practical or scientific —is confessedly slow. It must necessarily be slow, on account of the weather* Let thie farmer in the evening arrange his work - for the morrow, and the next morning lain or wind compels him to modify or change it. When such powerful influences are constantly exciting, themselves in the art o£ farming, the art must be conducted with au uncertainty border-

ing on the experimentsil, eo that no assurance of expected results can ever be depended on. It is to be feared that early planted potatoes will suffer from the continuous wet, particularly en land that is comparatively level, and not. easily drained. Seed is apt. to rot ia Such land; cat tubers more than whole ones. This is the mOnth generally chosen as the best time for getting in the.

main crop of potatoes;. though the further south we go the later they can be planted. Bontidust continues to be the favourite manure for this crop, and partly because, the succeeding prop will also be benefitted by the application. Settlers do not seem to appreciate any fertilizer that is only to benefit the first crop ; but the fact is, most

manures will affect other craps besides the one to wbich they may be applied. Bonedust has for some time been scarce and dear, and scores of settlers have had to wait before their orders could be supplied. No doubt this season many will have to use superphosphate, guano, or the mixtures that are advertised for sale. Recently, I mentioned the manure peir exCeOlence for giving splendid crops of potatoes, and that is a mixture of nitrate of potash, superphosphate, and sulphate of lime—a. manure well worthy of a trial by most potato growers. As to seed fortunately there is plenty to be had, and at a reasonable price. So that the important matter of changing the teed, and of getting s superior character seed, can be attended to —a point of not a little importance in the cultivation of this crop.

Oats should be got in as soon as the weather is favouraole. If the sowing is delayed until after this month has expired, the crop is apt to be somewhat light, more especially if dry weather sete in. Dairy farmers should eee to it that they sow a good breadth in this Useful crop. For they can hardly produce top much fodder foi , their cattle for the winter and spring months. Some settlors sow oats alone to be cut for hay ; others with the oats mix grass and clover s=eds, so as to have a sward when the oats are cut. Whether grasses should be sown with a crop of oats, must depend a good deal on tlio soil,, as alto upon other circumstances. There ia one thingof special importance iu the cultivation of oats whether they are grown for a white crop of for hay, and that is good, sound seeu. Every farmer knows tuat grain if grown on. tile same land year after year. A change of seed is therefore desirable. Oats afford a good illustration of this, for instance in but, dry climates this grain ripens prerna-. tu'-ely ; the seed ia therefore, light and chaffy, and even the best ia exceedingly inferior when compared with oats which have matured in a cool, moibt climate. About twelve years ago the United States Agricultural .Department imported from Northern Europe a quantity of seed oats which weighed fiftyOlie pounds per bushel. The first returns frpru the distribution of these oats showed that they yielded on an average seventy buahele per acre and weighed pounds per bushel. Subsequent returns showed a yearly deterioration of about 5 per cent, both in quantity and quality. Tbis goes to Show that it would pay to import seed and not grow the same over three years. It is well-known that climates have very perceptible influences upon the habits of plauts, and by makiug proper use of this knowledge great gain can be realised. Whatever, therefore, may be the favourite variety of Oats, that auy eettler may wish to cultivate, whether they ate black or white, Tartarian, Norwegian, or Colonial, the eeed must be , occasionally changed, if goqii returns are to be obtained. This is the last month for growing spring grasses, as it is also for top dressing paddocks, both matters that I have previously written about in tke-ie "notes." Land should be prepared for mangold and other root crops, to be sown in due course. For dairy farmers, espeoialy those who carry on dairying through the winter, a mangold crop seems almost indispensable. "jNo. thing like mangolds" for butter, is the general expression of opinion from those who. have: grown them for a oonsiderable time. Mangolds, green bats, and good hay—that is the lood that owe w4l thrive on duriug winter, providing they have enough given to them. i» " J£asy Leasona tin Dairying," referred to in another article, the farmers in Ireland are urged to devote more attention to winter dairying, the author stating that "Ireland has a Very mild winter climate, "well suited also for the growing of sugar beet, carrots, aud parsnips, aid French furze, all Valuable adjuncts, with good clover hay, for producing milk and crtam." .Now, if winter dairying can be carried on profitably in Ireland, bow much more may it be done. here. But then preparation will have to be made for producing abundance of food for cows, beet and mangolds being the principal root crops. .During this inoutli cocksfoot ought to be finally closed up for seed purposes. It may not be generally known that last season shipments of tdis seed were sent to England from the South.. So that in the future it may form a regular export from this colony. In many parts of Australia it is getting into, great favour, being iound superior to rye grass. This should be a. busy month, in the garden, as nearly all kinds of Vegetables can be sown; and seedamen appear to have a fine collection of garden needs to select from. One catalogue now lyine; before me, contains a list of upwards of. 20 varieties of peas, most of them la per quart; 12 sOrts Of onions, from Iβ to 2s per ounce according to the varitty; 20 kinds of cabbige, about 12 of broccoli, besides a great many sorte of kale, savoys, cauliflowers, and other vegetables, ©ollec-: tions of seeds, in choice varieties can be obtained at from 5s to 40s according to the size of a garden, and the Wants of the owner.

In the orchard, grafting of apples and pears should be completed as soon as possible, as tree* will soon, be bursting into bloom. Peach trees just! now are luo'kicgquite gay, all sorts b> inn, iu flower, some blossoming rather earlier than usual, at. least in my orchard. AGBieoM.