ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14587, 25 January 1911, Page 11

ON THE LAND.

FARMING FOR WOMEN.

There is nothing novel to-day in the adoption of farming as a career for women. Yet it is surely significant of the headway tho movement is making when one reads that in many countries town-bred women are showing a decided . partiality for the work. In England the Women's Agricultural and Horticultural Union is making vigorous advances, and lias already encouraged many women to go through a course of training to fit themselves for an agricultural life. Providing they do not object io a little hard work, .women can make farming as profitable an avocation as any they could follow. The difficulty of getting a start, however, is well nigh insuperable to the lady without capital, for, unless pinched by tho direst necessity, she would never have the courage to attempt' tho hard manual labour so often required when farming is undertaken on the share system. Still, as poultry-farmers and vegetable-growers some women have met with remarkable successes. INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS. A series of interesting experiments conducted at the Florida Experiment Station has fully explained why the presence of acidity in a soil is injurious to vegetation and why it gives riso to some widely spread diseases., Practically most soils, unless subjected to occasional dressings of lime, gradually change into that condition. Shortly stated, the causes as found by the experimenters were:—l. The decomposition of organic, matter, accompanied by the formation of various organio compounds, including tho production of organic acids. 2. Tho action of soil bacteria acting upon certain portions of the vegetable matter in the soil. 3. The breaking up of mineral fertilisers such as sulphate of ammonia, which results in free sulphuric acid in tho soil solution, which is injurious unless counteracted at once by the presence of a sufficient suDply of lime in tho soil. It is to tho acidity so produced in the absence of adequate lime that the unsatisfactory results which have sometimes been noticed from the use of sulphate of ammonia in sandy, acid soils are frequently due. " • ';.'• ESSENTIALS OF PLANT LIFE. ' The essential elements which an ordinary plant obtains from the soil through its roots are calcium, potassium, magnesium, sulphur, phosphorus, and nitrogen.- A trace of iron is also necessary, but all ordinary soils tain this element in greater amount than the plant requires it. These essential elements are usually absorbed,by tho plant in the form of salts, such as phosphorus in the form of phosphates, sulphur in the form of sulphates, nitrogen in tho form of nitrates, while the calcium, magnesium, and potassium are absorbed as salts of these acids or of others. Hence, three salts such as calcium nitrate, magnesium sulphate, and potassium i phosphate will provide the plant with these six essential elements, and any ordinaryplant can be grown to full adult size, if provided with nothing but these salts and distilled water, and exposed to light and air. A point of great importance is that, to some extent, an essential element can be replaced by another which is not essential. For instance, a limited substitution of strontium for calcium is possible,, .that is to say, if strontium is present in the,soil tho plant can grow with a less supply of calcium than it otherwise needs. As strontium is, however, rarer and more costly than calcium, this is a fact of theoretical importance only. ' The same applies to the fact that calcium may be partly replaced by magnesium. CAUSE OF POOR PASTURES. On most stiff lands poor pastures are suffering from a deficiency of phosphates, but they may also lack lime, and, in the case of newly-sown down land, nitrogen. It is essential,, therefore, to find out which of these causes is tho primary one before an improvement can be effected in an economical manner. A deficiency in phosphates can usually be detected by observing that the white clover is very small and inconspiououSj though birdsfcot, trefoil, and one .or two yellow clovers may be seen. There will bo patches of creeping bent grass, which are usually left ungraded, and are known by their very fine purple inflorescences. The grazing will always bo patchy, "but there will be no great quantity of moss unless limo is also required. The most useful indication, however, is the fact that'the places where the animals stale will only be marked afterwards by a slightly darker patch, whereas when phosphates are abundant the field will be dotted all over with rank dark green clumps of grass on those places. Where it is evident there is no deficiency in limo superphosphate at the rate of 3cwt to scwl; per acre may be used, but where there is also a' suspicion.'• that lime may be necessary, then basio slag at the rate of from sc"wt. to lOcwt per aero should be applied, and it may also be used in any case in place of super. ' > ' \ _ '. When it is evident that lime is required it "should always lie applied in addition to the phosphatic dressing. Tho indications of deficiency of lime are, on very poor pasture, the growth of much moss and lichen, tho small sorrel and very poor wiry grass growing in bunches. When the pastures are fairly good, but deficient in lime, the large sorrel, buttercup, and uneven grazing aro tho principal indications. Pastures winch form a kind of spongy peat below tho grass also require lime, as well as those growing gorso and heather. Lime can best bo applied to pastures as ground lime or ground limestone, at tho rate of lOcwt to 20cwt per acre in winter, and when this "is followed by a dressing of superphosphate in tho spring, for most land deficient in lime is deficient in phosphates too, the effect is often very striking. Poor pastures upon light, sandy, and chalky soils are more difficult and often much more expensive to improve than those on the heavier lands. In tho first placo, they are commonly deficient in all plant foods, including lime, and tho effect of any dressing is usually loss permanent because of this natural deficiency in plant food. Tho chalky soils require the addition of phosphates and potash, and commonly of nitrogen. The phosphates are best applied as super, say 3owt per acre, and the'potash as kainit, 2cwt to 3cwt per acre. The nitrogen is best applied,, -as an organio manure, such as farmyard manure or rape dust, especially whore .there is very little soil, though when not so bad in this direction a Peruvian guano or a mixture of super, kainit, and sulphate of ammonia mav bo used.

On sandy soils, where the surface is black for two or more inches in depth, lime is the first requirement. This should be ap-. plied in the winter, to bo followed by 3cwfc of super and 2cwt of kainit per acre, or, if in less quantity, (ho proportions should bo the same. Where there is no black soil, or the upper layers are only brown, limo is not. so urgently, required, though a small dressiug may bo useful. The principal requirement of such soils is, as a rule, organic matter; farmyard manure, scrapings, or rubbish of any kind that contains vegetable matter. When this cannot bo given, or only in small quantity, then the best, dressing is a mixture of 3cwt of super, 2cwt of kainit, and lewt of sulphate of ammonia. DOCKING HORSES. What thoughtful person, asks an English writer, has not been distressed by the spectacle of a horso or brood mare turned out to grass in summer, unable to protect its flanks from pestering swarms, and ceaselessly wandering up and clown in a. vain endeavour to escape the torment? The pernicious practice of docking is a revival of eighteenth-century practice by the present generation. In the 'fifties and 'sixties it was considered the correct thing for hunters to carry not only the full length of the

dock, but a lot of hair beyond it. Later, the dock itself was left its natural length, with tho hair cut square at its extremity, forming what was termed a " bang tail." But now the smart thing is to amputate tho greater part of the dock, which, of course, is but a continuation of the spinal vertebra?, and even to nick the sinew on tho upper surface so as to form a " cocktail." This is a reversion of barbarous practice, and in hunters and nolo ponies is more or less injurious to their efficiency, inasmuch as the tail acts as a rudder and is distinctly helpful in turning. The only practical advantage over derived from docking was in the Peninsular War, when, as Wellington afterwards said, ho was able to distinguish the British light cavalry from tho French by their bob-tails. The present army authorities, to their credit, will not sanction tho purchase of remounts that have been docked. THE VALUE OF ENSILAGE. Ensilage keeps young stock thrifty and growing all winter. It produces fat beef moro cheaply than does dry feed. It enables cows to produce milk and butter more economically. Silage is more conveniently handled than dry fodder. The. silo prevents waste of cornstalks, which contain about one-third the feed value of tho entire crop. There are no aggravating cornstalks in the manure when silage is fed. Tbo silo will make palatablo feed of stuff that would not otherwise be eaten. It enables a larger number of animals to be maintained on a given number of acres. It enables the farmer to preserve feed which matures at a rainy time of the year, when drying would bo next to impossible. It is the most economical method of supplying feed for stock during the hot dry periods of summer, when the pasture is short. A MILK PROBLEM. A paper read Ixjforo the Royal Dublin Society in May by Professor Wilson, of the Royal College of Science, Dublin, has been printed in tho scientific proceedings of tho society. It deals with the separate inheritance of quantity and quality in cows' milk, and does much to dispose of the idea held in some quarters that heavymilking cows usually give milk of poorer quality than those that do not distinguish themselves for quantity. Many appear to think the milk from a ■ cow that gives a moderate yield is likely to be richer than that from those* that give a larger quantity— in other words, that there is some compensation for a small yield in tho quality. Professor Wilson has taken the records of some 3000 cows included in the 1908 report of the Ayrshire cattle milk records, and has made an exhaustive examination of the yields and quality, classifying them in great detail, The high-yielding cows are grouped together, so are the low-yielding; but it is not found that tho high-yielding cows give milk of poor quality and vice-versa. It is found that the quality varies very much the same in all the groups that can be formed, and accordingly it is a fair assumption that the quantity and quality of milk aro independent of each other. Professor Wilson has summarised the results of his investigation's, which must have incurred an immense amount of hard work, in a table in which he has divided the cows into four gv'oupsthose yielding under 500 gallons, those yielding from 500 to 600 gallons, from 600 to 700 gallons, and those that givo over 700 gallons. He further gives the number and percentage in each group that has yielded milk containing 2.5 per cent., 2.6 per cent., 2.7 per cent., and so on up to 5.1 per cent, fat, having thus 28 subdivisions for each group. Only two of the cows included gave loss than 2.8 per cent, fat, and only a few more than 4.7 per cent. It might be possible to deduce some- little ad-' vantage in favour of the cows that gave a small yield, but generally speaking the quality varies in much tho same way in all the groups, and thero is nothing to exonerate the cows at the bottom of the scale, so far as yield is concerned, from the charge of being a drag on the dairy-fanner.

BREVITIES. - It is best to skim tho mill? as soon as all the cream has come to the top.

It is a good way to win money to bet that a stunted cow was a starved calf.

Every farmer who keeps four or five brood sows can afford to keep a good boar.

Tho man in the milking yard is none the worse milker because ho has some brains.

Do not, jerk at the teats when drawing the milk. The cow will give it down without that. • •

If you are keeping the pigs in the sties see to it that they have some fresh-cut grass every day.

Mares which are worked gently breed more regularly and produce better stock than do idle mares.

When the calves are bucking about the place it is one of the signs they are in good health and thriving.

Though Denmark is the model dairy country there is no compulsory testing of cows for tuberculosis there.

Breeding pigs for size is not going to do much to make big pork, unless you feed for size at tho same time.

Do not change the feed of the milkers too suddenly. Nothing cuts down the flow more surely and quickly.

Do not select a heavy, lazy cow for a breeder; better trust the lively ladies of the herd for your stud stock.

Heifers of the pick of the herd, if their breeding is all right, will make into better cows than their mothers were.

It is a mistake to keep a brood mare at heavy work whon near foaling. , Light work, if given judiciously, will do no harm.

All cloths u.«ed lor cleaning milk vessels should bo frequently wrung out of clean water and should bo boiled once daily.

T:i selecting a brood mars remember that constitution, soundness, . and typo aro of even greater importance i/han pedigree.

In Asia, where the records of the oldest civilisation are found, the survival of the fittest has compelled intensive cultivation.

Qstrich-fa.rm.ing is going to bo tried on a largo scale in Sweden. The promoters hope for big profits from feathers and eggs.