ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15097, 13 September 1912, Page 10

ON THE LAND.

SEA COAST RECLAMATION.

Br tho pluck and industry of the settlers the' sandy tracts along tho sea coasts between Sandon and Foxton aro being made up into rich productive soil. These ridges and flats a few years ago were covered with drift sand, 'hut. the settlers assisted nature to give it a covering of soil, and by repeated cultivation, grazing by stock, and grassing the land is now highly productive. The boundary lino between soil and sand is gradually being pushed towards the sea. Some' timo ago it was stated tho Sandon tram ran through "no man's land." This land is now rich sheep and dairying and cropping country, and with tho continued subdivision of estates is becoming more closely settled every year. STACK BUILDING. The proper method of building a stack has been discussed by Mr. O. Banner, of Foilding, before his agricultural class. The instructor demonstrated to his pupils that the stack should bo built in the most elevated position, and that it wis generally advantageous to build on logs, dry bushes, straw, etc.., lying on the ground, in order to allow air to circulato freely underneath it. Furthermore, the stack should be built so that it will suffer no loss from wind, and that rain beating on tho top and sides does not enter. This is a rtatter that th© averago farmer should devoto moro time and attention to, particularly as thousands of ; pounds are lost each year when weather conditions aro unfavourable. As regards size, Mr. Banner considers that the handiest proposition is about 12yds by 6yds, and built 14-ft, to the eaves, with a capacity of from 40 to 50 tons. This would probably compact in 12 months' timo to lift. With regard to the point from which operations should bo commenced the general practice is to start from the outside. As a stack has a tendency to spread as it rises, the edges can be squared off with a board, about 15 by 12, having a handle 6in long, thus saving tho hands as tho edges aro beaten in. The last tier is laid so that tho sheave 3 overhang tho sides, about 3in. ' ■ NITROGEN FROM THE AIR. The process of obtaining nitrogen from tho atmosphere is due to tho genius of Professor Kristian Birkeland, of Christiania, aided by the mechanical skill and organising capacity of Samuel Eyde, an engineer of the same city. Birkeland, who has for many years made a study of the aurora borealis, has from timo to timo devised experiments to elucidate auroral phenomena, in tho courso of which ho investigated the action of the magnetic field upon electric discharges of various kinds. Amongst other " things ho discovered tho separation or dispersion of the Kathodo beam, in a highly exhausted vacuum tube, under tho influence of a magnet, into 'a sort of spectrum. After ten years of such work he was led to examine tho singular action of a transverse magnetic field upon an electric arc formed when an alternating electric current is' passing, between the tips of two conducting rods or Under these conditions tho arc or flame, instead of forming a short luminous jet about one-quarter inch long, as wo have it in ordinary, arc lamps, spreads out laterally into a series of curvilinear streams which • enlarge themselves into a roaring: disc of flame. Such a flame, ah electric arc | blown out magnetically into a disc, Birkeland enclosed in an iron furnace lined with | fire-clay, with suitablo apertures through ; which a stream of air could bo passed. The ■ air which emerges after passing through this electric i flame ' is rich: in orange-coloured ' nitrous fumes. \ After being cooled it is sent into a series of absorption chambers, built of granite, inside which water trickles down, absorbing th© fumes and making a very pur© nitric acid of increasing strength as it passes from tower'to tower. This acid is absorbed by treating it with limestone! and caustic j limo, thus producing nitrate of lime.

RAISING FARM SEEDS. The seeds of mangolds,and turnips are produced from roots that have been transplanted. It is. imperative that the parent plants themselves must bo derived from gi.od stock. ' ' . The best seed is obtained from bulbs selected in the autumn from a, growing crop before, it is pulled up for winter use. Only -well-grown specimens, true in shape, colour, and general character, should bo used. The necks should be short with not too much foliage, the bulbs symmetrical, and having a single , tap root, Mangolds, whether globe, intermediate, or long, may be easily selected by any observant person on the same lines. . The bulbs chosen have the tops twisted off with the hand, whilst the roots are left intact, and may bo clamped or stored in, a shed. The land where they will be planted should bo well manured in the autumn and deeply ploughed. V In the early spring, as soon as the land is dry enough, it may bo scuffled or heavily harrowed crossways. The bulbs are planted much in the same way as potatoes, except that, being so much larger, they must be put in deeper. The plants may be about 18 inches apart in the rows, and the latter 27 inches apart. If put in by hand a commencement will be made by digging a trench as deep as the spado will allow, laying the soil immediately in front. The bulbs are then laid in the trench and covered by digging another spit and throwing _it oyer them, leaving the ground rough, like winter digging, to be worked down later on. If put in with the plough two furrows are turned along one side of the plot, and the roots are laid in the' trench, reclining against the furrow previously turned;; when the row is planted out _ they are covered with the plough, but this time the horses are led on the "land," instead of: passing along the trench, as they would displace the bulbs with their feet. Another method of planting, moro expeditious, but less likely to produce firstrate seed, is to sow the seeds of swedes and turnips moderately thick in beds in the early autumn, so as to make nice strong plants having roots like radishes or larger by the end or autumn. These are drawn out and planted in the ground with a ; dibble, where they will, grow until harvest, _ in the same way as cabbage, the sets being 10 inches apart in the rows, and the latter about 2ft wide. When the young shoots appear the spaces between the rows are horse-hoed, and the remainder hoed by hand. Cultivation will be continued from time to time until the plants become too big, as tho crop must be kept free from weeds. When the seed is formed the crop is cut with a hand-bill and tied up in bundles with yarn and set up in small stooks. Mangolds do not turn colour like turnips, but when the seeds are formed and appear ripe it is time to cut. When quite dry the bundles or sheaves are carried to a barn or outhouse and stacked, or, if the weather is favourable, they may be thrashed at once. This is accomplished in various ways.

A PRIZE WHEAT. The thousand-dollar prize awarded in New York city recently for the best wheat grown on the North American continent, which was secured by a Saskatchewan farmer, was won by Marquis wheat. Marquis wheat is one of a number of varieties which have been produced at the Government experimental farm at Ottawa by a crossing of Red Fife with various imported wheats of early-ripening habit. The early maturing parent of Marquis was Hard Red Calcutta, obtained from India. It was isolated by Dr. Saunders, the Dominion cerealist, by selection, in 1903. After being grown for three years at Ottawa, baking tests were made from the crop in 1906, which showed that Marquis stands in the first rank for baking strength. This wheat was then transferred to the experimental farm at Indian Head for tests under prairie conditions, where, from larger tests in the field, _ Marquis gave 42 bushels per acre, while in 1909 and 1910 five-acro lots at Indian Head yielded moro than 53 : bushels an acre.

RADIUM AND .VEGETATION. Although the uso of radium for agricultural purposes is a long way from being within the range of practical purposes, it is interesting to notico the results of investigations that' are being made. At a recent meeting of the Academy of Science at Vienna a professor gave an account of his experiments. Ho found that emanations of radium possess a remarkable in-' fluence in reducing the period of winter repose in trees and plants. Ho had submitted to the emanations in November and December the dormant buds of trees and plants, and found that in a short time they opened out—and the actions of the emanations were accompanied by some, curious effects. If the exposure were too short no result was perceptible, if too long the action The professor is continuing his researches, although, as he remarked, the enormous cost of radium prevents his experiments from having at present more than a theoretical interest ' except, for scientific men. It may, however, open out new lines of investigation, and thus lead to valuable discoveries. PLANT DISEASES. ,From the time that the seed of a plant is placed in the soil its struggle for existence begins. Numerous hostile agonies are lurking around, always on the alert, readv to seize the first opportunity to fasten on to any part of the system of the plant that exhibits a weak spot. If the. plant is delicate from hereditary causes or from want of proper nourishment or moisture, it will succumb unless helped to combat successfully its insidious foe. borne plants are more liable to attacks than others, and among those most subject may be classed the potato and the turnip. Hie best preventive against disease is to see that good seed is put into the ground, and that the plants are supplied with a sufficiency of the different constituents of plant food. One-sided manuring produces a decided tendency to disease. SOIL CONDITIONS FOR CLOVER. Clover can only flourish when the soil conditions aro. suit-able. The soil must be fairly deep, open, free working, and above all things well drained. It is no use trying to grow clover.it' the soil is sour. It is suggested that the following experiments' serve to test ;in ' a practical way whether acidity is present in. the land. Select in the field two adjoining plots, to one of them apply a good dressing of quicklime, and narrow it well in. Then give plots a. dressing of manure and plantbeetroot. . If .the' soil is sour, the roots will grow much better in the limed plot than on the other. The most favourable time for applying lime is in the autumn; care should be taken to spread the lime evenly and harrow it in. lb will bo seen that with clover lime plays a most important part; manuring with nitrogen is not requisite and may be prejudicial, as it promotes the growth of the grasses so much that the clover does not get, a fair chance. The situply of nitrogen can be left to tlia nitrogen-col'ccting bacteria associated with the clover roots. On very uoor soils a little 1 nitrogen may be advisable to start the growth of the clover, but lime, phosphates, and potash are always muqh more important for the crop.

CHOU MOELLIER. Many farmers and owners of dairy.cattle have yet to learn of the value of chou moellier as a fodder plant for their stock. When autumn rains begin - the timo has arrived for tho seed to bo planted, and sowings can be, continued till later. One pound of seed will produce sufficient plants to set out an acre of ground, or double that quantity can bo drilled in. Chou moellier is a. species of kale; it is hardy, and is highly nutritions, and greedily eaten by stock. Its special qualities are its great weight of leaves, and that it is available during the periods of drought, -when green food is in short supply. Some .of the stalks reach 6ffc high. The plant cannot bo excelled for the dairy here; it is a splendid milk producer, and does not give any objectionable flavour to the milk like some other fodders. " There is no waste with chou moellier. Tho leaver, can be gathered as they grow to full size, and finally the stalk can bo chafi'ed with the remaining top leaves. Instances are on record where an acre or two of this vegetable has yielded a vanload of green food daily for stock during a severe drought, enabling tho dairy farmer to carry oh with a full milk supply while his neighbours were • short of fodder, and consequently short in the milk yield. Tho plants should bo in rows 2ft apart, and 12in to 14in between tho —just far enough apart to enable them to support each other in stormy weather.

SOIL MOISTURE. An American experimenter found that each square foot of an ordinary farm soil, during the summer months, lost 1.31b of water daily by evaporation from the surface of the land, or, in other words, over five inches in a single month. But should the to'p layer of soil be broken up and left loose upon the land by cultivation, then there is no longer one continuous film linking the exposed surface with the sub-soil water; and, consequently, surface tension can only lift the water so far as the film is unbroken, i.e., as far as the unstirred soil extends, and this layer 'is protected from evaporation by the loose soil above. That is to say, when a soil mulch is formed the capillary channels are broken and the water cannOt rise into the loose layer of surface soil which is separated from the firm soil below.by large spaces, across which moisture' cannot pass. ' Accordingly ■ King, writes: — In the conservation of soil moisture by tillage there is no way of developing a mulch more effectively than that which ,is produced by a tool working in the manner of a ploughto completely remove a layer of soil and lay it down again, bottom up, in a loose, open condition. '• BREVITIES. ; At a sale of Jersey cows in England last month 55 head brought £952. It ■is estimated there are 430,000,000 cattle in the whole civilised world. In France the pest of the locust is being : made value of by being ground into fertilisers. Expected thero will be moro foreign woolbuyers in Australia next year than ever before. Dairy Shorthorns of the old Bates type have never been defeated in butter tests in England. Keep the sties clean. Tho moro fresh air and sunlight tho pigs get the better they will do. Tho commonest cause of pleurisy in a pig is a chill, especially if the animal has been overheated. In rearing a foal bear always in mind that it is muscle and bone you want, and not flesh and fat. If milk from cows suffering from tuberculosis is fed to pigs they will certainly contract tho disease. Judicious feeding is the secret of success in tho dairy. There is no sense in overfeeding a milch cow. Wheat cannot be cheap goods in view of tho capital which has to be sunk in tho farms of to day. Thero is no doubt that the keeping of stock on tho farm conduces to tho maintenance of eoil fertility. In tho ranks of tho purebreds the study of character in sires and dams is a matter lof the first importance. . ..