ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18550, 7 November 1923, Page 14

ON THE LAND.

0 KING COUNTRY LAMBS. -■• , ,■■. ~ ' —— ... SUCCESSFUL SEASON. I s : OPTIMISTIC* FARMERS. '- [BT TELEGRAFH.—OWN COBRESPONDEKT.] ■ 'ISf ■ .. •' : TE KUITI. Tuesday- •:- I V Docking. is now practically finished on . the farms ; surrounding To Kuiti, and all :'?'reports indicate a successful lambing seat> son. The past winter, although severe, I* did not affect the ewes unduly and lambs '■ { are strong and healthy. Percentages of ICO 'I are common among the smaller flocks ad- : jacent to the township, and one farmer at '•■ Tangitu reports a percentage of 140. Settlers on the more exposed hill country :••■ between Aria and Mokau state that their percentages are well up to those of previous years, twins and triplets being" .- slightly mare numerous than usual. A Poemako settler, in "speaking of the prospects, was especially optimistic, re- > marknig that " notwithstanding all the ills to which the farmer is heir, it is hard •to be pessimistic with such a genial "spring as' is being experienced, with wool I: growing as it is on the sheep, with feed now coming on in abundance, and the * lambs doing so well."

SHORTHORN BREEDERS.

NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION.

HALF-YEARLY MEETING.

The half-yearly meeting of the New i : Zealand Milking Shorthorn Breeders' ! ' Association was held at Palmerston North on October 31. The president, Mr. J. M. Ranstead, presided. It- was decided that the association become a member of the Royal Society. The New Zealand Jersey Breeders' As- : sociation wrote asking the association to urged that the following resolution be j given effect to: —"That the number of days a cow carries her calf, after starting her S.O. Test, be published in the certificate of record, and in the Journal of Agriculture together with the number of times a day she was milked during the test." The motion, was supported. At a meeting of tie council of the association it was resolved that it be a condition that, for prizes donated by the association, cattle must be registered or • entered for registration in ,New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Books. It was resolved .to bring forward a ' .;'. motion at the annual meeting that all animals for registration in the Herd ; Books must be "entered before 12 months old, double fees to be charged up to two years of age, and the acceptance of en--1 tries over two years of age to be at the discretion of the council. •' It was decided that the next annual general meeting be held at Hamilton in June, 1924. '*;. A application was received from Messrs; Ranstead Bros, for the £50 bonus offered by the association in the senior ,' 3-year class for Matangi Ruth 11., her record *'■ being 14.0321b. of milk and 747.861b. of butter-fat, under semiofficial ~ test, thus establishing a record for the r class and breed by beating the previous « one of Maniroa * Princess by 471b. of ; butter-fat. Messrs. Ranstead Bros, were f^" 1 heartily congratulated on the fine record. With reference to the £50 prize offered '■<* by the association for the various , classes . , under S.O. test, it was resolved; ;on the ;* motion of Mr. Buick, that on and after January 1, 1925, the association's prize f * of £50 for classes not then claimed be . i- given to the cow making the highest re•V* cord in her class in any one year tinder ; S.O. test over , and above the standard ,* test... ' ■ '. • 4 1 *; An application for the establishment of * » Wellington branch of the association, to comprise the y Wellington, Hawke's J 5 •Bay, and Taranaki provinces, with headquarters at Palmerston North, was approved. - * ' ;'". ~- - ' OTRUS fecit YIELDS. TESTS WITH NITRATE OF SODA : .«sv-; Success still follows the experiment in "4- the manuring of citrus trees carried out '..I*; at the- orchard^of; Mr. H. H. Giles, .%' Burnside, Kurrajong, during the past . five years. ; Three |i plots containing 20 '■"',£■. trees each have j been used in this trial j « half the number consisting of Washing- .;'-.»#.. ton Navels and*the balance late Yalen- ■ .5- .cias.vW. ''•'•.' ■'■'^■■'■' '?:-'/'■■'; 'V ;■■-' '■■■.'.;■''.; ;: .■;'•-:''■ -* cias. $:■■ The' ';■? results go v. to prove "J that nitrate ; of soda in conjunction with potash and **:- phosphatic j: manures;, is a':', good fertiliser : ".-jg> for citrus trees.,, •Itis av quick-acting \<- : fertiliser, - and immediately available fcr ■'*: tie use (A plants as soon as it goes into solution. /It, gives V quick returns and .?' large profits when properly applied. £' Nitrate of ;soda,does not deplete the soil 5 of lime as, does sulphate of ammonia,*' ■?>. hence it is more: suitable for the acid £ soils of the : Hawkesbury district. '|J The. results for last season were as . follows :-r- "'V '..' -. - '■** Washington . Navel Oranges.—Plot No. I -V 1: No manure, yielded at the rate of 81 ■Z- cases per acre, the value being £40 17s ■•.$■ 6d. Plot No. 2: Manured with ,81b. per ;*> tree of a fertiliser containing superphosfhate and B potash gave a similar return. , 'lot-No.'3: Manured with above fertiliser!!, together with 41b. per tree of nitrate of soda, yielded at rate of 392 cases per acre, the value being £190 4s. ■ % Late ValeiK?a : Oranges.Plot ; ; 1: ' No ♦ S manure, yielded at the rate of 98 ; cases . *'.''wwCjcre, the value being £58" 17s lid. '% 'Plot '2!■; Manured -with superphosphate' £' and potash (in" same proportion as the .*« Washington navel plot), yielded 38 cases « per acre, valued at £22 17s 4d. Plot 3: W Manured with Sper. potash and nitrate I*: of sod*, yielded at rate of 316 cases per acre, rained at £139 13s Id. -' ; *t The increase obtained from the use of "* nitrate of soda is therefore very satisfactory. ';..<.•'.•■,':... \' : .&s£ ■'"'■■•:'•'■■. .■''*'-- | GROWING ROOT CROPS. I VALUE OF CULTIVATION. tz Recently three plots of turnips were '.'eown on the same date and under exactly the same conditions, and the plants were all set out singly at the same distance apart. One plot got no further cultivation ; another was kept clear of weeds by hand-weeding, and tlje third plot was > kept clean by cultivation. The , plot which received- no weeding ,and no cultivation yielded a crop at the rate of 153 ' tons per acre, while the other two plots gave yields at the rate of 40 tons per acre. The difference .between the crop J where the plots were kept clean and that '■* where no weeding took place amounted to 60 per cent, of tho crop. No . recent figures have been produced to show the cost of the ridging process, but' before the war one apparently careful estimate put it down as follows Ploughing once and disc ploughing once, cultivating, !/ farrowing, ridging, and; sowing (manure itlttid seed), £1 5s an acre ; thinning ana ;J|ongling, 10s j twice horse-hoeing, 6s; fteed, la 6d; manure., 17s 6d—<a total of about £3. All costs have increased since then, and probably a third to a half increase, or .about £4 5s an acre, would on •toe pre-war basis, represent to-day's cost. This may appear a fairly substantial outlay compared to that of a crop sown in SjS!i^JSn^* r ? y on th 6 Sat with the would not be so large an item as at first appears. If by cultivation a 30-ton crop can be securer as against a SCtoS cron -....;Sfcy the ordmary method the?«tw^?°£ tjirell paid. There » to he considered the -.-jfact that half the area would produce the • 'same quantity of roots, saving half the ~ ©reparation, seed, and manure cost*. I n ' Addition, there is an aspect of tho ridged " practice that is frequently lost sight of. 'fe«nta crown under cultivation are of a I PfillSer deeding value than where no culti- ■ -CSS * a&M bes fe. which *«* in check, and this correspond;