ART OF PLOUGHING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18707, 13 May 1924, Page 14

ART OF PLOUGHING.

VALUE IN CULTIVATION.

POINTS FOE. TEAMSTERS.

HOW TO GET GOOD RESULTS.

BY W.S. As most of the cereal crops have been sown except wheat, the bulk of which is usually drilled in this month, largo areas of land will be ploughed from now on for spring crops. With this in view, a few hints on ploughing may be useful to the inexperienced teamster. Good implements properly worked are the first essential to good farming and of all the implements (in the writer's opinion), the plough is the most important, and to my mind the most difficult to thoroughly master. _ Many ploughmen who have had experience m certain classes of land only, may consider themselves competent, -but _ there are so many classes of land and it is P* ou ß" under such varied -• conditions that one needs a great deal of practice in all classes of land and under different conditions before one can be cpnsiderod thoroughly competent. To be so, he must need a deal of experience and a fair amount of judgment. _ * Every young man who intends to go in for farming, should first make himself thoroughly competent with the plough, as good ploughing is most essential to good results, no matter whether the land is intended to grow cereal crops or forage crops. The plough is merely an agricultural implement, used by the farmer for turning over large areas of land in a short space oS time, bringing up and exposing fresh soil to the weathering action of rain, frost, etc., thus improving it in fertility and texture. More depends upon the quality of the ploughing than many farmers arc aware. They contend that good after cultivation will make amends for bad ploughing, but it is well known by practical farmers that uneven ploughing shows up in the succeeding crop. The plough, to the farmer, is in a measure the same as the spade is to the gardener. If the gardener does not dig his ground properly no amount of hoeing or raking will make up for bad or careless digging. A practical gardener would not think of using a shovel to dig his garden with, unless it was to save his energy, neither would a practical farmer think of using'any implement but the plough as a foundation to cultivation.

Carelessness in Ploughing. In general there is not nearly enough pains taken in ploughing. Many present day farmers or ploughmen, go to worK in a more or less haphazard way and do not care how the ploughing is done .so long as the land is turned over trusting to the, discs or cultivator to make up for bad work done by the ploughing. One of the best means of encouraging ploughmen to take interest in the ploughing is for the farmer to take more interest in the work himself, as work of any kind becomes- more interesting to the one who is performing it when he sees others taking interest in it and more especially if this is the employer. The ploughing match is an excellent thing toencourage, as nothing brines out a man's ability like competition. With this ,in view, it is gratifying to see that ploughing matches have again been revived as they had in a measure died out in many provinces. Every district should have its annual ploughing match. It is not bo, much for the work done on the ground the day of the match, but for the interest it creates in ploughing through the season, as for weeks before and after the match ploughing is the principal topic discussed by ploughmen and farmers alike. Many who do not intend to take part- in the match will visit and inspect the work of others, in any spare time they have, simply to compare the ploughing with their own, and not a little valuable experience is obtained in this way.

Fancy Ploughing at Matches. Formerly, much of the fancy work done at matches, though very attractive to th 9 eye, was not considered good work from a . practical farmer's point of view. Tim was to a certain degree accountable for ploughing matches dying out in many districts, too much false cut allowed being the principal objection, but this is now partially remedied, for, except for the high cut classes, no . false cut is allowed. It is usually made clear on the programme that no false cut be allowed 8 and the judges insist- upon this, and that no prize will be awarded unless the standard cast share be used, leaving a perfectly level undercut'. In this way we get work done not, only attractive to the eye, but ploughing that is good, sound, useful work that will benefit the farmer and therefore is to his interest to encourage it in every possible way that lies in his power. False cut means that the plough is set to cut deeper at the point of the share, or coulter cut, than at the wing, so that It the ploughing has, say, two inches of | false cut and the ploughing measures six inches at the solid edge, as coulter cut it will only be four inches at the wing. Therefore, though the edge of the cut indicates six inches, the average depth is only five inches. This method is often practised by contractors in order- to lessen the draught of the plough, thereby robbing the inexperienced farmer of an inch in depth ; hence the importance of every young man intending going in for farming making himself thoroughly conversant with the plough, so as to be able ,to detect faulty ploughing should occasion arise. Drawbacks of False Cut. False cuts not only indicate a greater depth than the ploughing actually is, but are detrimental to the growth of 'the crop, as the furrows so turned will not pack so well, leaving the land hollow underneath and if a portion of the furrows were removed the bottom would be found very uneven, representing as nearly as possible the teeth of a saw. 'This is a practice one cannot too strongly condemn. Fields have come under my notice parts of which were ploughed in the above manner and the remainder had been ploughed with a level undercut, and the effect of the treatment of the land on the resulting crop was quite remarkable. The crop growing on the land that was ploughed with a false cut had a stunted appearance while the crop growing on the part that was ploughed with a level undercut looked healthy and strong and at harvest time there was a remarkable difference in the yield.