PREPARING FOR ROOTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18772, 28 July 1924, Page 12

PREPARING FOR ROOTS.

••'V '• •• " : ; ' . • ' : CULTIVATING LEA LANDS. METHODS OF .PLOUGHING. FULL -USE OF THE SOIL. BY VF.S. Land intended for root crops should, if possible, bo ploughed this month if not already done. It is a mistake to leave the ploughing of lea land until late in spring, where it is possible to plough earlier. There /are three main reasons for this. First, when the soil is turned over in winter,- the frost has a wonderful ameliorating effect upod the unturned soil rendering it mora easily worked down to a fine tilth.;' Second, the', turf which contains. the largest proportion of humus is allowed ample time to rot, which means more available plant-food for the crop when sown. Thirdly, the soil will be better able to retain moisture, a yery important consideration in the cultivation of our root crops. Land ploughed during winter, that is intended for root crops such as mangolds, rape, kale, kohl, rabii and turnips etc., will be all the better With an occasional stroke of the discs, after 'allowing due time in the furrow. This lets the weather into the soil with beneficial effect. Many of our most successful root growers, continue to plough'-'ihe land in June or _July, leave; it, in ftirrow • until early spring, and 'then, as; soon as the soil is in a fit condition to be worked without damaging the texture of the soil, the land is disced and. worked down fairly fine, not silty on top, on. the contrary with a somewhat colbbly surface. This treatment is especially to be' recommended on soils of a light nature with an open sub-soil and therefore not the best for the retention of moisture. By having the land ploughed eiarly and by discing the furrows in early spring, not only is the surface levelled ana put in a better state to hold moisture, but the trampling of the horses helps to consolidate the lower furrows. This, together with the discs and other implements travelling the furrows,, packs the soil underneath, while it leaves a good soil mulch on the surface. ' ■■'X/-.': ' /■ •• ■ Benefits of Boiling. On very light soils or soils of a porous nature the roller is not to be despised for the purpose of packiing the furrows. With this object in viow the roller is first run over the bare furrows, thus crushing them down, breaking the rough sods and leaving a Bmooth surface for the discs, which can do their work of surface pulverisation more efficiently when thus prepared than If they were ran over the rough farrows. Another advantage in rolling the furrows before discing, especially in working lea land, is that .there will be less of the old turf brought ,np to the top and left on the surface after the discs. This is a consideration, as some of our best turnip and rape land is inclined to grow hair grass, ajid if the turf is not- turned well under and allowed to remain there nnhil it has had sufficient'time to rot, this troublesome grass may eventually take partial possession for the time being, resulting in a poor crop and a dead loss to the farmers. When the discs are made to follow the roller, a nice even surface is left which cannot be obtained when the land is simply disced without having been rolled beforehand. This is a good preparatory cultivation for ; land that has been skimplovighed ; and intended to be crossploughed, a practice to be highly recommended. The beneficial effects obtained from cross-ploughing lea land intended for root crops are now so well know that itwould seem ,< unnecessary to mention tha fact even briefly. Yet there may tbe some who have not given this matter sufficient": attention j who . may be benefitted in no small I measure by following the advice of one, | that by practical experiment, has proved beycind doubt that there is no work on the farm that will give a higher return for (the expense incurred than the second ploughing of land for root crops. Thorough Cultivation. Cross ploughing means a more thorough cultivation fas mixing) of the land, and every farmer, knows that the more cultivation given the land, the higher will he the yield, and also the greater the net profits. The turnip especially; needs the under-layers of the soil well broken in order that the plant can obtain a continued supply of available plant food, otherwise it cannot grow its maximum crop. The.question may be asked: What benefit is there to be derived from twice ploughing ? This question is not difficult to answer. It means that the soil is well pulverised the whole depth of the ploughing, whereas with once ploughing the turf or under-laver of the furrows, is apt to be left in an unbroken state, and when in this state the roots of the young plants often undergo a period of semi-starvation at some stage of their Jives. usually resulting in ah uneven, poorly-developed crop; If land is not thoroughly worked it cannot grow its maximum crop. The farmer pays for the occupation of the land, whether it be freehold or leasehold, therefore the more the land produces during his period of occupation, alter deducting the -cost of production the greater will be his income. Occasionally, one hears a farmer say that his land wiJl grow a good, payable crop of roots (turnips for instance), from one ploughing out of ten. JBut it has not yet been the writer's experience to hear a farmer say that he got a better crop of tusnips by only ploughing , his land once, than he got from the same class of land twice ploughed, therefore the > argument in favour of one ploughing, against ploughing, will not bear analysis. Of course it is,.possible .that, a better crop will sometimes result from one ploughing, but this happens only when the second ploughing takes place too late in spring. In this case the surface may be so dried out as to leave insufficient. moisture to give a good germination, as the seed may germinate well, . but there will bo a : lack of moisture for the-proper development of the crop. ■ • Advantage of Early Ploughing.

The chief thing in order to ensure a crop is to plough early, and if the land is intended to be cross-ploughed the first ploughing should be done early enough, to allow of the second ploughing being done,, in good time, so as to ensuire. the ground gettiing a thorough soaking before dry weather sets in. If one is in doubt as to which of the two methods is the better to adopt in future, it would be interesting, as well as instructive, to give the two methods a fair triaL This can best be done by : ploughing part _of a field once and the other part _ twice, giving each part a thorough; cultivation previous to sowing the seed. If this practical tixperimenfc is properly carried out, it is safe to assume that the part of the field t£at gets the double ploughing, and in consequence gets a more complete cultivation, will produce a much higher yield per acre than that part which has only been ploughed oncei I am confident that the difference in the yield will be sufficient- to convince oven tha most sceptical that the former treatment is far more remunerative, even after deducting the extra cost that may be incurred by having the land turned over a second time.