AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19231, 21 January 1926, Page 13

AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

No farmer is successful who thinks more of his barn than* ho does of his home. This year in Britain there have been 212,000 acres less than the area of' last year under wheat. / Pasture grass provides the bulk which is necesary to promoto the normal functioning of the digestive tract. Canterbury, like several other provinces, has a grievance against the Railway Department in regard to the carriage of fruit. There is one thing to be thankful for, one thing every farmer should bear in mind; that is, all weeds can be killed by cultivation. It is most important that heifers on first calf should be handled well and fed well, and especially it is urged that they be milked as long as possible. In England, particularly at Cambridge, under the direction of Sir Rowland Biffen, a very intensive study had been made of the improvement of wheat stocks. " No other occupation opens so wide a field for profitable and agreeable combination of labour with cultivated thought as agriculture."—Abraham Lincoln. Young pigs gain strength from the sunshine. Let them out as soon as possible, but provide protection from the direct rays of the sun so as to avoid their backs burning. Considering the favourable conditions and cliamte which exist in this Dominion for farming, as compared with other countries, stock in New Zealand should be the healthiest in the world. Many have thought to improve their grazing areas by introducing English grasses, but a number of these grasses have been sown in districts and on soils quite unsuited to their growth. Drugs never take the place of proper sanitation and feeding methods, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The first step to raising healthy calves is to have healthy cows. Dairy farming that does not utilise the dairy by-products can not bo conducted along the most efficient and proper lines without a most efficient number of hogs to consume the skim milk, buttermilk and whey which may be available for feeding, Whatever kind of ration is selected for cows it is important that there be sufficient bulk at all times to satisfy the ppetite arid feeding capacity of the animal. If the ration lacks bulk the cow will be restless, and thus will not be at her best. All the roughage that a cow will eat should be supplied. The outstanding feature of British agriculture during the post-war period of depression lias been the fact that the various branches of the live-stock trade have held their own at a time when other departments of farming have involved serious financial losses. Applications of nitrate of soda, sulnhate of ammonia, superphosphate, concentrated potash salts, which are the fertilisers most largely used in spring, if not used up by the crop, will be subject : either to total or partial waste before the next season comes round. A sharp demand has set in for farm labour. As it. usual at this time of the I year, the flush of spring imposes extra ; work upon the shoulders of the busy j farmer, and a heavy call is made on outi side labour to tide over the period when | primary production reaches its maximum capacity. I As showing the durability of puriri ' wood, the piles of a building, being demolj ished to make way for new premises in New Plymouth, have been unearthed sound (states an exchange). They have been in the ground for about 70 years, the old structure having been erected in the early 'fifties. At Mr. Murdoch's farm at Tangitiroria, a 20 days' test was made on the dairy cows badly infested with ticks. During the 10 days prior to the dipping a careful check was taken of the butterfat received from the herd. During the whole period of 20 days no rain fell. The benefits received by Mr. Murdoch were that, after allowing for the cost of dipping and labour charges, the increase in buttevfab'in the 10 days after clipping returned a profit of £2 4s. The visible effects of basic slag are always smaller on land newly laid down, simply because there is not the accumulation of nitrogenous material from past crops which characterises old grass land. The lime in the basic slag renders some of this reserve material available for the herbage, the increased supply of nitrogen being apparent in the fuller green the ; grass assumes.