TOP-DRESSING BENEFITS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19470, 28 October 1926, Page 7

TOP-DRESSING BENEFITS.

RESULTS AT PUKEHUiA. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] PUKEHUIA. Wednesday. Good results from top-dressing have been obtained by Mr. Stonex on his farm at Pukehuia. The farm consists of 730 acres of mixed land, and experiments in top-dressing with manure and lime were tried on tho different classes of land on the property. Two different areas which were regarded as very poor were first limed and then experimented upon to find out which class of manure suited the ground, with the result that to-day both of these pieces of land are maintaining a splendid sward of grass. It is hoped to get two cuts off the hay paddock this year. Fortunately Mr. Stonex has a lime quarry on his place, and lie also has a portable crusher, so that there is an almost unlimited supply of lime which analyses at from 70 to 90 per cent. Tho method of top-drw&rng is very practical. By experiment is found what class of manure the different lands require, and then the manure is spread liberally. By Standing on a rise a visitor could pick out tho boundary of Mr. Stonex s farm without looking'for the fences, tho practical methods of up-to-date farming being in evidence all over the property. It was in 1923 that the top-dressing was started in earnest, and the following figures give an indication of tho result: — In 1923 the butter-fat yield for August was 561 b., September 9991b., October 20041b. For tho same period this year it was as follows: —August 10811b, September 23721b., and for October it is expected to be 30001b. This increase has been gradual and is entirely due to top-dressing. Tho dairy herd of 120 animals is a verv good herd of crossed Jersey, with a sprinkling of pure-bred Jerseys. In 1925 there were in addition 247 head cf cattle, 8 horses and 506 sheep; this year there are 256 cattle. 11 horses and 822 sheep, so that the figures alone go to show what the land will do when properly treated. In 1923 it cost £2 "a ton to get manure on to the farm, but now, through the advont of tho railway, the freight is only £l. Beef has been sold off this farm this winter, being the first winter sale of beef since the original flush of feed after the bush burn. Mr. Stonex emphatically states that his yield at Pukehuia on an acreage basis is equal to any of Ihs Papatoetoe land. In some of the exposed paddocks are sown belts of shelter trees, which are showing great growth. Up-to-date machinery of different sorts is used and the large herd is dealt with in a verj efficient mantlet i • < p'' •' r