THE FARM.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 761, 1 October 1886, Page 15

THE FARM.

OPERATIONS FOR OCTOBER. NORTHERN DISTRICTS. New Zealand Farmer.

Potatoes.—Finish planting the main crop. Avoid to shallow planting ; five inches is not too deep to cover the sets. Have the rows far enough apart to allow sufficient room to use the scarifier between them without injuring the delicate root fibres of the young potato plants. In Canterbury many farmers allow three feet between the rows ; but 30 inches is perhaps a better distance to allow, aa giving the foliage a better chance to meet across the rows, and thus tend to keep down the growth of weeds, and also to protect the soil from the scorching summer sun, two very important points in potato culture. It is a good plan to run a pair of light harrows across the drills just before tbe potatoes make an appearance above ground, which gets rid of a full crop of weed seedlings. The potatogrower’s chief anxiety should be to keep his crop clean. With this object, harrow and scarify as long as is possible withont injuring the plants. If two-eye sets be used, set one foot apart ; 12 cwt or seed per acre will be required. As to fertilizers from 6to 8 cwt of fine bonedust should be used per acre according to the quality of tbe soil. Good farmyard manure if you have enough of it, has been proved to produce as heavy crons of potatoes as any artificial fertiliser wo know of.

Turnips.—Sweeda should now be got in. The soil should have been well tilled beforehand, and be in good heart. Get tho seed in as soon as possible after the last working. Stimulate tbe early growth of the plant by drilling in with the seed from 1 to 2 cwt of fine bonedust or superphosphate. When once into the rough leaf tbe crop is safo from damage by the turnip-fly (Haltica nemorum). If only it be perfectly covered, the seed cannot be deposited too shallow in the soil. A pair of light harrows or a chain harrow should follow tbe drill, and if the land is dry you may with advantage finish off with a light roller ; but avoid anything likely to form a smooth caked surface on the land. From 21b to 3lb of seed per acre will suffice. The average return per acre of turnips in England is 5 tons.

Mangolds.—These may still be sown. This crop pays well for liberal manuring. A thoroughly reliable English authority recommends 12 tons of good farmyard manure applied during autumn or winter, and at seed time a mixture of 5 cwt of mineral superphosphate, 1 cwt of kainite, 1 cwt of sulphate of ammonia, and 3 cwt of common salt per acre. We quote this to show how they manure in England. The drills should be from 20 to 30 inches apart, and the plants singled to 12 inehes apart, in the drills. If the seeds are steeped in water for 48 hours before being sown, the seed vegetates much more quickly than if sown in an unprepared state. As to Ya-ieties on strong deep loams the Ling Reds succeed well and give a great yield per acre. The Red Globe is adapted for light soils ; the Orange and Yellow Globe are probably the moat suitable for every variety of soil. These latter are hardy and heavy croppers, and cannot be surpassed for quality. Carrots.—lt is useless to plant carrots on stiff, wet soils. Deep cultivation is essential for this crop. Sow in drills 15 to 20 inches apart, plants to be singled 4 to 8 inches apart according to the sort being grown. The A 1 ringham and White Belgian varieties are the most productive,, and the best suited to field cultivation. Tbe former long and tapering, grows well out of the ground ; the latter is a heavier cropper, being larger and of a more uniform thickness. Land should have been manured in autumn for carrots. Horse and hand hoeing should be carried on vigorously as long as is practicable. For fattening cattle no root crop is better than carrots, or when fed to dairy cows, to produce good rich butter. Carrots are also very good (or horses, given in moderation. This crop succeeds admirably in the Waikato district.

Lucerne may still be sown. Oaten Hay.—Sow 4 bushels to the acre of potato oats. The Tartarian is best sown in August. Maize.— The time for sowing the main crop of maizs for seed varies with the locality and the season. In America the rule is to sow when the apple is in blossom. This is the month usually chosen in this country. Heavy land should have been ploughed and aubsoiled in the autumn. Deep and thorough cultivation nays in growing this crop ; it is better to put in 10 acres well than 100 without proper cultivation. Choose the very best seed you can get. If possible, get good cobs and shell off and discard the grains at the base and top of the cob, retaining for sowing only the fully developed, well-shaped grains of the central part. By reducing the soil to a fine tilth before planting much after cultivation is saved. Wkeds are fatal to successful maize cultivation. Plant in drills 3|- to 4 feet apart, plants 6 inches apart in the drills. As soon as the rows show plainly start the cultivator. Go in for flat cultivation as preferable to hilling up. Some American growers soak the seed in a mixture of lib of copperas and lib of chloride of lime dissolved in a hogshead of salt water or iu that proportion. Put the seed to soak over night to plant next morning, first rolling in lime, ashes or bone dust.

Linseed may perhaps still be sown in some soils and districts, but it is better put in in September.

Kohl Rabi, or turnip c ibbage, is a crop well worthy the attention of New Zsa'and farmers for forage purposes. It is a species of brassica, or cabbage, and its value consists in its enlarged stem which assumes a globular form between tho root and the crown of leaves, and affords a food for stock corresponding in quality to a substantial Swedish turnip. In England, this crop (which is extensively sown in the Midland Counties) yields from 20 to 25 tons of these stems. Like all the cabbage tribe Kohl Rabi is a gross feeder and requires liberal manuring to produce the best results. All loamy soils, whether light or heavy, are suited to its culture. Sow as soon as posible in drills about 2 feet apart, singling the plants out to from 10 to 12 inches apart. It is a good crop to use to rest land from root crops, and it can,be stored for winter use as well as the turnip or mangold. Rye grass paddocks to be cut for seed, clean from weeds carefully and shut up.

General Remarks. Grass and clover seeds can still be sown according to the weather, Sheep shearing can begin about the middle of the month unless the weather is too cold. Tag the sheep first, and avoid rolling up dirt or rubbish in the fleeces. See that mowing machines are in order ready for work, also waggons, drays, and frames, and prepare bottoms for hay ricks. Above all things, never give the weeds a spell at this season, or they will most certainly boss you before the summer is over. Begin to summer fallow dirty lands if not too busy with more important matters. SOUTHERN DISTRICTS.

We may now expect some warm spring weather, but in inland districts, at a certain elevation above the sea, late frosts may still be expected. Much of what has been said in the instructions for this month for the Northern Districts will apply in many parts of the South Island.

Potatoes. —The main crop may be planted as directed for Northern Districts, but in some parts, where late frosts occur, it is better to wait until the end of the month

Turnips.—The land may be prepared by a deep cross ploughing as soon as possible, after which it should be immediately harrowed and cleaned of weeds. The main crop of swedes should go in towards the end of next month. Mangolds should ail be got in this month. Liberal manuring is especially necessary with this crop. If it is Bown on ridges by dibbling in, the following is a good plan to work on. The manure, laid in the furrow between two feet ridges, is covered by splitting the ridges, one or two hundred weight of guano or other suitable fertilizer having been first sown broadcast over the whole. The after splitting of the ridges to cover the manure w 1 1 thoroughly mix the fertilize with the Boil. The land is then rolled, the horses walking in the furrows. Upon the roller ribs are nailed at proper distances to leave equidistant marks along the tops of the ridges by which the dibblers are guided in planting the seed. Care must be taken to avoid planting the seed too deep, for which reason a blunt dibble is the best to use. Cover the seed in lightly with the foot, and then go over the land with a light roller. Carrots —These may be sown this month, with the drill in rows 18 inches apart. Take care not to have the drill so as to bury the seed too deeply. A sufficient seeding is 61b per acre, which should be mixed with two bushels of sand or ashes, the drill being set to sow the bulk of two bushels per acre. If the said be damp, a boy may be required on the drilling machine to keep the Beedbox properly supplied. The sand being damp will be rather an advantage if the seed be mixed with it some days before being sowd, for it will help the process of germination, wh’ch in the carrot is very slow, but the mixed seed and sand would in this case have to be turned daily. Lucerne should be sown now. It cannot be excelled as nutritious forage for stock ; amongst all green foods for pigs lucerne can be specially recommended. It will grow in almost any soil so long as it is not too cold and heavy, but the richest soil produces the best results with this crop. A patch of lucerne once well started will, if annually top dressed, la-t for many years, yielding from first to last a wonderful amount of excellent green forage. Oats can still be sown, bub it is better to have them all above ground by the end of September. JBarley.—ln districts where fine autumn weather is generally experienced this crop may still be eown, but there is great danger with late sown barley of damp weather coming on before it can be harvested- The barley that pays is a sample fit for malt'ng purposes, and if it is discolored by bat weather in the harvesting, it is useless to the maltster. As we have before Baid, grass seeds and clover can be sown with the barley. Sainfoin also ipay be sown with it this month, at the rate of three bushels per acre. Sainfoin grows best on calcareous soils. All white

grain crops are the better for being rolled during the dry weather this month. Laying Down Grass.—This work may be done now, or even as late as tbe beginning of November. For permanent pastures you cannot have too great a variety of good grasses. Many English farmers are coming to th belief that too much use has bi-en made of rye grass hitherto iu mixtures fora permanent pasture, to the exclusion of more wholesome and nourishing grasses. But experience on this subject should be gained in our own climate before any groat change is mado in the mixture of grasses usually favored in New Zealand. In a good English meadow the herbage is composed, according to a good authority, of the following nutritive palatable grasses : —Rye or Ray grass (Lolium perenne), Meadow Fescue (Festuca pratense), Hard Fescue (F. Jceviuecula), Bbeep Fescuo (if. Ovina), Smooth Meadow grass (Poa pratensis) Rough Meadow grass (P. trivialis), Catstail (Phleum prafcense), Sweet Vernal (Authoxanthuin oporatum), Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), and tho Hairy and Yellow oat. grasses (Avena pubescens and A. flavesoons) Besides these grassei a proportion of red and white clover go to make up the best English pastures. Live Stock. —Laming should be over now, and ewes and lambs will both require to be put on to good feed. At a month old lambs should be cut and tailed, and at this time the ewe lambs should be distinguished from lambs and wethers by a particular ear mark. Any sheep which have been in turnip fields, now perhaps s.'-wn to barley, may be put upon any good grass that is forward enough. This will form the best feed for ewes with lambs. Attend to tagging so as to have the fleeces as free from dirt as possiblo before shearing comes on. Longwoolled sheep may be shorn as soon as ever the weather is warm enough, and if they are fat, the shearing will be a great relief to them. The breeding ewes should not bo shorn until November. Go through sheep paddocks frequently befere shearing time to raise up any sheep which may have got upon their backs. Where grass is backward the anturnnsown forage crops should now bo ready for use for springing and newly calved cows. Calves should be castrated at three week’s old. It is well to change your bull every third year, and now is a good time to secure a fresh one. Give working horses green stuff at this time of year iu place of a portion of their liay. Cart borse3 have befoie them very much hard work and should be kept in good condition for it. During the greatest press of work an extra horse or two might be procured with advantage, to be disposed of a 3 the work slackened, for during fine weather the teams will be required to make long days. Mares in foal may be kept in continual but light work, in which they will not be subject to heavy lifts. HOW TO PRESERVE POSTS‘I descovered many years ago,’ says a writer in an American paper, ‘ that wood could be made to last longer than iron in the ground, if prepared according to the following recipe : —Take boiled linseed oil and stir in pulverised coal to the consistency of paint. Put a coat of this over the timher, and there is not a man will live to see it rot.’ This plan has long been followed in Mr Waterer’s Knap Hill Nursery, where some thousands of fence-posts are so treated yearly. It is also highly commended by others. —Gardening Illustrated.

THE BEST SOIL FOR ASPARAGUS. The worst soil for asparagus is any soil that rests on a wet undrained, retentive clay subsoil. Through underdraining, either natural or artificial, is absolutely essential to the rapid growth of asparagus. If this is secured, it makes comparitively little difference what the soil is. The general opinion is that saudy soil mixed with more or less muck is best, but we have seen just as good asparagus growing on a rather heavy clay, with an uuderdraiu beneath it, as on sanely soil adjoining. Drainage first and underground irrigation afterwards, gives the best results, but it is seldom that such natural condition can be found ; they must be provided.

HEREDITY OF DISEASE A. 3. ALLEN.

It is the general belief, if either a male or female animal has met with an injury on any part of its body or limbs during the pregnancy of the female, this injury will never be shown by the offspring. But we have lately heard of several instances to the contrary, of injuries being fully transmitted, more particularly, however, from the female; so that they ought to be guarded against in breeding, as well as against disease in the parents. The latter is so generally certain to be developed in the offspring, all sensible persons agree that neither male hot female should ever be permitted to breed when diseased in the slightest degree. There aro immense losses annually suffered in rearing young animals born of such parents. Heaves, curb, spavin, side-bone and ring-bone are the most ordinary ailments that are shown in horses, while scrofula develops most surely and disastrouely in cattle. Parent animals of every kind should be in perfect health and condition at the time of breeding, and the young should be judiciously fed and atteuded to until full grown, and then they will be lit for the best of service through an extra length of life. Our farmers would add millions of dollars annually to their incomes, if they would persistsntly abopt the above suggestion in breeding and rearing their domestic animals.

The New York Tribune gives a good advise when it says ‘Cut down the garden to the smallest space consistent with the needs of the family. Then take good care of it. Horseradish should be dug out in the fall, and on no account should it be left over for another season. If this is done, tho main root will become partially rotten, and assume such a woody texture as to render it entirely unfit for use.

The Masterton Pastoral and Ag;i u'tura Association will hold tneir annual shew at Masterton on the 25th November.