THE FARM.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 852, 29 June 1888, Page 18

THE FARM.

Operations lor July. NORTHERN DISTRICT.

The severest weather of a North New Zealand winter is generally experienced during this and next month. Except during frosty weather much rain falls, sometimes almost continuously for days together and sometimes in cold south-westerly showers, with short spells of sunshine between. 1 In this cold squally weather stock unprovided with good shelter suffer a good deal, and if they have been allowed to get low in condition during May and June they will be the more injuriously affected by bad weather. Under such circumstanoes t unless specially well treated now, calves, are apt to scour and die, or bravely pull through until spring finds them mere walking skeletons, little or no growth having been made during'the winter. It will take three or four times the amount of feed in spring to restore tuch animals to thriving condition than if they had encountered the winter season in good condition ; besides that they will many of them have become permanently stunted in growth. The same remarks will apply more or less to all farm stock. Roots —Now is a good time to prepare land intended for root crops next season. It should be ploughed deeply, and, if possible, subsoiled as well, turning over with the plough a good dressing of farm-yard manure. Mr Mechi tells us that for mangolds the soil and subsoil should be well manured to the depth of two feet at least, so thst the r oots may find an abundant store of food in the subsoil. He says that as much as 70 tonß of mangolds per acre have frequently been grown near Loudon. Thorough cultivation of the soil is more absolutely necessary to success in growing root orops thin in rasing almost any other crop. It is far better to grow half an acre of roots properly than two acres carelessly. Of course if the subsoil be gravelly, or very sandy, do not plough in the manure, for before your root crop was planted the best part of the manure would be washed by rains out of reach of the orops, Stiff clay Boils are unsuitable for root orops.

Green Forage— Continue to make fresh Bowings of tares or vetches, say every three weeks. Sow two bushels per acre with about half a bushel of oats or Cape barley. The first cutting will be off the land in time for ploughing up for mangolds. Bush Felling. —ln our northern districts bush felling goes on on many farms all through the winter months. The sooner bush is felled before spring the better bush you will have in the autumn. Shade and Shelter Trees.— Plant these wherever desirable in clumps about the farm. In felliug bush make an effort to preserve a patch of it here and there for timber, for shelter, and to please the eye. Upon broken and poor parts of the farm you cannot do better than plant trees—eucalyptus, pine, black wattles (Acacia decurreus), the black walnut of America, or even any tree at all rather than none. Keep Drains and water courses open, and put in new drains where necessary. Hedges.— Trim old ones and plant new ones. Li ve Stock.—Now those provident farmers who have taken care to lay in a plentiful store of roots and o.ther winter fodder will have their reward. Cows calving or about to calve, as well as those in milk, should be kept under cover on all wet, cold nights, and have a liberal supply of hay, dry bedding, and roots. Potatoes are cheap, and, the supply of roots failing, are not at all to be despised as a food for dairy cattle, either cut up raw, or boiled and mixed with a portion of bran. On farms where there is but poor natural shelter, artificial protection from the weather is especially a matter of importance. Cold and exposure are literally either flesh wasted or food thrown away. Ewes will now be coming forward for early lambing, and should be carefully looked after. If possible they should be kept out of wet, low lying paddocks, and they will be much benefited by a ration of sweet hay, or even good oaten straw daily. Roots may be cut up and fed to them iu the paddock, or they may be allowed access to where the roots' are grown for a short time each day ; but it is not advisable to keep ewes in lamb on turnips entirely j abortions are often due to so doing. Prevent foot-root by looking after the feet of the sheep and paring' them when necessary. It is said to be a good plan to drive sheep across a bed of freshly slaked lime as a pre.

ventive against foot-rot, but the less ewes in lamb, or just having lambed, are driven about the better. x a -

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS.

This is generally a very wet month, preventing, to a great extent, tillage operations. Advantage should be taken of enforced leisure in this respect to put in a drain here and there, to dry up wet patches in paddocks and what are sometimes called * catswamps.’ By draining these small swampy placeß, not only do you add to your area of profitable land, bud you avoid the waste of time and labor involved in going round such patches ia ploughing up a paddock, or in working the reaper on it. Some people think it is no use to do any draining at all if you cannot afford to put iu a regular system of drains. This is a very great mistake. If a farmer has not got capital enough to devote to the work of thorough drainage, let him by degrees drain the worst places about the farm, always laying the drains with an eye to the future draining of the whole of the land. If large pipes are put in, many of these short drains will serve for outlet drains when at some future time the rest of the land is drains d. By drawing off the water from a specially wet piece of ground, it should be remembered that you partially drain an area all round the actual swampy patch itself. Other winter work is clearing out open ditches, trimming hedges, stubbing up furze and briars from the borders of fields, making andhanging new gates, &e. The gathering and preserving in proper condition of farmyard manure is also a winter occupation. In laying up manure in heaps put in a layer of sand or earth occasionally to prevent too rapid fermentation and the escape of valuable fertiliz’ng properties in a gaseous form. Wheat. —Winter wheat may still be sown in dry land, but as spring wheat may be sown in August, it is ; as well to wait until then,if you have any more .wheat to sow this season. If any is sown now, remember, as we have pointed out in previous instructions, more seed will be required per acre thau in the earlier sowings. Ploughing. —Grass.land, which it is intended to break up, may be ploughed this month. All stubble and clover lea ought to have been ploughed by July ; finish up this work as the weather permits. Grass Paddocks.— lt will greatly improve any paddocks that have suffered from heavy stocking if towards the end of this month they are - after being top dressed and well brush harrowed, and the drains seen to—bleared of all stock, and laid up to rest until warm weather sets in. Live Stock.— Treat cows and ewes so aa to keep them in vigorous health, avoiding equally the extremes of fat and leanness. In the case of ewes the value of the fleece will depend very much on attention to this matter, besides the mo3t obvious benefit to themselves and their lambs thereby secured. Pigs require the same treatment as last month. Dairy cows expected to. calve in September should now reoeivegood treatment as to food. Because they are dry many toolish farmers think any rubbishy hay cut into chaff and mixed with straw good enough for them. Necessity alone can justify such treatment. The food they get for the last few weeks before calving will affect the milking performances to a considerable extent. They should have mangolds, turnips or some other nutritious food to bring them into proper condition for calving. In tho case of cows which have already calved, food steamed and warm will be found beneficial in cold bleak weather. On the subject of shelter, &c., attend to last month's instructions. -

Hops. —ln frosty weather cartout manure and poles, and when the ground is dry enough proceed with digging.

Osiers. —Good osiers are worth about£lß a ton to New Zealand basket makers. They may be planted this and next month in suitable land. -For the kind required for making the finer wicker work the land must not be too moist or the rods will grow too coarse. Osiers may be planted along banks made with a double ditch through swampy land. Consult an expert nB to the sorts to plant. Your sets should be two or three feet long offthree-year-old shoots, and they should be planted one foot deep in the ground. If in a regular plantation the cuttings Bhould be two feet apart in the rows, and three feet apart.

Aeoriculture. —When the weather allows continue planting trees whether for purposes of utility or ornament. Avoid pruning allkinds of resinous trees at this season. Further with all possible diligence all transplanting work. You will have plenty of other work on your hands in spring.