SCIENTIFIC FARMING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18877, 1 June 1923, Page 4

SCIENTIFIC FARMING.

AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT'S $ INSTRUCTION COURSE. week's course of lectures and demonstrations organised for farmers by the Agricultural Uepartment was continued all day. yesterday. The lectures are given at the King Edward Technical College, and yesterday morning were presided over by Mr A. H*. Cockayne, director of the fields division of the Department of Agriculture. The attendance and interest continue undiminished. LIMING AND MANURING: Mr R. B. Tenneiit, instructor' in agriculture, delivered the first lecture of the day on the subject of "Liming and Manuring." The lecture was freely illustrated with instructive lantern slides. He drew attention to the action of water in dis-' solving certain important constituents in the flicil and making them available to the plant. The use of lime in manuring was not so much to supply food _to the plant ns to correct certain deficiencies or irregularities in the soil. Seven of the 10 elements required for plant nourishment were plentiful in New Zealand soils. The three elements in which our soils were deficient were nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, and consequently the manures required were divided into three groups accordingly. He explained the "law of the minimum," which is that plant development is regulated by the available supply of that necessary element which is present in the soil in the least amount. Passing on to speak of lime manures, he proceeded to describe the various forms in which lime is usod calcium carbonate or carbonate of lime, slaked lime, and gypsum. The chief effects of lime were in relation to the texture of the soil, in binding together, in overcoming acidity, and in allowing plant food to become available to tho plant. The lecturer by throwing on the screen an experiment with acids and alkalis in a glass tank demonstrated the effect of lime when applied to the texture of the soil. He further experimented with a sample of sour soil to which lime was added. Tho first essential was draining, which must, go hand in hand with liming. Lime not only promoted plant growth, but made tho fodder more palatable to stock and hindered the progross of plant diseases, Tho great advantage of stable manure lay rather _in its indirect fertilising abilities in getting the soil into a freer condition in which it was more easily cultivable. Unfortunately we could not get enough farmyard manure in New Zealand, and much of it was wasted. Phosphate manures such as those derived from Nauru Island were next touched on. Nauru Island phosphate was slow acting. Superphosphates were nuick noting, and the plant, could seize on them right away, but they were sour because mixed with sulphurio acid. In basio superphosphate the action of the acid had been overcome by lime, but it was not so quick acting Finally nitrogenous manures were dealt with. Green crop ploughed in came under this heading. Everyone of the high grade manures was a complete manure containing phosphorus, potash, and nitrogen. In conclusion, tho lecturer dealt with the advantages of manure on posture showing by various diagrams and records that the manure much mor,e than paid for itself. SEED PRODUCTION AND THE SEED TRADE. Mr J? H. Nimmo gave the next address on the subject of "Seed Production and the Seed Trade." He pointed out the advantages of the growers of seed having direct contact with representatives of the trade. New Zealand was an ideal country for seed growing, and for some lines its reputation was worldwide. The seed did not ripen too quickly here, but had time to mature and fill out. Our seed export trade was already a very valuable one. He was quite sure if any of them went in for seed raising in - a systematic manner they would make more out of that than in many lines of farming in which they were now occupied. Nothing in this part of the country was such a disgrace to the farmer as the way in which the potatoes were marketed. Each man must find out by several years of experimenting what potato was most suited to his land, and he must also know what kind of potato was. most in demand. Compared with Canterbury, Otagjo was very far behind ip the marketing of ;|s>tatpes.,'' Potatoes were often reduced in'value by 10s a ton on account of the disreputable bags in which they , were marketed. He explained how potatoes should be sorted and prepared for marketing;"- They could not get good seed potatoes here, but there was no reason why it should be so. Potatoes went back if grown year after year on the same soil. It was generally conceded by the seed trade that there was no finer clover seed than the New Zealand red and white. A man who

Wa§ growing seed clover should be very careful about the parent seed selected. It was’ a'mistake to take cheap sefed. White clover in Otago was freer from weeds than, it was up north. Red clover- was not grown further south than Onmaru. It made him sorry sometimes to see the kind of ryegrass ' seed offered for sale by farmers. It should be free from the Weeds common to it. and should be a short ’heavy seed about 301 b in weight., Cpcksfoot was very little grown here and ought'to be grown much more. The Banks Pcm insula seed had long had a fine reputation. but it was getting badly mixed with weeds. Chewings fescue and crested dogstail both brought very good returns. .Fescue, was only fit for high land and land that, could not. be used for much else. Last year’s price for fescue was abnormal, but it" still gave a jgood profit. There was always a market for dogstail. It should be cut as soon as it was ripe and not allowed to stand; Rape had been grown for. many years ’in Otago and Southland, and the seed was now admitted to be ns good as that imported. If they were buying colonial seed they should know exactly what they were getting. Discussing turnip seed ho said it should bo taken from specially selected roots and' not taken haphazard from any part of the field. Carrots, mangolds, ap'd,, parsnips wore more grown in Canterbury than here. The lecturer commended thp valuable work of the Moa Seed Farm tq; the farming onmnnmily, and also urged that they should support the Journal of Agriculture. The growing of peas and beans had become an important, industry in various parts of the South Island. lie described how peas wore cultivated in the Marlborough district, and the care that ’was taken to eliminate those that were not true try typo. Ho urged his hearers to go over the crops and select, anything above the general standard. isolate it. and see if the typo was permanent. If they were going to make a success of growing seeds for the seed trade the first axiom was that . the original seed must be the finest procurable, the ground must bo free of Woods, and they must, use diligence and care in keeping the, crop clean. At the close a number of practical questions were put and answered by the lecturer, to whom a very hearty vole of thanks was accorded. .. ’MAINTENANCE OF PASTURES.

A lecture on “Pasture Management” was given by Mr K. B. Levy, the department's pasture expert, whoso lecture was freely illustrated with lantern slides. One of the first points in maintaining, he said, was to avoid overstocking, which was one of the most fruitful sources of injury to pasture. One of the prime features of farm management was the regular spelling of pastures. .If.'they kept the turf close danthonea would cptrie in and cocksfoot go out. If they spelled tile: turf the reverse would happen. An important point was the utilisation of the ■ herbage produced. Close grazing was found v to check the ryegrass and bring on the - white plover. By proper manipulation the best combination of the various grasses could be maintained. Cocksfoot, it allowed to get away, killed out the bottom grasses and.' broke rip the sward. The haying of permanent pastures was a fatal mistake. ■ Most Of our pasture weeds spread only in a close turf. Cocksfoot in good suitable country could be used to control rushes, lie showed the good results following from top-dressing with phosphate manures. The great source of manure for the farm was the stock upon it. Two notable pictures showed how m Ihree years pigs had changed a , cocksfoot area into a pure perennial ryegrass, by their surface cultivation and fertilisation. ' The lecturer pointed out how animal 1 manure, if left, broke up and-de-stroyed the pasture combination. The system; of stall feeding the cows during the time' when they would puddle the pasture if left upon it was to be commended. Important as hoof cultivation was it could be overdone in wet weather. To his mind the Scotch Thistle was much more dangerous for breakiilg up the. pasture than was the Californian, Ihistle. • Unless the Californian thistfe grew so thick that the "stock could nqt ’get among it it did as rnticli good as ' hank to the pasture. Of course, ho was aware that" on arable land the Californian ' thistle was a very i-erious problem. In hill ' country the two types of beast they must go 'in' for wore -sheep for money-earning . ' anclCpaUlo -as the cultivators. Generally ■ speokitig .they had-to accept the beef cow ' na’,the'hillside oiiltivalor. Biclabida throve ’ m-Vpounbrv. •'loft cntfirely to sheep, but v where cattle werb'thev disappeared. The remarkible effects of the various classes of ■' ,'stooK' upon the.growth' to be .found in dif- ■ of, country were illustrated in

a striking series of photographs. The principle of the holding paddock, the lecturer said, was wrong, because it brought the fertility of the hill down to the flat. They should rather give fodder from the flat to the animals in the hill paddock, and let them carry the fertility up the hill. VISIT TO THE GARDENS. In the afternoon Mr D. Tannock, superintendent of reserves for the city, gave a demonstration of tree-planting at the Botanic Gardens, and later on delivered a lecture concerning forestry and its branches as pertaining to the shelter of orchards. Ho explained the varieties of trees suitable to different districts, and when and how to plant them. FEEDING OF DAIRY COWS. In the evening a meeting was hold in Burt Hall, and Mr A. H. Cockayne gave an address on the Feeding of Dairy Cows. Mr Cockayne said there was no more important function to be done by the farmer than dairying. There was much that was of no great service to mankind until such time as it was made productive by animals. Ho went on to speak of catch crops, which he said were of great importance in New Zealand, and pointed out that 98 per cent, of the area in New was devoted to food crops. Ho gave an illustration of the groat increase in this direction since 40 years ago, during which period the growth of the industry had been enormous. Yet there were some in New Zealand who considered wo were not progressive. There were certain animals specially adapted for ccfhverting products of the soil into material substance, and of these the dairy cow was amongst the best. Comparing the value of the dairy cow with the steer, ho said that one cow produced as much as several steers. Commenting on the increase of dairy cows in New Zealand, he mentioned that the number had now reached a million and a-qunrter, and that there were 135,000 in Otago and Southland. There were 4,C00,C00 acres devoted to dairying in New Zealand, and about 501 b of butter fat per acre was produced during the season. So far as the future of dairying in New Zealand was concerned it depended upon four great factors—herd improvement, adequate food, control of disease, and a suitable market. Speaking of herd-testing mid the improvement of herds, he said the dairying movement had tremendous possibilities before it, that would mean millions to New Zealand. There wos only one method of determining which cow should he bred from, and that was by testing, and fcy using a purebred bull of good milking ancestry. Mr Cockayne proceeded to speak of economy in feeding dairy cows, apd said that' overstocking must be avoided. Reverting to herd-testing, he said it was no easy matter as the food had not only to be adequate in quantity but also in quality. At this stage a large number of pictures were rapidly projected ou the .sateen, and a running commentary was made upon them by the lecturer, in the course of which he advocated properly balanced food, and said that if it were not properly balanced it wap only capable of producing i per cent, of what it should. Coming to pictures of crops, the first shown were root crops, and Mr Cockayne said that one of the best foods oats and vetches, and should occupy a prominent position. Lucerne usually headed the list so far as a nitrogenous material was concerned. Speaking of pasture, he said young grass was quite satisfactory for maintenance of production. Grass might be, under certain conditions, the finest food a dairy cow could get, but under different conditions it might not be suitable for production. A perfect dairy pasture was well-mixed grass and clover. Here Mr Cockayne remarked that there were too many pastures in New Zealand that had not sufficient clover in them. Lime was extremely important in the growth of food, and this ho illustrated by showing two pieces of land, one of which had been limed and the other not. Mr Cockayne then elaborated on food for dairy cattle and the mixtures that might he used with advantage, and said, in conclusion, that so far as the dairy cow in New Zealand was concerned the future was full of promise provided the cow was fed reasonably well and fed on scientific principles. Several Questions were answered at the close of the address.