THE RURAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23951, 28 October 1939, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD

By RUSTICU3.

Phosphates in the Soli The efficiency of phosphates as a fertiliser has received attention recently in a contemporary journal, from which the following extract is taken;— : ■ • ” Phosphates have been applied siometimes assiduously and more often intermittently, to English soils i'or nearly a hundred years; yet even at the end of this time we are still tar from a complete understanding of their partition between the soil and Ihe plants. - , “At Cockle Park, where the pasture has been receiving a triennial dressing of scwt of basic slag per acre for over 40 years, there is even to-day a marked' improvement In the sward every time a dressing is applied This continued response over such a span of years is not due to the exhaustion of the added phosphorus at the end of each three-vear period, for only a tehth of the added phosphorus has been removed by the plants since 1897. The remaining . nine-tenths has been locked up by the soil particles, smd the roots possess no key that can unlock the door.” Itauiding Wool Bales* In view of the proposed commandeer of the New Zealand wool clip by the Government the Woolbrokers’ Association iii advising growers that it will be necessary -to restrict the branding ox their individual marks to the top, and one side only of each bale. The remaining spaces must be left clear for marking under the commandeer regulations. Embargo on Grass Seed Exports According to a Gisborne report the embargo on the export of grass seed is.!.likely to be lifted. The embargo was announced at the commencement of! hostilities, the main reason for this apparently being to conserve the Dominion’s production of seed for her own use. “ While that was apparently justified at the time.” said one'man engaged in the trade, “I see no reason why the embargo should remain rigidly in force. We produce more grass seed than we can use, and if tjie usual export of such seed as ryegrass, crested dogsta.il, Italian ryegrass and cocksfoot is not allowed, our prices in New Zealand will slump. I do not think that ttiis is the Government’s intention.” />. k ..." WOOL CLASSING ? DIVIDING UP THE CUP SPECIALLY IMPORTANT THIS » YEAR SOME EXAMPLES OF GLASSIFI- . CATION . In view of the unusual circumstances in which the 1939-40 wool clip will be marketed, classing takes on ,a special importance this year. ?, Great care in classification will.be nedessary, particularly with respect to clips classed, lip l the woolshed.’;f ?• ?, The.-aim ih classing is ; to divide the clip into the minimum number of. lines with, the maximum difference between each! Overclassing is definitely to be' avoided, as it will result in the making of a number of “star-lots ” (lines of less than four bales), which must be avoided wherever possible. vW Where a, clip is so small . that;, proper classing on the farm is impracticable, the system olbinning (or pooling), as earned out by any reputable woolbroker. offers the best solution. Under this system the smallest quantities of wool (even a single fleece) ■ are correctly graded and sold to the best advantage as part of large, well-graded lines. „ In medium-sized clips; it is often possible to class' the built .f the clip on the property and send in the oddments for Dinning. This is better practice than having them interlotted by the broker. Interlotting is merely a makeshift grouping of similar bales to avoid the selling of “star lots.’’ It seldom pays, except in the case of very large

FARM AND STATION NEWS

clips, to attempt to make “ super ” lines, It is better to leave this good wool in the top line to enhance the value of the latter, and also to avoid the practice of “forcing,” that is, putting a fleece into a higher line than that to which it belongs When in doubt, grade down.

Adequate facilities are necessary to carry out good c’assing, and first and foremost among these arc good light, plenty of space, and an adequate numIber of bins in the wool room.

. The following are examples ol the lines to be made in some typical New Zealand wool clips, but it must be emphasised that no really hard and fast rules can be laid down as every clip must be treated on its merits. In merino wool length is of relatively greater, importance than in the case of crossbred wool, where length is usually adequate and count is of primary importance. Merino Clip A.A. Comb. (Fine Merino).—64/70’s Q.ount Consisting of all the longest, soundest and brightest wool, not too heavy in condition. A. Comb. (Medium Merino). —60/64’s count. Ditto. Ditto. B. Comb. (Strong Merino).—sß/60’s count. Ditto. Ditto. M. C10.—58/70's count, consisting of all the wool similar in description to the above lines, but lacking in length. M,—sß/70’s count, consisting of all the heavy conditioned and fatty fleeces in the clip regardless of length. Halfbred Clip AA.iB. (Fine Half-bred). count. Good length and all the soundest, brightest and lightest wool of these qualities. Aiß. (Medium Half-bred).—s4/56’s count. Ditto. Ditto. B.JB. (Strong Half-bred).—so/54’s count. Good length, and all the soundest. brightest and lightest wool of these qualities. —SO/58’s count. All fleeces lacking in length and heavy in condition Crossbred Clip

AA. XB. (Fine Crossbred).—46/48’s count. Sound, good length and colour even condition.

A. XB. (Medium XB). count. Preparing length, sound, good colour.

•, B. XB. (Medium XB). count. Shorter staples fleeces, carding length, sound, good colour. % CT XB (Strong X8),—40/44’s count. Sound, good colour, even condition, all lengths. CC. XB. (Low X8.).—36/40’s count. Sound, good colour, even condition, all lengths. The above grading applies to medium-sized clips. In the case of larger clips some ot these lines can be further subdivided as may be necessary Keep all hogget wool separate from the rest of the clip, and keep cotted fleeces separate. In the case of lender or seedy fleeces, if there are only, a few keen thern separate, but if the whole clip is affected disregard and class as if these faults were not present.

In, clips where the proportion of inferior wools, such as stained and dingy are not high the best way, of disposing of this wool is to have it binned, but where the inferior grades form a considerable proportion thev can be made into one or more cast lines. The same ’■principles of- treatment and disposal apply to the oddments, such as necks nieces bellies." locks, etc.

EWE HOGGET COMPETITION

SOUTH OTAGO DISTRICT The ewe hogget competition in the ° w , a £ a : cllnton - Balclut ha district held on Wednesday, October 25, and was judged by Mr Walter, Mathewson (Balclutha), Messrs R D. Stewart. E. H. Calder, and R. Cameron, representing the Competitions Committee, were present, and in the various centres exhibitors, joined the party. In all 11. entries were received, 10 in the dual purpose class and one in the class lor wool production. The Judge commented on the general high standard of the flocks inspected, and s:ald that there was little evidence of the severe winter conditions that had been experienced this season. It was evident that the majority of exhibitors had benefited from the experience of last year’s competition in the selection of the hoggets 10 be shown, but in one or two cases the placlngs might have been different had more attention been, paid to eliminating sheep that detracted from the uniformity of the exhibit.

The Judge complimented the winner of the competition on the outstanding quality of sheep placed before him, which were « particularly well-grown, even lot of true Komii r type hoggets. He considered that they were fit 'or any show ring, and in pointing out their quality to the assembled farmers suggested that this was the type of flock they should endeavour to breed. He also complimented the second and third placed breeders, whose flocks, he considered well worthy of their places, which had been won in keen competition. He pointed out that while the winning pens .had been outstanding, every flock inspected had been of very good quality, and it had been difficult to separate some of them

The placings were as follows: DUAL PURPOSE CLASS Wool. Car- Uni- Tl. cass. formity.

Before you plan your weekly buying look in the Otaep Dailv Times Classified Columns

(35) (35) (30) (100) Mrs E. F. Black 33 33 29 95 ' J. Johnston 33 32 29 94 Cl. Green .. .. 32 32 29 93 W. Friend .. 32 31 29 92 V. J. McArthur ' 31 32 28 91 Davidson Bros. 31 32 28 91 J. W. Dunn 31 31 28 90 J. White .. W. Bradfield ' .. 32 30 28 90 31 32 27 90 W. Sutherland . 3131 27 89 WOOL CLASS J. A. Anderson 46 27 18 91