Farming Column

Opunake Times, 26 August 1932, Page 1

Farming Column

AUGUST ON THE FARM WORK FOR THE MONTH. MATTERS OF INTEREST. There should not be much occasion to continue feeding out to dairy cattle after the end of the month. If the pastures have been properly treated in the autumn they should be moving away how and by the end of the month should be growing at a pace sufficient to keep the herd going. All roots used for feeding should be fed out as quickly as possible as they become a bit risky once second growth starts, turnips or swedes in this condition are apt to cause red water if fed out too liberally or without hay. I would say to those of you who have been feeding ou roots or special fodder crops —get the land cleaned off during tins month and put it into another crop right away. Of course I do not mean another crop of roots but something in the nature of a catch crop between the roots and permanent grass. Autumn is quite early enough for sowing •out to permanent grass but that is not reason why the turnip land should be lying idle until then. In some cases it may h sufficient to disc the turnip paddock and in other cases where the land is stiff or dirty it may be better to plough lightly. 0 has quite a selection of crops from which to choose one that will pay for itself —it is just a question as to what is likely to be of most advantage to the individual concerned. For instance if the pastures are not too good and a bit of extra grazing would be an advantage then a catch crop of Italian rye and. red clover would be tlie thing to sow. For this crop sow H bushels of Italian and 4 lbs. of red clover per acre. This crop would come quickly and provide a large amount of nutritious fodder right up to the end of November when it could then be shut off for hay.

If there is no more need for a really good ensilage crop, then one could not do better than sow out a mixture of oats and field peas. 1} bushels of oats and 1 bushel of grey partridge peas per acre will make an evenly balanced and excellent quality ensilage crop. With this crop use about 2£cwts. of ammouiated super per acre.

Again for late summer feeding a crop of kale or chow mollier can be recommended or if lamb feed is required, rape may be sown, although I would not recommend the latter crop as it is so liable to attacks of club root especially when following swedes. There is not the same danger with kale or chow mollier as both crops show a remarkable degree of resistance to disease. If feed for January, February and March is wanted then one could safely recommend the sowing of !■£ lbs of chow mollier per acre early in September with a manurial dressing of 3cwts ammonia topdressing per acre. There are many other catch crops which may be sown at this time of the year with something more than the chance of their paying their way. For instance after roots why not a crop of potatoes Potatoes in the North must be a paying proposition especially if they can be taken between the swedes and permanent grass. I realise perfectly well that this is not the ideal place in the rotation for potatoes but I am quite confident that potatoes are profitable when grown under these circumstances.

Again why, not oats or eveh wheat? There is much to be said in favour of growing a few acres of spring sown wheat on land that has been in roots. We in the North go on complaining about the high cost of wheat for poultry when all the time we could be producing our own requirements. Two years ago a farmer on the Waihi Plains threshed over 40 bushels of wheat from a seven acre paddock that had previously been in roots. The wheat was in excellent condition and the crop was cut in plenty of time to allow the stubble land to be got ready for grass in the winter. You know we are just a little too much inclined to stick rigidly to the same old system of working year in and year out and to neglect (he many little opportunities that go begging all around us. I admit that I am one who believes avo have gone too far away from the plough and that the time has arrived for us to make at least a modest return to this particular implement. I am also one who believes that once the plough has been put in every possible use should be made of the land under cultivation until it goes back into grass. Speaking of ploughing generally it seems to me that the time is opportune for discussing ploughs and ploughing. Every year sees a certain area of land laid under the plough but in a great many cases the ploughing is left too late and is not deep enough. It is only looking for failure when you turn land over about

ten minutes before you intend sowing it out in a crop. Old pasture land that has lain for a number of years requires the sweetening influence of the weather on it before it is in a fit condition for further use. During the years of its existence as a pasture or unimproved as the case may be, . this land has become more or less impregnated with acids formed from decaying roots and other vegetable matter and it is essential that it be ploughed early if good results are to be looked for in the next crop. It is not too earlv to plough right now for turnips and swedes for next wiui think one could safely say that the majority of crop failures at least in so far as roots are concerned, are due to the first ploughing being done too late. Ploughing, if done earlier could also be deeper. Shallow ploughing or skimming is all very well when it is proposed to plough a second time but it is not enough when the land is to be turned over only once. It is not possible to say accurately just what depth one should plough to for a start but I will say that one should be able to plough to a depth of ten inches at the finish. It is quite safe to say that the plough should be in deep enough to turn up a bit of fresh subsoil each time. That of course providing the work is done early enough to permit of such subsoil being mellowed down by weathering. If ploughing is do’je progressively deeper like this it will not take long to get down to the nine or ten inches deep which is called deep ploughing. I remember very clearly the year on one of the Government Experimental Farms in the South Island when we ploughed to a depth of ten inches in the preparation of a piece of land designed to carry a green fodder crop manurial trial. That trial was almost a failure because the added manures made little or no difference over the “control” or “no manure” plots which on the deep ploughing had yielded a.most excellent crop. If you have any choice in the matter I would say use a “digger” plough for breaking up grass land. This type of plough is splendid for covering up rough growth, at the same time packing the furrow well and leaving the surface with that “dug.-over” appearance. Laud ploughed early with a digger plough is sure to be in easily worked condition at sowing out time. We used to reckon that the extra time taken to plough with a single furrowdigger compared to the usual double furrow plough was more than made up in the spring because of the greatly improved condition of the land where the digger had been used. I am just as keen an advocate of grassland as is anyone in the country but I make this distinction—l say grassland farming of the highest possible standard on 90 per cent of your holding and on the balance roots and lucerne with such crops as will fit in with a rotation that goes from grass back into grass again in about two years.

I mentioned lucerne just now. This is an important crop and one well worthy of wider recognition by farmers generally. I propose to deal with lucerne in the course of a talk from this station in a few weeks time but at this time I w-ould strongly advise anyone contemplating .the sowing of an area of lucerne to get the land ploughed over right away. A good deal depends upon starting early enough with the preparatory cultivation which commences with ploughing so have this part of the business attended to right away. A task calling for attention at the present time is the harrowing of paddocks that have been used for the feeding out of hay and ensilage. There are many such areas where large quantities of animal manure have been deposited and these areas will be much improved as a result of the use to which they have been put providing the manure is quickly and thoroughly worked into the soil and thereby used to fertilise instead of being left to contaminate the pasture. This work of harrowing also suggests the possibility of improving thin swards or poor quality swards by surface sowing a few pounds of certified rye grass ou the worked-up surface. This system of heavy stocking, heavy manuring and drastic harrowing followed by a surface sowing of certified rye grass and some super will work wonders on the poorest of old pastures. There are still a good many areas of grassland awaiting some sort of fop-dressing. There is no doubting any fertiliser used now must be a quick-acting one; spring top-dressing is intended to be effective at once and this can be assured only by using a quick--acting fertiliser. Last month’s issue of the N.Z. Journal of Agriculture states that much useful topdressmg may be done jiow. (To be continued).