THE MANAGEMENT OF MY OWN FARM. Agricultural and Pastoral.

Otago Witness, Issue 608, 25 July 1863, Page 6

THE MANAGEMENT OF MY OWN FARM.

Agricultural and Pas toral.

(From the Mark Lane Express)

Mr Wilson, of Wester Cowden, read the following paper under this heading at the last annual meeting of the Penicuik MidLothian Agricultural Society : — My farm extends to somewhere about 800 acres, and varies in elevation from 600 to 1600 feet. About 220 acres are under cultivation, the rest being hill pasture. My report dates from my entry to the under farm at Martinmas, 1856 ; the farm as I now work it kiving previously been two separate holdings. In commencing operations I had the whole in the following state :— The under farm had been cropped considerably for a long period of years without much regard to any regular system of rotation, but just any crop followed

crop, and which, instead of being consumed on the farm, were mostly removed and drheu to market. Little manure in lieu had been returned, and thus this scourging system had reduced the land to the very lowest ebb. The upper farm was all in pasture ; what had originally been cultivatad was ill laid down, underdrained, and very unproductive.

Rotation of Crops. — I laid plants to drain, improve, and break up the available land of the upper farm, and to work it in regular rotion with the under one, which was all arable, and I as quickly as possible introduced over the whole the following system of cropping — 1, oats, 2, turnips, 3, barley, 4, 5, 6, pasture — only as much being resened for the first year's grass as is required for green cutting, and to provide a small quantity of hay for autumn and spring use. I make these statements regarding the rotation of cropping, because I bel'eve it is the rotation which in an upland district is best suited to keep up the fcitility of the soil, and which ultimately will become most profitable to the farmer. I find from experience that, without pasturing to a considerable extent, the laud becomes both clover and turnip sick, and in fact, even with the most liberal manuring, becomes exhausted. In some soils pasture deteriorates tlie second and third years, and cannot longer be profitably continued ; on my farm I have not experienced this deterioration, which is no doubt partly prevented by the liberal use of artificial feeding supplied to the stock when pasturing. I find, hotvever, that when pasturing longer than the three years before breaking up, the oat crop is not so good ; not occasioned, in my opinion, by the land being poorer, but by the sward having become tougher, making the mould less friable, uid not so accessible to absorption by the roots of the crop. Manure. — I manure as liberally as possible ; every available part ol the produce is consumed by the stock on the farm, and either dropped on the fields or added to the dungheap. In applying artificials, after many experiments with most of the substances in the market, I am now confining myself almost entirely to bones, ground or dissolved with a small quantity of Peruvian guano ; but I never apply these alone for a turnip crop without in "allowance for farmyard dung. Bones being histing in their effects, are a valuable application when pasturing is practised, and I hold it is of the greatest importance to have our pastures rich, both as a source of immediate profit, and also as a means of increasing the fertility of the land when it is broken up. [f pastures are all swarded and bare, the land will not be enriched ; I therefore use every means to make my pastures as good as possible. As I said before, I only cut a small quantity of hay, never having the swards as good after a hay crop as when it is pastured the first year ; indeed, so convinced am lof the benefits of rich pasture, that I believe, in certain circumstances, thegrain crop had better be sacrificed altogether, and have the seeds pastured with the sheep the first year. lam making arrangements just now to have fifteen acres laid down this way in the coming spring. [am at present consuming the turnip crop upon the field by the sheep, and intend ploughing as early as possible, to have the surface well pulverised with frost — will sow the seeds in the beginning of April, adding a few lbs. per acre of rapeseed, and expect luxuriant pasture by the middle of June. I will not detain you at present by giving any detail of my working staff more than by saying that I have availed myself of a considerable number of the most recently introduced implements of machinery, including steam power for thrashing, &c, sowing and reaping machines, turn p- cutters, cake-breakers, &c, and have found these a decided advantage, and reckon them almost iudispensable on a farm. Live Stock. — In proceeding to report on the live-sto^k department of the farm, I would have you to understand that it is principally a breeding establishment, and as much of the stock as possible are sold for breeding purposes, the report will refer more to my"practice as a breeder than as a feeder of stock, .although feeding for the butcher is also practised to a certain extent. The improvement of live-stock may be effected either by selection from the stock on hand of the best animals to breed from, or by supplanting those which are inferior by a superior nice. If any degree of perfection is wished, however, it is of great importance to hare a fixity of type and purity of blood at onee — there can be no doubt but the shortest and most certain way to carry out breeding successfully is to secure at the very outset both male and female of the purest and bpst. In doing so much time will be saved, icd a uniformity of character will be secured, which a lifetime would not effect \yhere the basis of the stock has .been a spurious one. I have always made it my endeavour to breed from animals on both sides of the purest blood and of the most standing type, and in so doing I have seldom been disappointed. My breeding stock consists of Ayrshire cattle ; black- faced sheep on the hills, and Leicester on the low grounds. I have also a breeding stock of pigs, and annually I have bred a few horses. I do not intend giving in detail an account of the general management of my stock, as this would take up too much of your time, but will confine myself to the principles on which 1 breed them. Where my stock has wanted pure breeding I have in every case disposed of the original stock, and replaced them by purchasing from breeders of known celebrity. In this way I have laid out a good deal of money, but I always reckon that an animal possessing intrinsic merit, though bought at a high price, is cheaper in the end than one of a spurious character, however moderate it may be purchased. We not unfrequently hear breeders of stock saying, " Why all tin's talk about fine breeding ? Give me an animal heavy enough and I will not disturb myself about his pedigree." This is a great mistake, which a simple glance at what constitutes a pure breed of animals will at once make obvious. Animals which arc the progeny of parents of mixed blood, though possessing apparent excellence, have no fixed type about them. Hazards of Farming. — The breeding and rearing of stock is an interesting study ,• indeed, it cannot be denied that forming, as a whole, when conducted on scientific principles, is a highly interesting occupation, but at the same time it is a difficult aud hazardous one. L never was more convinced than I am at present of the hazardous nature of our profession ; we have high rents, heavy taxes, expensive manures, and increasing outlay in every department of cultivation to strive with. But have we no more ? If these were all our drawbacks we might battle the breeze ; but add to these the various epidemics our flocka are now exposed to; and last, though not least, the mysterious diseases to which our root and grain crops are liable; and with these staring us in the face, who can but feel that our profession is a most precarious one? We are told by those unacquainted with agricultural pursuits, that the occupation of the farmer is an easy one, and we sometimes hear it talked of as the happiest retreat in declining years for the man of business or of art, after having run their road in an active sphere of life ; but instances are not wanted of disappointed expectations, reduced capital, and a life of difficulties and perplexities, ending in bankruptcy and ejection— all the result of inexperience. It may of course do all very well for the inexperienced capitalist to engage in farming, who has wealth to secure skilled superintendence, and who can afford to live in independence and ease ; but I firmly believe there are few occupations that more require experience, skill, and unremitting attention on the part of those who are engaged in them ; and it is only these qualifications, combined with efficient capital, that can make farming, to those who most live by it, at all a comfortable profession^