Agricultural and Pastoral

Otago Witness, Issue 652, 28 May 1864, Page 3

Agricultural and Pastoral

OTAGO FARMERS' CALENDAR FOR JUNE.

Many of our farmers are behind with their ploughing ; but it is to be hoped that they will now push on with it, as it is of great importance to the succeeding crops that it be done early and •well. Some will be disposed to hurry the work over, and perform it in a slovenly manner ; but they lose in the crop, which depends greatly upon the manner in which the autumn ploughing is doce. It is frequently the case that the work is badly done, owing to the use of a plough not suited to the soil which it has to move. Without entering into any comparison of ploughs differently constructed, it is evident that the shape of the plough must vary with the nature of the soil it is to turn up. A light soil must be shovelled ■up j a mellow one may be turned over with any kind of mould-board; a very stiff tenncious soil, which adheres to any surface pressed against it, will be more easily turned over by a few points of contact which do not allow of adhesion. That plough will no doubt have the least draught ■which is best suited to the soil it has to turn over. The lighter the plough is, consistently with sufficient strength, tbe less draught it requires— all other circumstances being equal. It is of great consequence that attention be given to manure. Many of our Otago farmers are gradually exhausting the fertility of their soil, and the effects of their present neglect will he severely felt hereafter. Ifanure is to a farm what daily iood is to an animal ; it must be procured at any sacrifice. The chief use of cattle on an arable farm, besides those which are nacessary for the operations of husbandry, is to produce manure for the land. In England, if the cattle repay theiribod and the expense and risk attending their keep, the manure is considered sufficient profit. The great principle of manuring is, so to study the qualities and deficiencies of the soil, and the wants and constituents of the plants, as to be able to apply to eich soil, and each crop that particular manure which is best adapted for it, and most likely to repay the expense and labor bestowed. The first and most important class of manures are the excrements of animate. From the mast ancient times, of which there are any records, the dungineof a field has been nn important part of cultivation. By mixing the straw, which has served as litter to cattle, with their dung, the quantity of manure is increased, and by allowing this mixture to heat and putrify, a greater quantity of manure is produced. "All manner of straw that is scattered in yard, Good husbaudry husbands hare daily regard ; In pit full of water, the same to bestow, Where lying to rot, thereby profit may grow." Full directions were given last month as to the preparation of land for wheat, the steeping of seed, &c. A few further hints upon points connected with the cultivation of this important crop, •will be in season. The preparation of land for wheat depends very much upon the character of the soil and the general practice cf the district. Except under very rare circumstances, we should not admit the practice of an opjn fallew as a preparation for wheat ; but we should endeavor to occupy the groand profitably, by a crop which would take from the soil such ingredients as the ■wheat will not require, and which would leave in the soil behind it sufficient organic matter to satisfy the demands of the succeeding crop. This may be readily secured to the soil by growing a green crop. * The good effect of the extra tillage in cultivating root crops i 9 always shown in the succeeding wheat crop; and although different practices prevail necessarily in different districts, still, as a general rule, a fanner cannot deepen his soil too much, nor reduce it to too fine a tilth, in preparing it for the reception of his wheat. Having to the best ef our judgment and our power completed the prepara 'ion of the land, the next point for consideration is the selection of tbe seed ; and this is a point of far more importance than farmers are generally disj osed to concede to it. As a rule, the law of reproduction — that " like pro duces like "—cannot be disregarded ; therefore, if we wish to secure the best results, it is important that the seed sown should be of the best quality — that it should be perfect in itself— and that it should be fully matured. The practice of changing seed is becoming every year more followed, experience satisfactorily confirming the correctness of its principles. Not only is a more healthy plant secured, but an opportunity is ! offered to the farmer, by using as seed the grain of an earlier district, to accelerate the time of his own harvest, which, at times is a matter of considerable importance to him. Pickling or steeping the seed has a great effect in neutralising, more or less perfectly according to the composition of the solution, the chance of injury from certain parasitic fungoid plants, known by the name of smut or bunt, &c. In regard to thick or thin seeding, we may consider, as a general rule, that to obtain a given return, it is desirable to increase the quantity of seed sown according to the lateness of the time of sowing, and also according 1 to the character and general condition of the soil. ( This is' the proper season for hedging. The ■white-thorn, or hawthoni^ which, grows very rapidly, is durable, will flourish in almost any situation, ' excepting on gravelly soils, and' is, perhaps, better adapted, in every respect, for the formatioEL of a' compact and serviceable fencs than any of iJie plants commonly employed. The thorns, should be raised in a nursery from the largest haws. The latxer are first put. in pits or holes, to jelear them from the pulp, and in the spring are sown, not too thick, m beds as if for onions. .They must be kept-very free from weeds, and the next or following spring, thin and transplant them into rows in narrow trenches, to remain ,untU the, following autumn, when the best of the young plants are to be drawn out and tied into bundles »r planting. 'Ihe ground along the proposed fence-row having been well prepared, cut off the small end of the plants, so as to leave only two or three buds above the ground when planted. Place the plants about three inches asunder. Three or four inches froni this, another row of plants is to be deposited in the same way, and at the same distances, each plant being against the intervening space in the first row. A hollow or basin-form of managing the ground for planting the sets is an essential consideration, ft is an erroneous, though common practice, to clip the thorn hedges every year. The main stems are thus impeded in their growth, and become thin and weak, while a number of small stems shoot from tbe places which have been cut, each requiring its share of nourishment, which is thu3 drawn off from the lower and most essential parts, an which tbe strength and value of the hedge mainly depends. Thus the top of the hedge beaomes full and heavy, while the bottom grows

thin, woody, and open. If, on the contrary, they are lopped with sharp shears, every three or four years, in a sloping direction on both sides, from the bottom to the top, the hedges will become more close and luxuriant, and, m a few years, •nly require the straggling lateral branches to be shorn off. The proper season for this purpose is the autumn. Drainage should now be attended to. While the soil is saturated with water, it cannot be subjected to any successful lystem of tillage, or pulverised to any extent ; for such operations, even if practicable, would prove injurious rather than beneficial : and, by affording greater facility for the retention of moisture, render the land still more unwholesome insteaa of fertilizing it. Neither can manures be productive of anything 1 like their full and proper effect, unless the soil has first been brought into a fit state to receive them. The season is now approaching when some care must be taken to prevent sheep from suffering through want of 6helter or food. It may not be generally believed, but it is nevertheless a fact, that if the sheep is exposed to undue cold, or unnecessarily stinted in his food, those parts of the wool that protruded from the skin at the time, will be wither ell. The examination of a few fibres by the eye, or the drawing them through the fingers, wiil detect these breaches, which lessen the value of the wool, and diminish its | price to a very considerable extent;. Much wool is injured, for instance, by a snowiug in, or by any sudden interruption or change in the feeding.