Agricultural and Pastoral.

Otago Witness, Issue 879, 3 October 1868, Page 14

Agricultural and Pastoral.

FOR OCTOBER.

OTAGO FARMERS' CALENDAR

Oats and barley may still be sown, although, last month was the best time for getting in these crops. We have no very correct data to help us to decide upon the besl period for sowing oats. Of course, much must always depend upon . soil and climate, and, to a certain extent, upon the arrangements of the farm. By common con seat, however, in England, the oats are everywhere got in before the the barley. Mr Shaw, of Bogfairn, Aberdeenshixe, in his " JReport of Experiments," says :—": — " In sowing the Beed as early in the spring as possible, I have found it, for nineteen years past, profitable in eighteen, for one year of loss in consequence of a very hard frost injuring the seed." He also speaks of the effects of changing seed, as producing grain weighing 441bs. per bushel, whereas the produce of his own seed required much dressing to come up to 391bs. per bushel. The purity of the seed is of importance in the oat crop, as it is a crop frequently cultivated under conditions unfavourable to vegetation generally ; and unless a particular variety, adapted to the climate of the district, be sown, the produce may be seriously diminished. At the same time, out of so many varieties, there may be several of habits sufficiently resembling each other to render them suitable for cultivation in the same district ; and, under such cirsumstances, a mixture of several such suitable varieties has been foxmd to give a larger return than either of the varieties when sown singly would do. The importance of the oat crop in Scotland has secured to it a greater amount of attention and experiment than has been bestowed on the other grain crops ; and consequently we have, as the result, a great mass of evidence in regard to the different varieties cultivated, and their relative suitability to the different districts. Much of this is of a special character, smd only valuable where similar conditions exist. Prom the experiments, however, we may glean some points which have a general bearing, and tend to illustrate the principles we shonld endeavour to lay down. The following three practical deductions, for instance, admit of more than a local application c— " 1. That land pastured for two years gives a quarter of oats per acre more than land that has been cut for hay when in first year's grass, and pastured the second. 2. That there is a decided loss of nearly four bushels per acre in taking seed oats, however good the sample, from a later to an earlier soil. 3, That there is an advantage in taking seed oats from a warmer and better cultivated district." The quantity of seed used per acre varies considerably, both with the district and the variety used for seed. In an early and genial district a smaller proportion would be used than in a late and unfavorable soil and climate

In selecting seed barley, it is important that ttie grain be of the best qxiality, fully matured, perfectly free from injury, and true to its variety. A regular change of seed is strongly advised Barley is a very rapid growing plant, when placed under Buitable conditions ; and it is constantly being sown kte in the spring, long after the other cereals fan be attempted with any chance of success. As a rule, however, we may recollect that, all circumstances being the same, the longerthe plant is in the ground, the more food it is able to obtain from it, and the greater return it is capable of producing. Barley Is naturally a hardy plant, and in this climate it may "be sown at the earliest period of tlie spring at which the land can tie got ready for it. Jftlangold wurzel, a root which is rapidly growing in favor, should be sown during the present month. The mangold is considered to have originated from a cross between the red and the white varieties of the garden beet, the offspring possessing a greater power of development and a more vigorous and hardy habit than either of its parents. Like most of our other farm plants, the extreme classes of soils— light sands and strong clays- are those least suitable to it; but of the two extramesthe latter would be the least unfavorable. The globe varieties are those best suited for the strong clay loams or for shallow soils ; ♦foe long varieties for soils of medium s + r "»ogth, or of greater depth. In i""* 16 cultivation °* carrots, depth of , •i Jl'j drainage are the great points to i beatondea ta ? . that both W^-SM'O

lesa from the absenc

c li ' root and fallow necessary for our other ■ , he eoi i cannot crops, as a fine division of c j for always be obtained. The propt,. . a s carrots is between two straw crops. .^i. an auxiliary root crop, carrots are mo. valuable on a farm. They precede in the field work both the mangold and the turnips ; they are far les3 liable to injuries duping their growth than the tqrnip, and

are not affected by the dryness of a season; and when harvested they keep better than turnips and mangolds.