The Farm.

Otago Witness, Issue 1416, 11 January 1879, Page 4

The Farm.

CHATS WITH THE FARMERS A Visit 10 Strathmore, the Faem ob 1 Mb ' David Fleming, &hag Valley. Mr Fleming, who had been a farmer in Perthshire, Scotland, arrived in Ofcago in 1861. He landed with his family in Port Chalmers in the midst of the commotion caused by the discovery of gold, and soon obtained profitable employment. In 1869 he settled upoa 160 acres of land in Shag Valley, about a mile and ahalf from Palmereton, which he had purchased at second hand, at £2 103 per acre. With the exception of about 40 acres of flat land, it is eloping and ridgy. The Boil upon the flat is a strong black vegetable loam of considerable depth. That upon the high land is a goodj vegetable mould upen a free clay. The flat land is occasionally flooded, but bo far no damage has been sustained by crops in consequence. Twenty acres are sown in wheat, fifty in oats, three in ,potatoe?, turnips, and carrots, and the remainder is io English grass. There are 14 dairy cows, 20 young cattle and calves, and four horses. T-ha land when purchased by Mr Fleming was in the natmal Btate. It was fenced with two rods and four wires, eights posts to the chain, and divided into four paddocks, The first year the 40 ajres on the flat were broken up and put into oats, which averaged at least 40 bushels to the acre. The year following 40 acres on the high ground were put half in wheat and tbe remamder in oatg, aad the yield was 25 bushels of wheat and 35 of oats to the acre. Mr Fleming continued breaking up 40 acres everyyear, taking threecrops, andlayingdown *?• B r A S8 ' c * s now going over it a second time. The average yield of wheat might be estimated at 30 bushel* to the acre. Some years.there were 50 bush )ls of oats, but the average might he set down at 40. Mr Fleming never tried barley, but he thinks the land would be well adapted for that crop if properly prepared. Potatoes and turnips grow Wtll. The following mixture of grasses makes a pasture with which he is well satiefiea :— 3O lbs perennial rye-grass, 2 Ib 3 unite clover, 1£ lb cow grass per sere. At the oommencenitnt he sowed more white cleveiybut it is now f>preading evcywhere. 11l the.richer districts, in Scotland, cocksfoot is never sown, being considered suitable for poor land oaly where finer grasses do not hold -so well Twelve to i >urteen cows are milkrcl, and the produce is converted ioto butter axl cheeie.' The cows are mix-id breeds — Colonial^ Ayrehircaul Shorthorn MriFleming having farmed in f r a number of}ovs before he emigia'td to New^Zealand, "we endeavoured to ottun from .him au account of the modes of f.rining practised in that country 30 or 40 years ago, and some of the information gained will, we have no doubt, be int°refctin* to many of our young Oolouul farmers. Upon the Carse o' Gnwne, Strathearn, and Strathmore, the land was leased, usually in fares of from, 2oo ta 400 acres. Upon th-sa on the best land, the rent was regulated by the average price of grain for the year. Other land was let at from 255. to £2 per acre, on a 19 years' lease. The usual succession of crops was oats out of pasturp, then a gieen crop or fallow, and then a white, and sown into grass. This was only one of the courses adopted, the difference in soil and locality, as well as in the knowledge and skill of the farmer, causing the adoption of some variation. In the early times artificial manures wero not much used, and drainaga was little practised, but before Mr Fleming left he noticed great improvements in the mode of managing farms. A change of cropping was adopted, including the absence of the fallow, which not only retained but increased the fertility of the soil. There was deeper and more careful cultivation, the growth of a greater variety of fodder plants and roots tor stock, thorough drainage, more discrimination in the use of manures, the grazing of cattle, folding of sheep, &c. Mr Fleming Bpoke very highly of the good effects of drainage. Ht ha» known a nineteen year tenant pay £3 per acre for a cold retentive soil, which when subsoiled and manured has doubled its produce. It was only by keeping up with the improvements in husbandry that a farmer in Scotland could pay his way. It was different, however, in the Colonie3. Here the farmer had to deal with a virgin soil. So far, it had not been found absolutely necessary to use artificial manures or to undertake extensive drainage works. The soil, without much preparation, yielded, as J t a rule,' better crops than expensively prepared land at Home, and profits were larger. Stook and wool, too, paid better. Most cf the,.farmera commenced with little or no capital, and were forced to grow whatever I would yield tbe quickest and best return. Having now, however, accumulated means, and in many cases somewhat exhausted the fertility of their farms, and competition having reduced tbe piicts of • produce, they will find it necessary to adopt improved - systems of cultivation. That the land may carry the greatest weight of stock, the breed must be looked to, and the foil must be differently treated. He would not advocate artificial manuring or artificial feeding, but he believed drainage would pay where pipes could be obtaiued at a reasonable price, and it would pay to expend extra horse power in cultivating the land. Different kinds of soil required different treatment, but it would always pay to plough thoroughly, clean tha land well with cultivators and green crop^, and lay it down in good heait with gians. Hurdling sbrep would bo of grrab bent fib to the laiul. Stock should not: be allowed to run day by ilay over the same land ; they should be frequently changed from one padlock $0 another, A proper rotation muuc

be carefully carried out, farmyard manure must receive greater attention, weeds mußt be carefully eradicated, and subsoil ploughing must, on certain kinds of land, be re sorted to. He made no pretensions himself to high farming. Like others, he was very much guided by circumstances, and grew whatever he thought would pay best. He considered, however, that circum stances would force the farmers to adopt improved methods, and they were now adopting them from year to year. As for his own farm, he regrets that he had not divided it into six instead of four paddocks. Land like his own he would lay down three years in grass, then a white crop, followed by a green or fallow, to clean the land ; then a white crop sown down with grass. The grain sheltered the grass and it was forward for the next season. Seeds, he thinks, may be sown with or without a crop, the great essentials being land in good heart, perfectly clean, and with a proper seed-bed. It was no rest to Hnd to lay it down in a poor state and full of weeds.