CHATS WITH THE FARMERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1449, 30 August 1879, Page 4

CHATS WITH THE FARMERS.

A visit to Ma John Hislop's (Jeinglbtie, Fakm, South Bridge, Tokomairibo. Mr Hislop was one of a family of nine children who arrived in Dunedin, with their parents, in November 1858. He was brought up to farming in Peebles-shire. About a year after his arrival, his father bought 100 acres of land on the Tokomairiro Plain, about three miles from Milton, at 10s per acre. He and his father and two brothers afterwards bought another 100 aoreß at £2 per acre ; and they subsequently bought 200 aoreß adjoining at £4 5s per acre. Three years ago the brothers, on dissolving partnership, sold 200 acres at nearly £12 per acre, the two brothers going to farm at Glenors. Mr Hislop has now a fine farm of 200 acres freehold, and 50 acres leasehold adjoining. It is all flat land excepting about 60 acres, whioh are rising, the soil being a rich black mould »bout seven inohea in depth, on six inches of good clay. Over most of the ground this clay rests upon a hard pan. The farm is divided into nine paddocks, the fencing being sod walls slanted chiefly with whins, but there is some Cape broom. There is a good dwelling-house— which cost over £400— a barn, stable, and stock-yard. Including all improvements, we should say the property is now worth fully £15 per acre. The Tokomairiro farmers are often aconsed of having, in times gone by, subjected their land, to overcropping j but Mr Hislop has, we believe, avoided this mistake. He has never taken more than three white crops before sowing down, his plan' now being to take two white crops and a groen crop, and bow down, allowing the grass to stand for three years. The last crops comprised 90 acres of oats, 25 of wheat, Bof barley, and 25 of turnips. The stock upon the farm consists of 200 sheep, 4 dkiry oows, 5 horses, aad a few pigs. This s«uon 150 acres will be under grain. Of this, 135 acres »re ploughed, and 59 are sown in oats. The kind of oats sown is short Tartarian, the ordinary average yield per aore oa the farm being estimated at 35 bushels. Last harvest one paddock of long Tartarian oats threshed out 65 bushels to the aore. Red straw is tha favourite wheat sown, and the average yield is set down at 25 bushels per acre. One year Mr Hislop had 65 bushels per [acre off three aores, but he is well pleated if he gets 30 bushels. The i»ed wheat is always steeped in a solution of blusstone. The average yield of barley ia estimated at 35 bushels. It is a remarkable fact, in connection with this farm, that during the whole time that it has been under cultivation, the grain has not been affected by smut, rust, or any other disease, and none has been shaken by /wind for several years. When sown late, there has been a little rust, but none to hurt. Every year for the last four years, Mr Hislop has grown abcut 25 aores of tmrnips, upon which sheep have been fed with net*. The kinds grown are yellow Aberdeen and Swedes. There has been no blight, and the crops were very fine ones, until last year, when a fly destroyed from 12 to 15 acres. All the straw is used upon the farm, and the manure is nscd upon the turnip land, with l£owt of Maiden Island guano to the acre. The quantity of guano is doubled when no farm-yard manure is used. Mr Hislop is of opinion that the turnips would not be worth growing without the guano. The yield varies, but he thinks it is never over 20 tons to the acre. We questioned Mr Hislop in regard to ploughing, and. he says he ploughs lea to a depth of six inches, and stubble from six to nine inches. When ploughing stubble for turnips he uses three horses in the swing plough, and brings up the sub- soil. This year he has ploughed 16 acres with four horses, to a dspth of from Bto 9 inches. He thinks the breaking of the hard pan with a subBftil plough would be the next best thing to a thorough system of under- drainage ; and next to that again would be ploughing into narrow lands, and after grain- sowing, furrowing where the lands ware finished when ploughed. This system of surface drainage might be carried out with Advantage wherever water was likely to sattle and there was the slightest incline. One feature of Mr Hislop'a farm management is worthy of special notice, and that is the good sense and enterprise displayed by him in the matter of drainage. In various parts of his farm there are blind gullies and depressions which retained water. _ These places he has drained thoroughly by pipes which lead to open ditches along the fences, the pipes being sunk to a depth of from two to three feet. He showed us ploughed paddocks perfectly dry, in which long lines of these pipes were laid, and which were previously unfit for cultivation, and than he pointed to tha streams of water running from the pipes into the open ditches. There could be no better proof of the advantages of underground drainage. He also showed us a fine little grass paddock of two acres, near his house, which a few years ago retained water and was quite swampy. Rows of two-inch pipes were put in, 20 feet apart, and water has never lodged upon it since. These pipes oost £3 per 1000 at Finch and Hamilton's kiln, near Milton. The weeds upon the farm are couch and sorrel, but they do not as yet give much trouble. Mr Hislop commenced with Leicester merino ewes, and got the best type of Leicester rams to be obtained. One was from Steel's flock, "Wairuna; but the ram which produced the best results was obtained four years ago from Messrs Gillies and Street. The price paid at Oamaru was 20 guineas. This ram took first prizes at Tokomairiro, Clntha, and the Taieri. Mr Hislop's ewes are ia lamb this year to his first-prize nun which beat the Dunedin champion ram ht the Tokomairiro and Taieri shows. Fleeces from Mr Hialop's fleck generally average 81b each in the grease. His lambs bring good prices, their great merit, besides the quality of the wool, being their early development and accumulation of weight on a given quantity of food. Mr Hislop's sheep are certainly some of the most beautiful and symmetrical we hay» seen, Be-

sides establishing a fine breed of sheep, he buys stores, which are fattened for market. There are two brood draught mares on the farm, one of them, a three-year old, by JMarquis, the dam being a mare by Lord Paisley, imported from Scotland by Mr Robert Miller. She is now in foal by Grant of Gowrie's imported horse. There is also a fine two year- old colt by Mrs Nimmq's Young Napoleon. Mr Hislop has given some little attention to fcree-planting, and in years to come he will reap the benefit of his forethought. Four years ago he planted 700 coniferous trees in a belt, one chain in width, south of the dwelling house. They were obtained from Thomson's Nursery, North-east Valley, and are doing well.