The Farm.

Otago Witness, Issue 1461, 15 November 1879, Page 4

The Farm.

OHATS WITH THE FARMERS. a visit to mainholme, the farm of mb John Diokison, Tafandi. Mainholme is the lower portion of what was formerly known as Delvy station. It is situated along the east bank of the Pomahaka River, about two mileß from the bridge, and immediately opposite Captain M'KeDzie's pro* perty. It is about 600 feet above the level of the sea, and is seven or eight miles from the township of Tapanui. The land is intersected by the main road, and by th» railway. A considerable extent of it— about 500 acres— ia splendid river land, the soil on wbiph runs to

depth of three feet. It was originally of a very swampy nature, and has been from time to time flooded by the river. This drawback, however, is now considerably modified, the river having cut its bed deeper, and thus lessened the danger from floods. The remainder of the land ia of a .free loamy nature, the soil running to a depth of two feet, and having in places a hard cement bottom, bearing evidence of having been burnt at some remote period. The property consists of 2000 acres, 1300 acres of flat land (including the pre-emptive right of 92 acres), and 100 acres ©^hillside land, being freehold, having been purchased from the Government at LI per acre. Mr Dickison was brought up to farming at Home. He comes from near Edinburgh, and prior to leaving had been managing a farm on the estate of the Duke of Buccleuch. He was engaged at Home by Mr Maitland and Colonel Grant, to come out to New Zealand to look after the Delvy Estate, the lease of which they had just obtained, in 1859. The run comprised 35,000 acres, and the only stock on it was 1172 sheep, there, of course, being no land whatever broken up. There was neither a hut nor a sheep-yard anywhere on the property, and there was not a single bridge over any of the creeks in the district. He managed the run for eight years, when, thinking he could better himself by becoming his own master, he effered to purchase the lease of 2000 acres of the lower portion of it. The offer was accepted, and he at once took possession, putting up a house on the pre-emptive right portion of the lease. The original lease expired in 1872, and he then acquired the freehold of the 1400 acres now held by him, and obtained a renewal of the lease of the remaining portion for 10 years. In 1873 he thought it advisable to move the homestead to higher ground, in consequence of the river rising to such an extent as to flood its banks for half a mile at either side. The whole homestead was flooded, and it was estimated that the river had risen to a height •of 12 feet above its banks. It was the greatest flood Mr Dickison has known during his 21 years' experience, there being scarcely anything but water to be seen for miles around. The site chosen for the new homestead was that occupied at present, and is about half amile from the old one. The oldorchard still remains, and the trees, although entirely neglected, still bear well, there being an immense crop of apples last year. This year the land tinder cultivation comprises 327 acres. This includes grain crops, turnips, and grass land. There has hitherto been little or no inducement to cultivate grain, in consequence of the expense of getting it to market, and attention has been principally turned to turnips, for feed for the sheep in winter. The mode] of rotation generally adopted is a crop of turnips off the first furrow, following, if the land is adapted for it, with a crofc of wheat, or if not, with a crop of oats. Mr Dickison makes it a rnle not to scourge the land by cropping, but sows it down as soon as he thinks it advisable to do so, it sometimes being sown down with a crop and sometimes without one, according to circumstances. The harrow is used freely, especially on new ground — a rule being observed that all newly broken-up land should be harrowed three double times, in order to give the tnrnipß plenty of mould to grow in. When grass is sown without a crop the land is broken up about December, so that when the lambs are weaned there is plenty of good feed for them. The tussock land is burnt as early as the weather will permit, and is thus converted into excellent pasturage, as is demonstrated at the present time— this description of land just new looking almost as green as English grass. In the tussock land the thistles gotso thick and strong some time back that no less than three scythes were broken ia mowing them, and they were at last left in possession of some portions of the land. They ultimately grew so thick that they took all the chemical upon which they thrive out of the ground, and killed themselves, doing the land no harm after all. As instancing the suitability of the land for turnip-growing, mention may be made of a crop of turnips from first furrow land, which kept an average of 30 »heep per acre for 12 weeks.

Drainage works have of course from the beginning been of first importance, and they certainly have not been neglected. The low-lying portion of the property, although looking almost as level as a bowling green, has a fall of about 10 feet towards the river bank, thus considerably facilitating drainage operations. There is a quantity of tile drains in, and also a number made of black pine. These latter have four-inch sides, with a five-inch top, and no bottom. Besides these a turf drain is used, and proves both durable and efficient. The drain is •dug to a depth of two feet, by 16 inches in width, then an inner or bottom drain, five inches wide, is dug to a depth of nine inches, and the turf taken off the surface is put over it, and .the top ditch is filled up. Mr Dickison had seen a great deal of this description of drainage done at Home, and has known numbers of drains to last for 10 years, He cut down a spade to suit the size of the small drain. On lands in which the drains are not liable to get choked up this plan acts admirably, but of course it would scarcely answer for sandy soils. Most of the open drains are 1\ feet deep, %\ feet wide at the top, and 2 feet at the bottom, but there are also some small ones, .2 feet 9 inches deep, by 1 foot wide. The drainage has cost from 2a 6d to 6s per chain. Altogether there are miles of drainage, so much, indeed, that Mr Dickison could not form anything like a correct estimate. After the drains are cut, the ground settles down fully a foot, the land having been fed and kept up for years by the water. A seam of lignite runs through the property, and is exposed to view by the action of the water on the river bank. It seems to be of a similar kind to that obtained at Tuapeka, large quantities of a resinous substance found in the latter also being found in the seam on •this property. It has not been worked, as wood is very plentiful in the immediate vicinity, and of course is preferred for fuel. The cattle on Mainholme are limited to a few dairy cows — four being in milk at present — for household purposes. Mr Dickison tried grazing cattle for market sirna years ago, but found that it would not pay, as the market wa3 so overdone that the prices realised left no margin for profit. He therefore replaced the cattle by sheep, of which he has at present about 2000. The lambing season has been very sue • cessful. Sheep frequently get bogged in the ditches, and every morning Mr Dickison ride 3 round the estate for the purpose of relieving any unfortunates which may be trapped during the night: This precaution is rendered the more necessary by the fact that if left until they get weak they are sure to be attacked by seagulls, which abound in the district, breeding iv the hills. They pick out tbe eyes of dying sheep ; and Mr Dickison has known them to attack young lamba of a rather weakly nature. Mr Dickison has also 800 acres at the Waikaka, which is occupied by his eldest son. Of this there are three deferred payment sections of 200 acres each, and 200 acres of freehold adjoining it. It is good ridgy land, and some of the best crops he has ever seen have been taken from it. One year gave great promise, but unfortunately the wheat was shaken by the wind, and the ground was literally covered with grain

but notwithstanding this, it yielded 40 bushel 9 , and the straw was as tall as a man. Splendid crops of turnips have also been taken from the land. One year one was grown which weighed 331b. The soil would not stand heavy crops, but is very suitable for barley, turnips, and wheat. A trial of bailey is being made on it this year. Beiides thi* Mr Dickison has two bush sections of about one and a-half acres, and two open sections of about 37i acres each. The latter is under lease for five years. It is fenced, and the lessee has taken two white crops from it. All the buildings at Mainholme were built by Mr Diokison's two sons, and any one of them would do credit to a carpenter. The house is of eight rooms, and is two Btoreya ; and besides thia there are two small cottages for the men. There are two barns, one having just been erected. It is 40 feet by 18 feet, and 14 feet high, and has a roomy loft, which is used for stowing oats, the ground floor being used for wheat. The other building is used for threshing, chaff-cutting, shearing, and storing hay. It is 54 feet by 29 feet, at)d contains tbreshing-mill, chaff-cutter, &c. The machinery is driven by an overshot water-wheel, and the same power U utilised for turning a grindstone, &c. The wheel is 10 feet in diameter, and was also made by the sons. The other buildings comprise a a cow-shed and shearing- shed, with a good loft, two stables, a coach-house, aud a store house. The latter is what ia known as a " footer," and is built on piles 4 feet high, the tops of which are zinc-covered, for tho purpose of keeping out vermin, &c. The buildings are separated as much as possible, the object being to avoid a general fire should any portion unfortunately be burnt. They were all put up by the sons.

The hedges are mostly whin, but surrounding and dividing the flower - garden and new orchard, which is well laid out, and of about three-quarters of an acre in extent, are some good thorn hedges.