CHATS WITH THE FARMERS

Otago Witness, Issue 1465, 13 December 1879, Page 4

CHATS WITH THE FARMERS

A Visit to Inglebank, the Fabm? of Me R. , T. Elmot, Tapanui. ! Mr Elliot is 'one of the 1 , first "settlers inithe r 'Tapanui district,' having' made his selection about nine years ago. Although land had been open for.settlement in the'districtfor some time prior to his advent, there had been scarcely any demand for,, it, the. distance from a ready market, and the^want pf eommunicajio'n ivith the centres of population deterring men with Bmall means from purchasing, as ' it ' seemed extremeljr probable that settlers would have to' ie on their oars for aoine tiooo to oome. It was g not until a couple of years after. taking up the \jUtnd 1 that work was commenced in earnest on Inglebank. Daring this time Mr. Elliot went shearing in the, season in* the neighbourhood, and in the winter and during his spare time he proceeded with the fencing. „,.-, Inglebank consists of about 410' acres, • the price paid for it, being £1 per acre. About 300 acres ath bfo^eh "bridges, and the remainder Hi t< flat lancU? is really, good land, and .the land pn The ridges is also very good. The farm is divided into seyen, paddocks, the hilly, portion being at present only used for grazing purposes. This is, however, only a temporary arrangement, as Mr Elliot inten'ds'to ultimately, have it all broken up. With v this object in view, 70 acres of hillside land: were broken up! this y.ear v Abput hal£ of thia ,has been .put dovpi jn jburoipsk >and ,the remaind'ei* is being let lie fallow, and a crop of wheat will be taken from it next year. The land is 'irregular,' in' some places giving very large yields. The-oats-average about 55 buuhels. and income .portions, of the farm haye I 'gone 'as nigh' asßb'bushols.' The wheat averages f r pm. ,45 toiso buflhejp, {This is on the* flan land'/'ahd 'although gbb'd'crops ' are taken from the ridges in this neighbourhood,-^ is of course, pot. expected thatitljej, wiliyield so much as this.'/ Lkßl/yeW f63f 63 acres were under white crops, ,18 acres being wheat, and the remainder ;o'ats: >jl lo ! acres ! were 1 ' under" turnips, but the yield was scarcely up to the average, a fly doing considerable damage. Turnips, are sown on the first furrow, and some extra^ ordinary fields have .been . obtained— on i one . occasion a turnip weighing 31^1b, and they frequently run to 20 and 251bs . About 70 aores are under English grass, about 17 of -which ,were sown down with oats and grass, and the remainder with grass alone. The general' practice is to sow down with, a., light cropuoi oats. The flat land was originally a swamp, but by, ajihorough system of\ drainage it, has.aU been.reolaimea.. < Three -creeks run'through-the property and they were of course of considerable use in the drainage operations. . After -cutting . the"- ditches 'they'all closed inland ha'd'to'be gone over a second time. There are between three and fcrar miVea^ditcheß.altogetherreaohj, division fenoe havingibne alongside of it. - J Th*e hedges are all whin, the whole farm being Burrounded with this'hedging. " '. The farm' is now in good working order, and Mr Elliot estimates that next year he will have between two and three .thousand bushels of wheat Last year only Is M was .offered- for oats, but with the prospect of the railway being opened some time during next year, it iB hoped that a better price than this will be obtained in future. The grass was very luxuriant at the time of our visit, and Mr Elliot infermed-us that in one paddock he had an average of, 20 sheep to the acre, and it took them all their time to keep it down. Like ell the other settlers in this neighbourhood Mr Elliot is anxiously looking forward to the opening of the railway, and while waiting for a market for his produce has naturally directed his attention to sheep in .preference to the growing of grain. About 400 sheep are' generally kept. The ewes are half-bred s inva- ' riably, as Mr Elliot has found that when breeding from three-quarter bred ew,eß, the Wfipl gets too coarse, and does not fetch such a good price. There are at present thr,ee,p,ure-bred rams on the farm, one of which took ttie^ecpnd prize at the Tapanui Show the year before last. He was got from Clydevale, and last year 211b of wool were taken from him. The sheep 'are kept on English grass during the day and turned off on to the tussockjland; at night, the tussocks affording shelter to'some extent, andthat class of land being bejtter, for them to lie, on at nights. , Mr Elliot has a couple of fine, draught horses, three hacks, and a brood mare in foal. ' One of the draughts 'is by Colonel and the other by Tripoli. They were troubled with the strangles last winter, but have quite, got over ib now. They are splendid animals, ans give, every satis, faction. - , , ,i , , , , \ Last year a good deal of chaff was made. A quantity of ib was sold to the railway contract tors, and the remainder was disposed of in the district, £& per ton being obtained' far it at the barn. Mr Elliot had 'not intended ts make a large quantity, but one of the paddocks yielded such a heavy ctop- of oats that he determined to cut it green and turn it into chaff, and he had no reason to regret his decision, as ib made very good chaff. , , I In sowing down a bushel and a half of ryd grass, a little cocksfoot, a little timothy, and a little clover are used. Cocksfoot is not Rood for the flat, but it suits the ridges well. White clover is very prolific, and if sown in any quantity it ultimately kills the other grasses. A much less quantity is sown now than formerly in consequence of this. As has already been stated, three creeks run through the farm, and it is intended to utilise one for a wheel by-and-by. Mr Elliot also thinks that by constructing a dam there would be plenty of water to drive a flour-mill. The house is a substantial building, and was erected ab a cost of £400. The barn is also a good buiiaing, and in 40ft by 18ft, while the stable ia 40?t by 16ft, and contains four stalls and chaff-house, with additional sheds for shearing, &c; Experience has shown Mr Elliot that it is a good plan on a farm to have the out'

I buildings K homeßtead, &c, detached as muck as possible in order to limit the danger from fire. Last year he was so unfortunate as to have his stable burned „down.l *'It:was a iwooden building,' roofed with shingles, arid these proved to be' a source o£ danger, as, although" there was little or no wind, pieces of shingle floated about frpnv the burning, building, threatening destruction to the barn, which was in close proximity. The building was insured for £50, but in it were two horses and. a large quantity of harness, saddlery, &c. Neither the horsesxnor the haraeas were insured, but every thing, in the building, including the horses, was burnt, there not being a strap or a bit of harness left about the place. Mr Elliot estimated his loss over the insurance at £20CKi The building has been re erected, but this time with an iron roof. [' About a mile> and a half of fencing !was' in hand at the time of our visit, and Mr Elliot informed ub that he -intends to go in \ for tree plantipg as soon as he lie 'can find time. . ■ ' The rabbits have not been a epurce ef much annoyanoe. during the winter time, when the ground was covered with snow,' they were tracked and' killed outright. ' They have never had a 'great hold; The farm has also been yqfy free from rust, smut, and pests of all 'sorts,', ,