NOTES FOR THE MONTH.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 4 March 1882, Page 6

NOTES FOR THE MONTH.

' ; ,In oar' farming notes of last month we touched upon the, advisability of stirring the stubble lands during harvest time, or' as soon after as possible. , >Ye shall now ende^Vour to demonstrate the practicability of this work being done, with a- view to the great, benefit which will accrue 1 to farmers from the increased quantity" of whiter and^arly spring feed for stock. "It may be argued that a great deal<of 'extra strength would be required on the farm to carry'bn 'any tillage' work simultaneously 'with the work of, .harvesting the grain, and .none' but' fancy farmers) ', or 'ttips.e'^f ( ( large capital, would be justified in taking such .a course. It must be remembered, however, that the corn must be reaped, artd a portion carried, before' 'any stubbles will be available for the plough or grubber, and when the bu^ of the reaping is < done, there' is , not s <>: niucfe risk entailed by taking a team{6r two from the harvest-field, as .when the crops are standing ready for the 7 re^jper. generality of farmers work four horses with_a_aelf-binding machine •in a medium cropi' driving • a yoke of two, and changing at r intervals, cutting, perhaps, from twelve to fifteon acres per 'diem. Now, four horses, yoked in .two drays should in medium crop carry from twenty to twenty-five acres a day, so that— if we are not very wide of the mart in our calculations— there is nothing like the same number of horses required for carrying .the grain as for cutting the' Bame,' and by employing au extra hand or two, a' few acres or the cleared 'land may be turned over without debying the more important work of the season. Sorce farmers adopt the plan of letting as portion to be harvested by contract, at so much per acre, for the entire work of reaping,, stack-., ing, &c, by which meaaß they are enabled l to greatly evnrrliif- tfu «;.te fathering' of the, fiTop r«Hi 4 »tt''f<*jwrt fv' 1 " m« 11 ' 00 vo other T'eow"rfWOj.'k, cs"i'h cod tracts uhouid only he )^f; t« opai'io and »rtisfewror«hy m«n.' We iiftvu known itu" ; ut> ' - Uli *»"«"«'« fUßtaiuiilgf gsraai loss I torn smyloyiug incompdtsut and un«

{nrlnoipled men, who, not oaring; much for the owners or their own interests, have dawdled over their work, thereby increasing the risk of loss by wind or tain ; or have uudcitaken to ■tack the com in a secure and workmanlike manner without having the remotest idea of the art of building a water-proof stack. Iv these days of cheap and labour-saving machinery, harvesting can be done by contract at * rate which is very little, if any, higher than that at which the farmer could perform the work with his own teams, and there is the advantage of having the grain secured expeditiously, whioh allows the farmer's teams to commence the tillage oi the fallow and stubble land at an earlier date than would otherwise be tbe oase. The above remarks only deal with the piractibility of ploughing and sowing stub, blea during harvest, when there is no serious interruption to the harvesting by bad weather. The general system with farmers la to occupy the whole of their time and attention solely with harvest work— let the weather be what it might. But the question arises, Is not this system susceptible of improvement 2 The harvest in this Provincial district is rather late In the autumn, especially in the inland dis tricts, and the weather very often is broken, and unfavourable for harvest work. It sometimes happens that a heavy storm of rain, followed by dull and cloudy v/ealther hinders the work of carting in to the stack for several days together, and during thiß time tho hands, usually paid by the week, are idle, and the horße perhaps playIng in the paddock. At suoh times a oousiderable amount of work may be done towards putting in a few acres of ' stolen 1 crop, or in scarifying the stubbles in order to germinate the' waste grain. The slow ripening of the grain; after a start has been made with the early drops, will sometimes give the farmer several days or a week in which to attend to any other farm work he may have in view. Even the ancient Gauls, aocordinK to Pliny the',, , elder, , had some Idea of the benefits of tillage,, performed with harvest work. He states that though the siokle was known and used by them, they sometimes pulled up the corn,, by, the roots, affirming that by so doing they, loosened the soil as they proceeded. They also Held ihat the later wheat was reaped the more abundant was the yield ; the earlier, the finer and stronger was the grain. In this belief they were not far wrong, for millers say that wheat reaped on the green side makes the best floor. Many farmers make the mistake of not cutting wheat so Boon as they might'' or ought to do- By beginning harvest a week earlier it is finished a week earlier, and a week Is gained for atttimn tillage. Wheat may be'reaped as soon as it has acquired its proper colour,' and there 1b no necessity to wait for the grain to harden. The maturing of the grain may be safely trusted to the moisture contained in the staikß. The grain will be thinner in the skin, and though it might lose a little by tnA&sore itWill not lose by weight, and quality should, as a role, bb considered before quantity, Then again there is less risk of loss by shedding or of sprouting in the sheaf, as if it wefce dead ripe when reaped. It is better to reap two days too soon than two days too late. In, order to be well up in our work when hakvest comes, we should be all the year preparing for It and always aiming to be in advance of treacherous seasons. Many large farmers In England who own steam-tackle ■mash up their stubbla lands by steam as Boon as ttilslofeared oPthe sheaves, and those who do not keep steam-tackle hire it for a time, the working of it being done by men on the farm Independent of the harvest work. This, however, is not done to any great extent, but the custom probably will: increase every year, as farmers, Bee the benefit derived from the praotlqe. The day should not be very far distant \ when steam power will be more extensively in use here upon the larger holdings. Without the regular use of artificial manured the land must in time become worn out and require deeper cultivation than can be performed by i the ordinary means. A company could be formed among the farmers in those districts in whioh one has not already been procured, for the purchase of a steam plough for the shareholders, who might also hire it ont to others; >