NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1855, 10 June 1887, Page 7

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The early sown turnips have attained their

full growth and quality by this Feeding off time, and if kept much longer Turnips will only turn to woody fibre or

rottenness, therefore, it is better to feed them off as soon as possible. The economy of dividing a block of turnips into " breaks " or portions is more generally recognised every year, and it is very seldom that the old plan of turning a huge mob of sheep into a large block of turnips — no matter what the area may be — without any dividing fences whatever is followed. All soft, early turnips, such as the Devonshire greystone, purple top, mammoth, and others begin to rot as soon as the crowns are bitten off. When a large block of these turnips is stocked at once, the sheep first of all eat of the tops and .then bite into the bulbs, and as they roam over the whole at will they naturally bite all the roots, and as they cannot finish them off within a week or two it follows that a very great proportion of the roots become rotten and valueless before the block is finished, whereas, if a portion, varying in area according to the number of sheep, is fenced off and eaten first the waste from decay is very trifling. The same holds good with reference to the harder sorts, such as the Aberdeens, but these do not decay so quickly when bitten. Apart from the consideration of waste by decay, however, there is great economy in dividing the turnips into small breaks, as they go much further and do the sheep more good.

These can be erected at very little cost,

especially if the farmer has a Temporary lot of old wire lying about, Fences- and willows to supply the

necessary stakes. Five wires stapled to small handy stakes are sufficient for the purpose or if one has to buy new material, special iron standards can be obtained for the purpose, with notches for receiving and retaining, the wires. Three inches by two inches sawn stakes are very suitable, but the iron standards are probably cheaper in the end, as they will outlast a good many sets of wooden stakes. Mr Iver, at the Lincoln Agricultural College, uses sawn stakes and wire netting, the netting being placed upon the stocked side of the SDakes, and secured thereto by a wire dropped down through two or three staples driven into the face of the stake. This plan answers well enough on a small scale, but would be too expensive, I think, where con- . siderable lengths are required.

If it can be managed to give a small

quantity of dry food to the A Dry Diet sheep when feeding on turnips Beneficial, they will he found to do .very

much better, and the roots will go much further. It is particularly desirable that young sheep should have an occasional change of feed during their first winter while on turnips. They should, if convenient, be turned out of the turnip field at night on to a piece of tussock or dry grass land, and not put back until the frost has gone from the turnips in the morning. Frozen roots often prove fatal to young sheep, by causing violent scouring and failing means of removal during night ; a mouthful of good oatenchaff will be found very beneficial in keeping the sheep healthy and sound.

The nights are getting pretty sharp now, „, ' and the ground is very wet CatYi for the catLle t0 He u P° n > oa . and if any straw is available, by all means let the cattle have access to to it. Store cattle may be 'allowed to rub

along for a few weeks longer without it, in order that it may last them longer into the spring, when they really require it more than at present ; but with fattening bullocks it is very different. The grass is beginning to fail and with the cold air above them ,and the wet ground under them they will begin to lose flesh, therefore a good stack of oaten straw should be set apart for them to feed at during the long winter nights and frosty mornings when it is of no use for them to go afield • A stack of straw, a few turnips, and a picking of grass will enable the bullocks to continue to put on flesh through the winter. When the straw is done the best thing to do is to sell them, for they will. not do much much good without the shelter and warmth afforded by a straw stack, and it will scarcely pay to house them at the present price of beef. It is certain, however, that fat cattle will be more valuable in the spring, and about the month of August beef may bring a good price. The rate that constitutes a good price is a matter of opinion. Mine is that 22s 6d per 1001b is a very good price in these times, and is quite as much as can be expected while production is so greatly in excess of consumption.

While discussing the different breeds of

cattle the other day with an A Good Cross old farmer, who hails from Aber-

for deen, he gave it as his opinion all Purposes, that the best all-round cattle for

the farmer is a cross between the shorthorn and the black polled Aberdeen cattle. He averred that the good qualities of both breeds were present in the progeny of these two, and that the bullocks especially were not to be beaten for early maturity and heavy weight. He mentioned a noted breeder of Aberdeen who favoured this cross, and who had, years ago, a great number of cups and trophies won by his cattle at various local and general shows in the Old Country. I cannot speak from experience as to the merits or demerits of the cross in question, but simply mention the matter as stated to me.

When writing of the small bird nuisance in

my last notes, I omitted to The Larks mention a fact which has and the lately come more pFominently Young under my notice than hitherto. I Wheat, refer to the depredations com-

mitbed by the English larks in the young wheat fields — or rather, I should say, in the fields of young wheat. .The larks do not seem to care for the grain in its dry and hard state, but as soon as the seed has become soft and sweet by the germinating process, and has sent up the blade, these mischievous birds pull up the young plant in order to get and eat the sweet grain at the root. On carefully examining the other day a field of wheat just bairding, I was suprised to see how much of it had been pulled up by the larks as soon as it appeared above ground. These birds cannot be destroyed in the usual way by poisoning, as they will not eat the poisoned grain laid out for that purpose; and if they can only be reduced in number by trapping, shooting, and egg-destroying, I think we shall in future have to sow sufficient seed to allow a liberal percentage for these interesting songsters. Much can be done in the way of prevention by keeping the hedges around the corn fields clipped short, as the larks and sparrows dearly love a good cover ; but the former, though they may prefer to frequent fields that have a good harbour convenient in the shape of a large hedge, do not roost nor lay their eggs in the gorse, as their long heels are supposed to prevent them from grasping the twigs with their feet, and it is their habit to select the place for their nests on the ground generally in the print of a horse's hoof, or some such convenient indentation.

Stagnant water is fatal to young wheat, and

therefore means should be Water Fur- taken to lead away the top rows in the water from hollows and deWheat pressions in the land. This Fields. ■ should be altended to imme-

diately the wheat is sown, or it is very likely to be deferred until it is too late to do it properly, for after a heavy rain it cannotbe done so conveniently or effectually as when the land is firm. The flat-bottomed gullies and basins that run between the ridges in undulating land require a clean, open furrow up the centre to carry off the bulk of the water that drains from the adjacent slopes, and unless a ditch or water furrow be opened, a large quantity of the rain water will lodge in places, and the wheat will be destroyed. For the same reason flat land, with a retentive sub-soil, should be ploughed in high and narrow lands or ridges, so that there may be a slight fall from the crown of each ridge to the furrow, or finish, on either side. These furrows are a great nuisance at harvest time, when the reaper drops into them with a bump fit to jerk off the driver's hat, but that is a small matter compared to the difference between a good and a bad crop. The mode that is usually practised here of ploughing around a field would be considered very slovenly in the Old Country, and it is certainly a "bad plan, so far as flat land is concerned, as it is not compulsory as is the case with hilly ground ; and, besides, doing away with the drainage afforded by the ridge and furrow system, also prevents the land from being cross ploughed, which is sometimes a great advantage.

Agbicola.