NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1911, 6 July 1888, Page 6

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

We are now past' the shortest day, and having entered the winter The Month, solstice may exp.ect all kindi of winter weather. With tht exception of a rather cold snap in May farmers have not had much to complain of in respect to the weather. The past montM has been exceptionally fine and tillage opeiM tions have proceeded uninterruptedly; im many districts a large breadth of gain I*] already sown, and much of it shows a good] healthy blade above ground. If the condra tion of the land will permit, ploughing and! sowing should be continued whenever pjOB; Bible, as every week's work gained daring the winter relieves the crash of work in tb«j spring months, and though the seed corn m&Jj not make much progress while the ground ft so cold, it is there in the soil ready to spring up as soon as there is heat enough to cans* it to germinate. One of the most important matters to be attended to at this season is the surface drainage of the -whew fields. There is an abundance of dim tural creeks, gullies, and watercoarsef of various kinds in the agriculturw districts of Otago, and the fall of the land W such that there is little or no difficulty m leading the water from "the surface of thjj wheat land into these courses. Wheat planw cannot survive the presence of steading water, and therefore the sooner it ifi relierofl of it the better for the crop. ' I

When the weather will not allow the teams to get on to the land there is The Hedges, plenty of occupation for "the farmer and his helps in attending to varioas necessary jobs on the farm ; and one of the first to be tackled is hedge trimming. If the farmer cannot keep a man for the purpose, and cannot well spare the cash necessary for getting this work done by contract, he can at least make an effort at this time of the year, and attack the overgrown hedges when more profitable work cannot be done. There is generally some sort of rotation of crops carried out, and each field in its turn comes under the plough. When a field has been down in grass some years and the hedges have been neglected these latter have probably grown pretty large and coarse, and bushes grown from flying seed have perhaps encroached on the land. Now is the time then "when that field is to be ploughed to make a special effort to cut the gorse hedges short, grab all the off shoots, and- make a clearance by burning off tbe whole field. By this means the harbour for the sparrows is removed; the gorse can throw no seed ob to the ploughed land, and by grubbing before the plough there is no land left encumbered with gorse plants. By doing a field or two in this* way each year the farm hedges, as a whole, cannot get into a very bad state, though there may be one or two bad cases awaiting their turn next year.

When tho ploughs are stopped by frost or heavy rains the teams can be Top Dressing well employed in carting out the Grass, and spreading over the grass the decayed remains of old stxaw stacks. The grass is greatly stimulated by a thick application of this rotted straw, and 'by being carted out now tho manoie is washed into the ground by the winter rains, and in the summer a marked Ixnprorement will be seen in the grass thus , treated- It is a mistake to leave these old '•Uck-stumpa too long- before carting them for the useful properties of the manure Wan wished away in winter, and a good deal &iof tt'o rotten straw -is blown away by the f"'iremmerlgales, : <ao that * n a year or two is left of much value. .The remains of sfiha straw stacks eaten by the stock one win3£tcr ihonjcl b* distributed during the succeedjgfnr'iStumnOr winter at -the latest. ■If the jivjt|mffl If not in grass at that time the manure |§niy under, but it, I think, does Igrajicb wore* good on the surface of grass than j^i Jtor ta crop as in the latter case. It .often keeps ' the ~ land 1 j&jQw 3i»dlfarmer, speaking at a breeders' gave several good reasons for considering the IrsSWßtw foe , Galloway the best breed for the small farmer. .He cannot pliplpsjjlfi '"-afford byres or shelter sheds, igllttl^lierefore.^the .Galloway suits him SjgbseaaM?its)hkrdiness enables it to thrive jPm&ißOthiiig but the cold ground to lie and a stack of straw to pick at. The are said to be the only cattle that If can honestly claim to be a pure breed, havil&jgJl^ibL^tablUhed as a distinct breed into* the hills of Scotland in tbe century. Being allowed to run in Sri^semi-wild^state for 'several centuries, they a natural state of hardiness cgMul .endurance simply because under such l&conditiorisit is only the strongest and fittest StJbj^ha^o^^urTived.. .The Galloways have $&e«j|arg«jj)ased for tho improvement of StoQvjWMds,'ahd being possessed of disptto»ijfi»Wust*rlsti3s'''of a pronounced and . the. outcome of Nature's prigoroisdoUing— the survival of the fittest— Zthroagh'rhany •generations, a cross with any smother Tweed always gives the form and colour sj&pf thaGalloway to a very large extent. The |#h!et. paints of excellence in the Galloways ||&re.^tneir hardiness and their capability of ||j|4i&g£[ell under a rough climate and scarcity Ifllifow.^M they are good doers, and that E^grtty on much beef on .the most valuable ||Fin» of the body, I do not doubt; but, ||i!smng their hardy nature, I fail to see any reason why they should be con|[lH!*ea par excellence the cattle for the § iineutt urists are supposed to be rather |^3£*'"-7"'' 1 ' given to a negligent style of IjlpwFarm keeping their accounts, but SjifgAcieoants. judging from various reports llfilg^' of creditors' meetings we see Pjjn'the'papers it would appear that farmers Im^fc&t Hhe on^ v ones Bu^yB u^y °^ a ru e °^ Ktbumb system of bookkeeping. The fact is l&ujjlt it is a very natural sequence for mixed ggffijnritng 1 to lead to a mixed state of accounts, Egjfflifl 'ift farmers do not pretend to a know llJwdge *pf the accountant's art it follows that |fwelr system of bookkeeping: is very similar ||tqfarhat the accountant's style of farming ||*ronld probably be. 'i'hun- i.- no reason, howPftijer, why a farmer should nut, acquire suffiipaent' knowledge of bookkoeping to enable Sviblin to keep an account of his business in Epiuch.a manner that he <iml othors may form Sfome idea of his financial position at the %eri3 of each' year. It may be s:iiil fiat one's *£bank book is all that is requin-il, for it cer'JTjalnly shows — in a manner — how ono stands

jpjm' the balancing days ; but that is not a pftcordjof transaction during the 'in * question, and the farmer Ifhould know something more about his kPfbnn .than what his bank books can tell |Umj r*-He should be able to ascertain apgpioximately, if not" exactly, how each branch PSKtuijinesß pays, or otherwise. The aggreIjK&to result may be satisfactory according to afeybaak book, but nevertheless tbe profits |W-one branch may have to make up to a pUfc9. extent the losses from another. A few Ifjjaw ago the Council of the Royal AgriculSWirSociety of England, in order to encourage gMmerß to adopt the habit of bookkeeping, ppnerea prizes for the best? system of farm jSgeounts. A large number of forms were SS.M * at> . stran S e to sa 7i n » British farmer «!» v'\ * nrD * s k a form* of bookkeeping $*y satisfy the judges appointed to award the |JM«*, and they therefore withheld all the §gy**?- The council then asked tbe judges ggoaraw up. such a plan of keeping farm goconnis ag they couJd reconimend .. This Stonk '/ nd thfi mode fche - v suggested was PWJUaned in the journal "of the socfety. *«» Plan recommended consisted of a g«<y «uch as most farmers keep, combining iS « n^ sconnt s of each day together with y^recora of the daily transactions of tha HIP *ne only other book required is a farm

account book, showing in different columns the various payments and receipts» with a form of balance sheet at the end. The examples given seem of a very simple and workable form, such as any farmer of average intelligence could evolve from his own brain if he only took the trouble to do so. There is the rub though ; they will not take any trouble in this direction. Thus it is and thus it will probably be until the end of time. AGBldaiiA.