SOTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2265, 29 July 1897, Page 7

SOTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

The Weather and The F*nn.

Spring-like weather was experienced during the first half of the month, and the appearance of the fields gave one the impression that the year was a month farther advanced, but since the 15th inst. the weather has been very wintry, a number of snowstorms having been experienced. Frost has been experienced since the date mentioned, but with the exception of this period the winter has been an opea one. Ploughing has been carried on almost without a, break since the beginning of winter, and the majority have the work well forward. There ate a number of cases, however, where ploughing has only recently been started, and if the weather should continue bad for a few weeks it will be seen h'ovr important it is to get as much as possible of the most important tillage operation done by the middle of winter. For a few weeks before the change in the weather occurred the soil was so friable that in some cases the digger plough was laid aside and the soil was turned over with" the ordinary double-furrow plough, by which means more work was done, and there was a laving in horseflesh. It is not unlikely that a little more wheat than usual will be iown this season. The white velvet variety is, I think, the most suitable for sowing here, and in regard to oats I see no reason for sowing any variety but the sparrowbill in all the early districts. Millers assert that the sparrowbill (which they buy largely for milling) contains a smaller percentage of meal than the thinner hußked Sutherland, and that the meal of the latter is of superior quality to that of the former. The grower, however, finds compensating advantages fer the slight difference in price. Oats are usually sown here from the last week of August till the end of September, but the best time for sowing is, as a rule, about the middle of the latter month. Early sowing ia not an advantage when the spring turns out to be cold and wet." Wheat should not be sown after September 10. Hand-sowing is altogether out of date ' now, and it seems likely that in a few years most of the grain will be sown with the MasseyHarrU cultivator instead of the 18ft broadcast «eed flowers. Ai the machines do not, as a rule,

sow the grain to the exact quantity named in the list of directions it is advisable to measure off an acre or two, and thereby ascertain how to regulate the sowing to the quantity desired. It may not, therefore, be without interest to mention that at a width of Bft (the breadth sown by the box on the cultivator mentioned) it takes about 82£ chains to make an acre. At a breadth of 18ft about 36 chains 44ft make an acre. Most farmers procure a change of seed occasionally, but by a careful dressing of seed it is not necessary to change so frequently as is commonly done. Seed should be true to its variety, large and well developed, ripe, free from injury, and free. It is advisable to obtain a change from an earlier district and from good soil.

Tnrnips and Stock.

Mannres.

The turnip crop is not a heavy one, but as the winter has been open and comparatively dry stock consumed less than usual, and there has not. been much waste. Some farmers are at present speaking against the use of the drill for sowing turnip seed. The roots are so deep in the ground that the sheep eat * deal ! of earth when finishing the crop, and this season a number of sheep have been lost through balls of earbh having formed in the intestines. It is advisable when the crop becomes very dirty ; not to make the sheep eat the whole of the ! roots, but give them a fresh break. Very little j chaff 18 now given to sheep. Under good j management it can be done without, except j when turnips ran short. Foals should be fed regularly with chaff, and carrots in addition are of much benefit. Calves, also, should have chaff along with turnips. Some may be disposed to say that these remarks are unnecessary, but I have to frequently noticed j the half-starved condition of foals and calves ! during winter and spring that I consider atten- : tion should be specially directed to the matter. ; It is so important to feed young animals well daring the first year of their lives that ifwould be better 'not to keep them if it is thought too expensive to give them more feed than they can I pick up in the paddocks. j Agents are busy at the present time circulating ] pamphlets extolling the merits of various manures, and it is hard to decide which is the best;." Technical terms are little understood, and the j reading of the table of analysis does not in j -many cases make the inquirer much wiser. It j may be pointed out that a number of the ingre- 1 dients tabulated are of little vaLue, while one or two may be of no importance, except in so far us they show how much useless material the fertiliser contains. Frequent and careful reading of the circulars, supplemented by articles in books and newspapers, would enable any farmer -to draw pretty accurate conclusions ; but it must be borne in mind that a fertiliser which would suit one description of soil might nob answer for another. M'Concell, in his " Agricultural Note Book," states that "nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash are the only three substances which require to be applied in ordinary manuring, and all manures ars valuable only in proportion to the amounts of these they contain ; while manorial experiments usually resolve themselves into teiting the- effect of the various commercial compounds and mixtures of these three bodies on different soils. The other mineral foods required by plants exist in superabundance in the great majority of soils." But it should be remarked in this connection that Dr Griffiths seys it is ,&n erroneous idea to suppose that only nitrogeD, potash, lime, and phosphoric acid need be added to any soil in the form of manure, for in most soils the minor constituents are to be found in the form of insoluble compounds, which are only partially rendered soluble during the life of ordinary farm crops, and as farm crops only live for a few months at the utmost, it is a policy which pays in the long run for the farmer to help Nature by adding not only sjich manures as phosphates, nitrates, and potash, but the minor constituents in tbe form of soluble compounds. Another thing that tbe farmer has to consider is the relative importance of each manurial ingredient to each crop, and the comparative proportion that should ba allowed of each in a mixed manure. For instance, it has been found ! that phosphates give the best results for turnips, j and that potash has sometimes done harm, j Wheat, barley, oats, and grass require the j same amount of nitrogen, but the first-named j cereal requires only half the phosphoric acid | that the three other cops need. Potash is not J often required for wheat, barley, and oats, but j grass usually requires twice the amount of : potash that the ofcner crops require. Clovers, on the other* hand, require more potash than ; any of them, and some phosphoric acid as well, j but the application of nitrogen to clover might do harm.