NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2424, 30 August 1900, Page 6

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Although the Arbour Day instituted by the State does not seem to be Forest Tree celebrated with much enthuPlanting. siasm, there is no doubt that there is a good deal of treeplanting done in a quiet way all over the country, though not to such an extent as'could be wished. The season is now on for planting young trees, and tho earlier they are in the better, as soon as the severe frosts have ceased. A good many settlers seem, to think that it is all right if they stick in a few trees and leave them to take their chance. Trees not only require to be properly planted in suitable ground, but also to bo securely fenced off from' the stock until such time as 'they are old enough to admit of stock running among them without being injured thereby. It is a mistake to plant forest trees for shelter belts or for ornamental purposes without discriminating between the habits and requirements of different kinds. Pinus insignus is a very good tree for some purposes, and is the fastest grower, 'but ,it 'should not be indiscriminately mixed with other trees because they grow so fast as to outgrow and overtop most other kinds. If planted among slower-grow-ing trees to nurse and protect them, they must be cut out before they smother the others. Many a good plantation has been spoiled by the superior and slow-growing timber trees being overshadowed and smothered by huge insignis, which shciild never have been put among them, or else cut out at the proper time. The best plan is to plant trees of a similar kind together and then they all have an equal chance. I don't recommend mixing faster growers among others, because as a rule the thinning out is neglected at the right time, and the plantation monopolised by the soft timber trees. Slate nurseries have been established in various parts of the South Island for supplying trees to, and for the encouragement of planting by, local bodies. A large nursery of this kind at Ewebum is now sending out a great number of young forest trees, and there is no doubt about them being hardy enough for any part of the colony, seeing that the climate at Ewebum is pretty severe owing to its altitude. Pig-keeping and dairying should go hand-in-hand, or else the dairy canPigs not be made so profitable as and Dairying, it may be. No better use can be made of skim-milk and other waste products of the dairy than keeping a good sort of pigs for their consumption. There is a good outlet for good pork, and factories for bacon curing aie springing up to meet the necessities of trade. A well-bred brood sow is the most profitable thing that can be kept, provided cheap food is able, and a cheaper or better food than separated milk cannot be found. There should be a porker kept for each cow, and the profit of the cow will be greatly assisted by tho returns from her pig. A good cow should give 600 gallons of mills in her milking year,

and that means nearly 60001b of skim-inilki for the pig, and that, in conjunction with a run on grass, should be sufficient to keep a pig going until it is time to add a little meal or corn for hardening the meat. A good brood' sow is one of the most prolific of domestic animals, and she deserves better treatment than she usually gets in the colonies. Pigs abhor cold and damp, and the little pigs should. ' first open their eyes in a warm and sunny, place with plenty of clean bedding to nestle into. Good food and comfortable quarters for the sow will pay well jn h9r healthy and 1 thriving family, and a pig should hare the very best chance to keep up the good start/ derived from its mother's milk. A cheok to its growth at weaning time spoils the pig, and a good farmer will not wean them upon icy cold milk. Before weaning Nature provides the suckers with sVveet, warm, and nourishing food, and it is the fanner's duty to carry on Nature's management aa closely as possible. Some experiments were recently, made in England with maize and sharps as pig food for finishing off, and one result noted was that it is not advisable to make the mess very sloppy by adding much water, as the pigs having the thin and sloppy mess required more than those which were given less water with thoir corn food. This is accounted for the fact that tho larger quantity of water required a lot of heating up in the pig, and therefore it did not derive so much good from it. That is probably the case, but dairy pigs do not need to take water with, their porridge, and it is a point to note that the milk should be given warmed to the natural animal heat, and then there is no waste of fuel in the pig's body. *. A well- known firm of seed-merchants in England were asked to give a list SoHiiig 1 Down of Feeds they could recomfor mend for laying down for Threo Years, threo years' grass, and they sent the following as a stiitable mixture : — 4lb peiennial red clover (Trifolium. pratej.se pexenne). lib red clover (Trifolium pretense). l£ib -ryhite clover (TViioliuru ncpens). lib alsike clover (Trifolium hybriduiu). 7lb perennial ije grass (Lohum pcrenne). 21b Italian rye grass (Lolium Italicum). 4!b cocksfoot (Dactyles glomerata). l^lb meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis). 81b meadow fescue (Festuca piateusis). lib sheep's fescue (Festuca ovma). 4lb "timothy (Phleum pratenso). I:i all 30lb per acre, and costing 16s 6d to 19s, according to quality. This they gave as only a guide to what would be a good mixture if the land was of such a nature as would suit these grasses and clovers. The mixture referred lo contains 7^lb per acre of different kinds of clover seed, and it is scarcely necessary to inform any practical farmer that it would be only a waste of money to sow that on dvy or stiff land not congenial to tho growth of clover. Clovers, Italian ryograss, and timothy grass do little good except in a deep, moist, anct pretty rich loam, and it would be madness to sow s>uch in any but a suitable soil. Thecost of the mixture would be about 25 per cent, more here than that given, as the Horns price, and it seems o heavy expense to incur for a temporary pasture to remain only three years. The liberal and costly mixture recommended may answer under favourable conditions, but I am afraid few colonial farmers go to that expense in seeding their, land, however good it may be. Seven pounds is ct very heavy seeding of clover, and means many millions of seeds 23er ac^e without any grass at all, and therefore if the clover thrives there could not be much room for the grass. Timothy seed, too, is very small, and 4-lb seems a tremendous quantity to sow in addition to all the others. I reckon that 41b o£ timothy alone would supply an acre with, plants as thick as hairs on a cat's back. It is a queer mixture, I think, and though it may answer in the Home country, I do not think it would be wise or judicious to adopt it here. AGPvICOLA.