SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES,

Otago Witness, Issue 2425, 5 September 1900, Page 7

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES,

(From Our Own Cokrkspondestt. ) - The weather was remarkably fine and dry j during 'the past month. Not- i The Weather withstanding frequent indicasuid tions "of a change, such as ] The Farm, cloudy skies and 'distant light- j . , * ning at night, the rainfall was veiy small. Cold easterly winds were prevalent during last week, ancl the greenness of ! the pasture is' not so noticeable as it was earlier in the month. Hilly land is somewhat hard to plough, but flats are iii good order ; for ploughing,_and hills and flats ,alike are in i excellent. condition. for Jiarrowing-.' " -The tur-'i nip crop has been abundant everywhere, and j there were in some places .more than "could '! .be consumed. The crop was beginning to shoot during the last week of July, arid many ttirnip paddocks arc -now locking very green. A'-few, farmery turned theijNsheep onHh'e whole crop a fortnight ago, for a' few days, to check ■ the growth, ancl so prevent deterioration of ■the roots. ' 't j

The ploughing is far advanced, and discing

Crops.

cr cultivating, as well as ploughing, has been carried

on during the last week or two. The wheat was sown during the latter half of the month in the few districts suilable to its ripening in due time. A few paddocks here and there have been sown with oats also, but oat-sowing is only becoming general at date of writing. A very large area will be under this cereal this season. With improved implements, -tillage operations can ba carried forward to some extent before the due date for sowing, so that a large area can be sown and covered in a short time. The drill puts down the seed at a suitable depth on prepared soil, and the cultivator covers it pretty well on a partially-harrowed seed-bed also. The following paragraph from "M'Connell's Elements of will be" found interesting in this connection : — "If germination takes place on the slirfaee of the soil, the subsequent crop */ill be more or less of a failure from becoming 'root-fallen.' This is a lodging of the crop from the weakness of the stem just above the root, allowing the stalks to double over. To prevent this the seed of all our corn crops should be sown about 2in deep, and one of- the benefits derived from drilling is that" alj the .seed i§ deposited evenly at this depth; •irrespective of bad or shallow ploughing or other preparation of the land. If grain is pl-inted at,, this depth, £he -ascending plujmuie forms a knot at exactly lin below the- surface, and from this are sent out rootlets . in addition to those at' the seed itself. This > gives the plant secure anchorage against being thrown, out by the winter frosts in the case of autumn" crops, while the double set of roots supplies extra nutriment to build up a strong stalk, with good heavy grain at' the top." During the past three or four years a large number of farmers have made it a practice "to give the seed oats a double cleaning, and the result has been heavier and cleaner crops. The seed is dressed with small seed-cleaners or with the threshing machines. The latter do much better work on account of being fitted with screens. About 10 bags per hour aie put through, and about 15 per dent of light, small, weak gi'a'ins, and other impurities.is removed from first-class "feed-or^mill-ing oats. Oats, which are double dressed every "year, grown on first-class clay loams, can be used on the .same -farm without changing for a period of from six to ten years, and a probably longer period of time. In getting a change of seed it is necessary to be careful to get it direcij from the grower,' and give it a double cleaning after purchase, for it sometimes happens that oats grown on poor land are dressed and sold as seed from firstclass land in an early district, and the result it that the change is for the worse. The proper quantity of oats to sow on good ,I'and is from two and three-quarter bushels to three bushels ; on inferior soils a little more seed may be required. Soil in very good heart, and fine, may produce a gcibfcl crop where two and a-half ibushels have been sown, but my experience is that in most cases it is an advantage to sow about three bushels. As the condition of the soil varies, machines will not sow all descriptions at the same rate, and the ilirections must not be slavishly followed. The broadcast machines sow a breadth of 18ft, and will have to travel 36 chains 44ft to sow an acre. The cultivators, which sow a .breadth of Bft, will require to ■travel 82£ chains to sow the area mentioned. For sowing very clean "sparrowbill the index gn the pu.ltiYa.tor is usually set at two bushels,

when two and three- quarters or three bushels are to be sown.

Sheep are in high condition, and some farmers

Sheep,

■ are remarking that ewes ■ are too fat. A small percentage of in-lamb ewes have died in

a few places, the cause being, ,it 3« supposed, plethora, induced by over-fatness. Brokenmouthed ewas, of which there are a.large-num-ber, have done well. A small percentage of such sheep can subsist on small bits of turnips left by younger sheep, but it is cruel to put a large number amongst sound-mouthed slieep, unless the turnips are cut. When .the turnips are cut into small" pieces, sheep which' have no front teeth' do as "Well as -soUnclmouthec] animals,, as the molari, tlfough'short^ ened and worn; are- 'never shed.^.-It fis'Vise policy, however, to" keep most of 'the flock': young, as management costs less, and the annual .drafts -are of more value in the jnarket» According to Wrightson's -"Sheep-breeding^ and Management," Humphreys, a noted Eng- J lish breeder in the years 1835-68, kept the ewes which were thought good enough for the , flock until they were worn out. One favourite was kept till she was 14- years old, L and" her last lamb was Oliver Twist! ■ This ewe had iiq udder, ior the last four* years of hei\ -life^and Oliv.er Twist was giv.en to anqther' ewe. , This. ram was first in his class at Leeds" and at Battersea. I have' seen cro'ssbreel ewes, at. 10 years of age yigorous, and capable of raising good lambs. , Lambs are to be ' seen in a few places, and they will be appearing everywhere during the third week pi the -month. The f olPowiug paragraph, .which appeared in one of your "English correspondent's letters last year, is, -I think, worth re- j producing: — "During, my experience' l have always noticed, the first "thing done on finding' a lamb stiff ancl cold is to at once feed "if with warm milk. ' This has killed many thousands of lambs that, with proper treatment; would have grown into sheep. The first thing a shepherd should do is to at once rush to the fireside and give the lamb a good warm up and use every effort to restore circulation, but in no case should food be given till the lamb gets warmer and begins to cry for it. The"\varro milk poured clown -intoia cold lamb's stomach gets cold immediately^, curds, and fills the stomach with wind, which, in most cases, finishes him "off quickly." Wrapping- a lambkin a -cornsack. or sheepskin after rubbing the flee.ee' dry is a good svibstitute for a fire.