NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, 5 December 1900, Page 5

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

" Cottager" writes from Southland to ask what is the best crop to sow Spring Feed on a small piece of ground to for come in for cutting early m Coivs. the spring for his milk cows. He says the land is rather . stiff, being near the clay, but lies between two swamp?. Stiff clays are always inclined to be cold, even when well-drained, and a cold . soil is not at all adapted for 'any crop which has to make its growth during autumn and winter. For such a purpose a warm loamy bit of land,Jying well to the sun, is likely to be much more suitable, but as "Cottager's" land is not of that description he must make the best of what he has. As he is only_ going to try half-an-acre, and wants to make it produce as much green food as possible, he must give it every chance in the way of draining and manuring. The best thing .to clo is to make the stiff soil lißhter, richer, and warmer, and that can be«t be done^by means of a good dose of lime or of farmyard manure. The soil must be made rich and be well-tilled and well-drained for any fodder crop to do well, especially when autumn-sown. "Cottager" asks what to sow and when to sow it, but does not name his district, s<s that, for all I know, he may be situated hundreds of feet about sea-level, in which case circumstances are against successful results for early spring cutting for the cows. In southern districts , the choice is limited to Cape barley, rye, winter vetch and dun oats. Of these. I think I should prefer the Cape barley, as giving the most bulk ; but lam afraid a severe winter would try it over much. Two bushels of ' wintei tares per acre together with half a bushel of oats gives a good mowing if the soil and climate permit of good growth being made, but the same is true; of all the plants I have mentioned. Now as to the time of sowing, the earlier the better, provided it is not early enough for the plants to go to seed this year. "Cottager" might bow as soon as convenient after the middle of January, as there is no fear of any annual forming a seed stalk .after that date in these latitudes. Unless the plants get_a good start before the dead season of winter it »vill be late in the spring ere they will bulk up sufficiently for cutting purposes. I "Cottager" also asks if lucerne is likely to succeed in Southland, and mentions having a small piece of gravelly soil. It will succeed undoubtedly under favourable conditions, but the soil should be free, rich, and warm. It is more adapted for warmer climates than this, large areas being grown in Australia and South America. In the latter place it is the sheet-anchor to stock-far-

J mers, being to them what turnips are ta us. "Cottager's" best plan is to try a small patch on»his gravelly soil, and top-dress it later on. It is a perennial, and in good quarters will last for. years and give several cuttings per annum. There is nothing equal to maize (Indian corn) 'for growing a large bulk of green food upon a small area, but our climate debars us from its cultivation. I have seen splendid crops in the Auckland district, but it is a greedy crop and requires lots of manure.

I see that i correspondent writes in " Notes and Queries" a week or two Manuring ago anent my remarks conSorrel, ceraing the difficulty of eradicating sorrel, and suggests plenty of manure as a means of enabling grass, etc., to overcome the pest. lam well aware, and have said so more than once, that sorreL can be overcome for a time by getting a good plant of grass and clover into the land, but the trouble re-commences when it is broken, up again for roots or cereals. A grass paddock may show no sign of sorrel, but if ifc is broken up for turnips and these do no I come right away and make a full crop the land becomes foul with sorrel again— proving - that seeds and roots have remained in the land for years, awaiting a chance to re-appear and assert their supremacy. What is sauce for the goo«e is sauce for the gander, and therefore the manure used for the legitimate ero» will also encourage the sorreJ, but it is true thai, after the weed has been temporarily overcome by .the grass the latter" s growth may well be assisted by top-dressings of lime, fertilisers, or farm-yard manure- Advantage should be taken of a dry spell to work the land 'well ana worry astmuch of 'the sorrel as possible oa to the surxace to be parched by sun and wind, and tlien the seeds may be sown in the hope of ram coming to give them a start, but it wea~ tner should continjui dry the sorrel will gefc

away again while the grass seeds are waitingfor moisture. Any plant with an underground stem such as sorrel, couch, Californian. thistle, etc., will do much better with little moisture than any plant with fibrous roots

A Canadian paper contains a rather goofo description of a tour among | Stock Mtes the stock exhibits at the Paris ; at the Exhibition. The writer is \ Paris Exhibition, a Canadian farmer, and he i . , went about with his eyea wide open and note book in hand, greedy for useful information, but' he says he had the gieatest difficulty in getting the exhibitors ta oblige him in that respect.' The French farmers in charge ,of the" .stock would not even allow him to take a snapshot of then? animals, but he succeeded in getting a few in spite of their obstinacy and suspicion. There were few English-bred cattle there, aa once there they would not 'be permitted to return to England, and the same applied ta stock sent from the United States. He says' that, to him, the most -interesting feature of the stock show was the hornless merino rams exhibited by several Frenchmen. 1 > He was anxious, he says, h ascertain whether these were a fixed type oi; merely a 'freak .of nature or a sport, ' but. got little satisfaction from anybody, and the' answers were so conflicting . that he could arrive at no definite conclusion: with respect to this matter. I" may s"ay that the hornless merinos are a fixed type, and . that a, few were imported to New Zealand from France by a large sheep-farmer manjr years ago, but more as a curiosity than for any* useful or practical object. The , writer of the article under notice says that' there are numerous , breeds of native French sheep afe the Exhibitioivand many of them presented the most ill-bred and ungainly-looking appearance imaginable. " On asking- his guide • what these things in" sheep's clothing "were supposed to be he tvas told that "they are what you call a mix together of devil and goat from the mountains of the Swiss border." On being asked on which side tha devil was supposed to be the guide answered, "Oh, zee devel, he always come by zee female." On the whole, this Canadian farmer was not particularly well-pleased with the qualities of the stock exhibited at tha big show of the tail of the century bufe mentions some nice Southdowns sent over by the Prince of Wales, and with which he secured several honours.

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