SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2603, 3 February 1904, Page 9

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

(FnOM OUB OWK COBES3POKDSKT.) The weather was very fine and warm during the month. The- ramThe Weather fall was light (1.55 in), and and occurred on six days only. the Farm. There was much brilliant sunshine, and the heat was excessive during last week. The cereal and ioofc crops have .much need of rain ? the light showers whit>h fell the last two nighta not being nearly sufficient. Tho barometer is low, and it is to be hoped that there w'il be a copious rainfall soon in order to avert a heavy less. Rain will be> too late, however, to ben-efit very much the portions of tho oat crop on dry situations, and the yield will not be as- good as it would be if rain had com© a wesk ago. In the places mentioned tliero is a large percentage of blighted stalks, indicated by their whiteness throughout the entire length and hardened grain not more than half the usual size. It is useless prognosticating the probaDJe ■yield, but it ia doubtful if it will be up to the average, owing to the dry weather prevailing too long. The best crops are to ba found where tl.=> drill was used for sowing the seed, as the seeds were placed on even ground at least, at the most suitable depth, but it may be mentioned that artificial, manure has contributed in many cases to iheir superiority over paddocks in which the seed was sown broadcast. A hundredweight or two of manure distributed broadcast do&s not appreciably benefit the crop, but -when sown with the r drill lewt (the usual quantity sown) is of marked benefit, and one farmer, who sowed as little ac 601b per acre, expresses the belief that it was productive of good results. Reaping is being oommonoed in some places, and the work may be general during the third we&k of February, or sooner if a due amount of rain does not fall. Threshing machines have been nt work on the ryegi'ass during tho last week or two, and half the •work is probably done by this time. The acreage of this crop was large, the yield good, and tho quality first class. About half tho crop was cut a. week too !ate owing to the occurrence of a few wet days after the 4th of the month, and this portion did not ooino up to the_ first cut portion au regards yield and size of seed. The work was done by the reapers and binders, which caueo much more shedding of seed than the antiquated back-delivery reaper, but as iner cannot be got to bind, farmers have to content themselves to lose some portion of tho crop. It may be remarked in passing that the pasture was abundant, the clove-r being most noticeable, but that it has now a parched appearance. The milk yield is appreciably diminishing owing to the dryness of the pasture, aggravated in some places by scarcity of good water. The recent wet summers have been a fruitful source of injury to th-e pasture?, for although there is an abundance of herbage, various weeds euoh as mud rushes, epilobiums, and mosses are more numerous than they used to be in paddocks only three or four years laid down to grass.

There was a large area sown with turnip seed, and the work was acGreon complished in due .time. In trops, some cass3 the* seed was

sown a eecond time, tho ravages of the fly 'having made this step necessary. In a few cases the failure was more apparent than real, for the eeed was long in germinating owing to the dryn&ss of the soil, some of the plants appearing in a week, others in two weeks, and the rest in three weeks. The late-sown seed is riot brairding satisfactorily, but probably the recent showers will show that want of moisture was accountable for the apparent failure. Tho work of thinning will come, I am afraid, too close to harvest wo ck. Th» early-sown turnips are growing well in spite of the dryness of the soil, and again wo see the advantage of having a portion of the crop sown early — during the first half of December. A sufficient number of workers cannot be got for thinning "in some places, and the hoeing hae to be done roughly. In some localities farmers WlO sow about Boz of seed on the raised drill do not trouble themselves about the thinning, except the portion of the crop which thoy require for carting off the paddocks for cattle, and others thin the crop with a machine, which is about 6ft wide, I think, and which is worked across the drills, not parallel with them, as some think. It w : ll !>«. a boon indeed, second only to the reaper and binder, if a machine can be made or perfected to thin turnips satisfactorily. N<.t nearly enough turnips are grown, the fact being due to the drawback mentioned. Turnip-thinning is a tedious operation. One-third of an acre is about the area which an ordinary experienced person can accomplish in eight hours, where the turnips are crowded, but half an acre, or nearly that area, can be thinned where the plants are an inch apart — they would ba about that distance apart if only lib cf seed was sown, *nd the soil clean, fcsom." claim to be able to thin an acre a day whei© Boz or 1003 of seed has been eown. They may thin the turnip:, but they could hardly remove the weeds But farmers must bo content to do what they can at the pres&at busy time. Not much rape was sown, owing, principally, to the abundance of the pasture, but it would be an advantage for all who fatten lambs to have come of this valuable forage crop every year, for old pasture is not suitable foi lambs or other young animals. It can be successfully grown on the raised drill, where the soil is weedy, as several here tave proved. Horse-hoes, ©specially those of American manufacture, remove most of the weeds between the rows, and the stirring of the iou in the proctGs promotes the growth of the rape wonderfully.

Not a great deal of business was done

in B grado oats for shipMlsceilaaeons. ment, owing chiefly, I

think, to the small quantity available of this qualify. and to a smoll extent to farmers holding, in the belief that -if hostilities should arise between IRussia and Japan tho price might improve. JEteverting to- the quality, come of the oats stored in small barns, though threshed in fair condition, did not turn out quite as •well as wa=> expected. In such cases son^e farmers found that there was from 10 to 20 pei cont. not equal to first-class feed, and 2d les3 per bushel in market value, so that the most careful had a reminder of tho phenomenally bad harvest weather. 'The season is a good one for dairying, ftlthoufih there was a slight fallina off in

the quantity of milk recently. Dairy farmers who have milkers arc? doing very •well, but as no dependence can bo placed on hirod labour, it would be foolLh for anyone to begin or continue in such wcifc if he had to hire milkers. In some instances the work has had suddenly to ho given up, and the only course was to dry off the cows long in use and let the calves run with those which had not been long milked. Somo farmers hesitate to let tho calves run with the cows, fearing that the latter will be made of little value for milking in the future. But such fears need not be entertained, as cows which suokle thencalves do not deteriorate in mi'k production for a few years. Tn a few places the lambs have been weaned. If there is young pasture or a forage crop available they should be weaned when three months old. Dipping may Avith advantage be performed early in February, even if tho lambs are clean, as it would not then be necessary to dip late in the season (when tho operation is more detrimental) in order to comply with the provisions of the Stock Act in regard to dipping.