SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2707, 31 January 1906, Page 6

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

'F«OM OOR OWK OniIRKST>ONDIWT 1 This has probably been the wettest summer experienced in Southland for The Weather a decade or two. The rainand fall in November amounted the Farm, to 4.14 in, in December to the phenomenal quantity of s.llirr,. llirr, and in Hiis month, up to the 26th inst., to 2.46 in. This is moderate, of course,

€ut ,it is too much followiag' the excessively «?ct preceding- months. Tillage Operations ;were practically at a standstill during December, and farmers were wondering if they would be able to sow the turnip seed before the proper period for such work had passed. Fortunately by working' long hours they ,were able to complete the work at; various dates between the 10th and 20th of the month. The acreage sown in December ,was comparatively small. An effort _is always made to finish sowing on the raised drill during the last week of the year, and on the flat surface during the first week of "January; but this year the work was not much more than commenced at these periods, the consequence being that the bulk of the turnip seed has been sown from three to five weeks later than usual. •The prospect of a good crop is not promising, and some are apprehensive regarding i-winter feed. Of late years more of the white-fleshed varieties have been grown than formerly, on account of the fact that they do less injury to the mouths of sheep. The ■Devonshire greystone is the most popular of the softer turnips, and it is nutritious till the end of July. The oat crop is uneven in quality, but there will probably be a fair aggregate yield. In some places the crop is heavy, but there is a great deal that can only be classed as medium. The harvest will be very late, as there is a great deal of the crop just coming into ear. In a few places only is the crop fully shot. A commencement was made with ryegrass cutting about the middle of this month, but the work was not general till about the 20th on account of tho ripening being later than in previous years, owing to the , unfavourable season. Owing to the wet season, shearing was very late in beirrg performed. Tlie Probably not more than Flocks. half the sheep were shorn at the middle of the month, but good progress has been made since that time. Disputes occasionally arise as to whether sheep arc dry or not, but shearers can determine the matter without difficulty: •when sheep are not dry the shearers' legs are cold, the usual genial glow of warmth not being experienced. Shearers were scarce, and it is remarked that it is strange that few young men are now taking the trouble to acquire the art. when 18s and found is the remuneration for the work on the farms. The explanation is that it is easy to get steady employment, and that there is often so much delay owing to wet weather that shearing is not so remunerative as it would seem. There was a larger percentage of cotted or matted fleeces than usual, which was due to the wetness of the season, combined, perhaps, in some cases with insufficiency of feed at times. Discolouration of the tips of the staples was also a little more noticeable this season. The usual colour observed is pink, and occurs in wet seasons. I have seen the surface of the wool on carcases of sheep which had lain exposed for many months to the weather becoming entirely pink, so that the change goes on in the dead fleece to a greater extent than in the living. The wool on the whole, however, was clean and sound. For crossbred wool the net price paid on the farms varied from lOd to 12d; some strong crossbred wool was sold at lid. and fine crossbred at 12^d. In one case lid was paid for a clip from a fleet which was about 12 years removed from the halfbred (Leicester-merino cross). All these years Leicester rams were used, s© that the flock now contains a great deal of Leicester blood. The receipt of so satisfacLory a price shows that it is not necessary to ffo back often to the merino. Careful* culling had been, it may be observed, practised every year. A number of deaths, due to the severe weather, occurred in many flocks which were shorn in November and December. Sheep are subject to pleurisy,, if the weather is cold for a day or two after shearing. Williams in his "Principles of Veterinary Medicine" (p. 145) mentions that 300 cases of pleurisy occurred in a flock of sheep shorn in Britain early one spring, 30 of which died. There will not he many fat lambs available off the ewes this season. Their condition is not goed in many cases, and suitable forage crops are late. Early-sown areas of turnips are being thinned at the present time, Miscellaneous, but there is not much of this work to be found. Workers are, however, by no means numerous. Some years ago the cost of singling, leaving out of account horsehoeing, varied from 10s to 12s per acre •whore the turnips were crowded in the drills. In some cases the workers were employed by the week, and it occasionally happened that the work was let by the chain. These different arrangements for doing the work are still in vogue; but thinning costs more now except where the plants are less numerous than formerly, and this is the case where the excellent double-ridgers are in use. When tho work was done by lineal measurement the cost was usually .id per chain, without food ; and as a chain of crowded plants takes about four minutes to single, the cost would be 12s 8d per acre where the drills were 26in apart and 12s 2d where separated 27in. The time occupied ovor an acre in the first case would be 2Qi hours and in the second 19i hours, being at the rate of a little over one-third of an acre in an eight-hour day and about half an acre in a ten-hour day. Where the seed is sown on the raised drill at the rate of from Boz to lOoz per acre the plants are'separated two or three inches on an average, and only one cut with the hoe is necessary in one place ; so that a chain can be thinned in from one minute to one Jninute and a-half, or, -roughly, at the rafe of an acre a day. Mechanical turnip thinners are a desideratum, and a f or tune awaits the man who can devise a suitable implement. A few implements are in use already, but no one speaks enthusiastically about them, and one does not hear of them being boomed like the doubleridgers. It would appear that the hand hoe ia not yet obsolete, but even these humble implements are not all as suitable as they might be. The American swan-necked hoes are set at too acute an angle with the liandle (75dog in some cases), and the neck needs heating in a forge and bending back ito the angle of the good old-fashioned English hoe. which is about 85deg. The bot .fly is not causing much trouble yet, winch is no doubt due to the dulness •F the weather. Carbolic sheep dip, after feeing dilated ijith 20 parts of water, should t>e applied once a 'week to the parts attacked, in order to kill the eggs. There is danger in using the undiluted dip. on account of absorption" causing blood-poison-ing, with fatal results. The residents of Stewart Island contemplate the formation oi an esplanade.