HAWKE'S BAY FARM AND RURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2728, 27 June 1906, Page 6

HAWKE'S BAY FARM AND RURAL NOTES.

(Fbom Ocra Own Cobeespondekt.) In a Witness of recent date "Agricola'* asks for information on this Fl«x subject. There is nob a Gnminff. great deal grown under cultivation in Hawke's Bay, but a few of those interested gTow it. The system generally adopted is as follows: — Having selected" the land to be planted, skim plough about 24in to 3in deep in the winter, and in the spring work it up a little x and then cross plough it about Sin deep. Plant the flax in the furrows and plough. it in as potatoes are done, and it will strike readily if the land ia suitable. Flax grows easily on most places. It likes damp land, but must have drainage. Dead water and soakage are fatal to successful results, because, though the flax may live, Jt will . not grow to any size. " Generally, where flax-planting is followed, there are plenty of plants obtainable, and either young ones are used or full-grownss6u6hes are divided iiito single roots for planting out. lam not sure which are the better, but J should be inclined to favour the young ones. If roots are not obtainable growers generally cultivate a piece of ground and drill in the seed, planting out the young plant 6 the following year. The rows should be not less than Bft apart, and the plants ebould be that distance apart in the rows; so that there is plenty of room for cultivation between the rows while the plants are growing. By doing this the plant will grow much faster, especially if kept clear of weeds round about the roots. Grass seed! can be sown in the rows when the flax has got a year's start. Still, it is wonderful how it comes away without any attention whatever. I saw some that had been. _ planted beside a winding creek, along the edges of which flax grew naturally. The bushes that grew on the points were transplanted to the bends so as to make a straight line of flax, thus making the paddock a "better shape for agriculture. The ~ transplanting was done in a rough and ready tray, and though the plants hung fire- for a time .they grew eventually. Flax provides .splendid shelter for stock,- but cattle roust bo kept off it; -they soon.destroy it-r and as a food it does them 04 good whatever. Sheep, unless crowded onv do *ofc hurt the 'young .plant in the earn-, mer, but in the -winter they soon kill if so that fencing is required l to avoid a>~ ■ appointment-. It is when the 'frosts oecu.'

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that Hie damage is done. BoA sheep and cattle can^e&erally be- seen chewing the ilax on a Irosty morning. The bushes soon grow 'beyond liability to damage from sheep, however. Those of the farmers who preserve ifc make a good dividend every third year. One told me that he took over £""** is royalty off between 30 and 40 acevs. Ho was getting* the high price of • ids per ton, as his flax was good, and consequently could be cut cheaply, besides being handy to a mill. Before going into planting the farmer should consider ■whether he has a safe market fpr what he produces, and that the carting/ will not be : too big-, an item. Disappointment may easily occur by the local mill getting burnt •Sown and not rebuilt ; or it is often the 'case that the miller finds the district cannot keep hi 3 miil going, and he moves to pastures new. The- little experience I have had 'with flax is that 'unless fi man has a lot grov/ing naturally, and is favourably -situated in other respects, it is not worth bothering with, but a proportion^ of- it i 6 •well worth saving for shelter for stock. A single barb wire round the flax, placed high enough to clear a sheep's back, is generally sufficient protection from the cattle, but two wires are, of course, better. Prices for f*i stock show a. slight advance during the past week or Stock. two. The North lTiitish Market. Freezing Company closed 'down ' some time -ago, and the' outside companies (Longburn and Wellington) find the prices asked 1 a little too - hot", as they have to pay long-distance railage. The two firms — Nelson Bros, and ' Bothwick and Son— are, I understand, still getting^ good supplies. The weather has - '- been co favourable that sheep have fat- '- iened well on grass only right up to the middle of June, and most farmers have •got* off a lot more than they usually <10. There' should be a good demand for store stock shortly, when the fattening paddocks have had a 6pell. There hap been a lot of beef marketed lately, but the above companies have dealt with a large quantity of it, which has been the main -factor in keeping prices up for this produce. At the sales the cattle pens continue to be well filled, store stock selling at prices that cannot fail to turn out a good investment '- for the purchaser if he can keep them till - . next summer. I hoard that one of the companies on the other side were buying weaner calves -at about 5s or 6s per head, and 1 turning them into manure by a shorter .process than would otherwise have been • the case. With hides at big prices, the company expect to do very well over it. Sheep are selling well, fair hoggets bringing between lie and 12s; sound ewes (in lamb) from 12s to 20s. The price of wethers seems high 'at 20s, but when the skin is reckoned at from 10s to lls the companies are on the safe side. JHEPEBE.