AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

' Speaking of the Orchard and Garden :'_ Pests Act, Mr T. W. Kirk, head of the c Biological and HorticulaurtJ division of the d Agricultural Department, stated to a Times c reporter on Saturday th#t instructions had c gone out to these concerned that the act c was to be much more strictly enforced this l " , year than previously, and that both dealers y and orehardists had been frequently warned J i during the past two years of their responsi- | j bihties in the matter. Both orchardist and a ' dealer are equally liable if diseased fruit c | is found in their possession or if they are c concerned in any -nay in the distribution of ii diseased fruit. This is a point which is g worth noting. As a matter of fact, pxose2, cutions for breaches of the act referred to v are now pending in, some of the districts 11 of the Dominion. " An arbitration ?ase of great important . to all agricultural districts in tho Don.' [1 nion has been heard at Blenheim. Gogg, a c threshing-machine hand, met with an acciy I dent, resulting in the lose pf one of hi?

eye». He claimed £200 compeneation fro»ro Da-rid Bishell, the owner of the machi iie. Bishell, who was covered by tho O^eati Accident Insurance Corporation, contested the matter, holding that he was noft the man's employer, but that the farmer/ was. Evidence as to custom showed thafb tho engine-driver and feeder were the onl?r rueit paid by the machine owner out of th« contract price for threshing. The othei- men were paid a lump sum for their wafces by tho farmer according to the time vr^brkrd. one of their number acting as payniaster and time-recorder. The farmer al-o ftound the men food and lodgings, and ccaij for the engine. Mr Scott Smith, S M.. f^lunrl on the main question that th • "~lhin<--owner was the employer, as i - c followed the mill about through ' season and took orders from t only. A mutual settlement was a The decision will .have the effect of forcing machine owners to i . r their contract for th© threshing - <U the machine hands' wages. Mr T. W. Kirk, chief of the 0. i-< »■ . - biology and horticulture of the A; < Department was in Dunedin c. .- a - mental business on Saturday morning-. | Speaking to a Times reporter in regard io the fruit-growing industry of the co?om , Mr Kirk said it was going ahead c^ctedingly well. Very good progress was b^ing made in most districts with the cultivation of fruit generally, and the area devoted \o its culture in the Dominion was steadily increasing. Last year there was an iww i< %v of over 750 acres, as compare 1 with e,n average increase of about 300- acres i'or several years previously, whilst th^ :»n\i n» voted to vineyards showed an •• > ." "T 100 acres, that being prinoipa •■ North Island. Mr Kirk leaves fo ■' ' i,< U-> to-day. I The recent Government edict • ' ui<-.nu i<-.n sacks are not to hold more ;ii*-'> 200n> weight of grain is (says the Timii'-u HeialcJ) likely to prove a disturbing factor to those merchants who have laid in a stoclof the large-sized sacks, and also to the farmers who have to buy them, For if will mean that, while the large bags cost more than the smaller ones, they cannot Lo filled beyond 2001b, consequently each baar will" contain a surplus amount of jute, which will be of no benefit. This, besidoe being ay waste of money, will make stacking aiore difficult. One merchant, in speaking on tfco 6ubject to a reporter, considered the Government's action a little arbitrary, but it must not be forgotten that the reform has been coming for th© past two or three yeai» — in fact, it was actually decreed some timeago that not more than 2001b bags would be carried on the railways, but in deference to the merchants who held largo stocks of the larger sized bags the Tegula^ tion was suspended to enable them to get rid of their stocks. An enormous pig, claimed to be the largest and heaviest ever seen in England, was recently slaughtered at Messrs Bott's establishment at Belgrave, Leicester. Itscaled close on 7£cwt, aJid was too bulky to go into the largest slaughtering tub oir the premises. Instruction has been given to the manager of the Culverden Estate to have all the stock off the place by March 31 preparatory to the Government taking possession. A petition has been sent to the Minister of Lands asking him to reservethe portion of the estate now used as_ aracecourse and rifle ranjre for a. domain, and he is understood to have given the rerruest favourable consideration. Shearing is practically completed in thff Motu district, Bay of Plenty, and an excellent clip has been obtained in the majority of sheds , The state of the dairy pastures around the Masterton cli-rrict rr.ay be pauged from tho fact that the output of butter front tho Masfcrton Dairy Factory is just about, half what it was at this time last year. Fift.-ou boxes per day is now the averageoufmit. , . _. . The Conciliation Board sitting at Waimate in connection with tho farm labourers* dispute discovered a rara avis — a man who had had his wages raised by his employer five times without asking, and the last iise he had refusrd because ho thought he was getting too much. At its meeting last month the Mackenzie County Council decided to forward a protect to the Minister of Lands against the closing of the Lands Office at Timaru. The conntv councils of Geraldine, Waimate, and Levels are to be asked to support this proto=>t, on the ground that the closing of the Land Office at Timaru will be a great inconvenience to a large number of Crown tenants. As evidencing the great value of thedairy industry to the Taranaki district, it might be remarked that the factories in the immediate, neighbourhood of Stratford and doing business with the Stratford banks have just paid out no less than £21,200 to milk-suppliers. _ These same factories, also, durinn- the height of the season pay to their employees an aggregate of between £700 and £800 per month in wages. The unusual spectacle of four Chinese driving a mob of sheep was witnessed in Masterton one day last week. The Celestials were not forsaking the lucrative but laboriou; industry of market gardening for a pastoral life, but were merely impoundinp the mob of sheep, which had 1 trespassed upon their vegetables. A Hawera farmer has a field of rapethat a short time ago appeared as fine a crop as could be wished. The other day, on looking at it carefully, it was found tobe badly affected with the potato blight. It is pretty bad luck, especially as there ara 26 acres down in rape. A record for timber-cutting in Westland 1 was established last month. The West Coast Times says that Baxter Bros, cut noi less than 857,000 ft of timber at their several mills in the month. The firm on the last pay-day distributed over £1100 in wages. ' The Maoris report a fair yield of pota1 toe<3 -this year, the crops having- almost prearH fh^ blight. This is decidedly satie-

factory, as the potato is one of the Natives' chief articles of food, and the deprivation and suffering caused by failure of this crop iast year was almost universal throughout the Dominion. The principal sufferers among settlers through the continued dry weather in Hawke's Bay are those who were unable sow their turnips and rape early. For market gardeners (says the Hawke's Bay Herald) the position is one that gives cause lor anxiety. An Ardgowan farmer has obtained from a head of Garton oats 249 grains. It was mentioned 6ome time ago that 241 grains were supposed to constitute a record, but these additional grains rather discount that. The potato crops in the Ashburton Oranty, which were stunted in consequence •of the continued dry -weather, have since the last heavy Tain commenced to send out new tubers, while the tubers already formed Are showing signs of second growth. The potato crop is likely to be even a greater failure than last year's. At the Addington saleyards last week About 20 pigs in the fat and store pens died In consequence of the extreme heat. The pigs were enclosed in uncovered pens, and had no opportunity to get shelter. In some cases owners sprayed the animals with water, and this appeared to afford them ■consideiable reliVf. In none of the Australian States (remarks the Pastpralists' Review) is any seri■ous disposition shown to imitate New Zealand's example in exploiting the higher -values which the production of cheese offers in comparison with butter-making. More than a year ago an official expert from the .southern Dominion showed 1 us that our milk • product was worth considerably more as the raw material for cheese than for the best butter. Enterprising merchants in Victoria, .New South Wales, and Queensland have, -with some assistance from the several Governments, endeavoured to promote the trade, .but the result has been decidedly dis■couragirig. Against making a change, even tc secure increased profits, there are op--posed the natural inertia of producers and the power of established trade interests. .As Zong as satisfactory profits are obtainable without making changes little can "be accc nrplished ;n; n the way of altering the methods for the attainment of increased Tetums. On the one hand established trade offers a ready market for all the butter that caa be produced, while on the other the changes are important and numerous, -which are involved in arranging for cheese■making. In addition to providing new factory machinery, which companies are very loth to undertake, the operations on the farms also require to be altered for supplying the clean, sound milk needed for -successful cheese-making. The extent +o -which the home separator has been adopted and tho disposition to still T Tther extend a, rystem which reduces the labour of sending the product to the facrory are considerable factors in preventing butter factories from changing to cheese factories. Those co-operative butter factories which are feeling the competition of the proprietary cream buyer are naturally loth to a •change which would make the carting of whole milk a permanent necessity. On the •other hand, a permanent and marked difference in value between milk and cream might bi> a means of ensuring the support of suppliers to the local co-operative factories. The Melbourne Leader's travelling correspondent in the United States says that the large *?heat farms there are giving place to small farms, worked with irrigation. The American farmer's formula is: ■"Soil exhaustion through excessive wheat production demands as its remedy rotation, and 1 effective rotation attains its fu'l strength with the aid of irrigation. " Irrigation- means getting as much wheat from 40 acres- as from 20C without irrigation. Torty acres is about the usual proportion -devoted to wheat as its share of the rotation in a 160-aere farm in an irrigation -district, and the yields are 40 bushels per acre _ . The prosperous condition of the dairying industry in the western part of Victoria (says the Melbourne Weekly Times of January 25) is indicated by the volume of "bubiness transacted by the Western District Butter Fsctories' Co-operative Produce Company. At the monthly meeting of the -directors, held at Warrnambool on January 13, it was reported that the business trans--acted during November and December last totalled £165,000, which is considerably «bove the amount received for any similar -period since the inception of the company Heports from the Western Australian and South African branches showed that the -company's operations covered a very extensive range. The prices realised -during the season had been eminently satisfactory, and "■o f.ir thp average of the London market -c instituted a record. Ttoferiintf to vario\is reports as to the wucccss of thp fodder plant melilotis. the •crcnan Director of Agriculture. Dr Vie-iv, states that favourable results have 1 cen reported from the sandy land between • '"e'orsr and thp sea coast for the mixture -nelilotis for fodder and 1 oats for hay. "From the iaquiries made by the dairy F-uxr-visors in the district it appeared that nil kmds of live stock were extremely partial lo the mixture, and no untoward results had been noticed in the cafli=>--nor "had any taint been produced in the butter manufactured from the milk of the dairy

herds. In the Port Fairy district the melilotis was growing- on the sandhills, whore it struggled for supremacy with the marram grass. Judging by the way in which 't was kept cropped . <kwn, it was evidently much appreciated by the oattle grazing on the common. Baron yon Mueller, Dr Cherry added, stated many years ag<> that all species of melilotis were less strongiy flavoured when, growing near the _sea coast than when grown far inland. That probably was one of the points which had brought into such favour both at King Island and in the neighbouring sea coast of Victoria. Mr A. J. Ewart, the Victorian Government Botanist and Professor of Botany at the Melbourne University, says the ;ase may be summed 1 up in a nutshell : A little is not injurious, or is even useful ; excess is harmful Like the '"sweet-scented vernal grass,"' quantities up to 10 per cent, add- to the flavour of the hay, without affecting stock injuriously, and the cumarin, bein«; volatile, largely evaporates from dry fodder. Excess of the plant, especially when fresh, and as food for milch cc-ws, imparts an unpleasant taste to milk and butter. The plant is a good one for green manuring, and is very useful for increasing tho humus contents of poor virgin soil, but has this disadvantage, that the seed may he dormant in the soil for very many years, and still retain the power of germination On the whole, then, it is only advisable to allow it to grow on poor, sandy, or dry clayey land unsuitod for better pasture plants, and even then to avoid an excess of it. — Pastoralists' Review. The following items of interest are from the Pastoralists' Review of January 15 : — Mr C L. Mackersey has succeeded in completely exterminating the blackberry pest on his Tongoio Statoin. Hawke's Bay, N.Z., by feeding it do^wn with Angora goats. The pest was partieu'arly bad at Tongoio, and huge sums had been spent for years oast in futilo attempts to keep it down. Now there is not a plant to be seen. — With reference to record wool prices, Mt D. M. Logan recently wrote to a Melbourne paper, stating that, to 4 he best of his belief, the highest price per lb ever paid is 5s o^d. It was bid for in the Coleman street Wool Exchange, London, in 1878, for a parcel of scoured "Ercildoune" Victorian fleece, beautifully g-ot up in blue-lined bales. ' Tho writer does not mention the -quantity, but adds that the line was bought by a French firm for the manufacture of some special material for display at the Paris Exhibition then on. — The system initiated last May by the "Victorian Government of issuing certificates of soundness to stallions exhibited at parades and shows throughout that State, is being largely taken advantage o'. ' Eight hundred and 1 eighty-nine stallions have been examined for the Government certificate at forty-nine parades and twenty-nine shows since last June, and ii; is estimated that these represent between 70 and P0 per cent, of the stallions standing for public use in the State. Of the 889 ,starions examined, 205 were reiected, making 23 per cent.— Mr Alfred Hay, of Booiranooraana. Eiverina, saved his lucerne crop from a swarm of grasshoppers recently by the ingenious expedient of organising a driving movement of all hands, armed with bells, tins, and other noisy instruments late in the afternoon when the insects were preparing to alight on the ground to feed and camp. By noise and husfing the pests were kept constantly on the lr.ove till dark, and not allowed to rest during the two days they swarmed over the paddock. On the mornins of the third 1 day they disappeared, and the cr»p # was saved. — The Japanese are turning their attention to wool manufacture, reports Mr V. B. Suttor, the N.S.W. Commercial Agent in tho East, and will in the near future look to Australia for their supplies. "I am a^eady advised that certain students are vis.il ing Sydney with a view to making a special 6tudy of the whole of the wool busines-., and to reporting the results of their observations 'o the Government and to different mills in Japan. Mr Suttor further reports complaints of hemp in wool, similar to those from Bradford, and specia'ly mentions cases of string ends or tae9 being allowed to fall into the bales when cut at the -corners to place them in the press. — Official estimates of the Argentine croos for the current s°a«on show a considerable advance on pre\ ious records for wheat and maize and oats, but a decrease in linseed. Our correspondent advise 3us that the date of pub 7 ication (19th Ocfobcr) was too early to make any estimate \ery reliable:—

What Is said to constitute a world's record in the way of elaug-hteuns; was put up at the Ngahauran-gs works of the Wellington Meat Export Cornpanv last week. Fifty-four butchers. in eight hours, slaughtered and mado ready for the freezing chamber no fewer than 5471 sheep. • During the progress of the stock sales at Matawhero (Waikato), a few days ago, a man tied up a valuable cheep-dog to a fence. Ho heard it yelping for «ome time, and wpon investigation he found that neair where he had placed the animal there was a hive of bees, and the latter had attacked

the den. -tinging its tongue. Shortly after- | wards tlu dog cued. j NOTES 0^ RURAL TOPICS.' The harvest is a fortnight earlier than usual this year, and will be an Farai W»ik abundant one, in spite of all fer February, disabilities. The fierce gale we experienced last week did a k>t of damage to the local crops and orchards — in borne cases stooks of grass-seed were blown right out of the field, in others any sheaves knocked over #^ere threshed bare. In all cases the stooks which stood ■were stripped on top, and the yield in ex- j posed fields has been reduced 50 per cent. Wheat and other grain crops have been unmercifully lashed about, but these crops are sufficiently advanced to fill up properly even on the ground, and the yield will suffer very little, although the expense ot cutting will be increased considerably. W heat. — Several wheat crops a,re to be seen in exposed situations standing on their feet ia.i too long. As soon as the straw is coloured two or three inches below tho head very little further nourishment can be supplied by that means. The ripening and hardening process will proceed as rapjdly in the stook as when the gram is growing in the ground. It may afterwards get a little nourishment from the straw, but not enough to incur the risk of getting the crop shaken, and losing perhaps onehalf of it. Out at the stage indicated, the grain matures in the stook, and ( a, bettor return is secured from the field without incurring unnecessary risk. Oats.— The same remarks apply to cutting oats — it is the earliest and biggest grains that we must regard most. A large proportion of the crop shakos out with the wind if left till ripe, and the straw is much more valuable for chaff or cattle-feeding when cut on thp green side, but more time must be given this crop to "win" properly. The stems and knots, or joints, take a lot of drying, and the heated, discoloured chaff so often seen, which ruins our horses, is frequently the result of stacking too soon and the stacks over-heating. The trouble id accentuated by the string binder. In order to save twine the sheaves are bound up as tightly as possible together, instead of being put up moderately loosely, and no air can possibly get through the green eheaf for days. If carted in anything but perfectly dry order much damage to the sample results from heating in the stook. Barley, on the other hand, should ho dead ripe before it is cut. All chances have to- be taken. It takes less "winning," less time in the field, and runs less risk of being discoloured by a shower of rain and reduced ia value. The aftermath requires a good start before Ihe cattle are turned in. In a year when growth is slow the temptation to use it before it has recovered must be resisted. Cold nights will soon be coming on, ai.d in the interest of the pasture to follow, the gates should be locked till a good sold growxh covers the ground. The pasture requires a .lot of attention before harvest. All sorts of weeds are - running to seed ; thistles, dock, and rushes require cutting promptly. The sole of grass and the appearance of the fields would be impro\ed by running the mower over the course, rough patches. The supply of water for stock should be carefully attended to. First year grass should not be allowed to run to seed ; run the mower over it, if . necessary to prevent this. I Green crops wi 1 ! soon be covering the ground, and will require little more attention. Mangolds and carrots running to seed should be pulled. In view of the possibility of a light crop of turnips after tho dry weather we have had, the first chance / should be taken to provide winter and spring feed in the shape of rape and Italian, oars and vetches, rye grain, Cape barley, oals, or whatever forage crop best suits your purpose. Sown as soon as the stubbles are cleared and Wfll worked. The earlier and the more ]iberallj these catch crops are treated, tho better e>anee of securing heavy bulk. Stubble turnips may be sown in showery weather with every chance of success on early oat or barley stubble. Carting and Stacking. — Caro must be taken to provide a good foundation of straw or scrub, and a last row of bundles of straw to finish off the stack with before tho wires are attached. Much grain may be saved by exercising greater -care in building, keeping the centre well built up, and providing the requisite slope for the well-packed outside row of sheaves. This is most essential before the head is turned and all the time the head is being built. The expert stack-builder may be seen arranging the corners to his satisfaction, and frequently descending the ladder to examine his work from every point of view, and in, every wav exhibiting keen interest in hi 3 work. The time =o occupied is not by nnv means lost. His stack, when -finished, will stand up souare and wcl]-balancod. and will keep rain out to some purposo. When -finlbhed, he is quite proud of his work, and wlwn the stack ib opened up absolutely i dry ai threshing time, two or three months j later, he has good reason *to be pleased. i fvfrock, meaning the 'ambs, should not be delayed after the middle of the month. The ' ewes require srt least six weeks to tcou-' perate after suckling a lamb 'before the rams are turned out again, and before winter 'oonaes on "tho condition must be

improved. It is not easy to keep the lambs thriving after weaning when the pastures are giving- out unless special provision has been made for that purpose, but the best thot can now be clone for them should not bo neglected. If the dry weather continues, dairy cows will have to be supplied early with extra green food carried out to them in the field. The evidence of the weigh-b'-id^e at the factory provides a timely warning which cannot bo disregarded with impunity. Harvesting has now begun in earnest, and' binders may be seen at Harre&tiug work in many fields of oats. Optrationß. The "roads'* round the fields have been cut by the binder itself instead of by the scythe, as formerly, but the ecythe is still necessary, and must be used in the corners and tangled spots Opening up with the binder in ripe wheat is slovenly work, but where oats are light and not easily threshed out — that is, cut on the green side, little harm is done, and time and trouble saved by this practice. As harvest time approached in days gone by, we were favoured with a continuous stream of visitors at our farms, most of them capable harvest hands, seeking enip'oyment and striving to better their position financially by following the harvest from one district to another, and securing a good-sized cheque in one season. AYe were glad to see them trooping along in half-dozens, because their services were needed, but the string binder has altered all that, and nowadays harvestinp does not require any more hands than are kept all winter on the farm. This is a f*ct which should bo borne in mind by labour agitators, and it is also a factor (o be reckoned' with in the sub-division of large estates. On account of the binder and other labour-saving appliances, there i= nothing 'ike the labour employed on the farm now that there used to be. Small settlers must have capital enough to work an area large enough to maintain themselves and those dependent on them without trusting to harvest work to help them out. A cheque for shearing may still be : obtained by those who are expert at that ', work, but very little harvest money is available for them. When electricity is generally employed for moiive power on fcho farm, as it will ultimately be, less labour than ever will be required. But we have already arrived at & -state of things in which the harvest is comparatively pleasant work, compared to the "slogging" it used to be with back deliveries a-nd heavy straw. Successful leading depends on adjusting th« load to the strength at Ltfldiiiff command and keeping a. In. continuous stream going ' and returning without intermission to the stack — any break in the chain, -delays the whole organisation. It is all the same whether single or double teams or waggons arc engaged, they must not be overloaded. At leading time every shafter on the farm is brought into requisition, some of them just off the grass and in soft condition. These off-conditioned hoMOc work a shjft of half a day, working and resting alternately till they get m better trim, when the full day's work is expected from them. Careful men must 4>e selected for- such horses to sec that they are no: oyer-heated, that their shoulders are kept right, and that fresh, fiery horses ! do not bolt when the hor.<=eman's attention \ is engaged in forking the load. As a rule, ( in flat country, with short drawing, single , drays are employed, each pair requiring the ?orvices of five men, including the builder ) and his assistant. It is asfoniebing what a difference may be observed between the loads coming in to the stack. The wollbuilt load, square and_ firm on the dray;, rides securely and will contain half as | much more "grain as the load carelessi? I thrown together anyhow. Every sheaf is j in its jTace. and is taken in turn by the • forkor in much the same way as they ayp found, is on the stack. There is no trouble in j ascertaining where to begin forking, and no pulling out and half -threshing the sheaves. In very ripe grain this is a con- i siderution .hat counts. Much time is saved by buildinsr t-he dray with regularity and systematically. On large stacks the "crow" passes on the sheaf to the builder, expedit- . ing the work by placing it conveniently to ' his hand in such a way that the srtieai lies nt the correct angle for smart handling. Much time ma-y be saved by all the forkers working judiciously — the field forker may help the horseman by placing his sheaf at the right place on the dray, the horseman by delivering the right end forward for the "crow" and in the right place, and tho "crow" by carefully placing the sheaf where the buildei' ?an get it without much reaching, co that all the time be has may be employed in adjusting the sheaf to its proper position. I hear someone Whispering that these are intignrfioant points surely", but they are points that tell at the end oT a day's work, and where it is a matter of expedition attention to such rwints makes all the difference between pleasant work and hard graft. - The size of the sheaf is under the control of »the driver, and can >he Size of Shmf ladjustfld it© a moetgr on the ■on £t*<&. thinder., consistent -with the length of tthe straw. -Gener- 1 ally speaking, it is not advisable toA ham warn too laxop in <mr dimsfce. «■#!

the further south we go the smaller thej should bp, although I ha\e ne^er seen a. sheaf so large in this neighbourhood that it) did noc "win" properly if time enough was given. A pair of good healthy sheav«A can be lifted and handled expeditiously in stooking and the larger the sheaf tLe easier and more quickly the ground is cleared. But when the lsmd has been sownout and there 16 a lot, of clover and grass in the butts, it is wiser to keep the sheaf small. As a rule good-sized sheaves reduce the labour of harvesting. There is something very comfortable about the appearance of two large stacks of grain bu ; l6 with just enough room between them for the mill. Their solidity and' symmetrical bulk give promise of many well-filled sack 3 and an abundant yield. The large stack is economical, in that it saves foundation work and thatching, nnd keeps the^ mill going for a full day without loss of time in shifting. But to build large sacks together in a farpyard make's it necessary to harvest the grain in perfect condition and renders insurance advisable. This is not an undesirable feature in any case, no mattec how short a time the stacks may be allowed to stand. The farmer has no right to run such a risk, particularly when most! of his eggs are in one basket and his income depends on his return from wheat. It is a great convenience to have ampla straw in the stackyard the year round, bnti especially in winter time. The crop is never carted or handled easier than when in the sheaf, and time and labour are saved; by concentrating it round the stedding. Our harvest weather, until thp last year or two, has generally been reliab'e, and this may nearly always be done, but in a bad season, the whole complexion of the matter ia changed — small sheave? and small stacks have to be resorted to in order to dry and 1 mature the corn properly. It is purely a matter of condition of the grain and the season experienced.

In hunting about for some means of improving upland natural pasImpratJng ture at a cost which ■would Upland not prove prohibitive, sucli Pasture. country as will carry onb sheep to the acre, for 'instance, the proKe.n was mentioned to one of oar leading farmers who had recently returned from a trip to the Old Country. He stated that some of his friends bad used basio slag in dealing- with similar land at Home with satisfactory results. They hatl otbainsi this for about 30s per ton, awfl had given a dressing of Bcwt to lOcwt per acre, suiface sown, and had improved their rough ground beyond recognition and in-

-creased its carrying capacity enormously. Many farmers find that the maintenance of the carrying capacity of any pasture is a difficult matte.r, but this is not so with natural pasture which has never been cultivated, the return from which depends altogether on the season experienced. All our natural pasture is of a permanent nature. For years it has been a case of the survival of the fittest, and nothing but grasses that survive drought and frost remain. An application of slag would have a permanent effect on such ground, but it is all a question of cost. How much slag at £5 per ton could we afford to apply to land worth a rental of 2s or 2s 6d per acre? We certainly cannot afford to put a dressing of lOcwt per acre on it. The carrying capacity would have to be doubled before we could recover interest on the cost, and that result could hardly be hoped for. Some other means must be tried. Personally, I have secured good results, but iiot altogether satisfactory, from burning and surface sowing with cocksfoot, and fencing off the stock for two years until the grass got a good hold, and 1 afterwards seeded. Large cattle were then grazed on the enclosed block, and a valuable rough field was the result. The cocksfoot grew up through the tussocks, and in winter and spring the cattle ate both together, and Boon increased the grass area, and thinned out the tussocks to such an extent that there was an appreciable difference in appearance of the ground on either side of •the fence. On the comparatively level hill tops attempts to improve the carrying capacity by cultivation have not been successful. The difficulty encountered was to got sufficient soil to retain moisture after it had been worked 1 . In a wet season fair crops of turnios were grown, but n_ ner•manent sole of prrass cannot be established. I am forced to the conclusion that it would liave been more profitable to have left the ground in its natural state and surface sowed it with cocksfoot. This seems to be the only erra<=s that will hold in n dry season. But it gets so hard and.unnutritiov.s that sheep do not seem to find it palatable after a time, and do not come in off it a3 they should. The subject is one suited Xor correspondence in these columns, and the successful experience of others with either different grasses or methods would be valuable to the country. Canadian or Scotch flourish in spite of inspectors and the efforts of Thistles. some farmers who work hard to keep their farms clear of these weeds. Their attempts are rendered futile by the vigorous crops now running to seed on their neighbours' lar.xl and by the seeding which showers over them- like- snow from waste corners, river banks, and hill tops. Roadlines are not kept so clear as they might be ; some flourishincr patches are to be seen in my own neighbourhood, just ready to distribute their seed* with the fir«t wind that comes :aU>rip. ,Tbe railway upe al'O is a fertile source of rt>ntamina,tion', and. along ■with the roadlines, reveals slovenly inspection. Ir 8om« parts of the country thistlos are increasing ••apicfly and reducing the ■ value of the land considerably where neglected. It cannot be. grazed to advantage because of them, and in a short time tJiey take -exclusive po^ession of the ground. Their presence in such numbers indicates bad farming and poverty of soil. and successful dealing with them provides a difficult problem. When they are only moderately thick, if persistently spaded an inch oi two be 7 ow the crown once a fortnight during the summer many of them " -will hi killed outright the first year, and they soon become more easily managed : but if allowed to seed, even for one year. an «ndieß=- store of work results. On land subject to periodionl flooding they "become a. regular tax. and the warfare on such land lias to be persistent and continuous : hut on good ground not thus seeded the number will be largolv reduced the second year by spading, and the land will soon become reasonably free of them, particularly- if the grass is hpavily top-dreiscd' and crows vigorously When thpv have been neglected to' such an extent that the back delivery and sevthe are the only effective imnlrxnents to nrcvent seeding, thp sooner such land is broken uo ond dealt v ith thf better The aim should then bo, where fattening sheep are kept, to prow fast-grovvin'- covering crdps. Forced along with ah'indant artificial manuring, they will carry a great many sheep, enrich the land, and not occuoy the trround long enough to give the thistles a chance before the n«»\t cultivation takes place. Two or throe heavy crops of this kind fed off on the ground would more than repay themselves, and vvou'd make a good nreparation for a. heavy socding of mixed grasses and clovers, which, after such treatment, will come avvny rapidly and smother out anvthine- pUp. / — AGttICOLA.

Probi Pheat. tons jinseed, tons lais. tons laize, tons lat b.e Exoori. . ISOB 3 720 OOil 1 040,000 4,800 000 High*«t Previous Export. 3 027.030 in 1905 880 541 in 1904 140.000 m 1907 2 693,733 in 1906