WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2849, 21 October 1908, Page 20

WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

A 'considerable- weight of rain has fallen durin? the week, which has The retarded work somewhat. Weather. The low-lying land is too mucky to work, and after •having the land in such good order for months, the ordinary man does not cars to puddle in mud. Being co forward with the work, both men and horses are gtad of an excuse for a spell. To-day (Thursday) the weather is still unsettled, with a Jow barometer, so that we may have a taste of previous spring v.eather. I At the present time the majority of farmers 1 ' are more ready to talk TheFamiM- politics than things agriculi a Politic*, tural. It seems strange that nowhere under the British flag- can th? men cm the lar.d agree to any policy propounded by legislators. The ordinary onlooker would thin* that farmers having co many interests in i common it should be an easy matter to I put in concrete iorm a policy to which ' all could subscribe. Every other class m 1 the community— to use a 'slang term— go bald-headed for what is for their special .benefit. In bygone years, when farmers were isolated, living far from the towns or citie3, it was possible to understand how their ideas of what measures were wanted should be fo much at variance. But tc-dav, •when, with th£ exception of a few in the back-blocks, everyone comes in contact witjh his fellows onc-3 a week, there is no more unanimity thin formerly. The •Farmers' Union have ksued tbeir platform, to which they ask candidates seeking their ■support to subscribe, with the result that •many Ministerialists, as well as Oppositionists, ere running on the same ticket in the one electorate. But a large number of farmers <Jo not belong to the union, and some, for different reasons, are absolutely antagonistic. It is therefore hard to see how the farming interests are going to be fairly represented in the next Parliament. Farmers think tco much of what they are likely to get cut of Government in the way of roads, bridges, and railwaj-s rather than the general policy that affect 9 .the whole of the farmers in the Dominion. /What the result will be lt is impossible to form any idea of, more especially with the second ballot. Sir Joseph Ward is visiting the Manawatu and Oroua elec.torafces next weak, and preparations are ■being made to deputat ionise him on various matters — postal, reads and bridges, courthouse, and new railways. Tha farmers on tihe Coast are progressing, as is evident from the numSoiting ber of machines, , which Tarnips. iarmers in some instances do mot know the use of. .Seeincr » combined moulding plough and turnip drill at a railway station the other day I went over to see to whom it was addressed. A farmer was with me *who .has been connected with farming in ths district for many years, and has sown thousands of acres cf turnips, and he could not understand what the machine was meant to do. Personally, I have not seen t^e combined machine at work, but can quite junderrtand its utility, having in older times driven the seed-sower after the ■double mould-board plough. Several farijners are now sowing turnips on the raised ilnll, and no doubt more will focn follow the example. I notie<? in my friend *" Agricola's " notes on " Work on the Farm for October," when referring to sowing swede turnips, he says: " When sowing about the end of October or early in JNovember it is advisable that as much -as (41b of seed per acre should be sown, to allow for the ravages of birds and the fly /which prey upon the young plants as they appear above the soil.' 1 Surely thi.° must be a misprint, as lib is considered very heavy seeding in this district. Personally, 1 have found from lOoz to 12oz ample when drilled in on the flat with coulters 7in apart. With respect to sowing extra ■for the birds and fly to thin out, although advocated -by many good farmers up here. I fail to see the utility of so doing. If fha pests would <Jo tho thinning systematically it would be the right procedure; but in my experience both pests are so erratic «r. tL<?ir work cf destruction — the fly espeejfilly so, clearing out sometimes the whole paddock ox else in dumps oipatches of irregular size, clearing every plant, off — chat by f-owing exira seed where tho pe-ts do noL touch will be somewhat of a failure by being too thick, whereas whoie they attack will Le absolutely liare. and neither of tV patchc? iof vultie. By sow Int; the first time rather .lightly, should the otUicl- cf ihe pets bo jfo serious that yen have to retow. it can be dons wiihoui •_r.-J-.':> lii-'.kamng tuo

parts left unaffected. Sometimes it may be ' that it is advisable to disc or harrow the wnole neia, ana make a clean, sesd-bed again before sowing. In that event there ,is ttoa same risk to run over again, so that if tnere is a decent proportion of seedlings that have got into fhe rough .leaf, better keep what you have than run .the risk of rooting them up with the uncertainty whether you wili get & better crop by starting afresh. With the Hawke's Bay show, which will b© he'd next week, we will The Shotf be having a report of some Season. show every weefc for the next three or four months — in fact, what with autumn and winter shows those wnosa business it is to attend such fixtures have little spare time throughout the year. The West Coast ' will be tairly well represented at Hastings by the Homney shesp and Hereford cattle-breeders. I have not heard whether any of the Wangamri Lincoln men are Hiking the trip this year. In all probability some ot them will do so, there being more liincolns used on the East Coast than, on this side— in fact, the Lincoln flocks in the Manawatu are conspicuous by their absence. At the commencement of another season it is worth while lor everyone interested to consider whether farmers as a class take eueh advantage of the facilities of obtaining information and education to warrant so much labour and money being expended by the numerous A. and I. associations throughout the Dominion. In one sense we may say that if only one hundred farmers are enlightened it is worth the trouble. Afc the eanie time it is lamentable to see the large number of fcjraaers who go to shows without taking' any interest in the exhibits put before them as object lessons. I think it may with justice be said that the general stock-breeder and farmer are the most neglectful, will have been noticed that as a class dairymen are more inquisitive and keener for information, this being most noticeable at the winter show, when the majority of visitors seem more bent on obtaining information than eocial amuse- f inent. This is a. hopeful sign for the ' future of dairying. TJnder all conditions . of farming there is room for improvement, | and nowhere can education be so readily i obtained as at an agricultural show. There can be seen the best specimens of the | many and various breeds of cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs. Perhaps few can expect to breed a bsast 'equal to what is on exhibition, but there is the standard set for them to work up to or surpass if they ' can, and it should be the aim of every- , one to "moke an effort" to do so. It is I said, and perhaps with truth, that provid- j ing so many aide shows, such as horse- j jumping, wood-chopping, etc, has a prejudical offect on th© educative value of the show, as the whole attention of the majority of visitors is taken up by these exhibitions. There is no doubt much truth j in the argument. Some time ago, when ! returning from a show, there were in the train about 30 farmers. The idea occurred to me to try and find out how many had really examined the live stock, and' bein^? personally acquainted with most of them J had little difficulty in coming to the conclusion that only five out of the 30 had. formed any opinion with respect to th# stock. When asked if they had seen or what they thought of such and such a. ■boast the reply was, "Oh ! I was too much interested in the jumping, or something else, so hardly noticed the stock." Another would say, "I only wandered round the pens with someone, but -we did not take any particular notice of any except So-and-so's bull" — a neighbour whose bull he had often seen. Now what did the majority of those rtten go to the show for? Pleasure, seemingly. Farmers do not have many holidays, and no one can begrudge them a day's outing. Still it is not fencouraging to see them take co little interest in what is connected with their business. Show -managers must perforce cater the public, and the only way to entice the crowd to pass the pates eeems to be by providing jumping or competitions. But it is to be hoped that etockrnen will follow the lead of the dairymen, and combine education with_ pleasure, privinz a quiet hour or two to inspecting the live stock. For some time many have felt that it would be of great benefit Mi « Stock t o the cause of agricultural Jadftsl and stock-breeding 1 education if «ome means could be devised whereby the judee3* reasons for selecting or rejecting the different enimala brought before him could ks imparted to a group of young men, or to th© public at large. This would be a grand thing if it were possible. There are. however, many obstacles in the way. The chief— and it is to be feared it is unsurmountable — 13 -that- the judge is born, not educated. Some authority (at the moment I forget " who) hm said that "Not one man in a thousand has accuracy of eye and judgment keen enough to become a firstclass breeder." And when we look around and notice how few successful breeders there are such '• statement is doubtless well within the mark. Men possessing this intuitive gift can seldom explain in words their reasons for considering one animal superior to another. Even should th© judges be able to do co. few nien would care to undertake the job, owing to the different opinions that <?xht as to the relative value of points. There is a scheme which might be tried that would to some extent be of erreat value, that is to appoint a shorthand writer to go round with the iudao when selecting the prize-winners, and take down any remarks the judge may think fit respecting- the points of the different animals under review. Such remarks rould then be written up and arraneed, and circulated if thought expedient. There are jud«os, perhaps — some of the best, — who could not or would T>ot say much, while there are other* who could and would give us some valuable pointers. Whether any such scheme could be formulated and accepted by judges it is hard to foretell ; but it ■<hould be worth consideration by A. and P. authorities. i a vnprnn a nrra