A NOTE ON DRY-FARMING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 6

A NOTE ON DRY-FARMING.

The more we hear of the practical results of the so-called dry-farming system the more doss it become evident that thorough cultivation is the basis of the matter. This has been x urged in these columns from the time the "Campbell system " was first boomed as having effected '• a revolution in agriculture, 1 ' and it Js now generally admitted, evtn in America., that the necessary cultivation can be carried out without any of the special implements, to sell whn:h would almost eeem to have been the motive of the boom. There are a fewuseful points in the reports of the sober inquiries which have been made into the system, and one of the most important of these is that the diec plough should not be used on land in legiont deficient in moisture. Tha disc twists and breaks up tl.e sod, leaving it in clods and piesemms; a very uneven and loose surface, winch I permits a free circulation of air, and this iav'urs lapid evaporation of moisture from the ploughed land. On the other band when the sod is completely turned over 'and \v«"l broken up, the moisture is retained during the entire summer. The rp=p°ctiv« results of the use of the di^c plough and the oidinary plough are easily eeen at harvest time. It is well to note this, as disc ploughs are coimng into rather extensive use in New Zealand. They are useful in some conditions, but . on dry soil their use is to be discoursed. I