SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 8

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

IFkom Our Ovnr ConnxsTomnyiT.') The rainfall during the past year was under the average, although it was The greater than that of the Weather, previous year. For the year just ended the total rainfall was 27.42 in. the amounts for the various months being as follow: — January, 1.17 i n; February, 3.15 i n; March, 3.26 i n; April, 2.61 in; May, l.SOin ; June, 2.46 m; Juh, 2.06 in; August, 2.52 in; September, 0.94 i n; Octob?r, 2.76 in ; November. 1.63 in ; December, 3.05 in. The year before tho total rainfall was 21.88 in. In both years it was much heavier in tho last month than in any of the others. A good deal of interest is taken by farmers in meteorological data, even by these who have never taken the trouble to estimate the full significance of the figures. And it is no wonder, for on th-j climate a great deal I depends. In commencing farming in a new district it is very important to know the total rainfall and its distribution in order to obtain the best results. A moderate rainfall throughout the spring and summer is beneficial to grain, an<d a dry autumn to harvesting the crop. Where the summer rainfall is deficient, turnips would do better on the -flat surface than on the raised drill. A lainfall of from 25in to 33in would be the most suitable for Southland. This seaeon came near the ideal both in quantity and distribution. If there had been as little in February and March as there was in August and September there would have been nothing to complain about. The sowing of grass and turnip seeds is j practically completed every- i Th* Farm. where, and the horse hoe is ! at work among the earlier j | sown. The cat crop is coming into ear ! everywhere. On the whole the crop | promises violl, but it is very irregular in j length, and some farm era express doubts ' if the crop on undulating land will be quite j up to the average. The recent copious I rains have come at a suitable time, and the [ crop will stretch a good deal before it will i be fully shot. lhe Stock Department has gi\en public nouco that CUhforman thistle i and ragwort must be cut bofora the end of this month. Ragwort gives little troublo | where sheep are kept, ami some dairy-farm-•Yiers keep a few cheep to stop this weed from flowering. Unfortunately, animate do f not eat the thistle named, and it is spread- , ing at an alarming rate everywhere, new < patches appearing every year on farms which are well looked after. It has been proved that cutting it closo to the surface of the ground before it gets more than i 3in or 4in high will cause its death in two or three years, but the difficulty is how to attend to every patch in time, and to remember where the patches are. This has been a good season for sheep. } owing to the moderate rain- j Lamb?. fall and the abundance of pasture ; but even in good seasons the best results will not be obtain ?d without good management, which is a phase that implies a good daal— judicious stock- ! ing and removing at suitable intervals to new pasture* I mentioned in a previous letter that a greater mortality occurred in some places in the months of December »m Ja/nuary tkars in oth-ers, but in namingwhat I considered some of the causes to ' be I omitted to emphasise the opinion that . the chief came of mortality is slight in- ! nammation of the bowels, brought about , by removal from a scanty, dry pasture to a luxuriant, eucculent one. Sheep eat first ' the succulent plant*, such a=, ths clovers, j and wheii they are long in one paddock they are latterly feeding principally on rye- ; grass. Now, when a change is made to" a j paddock which has been reserved for, say, | three weeks, ecine of tl.e lambs which ha-\e not a strong eonstitut'on are .affocted with severe eeouiing, caused by the abundance, j if not predominance, of tho clovers. A fow deaths from" hoven and plethora also ' ocoasiona-lly ocour among the fattest of , the lambs. Prev-enHve measures aro : indicated by a knowledge of the wu-sos of ■ mortality. The precaution required is nioro frequent raxnoval from paddock to paddock, say every 10 days, which is about the tiivp a pasture ta.kee to recover from Vhe bleeding caused by the constant nibbling. By obliging sh«9p Sd pftefl. i krger percentage fthe jperemuel vp&graes -runi to seed, aiui us becomes waited, ahd it is to avoid . ts |o*a tliAt elj&ep a-r© 50jji-&timea kept j Wo l^M 11 % paddtf&M »Ut it i 6 bettei t<> '

- t lose some, grass than incur a greater loss - in lambs. Every farmer will probably agree > with the opinion expressed by Sutton in his s interesting book on '" Permanent and ■ Temporary Pastures" — viz., "a pasture > specially adapted for fattening bullocks ; should not, as a rule, have a sheep upon s it, and a perfect sheep pasture should never - have the grass long enough to feed a i bullcck ; but froni an ordinary pasture, i devoted to mixed stock, probably the ; aggregate produce will not be- realised > , except by a judicious combination of horned > stock, horses, and sheep." > j 1 . For some years there has been a scarcity I of labour upon tha farm, i Scarcity of due to a number of workers I Labour: Jtn Effect taking up land and others ] on Farm finding more remunerative ; j Economy. employment in other in- ' ] dustries, and as a eonse- ' quence certain changes in farm economy have occurred. The acreage under cereals is smaller than it used to be, but that under j green crop is larger. There is besides a- ' ' much larger expenditure on implements and | machinery, which is due to the use of a 1 j larger number than formerly and to the adoption of the American practice of throw- , ing on the scrap heap antiquated impleI ments or machines. The unpleasant farm I labour conditions that prevailed for a numj ber of years have stimulated invention conj siderably, and implement makers have no reason to complain of little demand for iabour-saving manufactures. The reaper and binder came at a time when harvest j labour conditions were becoming intoler--1 able, and the combined double ridger when J farmers were thinking that they would I have to give up sowing turnips on the raised drill. Older countries have had their troubles also in farming as well as in other industries, and these troubles have had much to do with the progress of mii vention. In hk book, published two years I ago, on "The Evolution of Modern j Gapitali6m," Mr J. A. Hobson, a welli known economist and publicist, dealing with the effect of high wages on industry, says : "Tne pressure of high wages is an economic force more .powerfully operative than any other in stimulating- the adoption of elaborate machinery. The highly elaborate American machine industry of watchmaking is a striking example of this influence of high wages. Both in the textile and the iron industries the United States present examples of factory development more advanced even than those of England. Certain processes of warping and 1 ■winding are done by machinery in America which are still done by hand labour in ! England. The chain and nail-making trades, which employ large numbers of women in South Staffordshire and Worcestershire, are conducted wore, cheaply J by machinery in America. Moreover, the hicrh standard of -living and the greater skill of the American operatives enable them to tend more machin-cs." I