SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2921, 9 March 1910, Page 20

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

<Fbom OtJH Own Gorbespondemt.) Truly the harvest season of 1910 has been

The Weather and the f Crops.

an exceptional one, looked at from many standpoints, but one of the most remarkable features has been the rapidity with which the . , i

grain crops have been harvested. Ihe rain which fell on the last Saturday in February was followed by excellent harvesting weather. Although the grain in stock was soaked through and through, the drying winds and warm sunshine which prevailed on Sunday and following days dried the sheaves so effectually that stacking operations were resumed in some cases on Monday, although the majority were discreet enough to delay leading-in until the following day. I us© the word “discreet” advisedly, for T have vivid recollections of damaged grain, in past years, due in a great measure, to its having been stacked in an unfit condition. Last season many hundreds of sacks of oats were rejected at Bluff as unfit for export owing to the ci’op having been stacked in a damp condition. There may have been some excuse for stacking grain last year before it was quite fit, as the harvest was a good deal later than it usually is, but that excuse could not be advanced on this occasion, as the most perfect of harvest weather has prevailed during the present season. Many farmers think that a slight rawness of the sheaf does hot matter: that it will come all right by the time the stack is threshed. This they wiH discover to their cost does not work out in practice, and they will almost invariably find that the stuff which has been stacked, in an unfit condition turns mouldy, and as a consequence not only the straw, but the grain, is badly" discoloured. Of course, it is either the heart or the butt of the sheaf that betrays the presence of unfitness whilst in the stock, arid nowadays when so much stack-building is done with the us© of the fork, it is apt to be overlooked by the builder. This oversight is perhaps excusable in the case of a novice, but not so in the case of the experienced rtnan. There is always a crispness about the sheaf when it is thoroughly fit, whereas the unfit sheaf is soft and pulpy, and falls heavily the stack with an absence of the familiar rustle so pleasant to the ear of the stacker.

With the rapid -advance of harvest operations grain is coming on the market fitirly freely, but farmers are not showing that disposition to. sell which characterised the opening of last season. This is doubtless due to two causes: (i) The general condition, of prosperity which prevails, and (2) the prospect of better prices as. the result of the decreased production. With regard to the second of these causes, there is no gainsaying the fact that there is a marked decrease in the expected yield, and one will be quite within the mark in stating that despite the large area under oats this year, as compared with last, the quantity threshed will be a good deal less. In fact. I should not be surprised : f, when the railway returns are made up, it frill be seen that Southland'? oat production js one-fourth less than that of 1909. Then, again, there is the reduced weight per standard bushel, which has to be reckoned with. The weight per stndard bushel has hitherto been the outstanding feature of the oat harvest in this province, but if is everywhere observable that the return in this respect would be considerably less than formerly. In the case of A grade . Gartons (the variety and grade usually referred to in market quotations), the eminently satisfactory rate of 481 b to 501 b per. bushel was the run o e things last year, but it is scarcely likely that 441 b will be excelled on this occasion. Heavy oats are the sort in demand for the Home markets, but as the English standard is 401 b, the Dominion-grown grain of 441 b will still maintain its place for export. Another feature demanded for export grain was brightness of colour—in fact, it is a big factor in oats, and in this respect there will be no fault to be found, as the dry weather experienced has been conducive to the growth of oats of good shipping quality and of a very fine white hue. It is too early, yet to predict what the market will be once it is really opened. On Saturday (sth inst.) very few- farmers - Were ir, Invercargill, and consequently the transactions in oats were quiet. Merchants report that there is a. little demand for. prompt shipment to the North Island, and it is generally anticipated > that ; there will be little or no difficulty ,in meeting it. ' Quotations are as follows:—A grade Gartons Is 6|d t to Is 7d, A sparrowbilis Is 6d, B sparrowbills Is s£d. There is not much offering so far, but next week should see a good many samples under offer.

The Brain Markst

With approaching completion of harvest

i | Lime and I the Soil. I

comes the question of ordering lime for agricultural purposes, and, judging from chance remarks one heare.

there is likely to be a good deal of liming done during this season. Many farmers are naturally anxious to know whether soil on their farms is deficient in lime, and how

they can best find out. The question, of whether lime is required as the regular > part of the routine of farming on a given* soil can. only be decided by an analysis of the soil. Any soil containing less than 1 per cent, carbonate of lime will be benefited by liming, and when the percentage talks to one-fifth per cent., lime becomes a necessity to enable the manures to exert their proper action. But, apart from an analysis of the soil, there are several ways in which a farmer can form a rough judgment whether the soil of his farm is deficient in this constituent. The following is a simple test recommended by Mr A. D. Hall, the well-known agricultural chemist: —Take a few shovelfuls of eoil from different parts of the field., and dry, pulverise, and mix them thoroughly together. Take a few ounces of this soil, powder and reduce to ashes on an iron shovel over the fire. Put the ashes when cool, into a glass tumbler, and mix them with as much water as it will take to cover them. Stir this with a glass rod or wooden stick, but not with anything metallic. To this paste add an ounce of hydrochloric acid —which can be obtained chemist —and well stir the mix ture. If a brisk effervescence takes place it may be taken for granted that the soil contains a fair percentage of lime, but if little or no effervescence takes place, the soil contains little or no lime. Another practical test is recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin, No.. 77. It depends on the ready response made by beets of all kinds to liming. "Lay out two plots of lan3, each about 12ft by 30ft manure each of the plots with equal amounts of a fertiliser containing potash, uhosphoric acid, and nitrogen, and apply lime to one of the plots at the rate of two and a-half tons per acre (401 b to the plot would be equivalent to such quantity). A comparison of the growth and yields on the two plots will furnish a safe means of judging whether the soil will respond proapplications of lime." A third method of forming a judgment as to whether a soil is deficient m potasn is to observe the 6pecies of plants tna* flourish on it—plants in this respecx are "soil indicators." The majority of plants require lime, but there are a few that are intolerant of lime, and will not flourish on soils rich in this constituent. Among such "lime-intolerant" plants may be mentioned sorrel, foxglove, and messes, and when any of these plants is wen to flourish on waste places next to the fields it may be as a sure sign that the land is poor in lime.