SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 20

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

'tVnov OtTR Own Corresfootkwt. » The climatic conditions prevailing, during the past three weeks have : The not been conducive to the wither facilitation of autumn work, " Those who are unfortunate enough to have a late harvest are experiencing considerable difficulty in getting it stacked. In fact, prior to Thursday last no stacking had been don* for quite 10 days, solely owing to the unfavourable weather. Since Thursday there has been a marked improvement, but the weather is by no means perfect yet. A good deal of ploughing is being done throughout Southland, and there is every evidence that there will be a larger area than usual put under autumn-sown oats. Grass is not coming away at all well, and the .majority of paddocks are so bare that you could chase a mouse across and across them. In previous years there has* been ■ a substantial second growth during March, but this year The growth has been so slight that it is scarcely perceptible. The unfortunate part of it is that the general scarcity of grass means having, to put stock on turnips earlier than, would otherwise have* been necessary. Very little exception would be taken to this' were it not that the turnip crops' are generally' speaking poor. The exodus of sheep td Canterbury has had the effect of relieving the farmers slightly in this respect, but the migration northwards has been confined principally to fat sheep and lambs, which in the natural course of events would have "found their way to the works before winter set in. .'■'"*"

In travelling aboutS±he country one is con- ' tinually struck with the-

j Worn-out Soils.

large■. areas of what is doubtecily worn-out soil.

The subject of soils and their management in order to retain, fe'r--tility is £ great one, and is not yet fully understood. The subject of restoring soil fertility after it has been apparently lost is also a. great one, and is attracting the attention of some of the greatest minds of the present age. Oux forefathers learned that by changing from one crop to another the soil would hold out longer than by planting only one crop; By this custom came the systematic rotation of crops, which is a judicious method for very many reasons. Different crops take from the soil jilant food in different proportions, giving the land a partial rest in some particular each and every year. We now know that there is a wide difference in soils. Some are silicious largely, and are made up of sand; some are argillaceous, and arc made up largely of clay. ■ Some are made of vegetable matter, and are muck; others are calcareous, and are made up of limestone. The varying intermingling .of these' elements mentioned 1 make up our varied soils, and the varying conditions require different treatment. Where one leaves off another begins. Each and every life form, plant or animal, is dependent upon some particular kinds of food for sustenance and development. The intelligence of man must be depended upon to supply those food's in needed proportions for maximum yields, for Nature has come far short of an equal and even distribution of plant foods. Some of the elements of plant food are so abundant that they need not be supplied; but there are four essentials—potash, lime, nitrogen, and phosphorus—that must be present in quantities sufficient to meet the demands 'of, the plants to ensure a maximum yield. " Climatic conditions are not under our control, but by intelligent management plant food can be distributed in sufficient quantities to meet the .requirements of all our crops. The safe rule is to apply the foods and let the crops give the answer- If there is sickly growth there is a lack of nitrogen. If there is a vigorous growth and the stalks do not stand up there is a lack of potash; and if there is a good growth of stalk and it stands up well but the seeds do not grow, develop, and fill well, there is a lack of phosphoric acid. Part of the regular work on a dairy farm

Whitewash the Cowsheds.

should be the periodical whitewashing of the cowsheds, bails, milkroom, etc., and the oftener this is done

auu viic vu-viici uma ic uuuc the better. The best and quickest way of applying the whitewash is by means of a spray pump, many of which can now be cheaply obtained.. The following . directions for preparing whitewash are .taken from a bulletin of the Illinois Experimental Station Take a half-bushel unslaked, lime of good quality, slake it with boiling water (cold will do),; cover during the process to keep in, steam, and add-water as the process goes on. To do this the lime should, be placed in a tight -barrel - and , water enough' added to partly cover the .lime. Never cover the lime entirely with water, else the slaking process will go’ on too slowly. Soon after the water is added the lumps of lime, which are exposed to both air and water, begin to crumble, and soon the whole mass begins to. steam. . More water should be added, and the barrel kept covered. After the-slaking. process-is over several pails of water should be-added, and the whole thoroughly stirred. This mixture should be strained through a fine sieve before placing ir the barrel- to which the pump, is attached, and, if necessary, more water 'may be added,' tb secure a: mixture which the, nozzle will deliver -well. The contents of r the barrel or’ bucket must be kept; well agitated, for the lime, tends to settle upon jthe bottom. The spray must be fine, and not allowed to play upon one place until the wash begins to run. When applied with brushes a slightly ’ heavier wash can be used, as . it is-generally well rubbed down. Light coats .frequently ap-

plied-are' better than'heavy ones, as the latter are more apt to scale off. While still wet a light coat seems to have failed, in its object, but when dry the whole becomes perfectly white. One bushel of lime will make 30 gallons of whitewash. Manyformulas for making whitewash are published, involving the use of salt, oil, grease, glue, rice, etc., together with the boiling of material at different stages of its preparation. These are too much involved for the ordinary man, besides taking too much time. The addition of a small quantity of salt and 1 oil is said to increase the life of the whitewash. If convenient they should be added, but boiling : t not essential where light coats are put on often, as indicated above. When once understood whitewash can be made and applied with little trouble, yielding a large return m the improved condition of the stable. Most satisfaction is obtained by kseping. the mixture well agitated --.nd making light applications."

Every student of shorthorn history knows the original meaning of the The ImproTed term "improved" as apShorthorn. plied to the breed by those men who, more than a century ago, by the exercise of skill anc\ enterprise, did so much in laying the foundation of its future greatness; but the writer is not now thinking of those early days or of the methods used by those pioneers of progress in stamping on the shorthorn the permanent- characteristics which have rendered it by far the .most popular breed in the, world. .._ Those methods mav be roufhl'v summed up. in the two words' inbreeding and selection, and have been verv amply recorded by manv writers. Ancient history is always interesting, but it may be more profitable to shidv the doings of those who are making history" in our own days. Many years hence the treatment of the breed in the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries vrtll be criticised* and one may well wonder what will be the verdict of these critics. One cannot imagine that in their view tht past.2o years could be regarded by them as-any-thing but extremely critical ones, witnessing as they'have the rise and progress* of a great experiment. It may be taken for granted that future generations will be formed that under the influence of a desire for line-breeding some of the finest strains of blood had become decadent, and that when, under\ the shock of a general'agricultural panic, the bubble burst, the owners of first-class herds were -at their wits' ends to know how to proceed. Something had to be done to renovate and preserve the grand old material that had, so jealouslj been kept apart, and the time had come when, whatever the risk, new blood must be sought. The bolder spirits gave /a lead, which attracted manv followers. The introduction of the Scotch blood was like taking a plunge into cold water to the 6wners of some of the fashionable tribes, and constituted an experiment the result of which the cleverest breeder was unable to forecast. Many were of opinion that the cross was too violent, and that while the progeny would probably gain in substance and constitution, they would lose much of that inimitable style and fine courage so much admired. There was much apparent reason for these forebodings, but some of the objectors- lest sight of the fact that the Scotch shorthorns were of pure descent and were virtually derived from the same parent stock; the streams, though flowing in different channels, came originally from the same fpuntain head, and ,we have now lived long enough to see something of the effects of their reunion. That those effects could approach uniformity was not to be reasonably expected, and it will not be denied that in some cases the offspring "do exhibit 6ome shortness of body, "cloginess" of form and loss of style about the head and its carriage which the opponents of the movements predicted. To the impartial onlooker, however,, there is plenty of evidence that it is largely a question of judgment in the selection-of sires, and perhaps, it would only be -fair to add some amount of luck in view of the "atavism , ' of which we hear so much.