NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2950, 28 September 1910, Page 6

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

To keep the pedigree of sheen i.s a matter

Pedigrees.

of no gieat difficulty, nor does it. require any great expenditure of time or

money. The first and most I important «tep is determination to do it. Pediarees of sheen can be kept like those of .ill other animals—either full or partially so. Their value is greater to those who keep them complete than to those who do not ; but in view of the continued tendency for all the bettor customers to insist upon I pedigrees being given, one must strongly i advise the adoption, of the complote sys

torn. Those who delay the cortrneneemenfc of keeping -records the longest will be the worst off in the end. Many a flock-owner r.o doubt intends to keep pedigrees some time wh.sn the flock gets or when there is a better chance of being recouped for the time and trouble; but by delaying the adoption of such a. system simply means that they are depreciating the value of the ultimate pedigree they will get. Probably at the commencement the ewe's pedigree is not known, but the sire of the produce is known. Start from that point. The commencement of the building up of the requisite pedigree has been made, and then, year after year its length is increased as well as its value. The value of full individual pedigrees of fairly larire stud flocks is a matter requiring some consideration ; but there is scarcely a breeder who has adopted the system who in the endhas not found it pay welK It certainly means more careful management, but it has this great advantage, that it brings. directly to the notice of the owner or the shepherd the individuality of each of the ewes. It brings clearly before him the value of the produce of the individual ewe resulting- from the mating with certain known nuns. By these results he can without doubt find out for his own future guidance the value of the mating of certain strains of blood, or the value of the mating of tain individual sheep, and by tjies© means •dscide whether or not such strains "of blood or such individual sheep «re profitable to him or suitable to be retained in, the flock for future breediog or otherwise. To those who do not car* to £o into individual numbering, there is cine very simple, and at the same time useful, method to adopt. This system cons-ists of ear-numbering—or, better still, eju"-tattco-ing—the produce of each of the ewes used in a flock, so that the breeder can furnish to the purchaser the breeding of the individual sheep. It is true the method means a little extra trouble in mating, for it necessitates that each ram and its ewes should be kept separate during the mating season; but the trouble welt pays the breeder in the long run, who scon realises the value of pedigree records.

Miniate of potash is the meat concentrated form of potash on the Aus-

Kntiate or SulpliHte «r Potnsh.

tralasfan market, as the only grade sold is guaran-: teed to be of 95 per cent.

purity, which is equivalent to 60 per cent. pure, potash. This form never cakes in the sacks, consists of fine crystals, usually of a faintly pinkish grey colour. It will mix readily with any oth«r artificial, and presents no djffiuulty whatever in sowing, eithe-r by drill or hand, As a rule it should be used on soils rich in lime. It is particularly suitable -for vegetable crops, lucerne, clover, and other legumes, where lime is in abundance, and givo also cfood results on maize and sorghums. It has also given very profitable returns when applied to fruit crops and vines. The full benefits from its use can only be obtained when the soil contains a sufficiency of lime, and farmers should bear this point carefully in mind and act upon, it. According to the Potash Syndicate, Sydney, sulphate of potash is placed on the Australasian market in two grades—namely, 90 per cent, and 96 per cent. pure. As a rule the latter grade is preferred, on, account of its greater concentration. Sulphate of potash of 96 per cent, purity contains 52 per cent, pure potash, and thus, in point of concentration, ranks next to 95 per cent, muriate dealt with in the preceding paragraph. Sulphate of potash is in appearance a greyish yellow powder, slightly gritty to the touch. It never cakes, may be mixed readily with any other artificial, and drills very easily indeed. It is generally the safest form of potash to use, and will give good results on any soil deficient irt lime. -Where soils are deficient in this ingredient, it should always be u?ed in preference to muriate, as it does not, tend to exhaust the soil of its valuable lime. Although somewhat more exoensive than muriate per unit, it is generally to be preferred to that form for all fruit crops, and for most root crops. Field experiments, not only in Australia, but a-leo in Europe and America, have demonstrated that, pound for pound, potash in the sulphate combination produces greater increase of crop and more improved flavour than does the muriate form. A question in regard to potassic manures most frequently asked is: "What is the difference between muriate and sulphate of potash?" For practical purposes the farmer or grower should note carefully that muriate of potash of 95 per cent, contains, according to the authority mentioned, in every 1001 b 81b more pure potash than does a similar quantity of sulphate of potash of 96 per cent, purity; that muriate of potash is generally about 10s per ton cheaper than sulphate of potash; its effects, so far as the crop is concerned, are very nearly the same as the effects of sulphate, but on soils deficient in lime, and with all fruit and .root crops, sulphate will give better results.

During tho last two or thrco sea-sons the turnip crops in fchss nro-

Raj><> for Dairyfeeding.

vince in particular have been anything but profitable ones, owing no doubt

in a great ooeexure to the exceedingly dry seasons recently experienced, but also to the persistent attacks of blight and diseases of various kinds. Fanners are. facsd with the necessity of providing win- . tor fend for their stock which can be depended upon at a time when mcafc needed—namely, the winter and early spring months. Mangels no doubt are very lorgely bring substituted for turnips in many districts where tho turnip pe6ts are most prevalent, but mangels cannot be grown profitably anywhere, so that it is necessary for many farmers to consider what fodder crops can be suitably and profitably, substituted for turnips l or mangels, and the answer to this is: rape if put in, at the proper time of the year. In Great Britain and Ireland at the present time rape is largely grown as a fodder crop 'or dairy cattle. A writer to the Farmers' Gazette, Ireland, a dairy farmer in a large way, recently gave hie experiences of rape as fodder for dairy cows, and in going very fully into l.he cultivation and use of rape for oowfl stotcd that it may be fed to every sort of cattle and that he knew of no better fpod for milk and butter production, but. said tho writer, to .get a good crop of rape for cutting it must be sown between the Ist and 15th of July,

equal to the middle of .January in this Dominion, and if sown sooner it would be apt to start to flower before the winter, and every day later sown than this would be a drawback to it in bulk as well as in maturity for use. Unless it has formed a good, stout plant in the autumn it will not be able to stand the hardship cf winter, as it only dwindles away. and. although it may start up to flower in spring, it will be only a poor, hard, thin stalk wit,h no bulk, no sap, and little nourishment —whereas when it grows heavy and luxuriantly the stems which remain in the ground after cutting are like a cover of manure to the land. The same authority 6tates emphatically that when grown at time stated above rape comes in when turnips are often rotting, and the former is also better adapted for milk, as it does not give the latter a bad flavour, and there is a great deal less labour in sowing, no after cultivation, and trouble in using; swedes being too hard for cattle without cutting, while soft turnips are "not in it" at all with rape. Most farmers ere aware that rape will grow on almost any land if well manured, farmyard manure ploughed in or superphosphate well harrowed in will give good results, but rape requires liberal manuring, and when, the ground is in good order and well harroued sow broadcast 121 b best brcadleaf rape seed (there are two kinds) to the statute acre, cover with a light chain harrow, and then roll. The crop does well on lea land if ploughed in winter or spring, but wants a firm seed bed with the surface nicely pulverised to receive the s?ed. Rape to be of value to <he dairy farmer must come in at a time when other feed is scarce, and not in November or December, or other times of the year when there is plenty of grass. The latest ■advice from eeveral quarters in Ch-eat Britain 6tetes that the crop is one of the best for dairy f&rming, but to be of use it must be sown from the end of the year to the middle of January, and at no other time if required as winter fodder for dairy Ci-tfcle. Therefore sow from let to 15th January if good results are to be expected.

The latest production by the Government, in th<; shape of anothtrr Land Bill, has. wo are assured, very little ehanco cf

The New Land Bill.

becoming law, and for which the country will be truly thankful and the members of the Ministry not 'sorry. The details of tho new bill, together with its provisions, have b?en published, so that most people who take an interest in the land settlement question of this Dominion have hy this time grasped the proposals of tho Government on this .much-discussed question. As most of the leading journals of New Zealand- have pointed out, the proposed Land Bill pleases neither tho freeholder nor the leaseholder. The bill directly penalised industry and enterprise, and if it became law would very seriously affect settlement, especially as regards the compulsory leasing clauses, which give the State the right to rob a man of his capital investments, as well as penalising him in other directions in a most arbitrary way. On reading through it.s provisions, one cannot but come to , the conclusion that the bill Brakes greater concessions to those supporters of the Government, who favour exclusive leasehold tenure than it des to those who support the freehold. One bears a great deal talked about the unearned increments, but ihn question might very pertinently be. asked: Is there any such thine as an unearned increment in rural land that has been brought into profit by its owners? The only answer is No. The farmer" who has bought his land from tho Crown, cleared, fenced, grassed, and improved it has surely, by his industry and application, added to the wealth of the Dominion R|9 a whole. By his energy and thrift he has made employment profitable and lias helped in no small degree to further the expansion of the towns of this Dominion. Of what value to the country as a whole would be uncultivated land carrying little or no stock'.' Surely by improving his property the farmer adds to the wealth of the country by the surplus stock and grain he• produces on his farm. The people who talk of unearned incrementend they are mestly resident in the towns — would be in a Viry bad plight were it not for the man en the land. The very impractical speeches of members of parlia.rnent who have lived most of their lives p.nywhere but in the countrv niakos anyone ivho has tlv interest of the backbone industry of tn". country at heart fee! very indignant. The farmers' unions however, ana doing croo:l solid work in educating tho to the necessity fo- co-opera-tion and education, because it is only by the united efforts of the farming r: mmmnity that such unjust and far-rea"h ; n>r legislation ran be moped in tho bud. .Afl alreadv sHi-d en several occasions the c-nly Land Bill that will be acceptable to th'o bona fide settlor is one that, makes the man en the land his own master and landlord, and the tendency of late yars to leeris'ste th* producers of this Dominion, as shown in the latest Lard BUI of this Government, cannot be too stronglj condemned. AGRICOLA.