DESIRABILITY OF AUTUMN CULTIVATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3029, 3 April 1912, Page 14

DESIRABILITY OF AUTUMN CULTIVATION.

The farmer's year is rounded up with the realisation of his grain crop, and any work done after his threshing may be regarded as the beginning of another teason's work. Ploughing and harrowing his stubble immediately after the crop is cleared away may therefore be regarded as chargeable to the incoming season's crop. For this reason autumn cultivation is frequently neglected. The desire to get one crop off hand before beginning with the next prevents many farmers from applying themselves to this most desirable practice. The great value of a rotation of crops lies in the facility it offers for cleaning the land without the employment of any special labour, and where ,land is not sown down to grace nothing is wiser than to stir up the surface of the stubble in order to encourage the growth of weed seeds. In most seasons the land is dry after a corn crop is taken off; therefore a good opportunity is afforded for commencing cleaning operations. And as the period during which fine weather can be relied upon is short, no loss of time should be permitted. Having once germinated the seeds in the ground they are easily destroyed in their seedling stage by a turn or two of sharp harrows. Weeds get an admirable chance to shed their seeds before the grain is cut, and are very liable to reappear in the next crop if steps are not taken to eradicate them. If loose cultivation has permitted perennial weeds to establish themselves, thert it becomes necessary to plough the ground and get the assistance of the sun to kill their roots. When wheat follows wheat there is very little time to prepare the land between the crops, and if swedes, for instance, are repeated for a second time the land would miss the autumn ploughing, which, on many farms, is necessary in preparing the seed bed. Autumn clearing is usually the most effective of all. It enables the farmer to prepare his ground in the spring with the least possible amount of work. But, apart from this weeding work, the ploughs should be got in early to prepare for such crops as wheat, winter oats and winter vetches. No better straw is produced than that from early oats, and (.-ucceesful vetches must be in ea.rly, and well established before winter comes along, if they are required for early spring feeding. Deep autumn ploughing after killing the weeds simplifies the work of the teams materially. The land is exposed to the influence of the frost, becomes mellowed and sweetened and more easily worked. With a genial spring the difficulty of securing a fine tilth may not be acutely felt, but with a cold, wet spring the want of autumn cultivation becomes distressingly apparent in the cost incurred in securing an acceptable seed bed. If the weeds can be germinated and killed, and time can be secured for cultivation before deep ploughing, much of the couch may be removed then, and thus lighten the summer fallowing before root-sowing. Early autumn cultivation ensures a fine tilth when the green crop is sown—a very material point. The ground is sweetened by the frost, plant food is liberated, and the crop springs a ./ay fast, grows rapidly, and matures earlier in the season. Farmers need not be reminded this year what an advantage that is. The mechanical condition of the soil has also a good deal to do with the facility with which crops can acquire plant food. When the ground is rough the roots not only have a difficulty in deriving nutriment, but it takes some of the valuable sftore of moisture to dissolve the clods ; and this cannot always be spared with impunity. A fine tilth retains moisture and increases the range, thus enlarging the feeding capacity of the plant. If no other stubble clearing is done a special effort should be made to prepare a piece of land for mangolds. It sometimes happens that a large supply of farmyard manure is required for this plant, and the best way to manage that is to plough half of 'it in during the autumn, and the balance in the spring. Tt will then get thoroughly incorporated into the ground. The mangold needs to be sown early in the spring, at a time when a perfect tilth is difficult sometimes to obtain, and if all the green crop ground for next season received autumn cultivation it would pay handsomely to do it.