NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3138, 6 May 1914, Page 14

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

In many parts of this Dominion land values have advanced to such an

Ij'.nd Drainage.

extent that the question of drainage where necessary becomes a sound invest-

merit- Perhaps the meet valuable data on the improved carrying capacity of land as a result of drainage was obtained by the Agricultural College of Ontario. There they started an educational campaign throughout the province to teach the benefits of tile drainage and the methods of construction. They found the cost varied from £2 I{)s to £8 per acre, depending on the depth, distance, size of tile, kind of digging, etc. After three years’ experience with the cropping of tile-drained land, a large number of farmers wore allied to give the results of the increase. In 1909 and 1910 the average annual increase in the value of the crops was £2 8s per acre, with an average

cost for tiling of £5. Oats were found to give an increased yield of from 15 to 50 busihols to the aero, wheat 10 to 30 bushels, and hay from two to three tons increase. In Ontario 65 per cent, of the farmers reporting on the advantages of land-draining stated that their spring sowing could be -done at least three weeks earlier than before the land was drained. In addition to this, the soil was found to bo warmer, and the loss of plants through failure to germinate was overcome. This was found to be especially true with ryecorn. Another benefit of underdraining that is often overlooked is tho lengthening of tho season, allowing for a longer growing season, and for a greater variety of crops than can be grown on undrained land. Drained land will stand drought much better than that undrained, because tho soil does not bake and cake so readily, and the texture can be made more spongy by better tillage, thus enabling the soil to hold capillary moisture in dry seasons much better. As tiles remove tho water only to the level of tlio drains, the increase in capillary action above tho linos of tile will bring the moisture up readily, and tho better surface mulch that can bo made by tillage will check evaporation at the surface. Now that cement tiles can bo made on tho farm where good gravel and sand are obtainable, farmers should endeavour to improve the wet and sour portions of their farms by tile drainage. Inexpensive hand tile machines are now on tho market in America and Europe, and can bo worked by anyone who has ever made concrete.

How is it that one seldom sees a silo on any dairy farm in Otago?

Silo in Dairying.

The question is a very d'ffieult one to answer. In the North Island ensilage is

very extensively used on nearly all the larger dairy farms, and is highly valued for winter feeding—in fact, those who have silos and feed their cows in winter with ensilage say quite frankly that they could not carry on their farms profitably without the assistance of this valuable fodder for their dairy herds. Why farmers wait to start it is difficult to see, unless they are ignorant of the fact that they could keep a cow through the late autumn and winter months on a ton of ensilage that would cost only a few shillings per ton delivered in the silo. There is no doubting the fact that one of the most important adjuncts to dairy-farming is the silo, and where ensilage is generally used the dairy-farmer prospers. In all countries where the use of the silo has been started its use has been adopted by neighbours, who observe the benefits that are accruing from its use to the farmers adjacent. By the use of ensilage the milk supply is maintained during the winter months with a corresponding better cash return to the farmer who wakes up to the possibilities which are about him. There awe _ plenty of other things necessary for dairying, and many ‘r them have been adopted to the advantage of the farmer; but so far the value of ensilage is not yet fully appreciated in many districts Probably no part of New Zealand is better supplied with the material for making ensilage than Otago. .thistles abound, and green feed k obtainable on every farm, much of which is allowed to go to waste. Possibly the stack-form of silage will be the method most favoured in i\cw Zealand, for in this form, with the preserved plant complete, it can be thrown out on to the fields, and the work of feeding bo thus accomplished with as little delay and loss of time as possible. The feeding of ensilage in the fields presents a distinct advantage, because when it is chaffed for a silo it must be kd in troughs A gieat advantage of stack silage is that the stack may be built in any paddock, and at a noint where it can bo most conveniently used for feeding purposes. When farmers in this province once realise the value of ensilage, they will ask one another why they did not make use of it long ago. There can, of course, be no specific method for renovating an old or-

Kono- afncr Old Orchards.

chard. One can only endeavour to make up for years of neglect. It may,

indeed, bo impossible to bring an orchard back to profit if the trees have become thoroughly weakened by disease, but if the orchard is passable and in fair order it i worth a trial. The first operation wili be to work the land-trim up the trees re moving some so that you can get to work • j-» n +p'nn * utilising: clisc ha.rro\Vfe, giubbem or any ’machine that will do vigorous work If the roots are not too . near the surface, use the plough. If it isimpossible to do this then make holes m the ground, and put in some grain and turn the P'K S to to root for same, or pasture both sheep and pigs and feed the stock. If not feasible, and the orchard hopeless, cut it down. Once having loosened the surface, supply plant food-farmyard manure fertilisers, green crops. Heavy pruning will no doubt be necessary to make the tree managable, and nroduco new wood for fruit-bearing. It will be necessary for the trees to be thoroughly sprayed If the trees are strong and healthy, but the wrong variety, grafting can be'attempted, and if properlv done the trees ought to be completely changed -to a new variety in three or four years. The probable reason why old orchards are barren is because they are m grass—that is,they arc untilled and never manured. Certainly gome few orchards have done well, which are in grass, but the system is wrong. The soil must bo worked and the fertility kent up by cover crops and fertilising agents ‘ In a word, attention must be given to pruning and tillage. See that a good variety of trees is obtained —that is, the best assortments, and be particular to ward of fungi and insect pests by spraying. The grower should never .forget that the nearer ho is to his market

The Parking of Ucsscrt Apples.

the greater attention should be paid to sorting and grading. It is usually th©

other wav about; the closer one is to the market the worse the packing. T.io fruit should arrive in much the same condition in which it leaves the orchard and be attractive and uniform in quality. Tc should ho well packed and of one variety, and the individual specimens nearly uniform in size shape, and degree of ripeness, free from bruises and all insect and fungus blemishes. Careless packing really accounts for much of the unsatisfactory returns from fruit. Apples intended for dessert may ho delivered into the consumer’s hands in splendid order by wrapping them in soft paper. When opened, their aroma is such th a t the consumer naturally wishes to repeat his order. The apples, being wrapped in tissue paper, are kept in their place, and there is no slackness. Fruit which is loosely packed is invariably injured on arrival, and

of course, in tho market suffers by reason of the loss of competition of tho best buyers. Very much of tho success of any fruit upon tho market depends upon how it is grown as well as how it is handled. There may even be a difference in the saleableness of fruits which are to all appearances alike. It is now pretty well demonstrated, for example, that apples from trees which have been thoroughly sprayed and ■well tilled are better keepers than those of similar size and appearance which are grown upon neglected trees. When fruits are to be shipped any distance it is particularly imnortant that the tillage and general care of the fruit plantation should have been of the best. With the choicest fruit the grower should sell with the box gi\en in. This ensures (or should do so) a clean case, and tho purchaser is not bothered with the thought of returning it. The writer had in his mind, when writing the above, tho wisdom of catering for the local markets, but would draw attenton to the tact that probably some 120,000 cases of dessert apples will be exported from New Zealand this season, and it behoves fruit-growers to realise the necessity of care in packing and grading if top prices are to |*q;riqoi A j '