NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3384, 22 January 1919, Page 10

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The proper depth to plough depends on a great many conditionsDeep and Shallow the soil, the climate and Ploughing. season, and the crop. Shallow-rooted plants do not necessarily require such a deep seed-bed as crops the roots of which can feed upon a deep soil. On farm lands where the soil is light or shallow"no greater mistake could be made than to plough deep, and so turn up the subsoil. Some years might be required to convert the underlying stratum of earth into first-class productn-e soil. The top layers of soil which the average farmer works have been exposed to atmospheric elements summer and winter for ages, and have been undergoing a process of weathering, by which their character has been so wrought that plants may extract fertility from them. Deep soil when brought to the surface is inert in so far as being able to produce crops, and before It can produce must undergo the weathering process and become sweetened—a matter which takes time. Cultivation assuredly hastens the process. Thus it can be readily understood why deep ploughing .of shallow land is injurious. If the soil is but 4in deep on a cold, unkind stratum of clay, and several inches are- turned over, a considerable amount of infertile soil is necessarily turned up and mixed, perhaps, with fertile soil, rendering the whole less productive for quite a time. Even if our shallow soils lying on a very porous or gravelly sub- ' surface, soil is ploughed • deeply, the seedbed may be made too porous, and ih droughty seasons may cause injury on that account. Other soils are underlaid with a hard pan of, maybe, rotten rock, which is inert, f-nd will not readily incorporate with tho upper soil. The mixture will require weathering and the organic matter increased ere a satisfactory fertility is obtained. With deep loam, soils the proposition, however, is quite different. Some few* heavy soils are "iertile 30in or more below the surface at the top. They seem to be uniform to a considerable depth, and deep ploughing is all right when done at the right time. In some deepish soils soma farmers follow the practice of ploughing a little deeper each successive year. This brings fresh soil up gradually, and in course of time' provides a deep seed-bed. To my mind the essence of good farming is the gradual increase of the soil available for the varied root requirements of crops.

The Assistant Secretary of Agriculture irt the United States, Mr Carl

Ominous if True.

Vrooman, is responsible, its * is alleged, for the N ing statement: —" The dairy

herds of the Old World are depleted to appalling degree. There ,is not country in Europe where the people have enough dairy products, and-this process of tion is going on every day and every week, and every month, and will continue" to go on so long as this horrible war lasts. When the Avar is finished we will find the world with a demand for dairy products twofold, fourfold, tenfold greater than the. supply. Europe will' come to America with outstretched hands —every country in European d say to us: 'We must have milk; giro us'canned milk; give us dry milk; give us butter; give us cheese; .give us dairy cattle; give us animals to build up our dairy, herds again.' Unless America has stimulated the production of dairy products and increased our supply of dairy animala far' beyond anything in the past, we shall be utterly unable'to supply this demand* We will supply as much as we can, because they are going to be willing to pay practically any reasonable price for our live stock; and we will supply so much of ife that our own resources will be" exhausted. Then the United States will be 'without sufficient dairy products."

It is stated that tlics have a gront objection to the colour blue, and

Paint the Shed Blue.

that if buildings infested -with flies are washed with blue instead of a whitewash.

flies will. desert the place. In support of this the following instance is on record: A farmer had 170 cows. housed in different sheds; they were pestered with flies, but he observed that in one shed, the walls of which we ce a blue tint, the cows were not worried. He therefore added a blue colour to the lime with which he washed the' buildings, and from that time the flies have deserted the place. The following formula is used bv him for the wash:—To 20 gallons of water add 101 b of slacked lime and lib of ultramarine. The washing; is done twice during the summer.

A useful mixture for waterproofing tar- , paulins consists of 60 per

Waterproofing Tarpaulins.

cent, boiled linseed oil, 31 per cent, raw oil, and 9 per per cent, fish oil. They are

boiled together with vegetable black as colouring matter, Ub of black being used to one gallon of oil. Boiling must be continued until the mixture is reduced to about three-quarters of the original bulk, and after it has cooled it is applied with a paint brush, and the tarpaulin is hung out in the sun to dry. Another recipe for oilskin coats is one quart of boiled linseed oil, loz of soft soap, and loz of beeswax, boiled together until reduced to threequarters the original quantity, «nd applied as described for the other mixture. AGRICOLA.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT. By Aghicola.

" Reader," Wellington, writes as fol* lows:—" Having been ordered a spell front office for about 12 months, it has occurred' to me that I might possibly make a living at rabbit-trapping, being the only outdoor work I could readily take up. Would you answer the following- question and comment, and give me any information in connection with trapping? (1) Are traps stocked by hardware .firms in Dunedin; or (2) is it necessary to have them made, and the price (about)? (3) What is the average number of traps required by one man? (4)' What locality would you suggest for operations. (5) Is a permit required to trap on Crown land? (6) What do you think of my chance of making a living at it over the winter?" (1) Yes. (2) Twenty-nine shillings a dozen. (3) An experienced and hardworking man naturally could handle mora traps than a novice. Commence, say, -frith, four dozen trans. (4) Any locality where there are rabbits and a market for the skins or carcases. You have the choice of all Otago if the land-owner has no objection to trapping. (5) The permission of the lessee would be necessary. (6) Succeed would depend on the trapper's energies and skill. It is a simple matter to set a trap A but it requires a deal of skill to fool ft rabbit, and the "points" to be observed

cannot well be detailed in a few lines.; I suggest that you join forces with someone who knows the art of setting a trap and choosing the best spot. It is not possible in a moment to learn just where to »et a, trap and how best beguile Brer Rabbit, but "the expert trapper has no hesitation. There are experts and experts. ■ Any man can set a trap, but it ■is the final touches, ete., which experience alone « teaches, which enables the trapper to pouch the skin. It is a fact that Dunedin offers the best market for the sale of skins in the Dominion. : ' ■