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Southland Times, Issue 17921, 28 April 1917, Page 5

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THE BENEFITS OF DEEP CULTIVATION. AN EXPERIENCED FARMER’S IDEAS “Deep cultivation is one of the most important points in successful farming.” The statement Is one of Mr John McQueen’s and, since that gentleman has been closely connected with agriculture for the last half century, it should carry some weight. It was with the farmers gathered at Makarewa on Thursday that Mr McQueen was talking when the conversation veered round to cultivation. The old hand commenced by remarking that it was Impossible to get a seed-bed for laying down pasture without, the aid of frost. Frost alone could break down tlie clods proper!> and until the clods were broken down the grounu was not properly prepared for the seed. In a soil worked to the correct tilth it was possible to get better results with half the seed used on lumpy ground. The proper thing, then, was to plough as early as possible that the exposed ground might benefit by the winter weather. It was often better, too, if, when its turn came for sowing down, a paddock was not sufficiently fine, to take another crop of grain off it. With reference to the depth of cultivation Mr McQueen instanced a paddock on the Makarewa farm which had been worked to a depth of nine inches. They set out to get down another three inches and succeeded in reaching the full foot. Off that land they took 60 tons of swedes per acre the following year. Also he was sure that the beneficial effect of “stirring up” to that depth would be evident for years to come. Of course a foot was not necessarily the limit to depth and subsoiling was a very good thing, although a ’seller was hard on horses seeing that it combined the operations of ploughing and sub-soiling. It was easier on horses to' go down after the land had been worked to a certain depth. “Don’t buy more land,” advised the speaker. "Make better use of what you have. I don’t know how much land any of you has got, but you have got enough—all of you. Go down.” It was a matter for regret that most people were not making the best use of what land they had. Touching on sowing, Mr McQueen advocated covering with a light scrub harrow and then rolling or else simply rolling. On no account should a chain or other heavy harrow be used. A small paddock near the works was furnished as an example of solely rollercovered seed, but its constant use as a bullock paddock has hardly given it a fair chance, so that it was impossible to pass judgment upon it or form an opinion from it.