CHICORY FARM IN OTAGO.

Colonist, Volume XXV, Issue 3465, 22 May 1882, Page 3

CHICORY FARM IN OTAGO.

(Otago Daily Times.) Ekcentlt we paid a visit to the chicory farm of Messrs W. Gregg & Go, afc" lueh-Clutba, and were agreeably surprised to notice the extensive sale of tie work undertaken by this enterprising firm The industry carried on hero is on & large; scalb, and wilhin the past eightaeu montha thousands of pounds have been expended on the farm. The property, w bich is ait uated on the banks of the Molyneux, juot opposite the Balclutha railway station, is in evnry way adapted for the pro» duction of this root, co extensively used in the umunfacture of coffee. The soil, ac everybody knows, is cf extraordinary depth, acid vrill stand cropping .for years without resorting to artificial measures. Experiments were made in several districts, but none of the results were deemed satisfactory until a trial crop was tried on the Incli-Clatha farm, theu the property of Mr Baird The firm were so satisfied with the result of the trial that they at once went into treaty for the purchase of the property, consist, ing in all of about 80 acres, the ultimate resuifc being that it changed hands at the very high figure of £20 per acre. But there was atill a great deal ofexpeuse to be iucurred before the ground could be brought to a proper state of cultivation, (n places the farm was heavily timbered, and <yen in some of the clear parts it required an outlay of £10 per acre to clear the land of the totara and black pine stumps. Then there was the expense of preparing the soil for the fir-t crop, and the erection of a kiln afc the cost of £1500. This kiln, to which is attached a commodious shed, is a very substantial concrete structure, fitted up with all the latest appliances and conveniences. The entrance on the ground floor leads to the three large furnaces, which during tha drying season have to be constantly attended to. The fuel uoed is coke, a good many tons of which have to be imported from Dunedin every year. The kiln is on the second flat, and is 45 feet i)y 24 feet. The peculiarity about it is that it is floored with patent tiles, perforated with numerous email holes. These tiles were imported from England at a cost of £110, as they were not obtainable in the colonies. The machiuery for washing and chopping the roots ia in the shed (a wooden building) at the rear of the kiln, where there is also a small vertical engine for driving both machines. The season this year was anything but a favorable one, yet the crop of the Inch-Clutha farm promises well, and the yield will be equally as good as it was last year. The crop requires to be well looked after, and in order to have anything like a fair yield continual attention must be devoted to it from the time the need is sown till the roots are fully developed. Messrs J Gregg and Co import all their seed from Belgium—a country celebrated for its chicory growing. They have not attempted to raise seed, and it is not at all probable they would succeed if they did, for it is so very fine a grain that it is carried away with tho least puff of wind. The iand ia generally ploughed three times, to a depth of fully 14 inches, and then rolled acd harrowed till fine enough to receive the seed, which ia sown in drills with specially manufactured machines. After the young plants come up they have to be thinned and weeded, and drilled, and weeded again, until tho time arrives f u r digging. This is generally about the Ist of June, and is about the busiest; timo on the chicory farm, no Jess than 15 hands beiug employed. The digging is a work of some magnitude, as very few of the roots are lesa than 18 inches long. iSorne of them even exceed this longth, and last year a root measuring no lees than 5 feet 6 inches was dug up. It was some time before a strong enough grnip could be procured for digging. The common graip generally snapped about the middle of tho handle, ou account of the great strain, so that three-pronged ones of extra strength had to be made by the local blacksmiths. As yet there is no very great demand for chicory outside of New Zealand, and duty in the Australian Colonies prohibits a profitablo export trade arising in that quarter. Messrs Gregg and Co, however, require a good deal of the root for their own firm, and also supply several firms in the North Island. Everyone speaka in favorable terms of the quality of the chicory grown on the Jnch-Clntha farmland it ia on all hands admitted to be much superior to the imported article and to what is grown in Can* I terbury.