FARES AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 315, 3 July 1912, Page 7

FARES AND DAIRY

HOW LIME IS LOST TO THE SOIL. At a lecture delivered at an agrieulI tural college in England on "Lime and its uses," a farmer at the close of the lecture asked how the lime contents of a soil to which 16 :to 25cwt. of lime was applied some six years ago got run out, and the reply of the lecturer seems to state the case very clearly: It is lost in many ways—(l) It is soluble to some extent, hence some is washed out and appears in the drainage water. (2) In destroying the acids, and in put.tfn- injurious salt's out of solution, _.- _..«.-- pears from the soil, as lime, in considerable quantities. (3) It is used up when it causes »oluble phosphates to revert and saves them from being washed out, as when it precipitates phosphoric acid as a calcium phosphate. It disappears again when, on enriching the soil by releasing potash, it takes the place of the latter. (4) Every time sulphate of ammonia is applied las a fertiliser the acid portion of the ammonium salt takes up lime, and this is another cause of the disappearance of lime. He said that the lime waste from the several demonstration plots under experiment at Rothamstead proved this. Even from the unmanured plot as much as 2501b per statute acre came off in soil water. The question of liming was therefore one of considerable importance, and the lime content of soil has a great deal to do with its fertility.

WHEN TO APPLY FERTILISERS. /With regard to the right time at which Jto apply fertilisers, a contemporary gives some useful hints. With regard to nitrate of soda, there is no uncertainty; it should be applied as a top-dressing when the young plants appear above tba ground. Sulphate of ammonia at + tie time of sowing the seed, and before application can be mixed with the superphosphate and sulphate of potash required !by the crop. Nitrate of lime should be applied in the same way and time as nitrate .of soda. -Superphosphate, as a rule, should lie applied at the time of sowing. Basic slag—lt is the general opinion that ibasic slag produces the best effect when applied in the late autumn or winter; hut good results have been obtained when it has been applied to root crops at'the time of planting.

Potash salts—Kainit is the form most generally applied, and it should be applied late in the autumn or the winter. If this is not convenient the use of wither sulphate of potash or muriate of potash is recommended. The above remarks apply, of course, to arable land. To pastures superphosphate, potassic-superphosphate and bone manures should be broadcasted early in spring; slag in the autumn or winterj sulphate of ammonia at the same time as the, superphosphate, and nitrate of soda when the grass has just made a start in spring.

USEFUL ITEMS.

i Proper shoeing, besides protecting the hoof, may help to correct faulty action. Buy the best ram you can to head your flock. It will be money in your pocket by-and-bye. , The test capacity to make a living is of little use without a corresponding power to make life worth living... ' The prevalence of sorrel in English hopfields is (according to Home paper) ian indication that lime i« required. A liberal dressing of basic slag in the .autumn is recommended to keep down sorrel and improve the quality of the herbage in other way*. One of the most profitable adjuncts to the business of farming is a flock of sheep. Prevailing prices for mutton, stock and wool should make those who *r« Keptical on this subject sit up and think. It is said to have been shown that a considerable loss of feeding value is sustained when substances are cooked. The I.element of digestibility, however, has io J je taken into account, and there is nodoubt that a growing pig assimilates cooked or moistened food more easily than dried material.

Rations for young pigs should be given methodically, say, three times a day, and if profitable results are to be obtained, the sty in which they are fed should be clean, warm, and well ventilated. . When young pigs are capable of taking a sufficient amount of food for themselves, they should be accustomed, as quickly as possible, to the use of such foods, and their protein constituents should be high. While it may not be practicable to make any appreciable reduction in botflies by catching them in traps, experiments* have shown that in other countries certain strong-smelling oils have an attraction for different kinds of tlies. They fly into these oils, wet their wings, rendering them helpless, and cause their death, The biting horse-flies (Tabanidae) were quickly attracted to a coating of kerosene oil on a pound in the park of St. Petersburg; and by treating all the patches of water in the adjoining fores all the March flies took to the oil and were destroyed. The sun ought not to be allowed te shine on the drinking water or milk (supplied to the young chicks. When it does 80, look out for dysentery in the brood very shortly afterwards. Change the water frequently, scrub out the vessel every time, and cover the water so that the evacuations of the brood cannot soil it. The water will keep cooler and fresher if a portion of hardwood batten is placed over the whole with the exception of a very small aperture where the chicks drink. In a climate which suits them the Shorthorn-Jersey cross is one of the most generally useful classes for the dairyman that can be obtained, but it need's a more genial climate than wc in the South possess (says a southern journal). And, after all, the most suitable cow to encourage depends on local surroundings. Wo find purebred Ayrshires crossed with the Shorthorn to evolve a hardier dairy cow in the immediate neighborhood, while further south a dash of the Hereford is used in the ShorthornAyrshire cross to secure cattle that will not liug the hedges on a stormy day. In the Auckland district it is hard to see how a more suitable dairy animal could be built up than the Shorthorn.Tersey, and. particularly, by using the Shorthorn bull of a good milking strain or. the pure Jersey cow or heifer.