ON THE LAND

Taranaki Daily News, 4 September 1926, Page 23

ON THE LAND

ri.l.L!> NOTES FOR SEPTEMBER. (By J. W. Deem. Instructor in Agriculture.) The ploughing and preparation of • land for cereal crops and the sowing of same should be pushed ahead whenever the land is fit to work. At the same time it is well to remember that unless the land is dry and warm enough to germinate the seed, the latter is best left in the bag. Spring sown grain crops- require a heavier seeding than autumn sown ones, as tin;/ have very little time for Btooiing. For wheat and barley 2J bushels and for oats 3 bushels is reeom- i mended. Where birds are bad and the I area small these quantities should be I increased by half a bushel. Where birds I are troublesome, great care is necessary i to see that all grain is well covered, and i especially to see that none is spilled : along the headlands. Uncovered grain i is a great attraction for birds. For ! manure use super or a reliable grain fertiliser at the rate of one to two cwt. per acre. With the exception of heavy Jami inclined to grow too raueh straw, the final feeding off of all autumn sown crops should be completed this month. As advised last month, follow the final feeding-off with a stroke or two or the tine harrows to loosen up the surface of the ground. PEAS AND TARES. This type of crop should be sown towards the end of September. They should then be ready for cutting about the middle of February, or where the peas are to be fed off by lambs they should be ready about the end of February. Peas should be sown at the rate of 3 bushels and tares 24 bushels ]>er acre. Dairy farmers with land available can do no.better than sow an acre or two in peas for fattening and wintering pigs. Peas for pigs should not be threshed but fed in the pod. The exercise in getting the peas out of the peds is good for the pigs, but, more important still, they cannot, gorge themselves; Peas fed in this manner are properly chewed and masticated, whereas if thrashed and fed whole, a great many of the peas pass through the pig. Peas and tares are lime loving plants, and, where possible, lime should be added in the preparation of the land for this crop. Super, basic super, or basic slag, or mixtures of these, two to three cwt per acre, are suitable manures. Early Minto, grey partridge and imperial blue are suitable varieties. Early Minto n’re rather earlier and heavier yielders than grey partridge. SPECIAL HAY AND ENSILAGE CROPS. September and early October are suitable times to sow special crops for this purpose. Full particulars of mixtures and manures to use were given in last | month’s notes. Pastures required for hay or ensilage should be thoroughly cleaned up during the early part of September, so as to remove all old grass or other substances that might interfere with the cutting; then give a good harrowing with tripod or chain harrows, 1 and close up as soon after the 20th Sep- I t’eraber as possible. If the area has not I been top-dressed recently and a good j crop is desired, top-dress with 2cwt of 44-46 super per acre when closing up. ROOT CROPS. If not already done, land intended for roots should be ploughed at onee. Early ploughing means better crops, and often the difference between a good crop and a failure. LUCERNE. The land should be getting warm and good growth may be expected towards the end of September. Where the crops contain autumn sown oats, nothing can be done. In cases where the crop has | made early growth, and is now carrying a fair amount of material it is best left alone: in eases where the growth is slow aud the land dirty, it is a good practice to cut or graze off quickly and give a spring cultivation with a culti- i vator fitted with lucerne teeth, taking j care to see that the final cultivation ■ leaves the land in suitable condition for > the mowing machine. If the weather is j showery and the land too wet to work, I the cultivation is best left till the aut- ; nnin. It should be clearly understood I that cultivating when conditions axe nn- I

suitable i§ very detrimental to the crop. Stands that have not been top-dressed during the last season will benefit from a dressing of 2 to 3fcwt of super, ba-sie super or slag; if plenty of lime, has been supplied, super for preference. The preparatioin of land for sowing with lucerne during the coming spring should get attention. If green crop is being sown with the o’ljeet of turning it under for green manure it should be turned, under at once so as to allow plenty of time for rotting before the lucerne is sown. Any material turned under after tire end of 'September does not get sufficient time to rot properly before seeding time, and this is very detrimental to the young lucerne plants. ilf for any reason the crop cannot be ploughed under before the end of Sep- ! teniber it is best to feed it off with stock and turn the droppings under. j Lea land, or land that his been in crop ' during the past winter, should be , ploughed and the surface kept worked (to germinate and destroy as many | weeds as possible. Lime 10 to 20 cwt 'per acre should be applied as soon after ploughing as possible. SELECTING A HERD SIRE. ; THE BEST IS THE CHEAPEST. | To the breeder of purebred cattle the selection of a herd sire is a matter of ■utmost importance, and the owner of a (grade herd can well afford to give this (question careful consideration, as success or failure will depend in no small measure upon the sires used in the herd. The influence of the bull upon his offspring, and hence upon the future herd, may mean success in the show-ring and profitable production in the dairy, providing- that he has the correct combination of characteristics and is prepotent —that is, able to transmit those characteristics.. On the other hand, the use of one poor sire may result in the loss of either type or production, or both, which have been built into the herd by years of careful breeding. There is an old saying that “the bull is half the herd.” This is probably true and more, especially in ease of the undesirable herd sire. Here the damage may be such as to require several generations to overcome, and in ease of disease the herd may be wrecked entirely. In selecting a herd sire, many points should receive careful consideration: — 1. Health. Insist on a tubercqjin test by a veterinary surgeon. 2. Select your sire from a. herd which is being developed and improved. Study the milk and butter-fat records of* the herd. 3. Select from an established strain of breeding. 4. Visit the herd and see the calf as well as the sire and the dam. 5. Buy the best sire you can afford. The best is the cheapest, Ol'R PEAT LAND. 1 BIG POSSIBILITIES. I The big possibilities’ which the more or less despised peat lands of New Zealand offer in point of intense agriculture are realised by comparison with the highly profitably utilisation of a vast area of land of much the same composition in California. Indeed, writes N. G. Gribble in the August issue of the New Zealand Farmer, the richest, and most profitable soils of California and those which in New Zealand are so little thought of, i.e., peat. It is on peat that the most highly remunerative “tfuek” gardens are situated, ajid here that wonderful crop, asparagus (known, in California as “white gold”) appears to grow to perfection. Sev- ; enty-five per cent, of the world's supply of fresh asparagus and 90 per cent, of the canned are grown on the Californian peat lands. As far as one can judge, the laud used is very similar to our more consolidated peat areas. To deteri mine whether it is possible for us in (New Zealand io grow this crop sueIcessfully on our extensive peat lands ’is, of course, impossible without experijm’ent, but every investigation made (leads one to the conclusion (states Mr i Gribble) that, there is ■no reason why Iwe should not, if we go the right way I about it.