FARM NOTES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 13927, 4 August 1905, Page 8

FARM NOTES.

Items of interest from country readers ior publication itf this column will be welcomed.

—^— * "(By "Farmer.")

In planting potatoes farmers should remember that the judicious application of some potash manure will materially increase the yield. Equal quantities of kainii and bonedust will be found to be the most suitable mixture ; about one hundred weight of each is sufficient for the general run of the land in this, district. In' the competition trials, made by the jStrathearn Central Agricultural Society in 1900, for prizes offered by the Potash Syndicate, the first prize was gained by Mr James Westwood, Dalnoch,, Dunning, whose results were as follows ;—; — T C Q lb General manuring (with potash) 10 7 0 16 General manuring (without potash * ... 7 11 20 Gain by* addition of small dressing of potash 3 5 224 which is equal to a gain of about £11 10s per acre, taking the tjoiatoes at the estimate of £3 10s per ton. The general practice of ploughing beneath the sod and planting every third furrow answers prettyj well, and is certainly, the most t.-conomical as regards labour. Where practicable, it is a good plan to run the roller over the ground to press down the furrows, that there may be no hollows left beside the seed potatoes. Looking at the returns of meat exported from the various ports of the Colony, it is gratifying to learn that Waitara heads the list as regards, beef, being, with the exception of Wellington, more than two million pounds ahead of any other port, and | nearly^ a million pounds 'ahead of that city. When one considers what a vast area of our fattening country is devoted to dairying, it seems somewhat astonishing that this little port holds the enviable position of exporting one-third of the total iexports of beef from the colony. In six months 4,019,089 pounds of beef is a lot of meat to get through (the returns are only issxied up to the" 30th June), and must represent between five and six thousand bullocks. And yet when we remember the number of calves that are reared annually, there must be a terribly waste some- 1 where. The stock inspectors have branded about 80,000 'calves this year, and if we allow lor half of them being heifers, 40,000 steers must be growing up in preparation for the works. Possibly half of these again may leave the district, leaving 20,000 to go through the works. It seems unlikely that three years hence Waitara will double its output, but even if it does it shows a loss of 10,000 cattle which with better care and management would bring in a vast amount of money to the district . It is ( the old story of slipshod waysx and neglecting to provide adequate winter feed. ■With regard to the sheep returns it looks as though our sheep-farmers were reaping the full benefit of high prices ruling for fat lambs. Only 9,744 carcases of mutton have been' exported to 22/74G carcases of lamb. This, of course', is to be accounted for by the fact that, being chieHy a cattle raising country, the mixed farmers find it advantageous to get rid of their lambs as soon as possible, and buy in cattle when they arc cheap in the autumn selling them again when the lambs come on again in the spring. A Mr Dewhirst, writing- in the Agricultural Gazette, says a sow of his., which had -ten litters while in his possession, had never less than thirteen at a birth, and had twice twenty and nineteen and eighteen respectively, all good strong pigs'. This is rather striking, but "Constant Reader," who writes so much to the papers, tells a tale in the Farmer and Stockbreeder which beats all records I have heard of : — "A neighbour of. mine has a sow that farrowed fifteen pigs, eleven alive and four dead ; began farrowing on Tuesday evening and .finished (or supposed to) next morning about 2 ♦a.m. Wednesday. On the same day in the afternoon, about 4.20, she began farrowing again, and farrowed 11 more pigs, all dead, making in all 26. ' The last 11 tihat came wore two sizes larger than the first 15, and, s'trang? to say, in the? first lot were 14 white' ones and one spotted ; in the last lot ■were two spotted and one white." One * naturally thinks of the old story, two sows farrowing jn the night, and 1 the two litters getting together, but, "Constant Rbader"' says his neighbour had only one sow. In the same paper various correspondents quote their lambing records against one another. I make this little summary : — Black -facad, owe had three lambs, this making the sixth time she has lambed. She has had two fours, three threes, and one pair, making a total in six years of 19 lambs, and all alive. The ewe herself,] was one of three. 14. Norfolk ewe which had five lambs last year has just given birth to five more. In the year 1858, a ewe >. Lincoln), of Langor, Notts, yeaned six lambs at a birth, all of which lived and did well. i I