AGRICULTURAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13661, 1 August 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

AGRICULTURAL.

Can a man mak« a living off a smaU holding? i& * question that is often asked br those unacquainted, with the 5011 (says the Hunterville Express). If the experiences of Mr P. Healer, of Mangaonoho, criterion to go by, then tie answer, is ves. and a good living at that, Mr Healev owns thirteen acres, not Hat land either, and he informs us that lastvear he took an average of £l3 an acre off hits small farm. This was nob done by cropping, but. by. milking cows, rearing pigs, and fruit-growing. "Get, on the'soil, young man," is Mr Healer's ad-vice-to the rising generation. The importance of the sack and sacking industry is indicated by the figures regarding the jute industry of Calcutta, given br the chairman at the annual'meeting of the Jute Mills' Association. Twelve millions sterling have been sunk in buildings arid plant alone on the banks of the Hughli; the jute annually consumed in the, local mills corts not less than ten millions; while the wages bill for 200,000 native hands is two millions yearly. A- farmer who has recently travelled throughout the various districts in. the county of Ashburton reported that he cannot" remember the crops and the general appearance of the country having looked brighter or more prosperous for many years past. If anything, the crops and grass on the lighter soils are the: best. Feed is not by any means scarce, as there has been a perceptible growth of vegetation right throughout the winter. Grass seed sown with oats after harvest for early stock feed has " struck " wonderfully well, and is, in addition, thriving in an equally nourishing way, says our informant. Germany is the greatest potato producer of any country in Europe, and as a consequence the greatest pork producer. More than eight million acres are annually: devoted-to the crop, and the production, according to the seasons, varies from--'forty-.to forty—five -million tons.-As a rule the crop in Germany is a profitable one, the result, to a large extent, depending on the price of labour, on the value of the tubers for the manufacture of spirit' and starch, and in the pig-feeding industry. About 7 per cent, of the crop is bought by the spirit factories, 3 per centl-for the manufacture of starch, and 44 -per.cent, is used as pig food. The German growers supply the crop with liberal dressings of nitrogen and potash. Recently the advantages of green manuring- for, the nourishment of the potato crop have been recognised, and -good results are; obtained by the adoption of that svstem.

How a noxious weed may be spread throughout the length and breadth of the extensive Australian Continent isays the " Queenslander") has been well exemplifted.'by .the prickly pear, Opuntia vulgaris. When Mr Potter McQueen, an -English company, selected the b'egenhoe estate, uuar Scone, in New South Wales, he brought one with him in a flower-pot, ;t plant of the prickly pear, and : from this small plant it has tpread throughout the whole of/Australia. 'Japan is a world's tintversity fur instruction in the art- of agriculture. Her national greatness it not n.erely built upon tha£; it grows out of that as the grain itself springs from the soil. Of her 45,OOOjSOO people 30,000,000 are farmeis. The whole body is supported by a cultivated area of but 19,000 square miles. Every foot of soil is utilised; the fanner is •a. specialist. For 25 centuries this people has turned to tillage us ihe basic industry of life. Her progress is in the right direction—growth, like that of the tree r from .the ground up. The message of the victorious guns of Japan is a reminder of the fixed order and proportion in 'a-: healthy national development of intiigfcry. i No nation that does not throw its' intensent- interest and expend the bulk of;jts.'force upon'the cultivation of the \" sofly.can.. become or remain permanently great.-' •

LIBERAL FARJLINU THE MOST. ' .. PROFITABLE. • -Tb?re is a- sound adage familiar - ; n farming, circles which expresses truths of so, ..comprehensive a character as to he a ; wiie guide to all practical farmers in their manageniient of land. It is ill.tlie following terms:— .(JJear your land before ■it's dirty. Feed your land before it's hungry, Rest, your land before itV weary. No better advice could be given to ayoiin- farmer than what is briefly and terstly expressed in these lines. Liberal fanning in tile' moat comprehensive sense will pay best in the long run. At the foundation of all good farming lies advice contained in the first line. Far from weeds being -worth growing for their own saks, they are serious-obstacles to...the successful growth of good crops. The;' sofl fertility used up in their growth should' be available for the nourishment of whatever farm crop to which the land is being 'in the meantime devoted. The presence of weeds is a usurpation, inasmuehVas they have no right to be there. Therefore, they should b« kept down by all 'prudent means, never as far as practicable being allowed to grow to seed, seeing- the seed shed by them will only perpetuate the evil. The second adage naturally follows the first, and flows naturally out of it. The genuine farm crop should'be liberally fed with as much the same' appropriate food as it can use up to advantage.. If the deficiency in plant food is not supplied until the land is really hungry, the growth of the crop must for a time at least be retarded, if not'actually checked. It requires judgment and skill .to select the proper kind of manures, as well as the proper time to apply them. The science of manuring is a' proper phrase, because manuring nowadays has reached the stage of a. science—besides a- full knowledge of the ingredients ht the fertilisers a ud on the results of experiments in actual farm practice: Finally, the third adage is as important as either of the other two. Land' becomes" tired growing the same kinds of crops year by year. It is true that "continuous corn-growing can be successfully" followed by the application of the."proper fertilisers. But that is an exceptional hue of farming pursued by a. small minority. One of the reasons for a rotation of crops- is found in the wed land';has to rest-from any particular kind of crop.- One crop drains the soil more than others of one or two valuable constituents, and what is popularly spoken of asresting the land enables It to recuperate, and.-thej, variety in the crops equalises to some extent the drain on the valuable constituents prestnt in all soils.

BACK TO THE FARM. In .an address to a body of prominent teachers recently President Roosevelt said : " I trust that more and more of our people will see to it that the schools train more towards and not away from the farm and workshop. We have spoktai a- great deal about the dignity of labour of this country; hut we -have not acted up tor bur tspoken words; for in our education we have tended to proceed upon the assumption that the educated man was to be educated away from and not towards The great nations of mediaeval tunes; who left such marvellous works of architecture and art behind them- were able to'd°'so because'they educated alike the brain 'and the hand of the craftsman; ■\Ye,"too, in our turn must show that we •understand the law which decrees. that a people/which loses physical address invariably,' "deteriorates; so that people shall ■uiijejratand that: the good carpenter, the gopd*blaclamith,._tha .yood:mechanic,)'the

good farmer, really do fill the most important positions in our land, and that it is an evil thing for them and the nation to- have their sons and daughters forsake the work which, if well and efficiently performed, means more than any other work for our people as a whole."

SQUANDERING FERTILITY. An American agricultural journal say 6: Every, considerate man realises that a true farmer feeds his soil as well.as his cattle. The soil feeds the plants' which are grown for the stock, and, of course, it cannot give up its elements year after year without receiving something in return, any more than the dairy cow can give milk day after day without feed. Land can go longer without food than the ■ cow, but it will sooner or later require some sort of food, just as the cow needs 'to be fed if she lives and remains productive. The good fanner realises this, and is doing everything in his power to carefully save all the manure that is produced on the farm and to grow crops that will help to improve the soil. ' .u.e puts back each year on the land as much fertility, as his crops take from it. A man that can grow crops year after year from the soil and still keep the land as fertile and' productive as it was when, he took it, is 1 a true farmer and a benefit to the world. We condemn the rich man's son for carelessly squandering the fortune his father has left him, and he is infinitely better than the man who squanders the fertility of the land. . Spending money that has been accumulated by another does not ■ take that which belongs to coming generations as much as it belongs to him.

GOOD AND BAD PLOUGHING. Farmer can only hope on the plough, • and the main thing is to plough well. ■ It is not a case" of. " putting your trust in Providence and .keeping your powder dry," but of keeping the land: well turned tip. The first factor-to that end is good ploughing. When you talk to him' about ploughing, the fanner naturally inclines to be amused. Considering that he has "probably been ploughing since he -was a lad of seventeen or. thereabouts, it does seem a trifle superfluous. Ploughing is one of the oldest, pursuits probably known in maD, going back to' the days of the crooked stick; the forked.stick that was.the original design of the plough of to-day. In all parts of the earth ploughing. goes' on every day.

No farm implement is used so much. Yet many cases in ploughing is the least perfectly performed preparation of land for crops. The effective plough turns the land,' lays the furrow slice entirely • over, or sets it up well on edge, covering manure, stubble, or' green *crop. It should go deep into the ground, enabling the soil to drink in and hold more water, and give the roota a wider pasture. The writer recollects the case of a farmer who had been ploughing a. paddock for some thirty odd years. He had been a farmer all his life, and no doubt would have been indignant, at being told anything about ploughing. But the crops hi his paddock became poorer and poorer. He reckoned the land was worn out, and was glad to take an offer from a younger neighbouring fanner (perhaps with a smile at' the latter's foolishness) and sell the paddock cheap. When the wheat came up with a rush the following year on the same ground, and the heads of grain hung heavy, promising eight or nine bags to the acre, the old farmer . remarked that it was wonderful the difference a few sheep made. Of course the sheep had nothing to do with it. It was good ploughing. The land had been ploughed year after year a, depth of about five iiiches or so, and the constant rubbing of the foot of the plough had made the ground underneath as hard as cement.' The new man liad got a strong plough with five •good strong horses attached' to it, and rooted into the paddock a depth of eight or nine inches, and then let the land fallow. That made the difference, although the other man had been ploughing all his life, and did not know., it. Again, the plough that is doing good work must pulverise the furrow slice turned out. The soil must be broken. A plough that does not do so is a poor plough. If it makes a handsome furrow, covers the' ground well, it still does poor work unless it leaves -the soil in a. condition that the harrows can easily do their part after. Ploughing should not only be deep, but also uniform. livery lime the plough jumps out of the ground there are patches where the seeds won't germinate" properly, and where will be poor patches" in the crop. When labour is scarce, it is not easy for the farmer to always have his ploughing done well, but every farmer can at least have a good plough. Yet a good many of them give more attention to the sort to ride in than to the plough which is going to cultivate their land.

PASTORAL PROSPECTS. At the ennual meeting-of .the. Pastoral-, ists* Union of New South Wales, Sir W. E. Abbott-, in the course of his presidential address, said that for several years he had had to congratulate them on the almost unexampled, prosperity- of the pastoral industry in - Australia-: They had had several years during which, with a fairly good rainfall, prices for all kinds of pastoral produce had. been high. In the past the industry which';they : represented had. been' the . most profitable, in Australia.- So far there did .not seem to be prospect of any other -industry supplanting the grazing - industry as the primary .-wealth -producer a .andr-the -^fforb'-

being made by the protectionist party in the Federal Parliament to. create a manufacturing industry by a system ..of; restrictive duties seemed to .lum manUely. foolish and calculated to reduce the total wealth production of the, community, as the duties had to be paid by the profitable industries, such .as grazing, mining, to support the unprofitable ones, while there was still room for, an almost unlimited expansion of " those mdusL.n£ which had built up; Australia and made it the largest wealth producer of the world per head of population. . It was to be, feared that the policy of extreme tunttisin, recently adopted would have the effect of'diverting labour and capital into unprofitable channels, and so- reducing the gross wealth production, and with; it the high wage rates and general prosperity, as/it did in Victoria previous to federation. ■'Sow thev had come to one of those periods which followed 'every boom time witJi unfailing certainty. If, as un this case, the causes were world-wide and beyond their control, they must accept the result and endeavour to increase tlieir production by concentrating their efforts,, labour, and capital on the ■ most profitable industries, and here it was that he feared the trend of recent legislation would be to poverty and depression. ' But though they could not congratulate themselves o'n high prices and briskness of business, there were nsiuy reasons for expecting that the depression: in their particular industry would not; be of ' long duration. Theareats throughout the world where wool and mutton could be cheaply produced were becoming less and less yeaT by year; and the number of : sheep in the world was. steadily falling, while the demand for their • products .was increasing,so. that he thought, within no- very, long period, they might expect to -go even higher-;than, they had ever been before, and; for / that. reason; the proper policy 'of ; Australia should.-be.-to make every possible effort to increase the ■• pro-, ductionvof wool and mutton,' so 'that 'ifiey might be hr a-position to ."'take the fullest advantage :of -the, increasing, demand and higher prices that, must soon comei owing ;to ; the -.reduction., of ' stock .in- other parts of the w;orld. . •! .... ~ -.'.,.'• They,: had been-very free, from : labour troubles throughout- the last shearing season; and there "did not seen* to bevany prospect of • trouble in the season now beginning,..but that,, he thought,, could not be' attributed to-the statesmanship of;the Federal- Act, liioV- to the justice •of '■ the award, given under il. As lie'pointed out when the award was. given, if .one- of the parties to , :a dispute'could, be induced or compelled to'give more'than the- other asked 'a v peaceful; settlement might be ensured-at any '•time, or in any case, but peace on such terms • was likely to : 'cause trouble later on,.and wouiu Ylo ko; without, doubt. ■ ~