FARMING NOTES.

Waipa Post, Volume VIII, Issue 378, 29 December 1914, Page 6

FARMING NOTES.

The past four months will lone be remembered as the most abnormal on record, as far as the weather is concerned. At Ruakura no rain of consequence lias fallen for fourteen weeks, and the most careful calculations as to the providing of forage crops have been completely upset. Such seasons, however, fully demonstrate the value of lucerne or a reserve of ensilage. Lucerne may be sown in January or February with every chance of success, provided their is sufficient moisture to germinate the seed; but if the drought still holds it is wise to delay sowing until ten days after the first good rain, so as to give the annualweed seeds time to germinate and be destroyed by harrowing. If the seed is sown during the drought it will germinate at the same time as the weeds, with the result that the latter may take complete possession. On light dry soils that are foul with weeds the sowing may be delayed until March, the weeds in the meantime being completely eradicated. Harvesting will be proceeding in many districts, artd as the straw, generally speaking, is very short, the binder should be set as near the ground as possible. Oats are better cut on the green side, as it ensures better-quality chaff and less waste of grain during harvest operations. The same applies to wheat. On the other hand, barley must be ripe when reaped, particularly malting-bar-ley. Stooking is work that demands greater attention than is generally given to it, and in bad weather careless stooking means very considerable loss. The man on the binder can make the work of stooking much easier by unceasing attention to the adjustment of the binding table. A good stock cannot be made if the sheaves are tied too near the stubble end, as the weight of the ears and the long length of stalks between ears and band causes a portion of the ears to hang down and leaves the whole sheaf open at the top. If sheaves are placed with a good slope, the ears pressed firmly together so as to form a sharp top on the stook, at the same time giving the sheaves a downward pressure with hand and knees, the stooks will resist much rain and wind. Stooking is an art which few men now possess. In a badly made stook the sheaves are simply dumped down close together, with the result that the top of the stook is left quite open, thus giving rain easv access. Under these conditions the grain soon commences to sprout, and a slight puff of wind will blow the whole over. Of course, any kind of stooking does for good weather (in fact, if the weather could be guaianteed there is no necessity to stook'at all), at the same time it is always wise to make the stooks as if the worst weather were a certainty. The main point in stacking is to keep the centre always tvell filled and before commencing to top out in particular. Catch-crops should be sown immediately the grain crops are harvested, and of these there are many to choose'from. Where there are dairy cows, Cape barley and tares (l bushel each to an acre) is one of the best mixtures. Western Wolths grass will also give excellent results, and may be cut or fed off several times. As a crop for ploughing under, crimson clover is one of the besf, and little cultivation is required. In loose, clean land, if the stubble is tine-harrowed it is quite sufficient. A liberal seeding is advisable—say, 15 lb. an acre. For ploughing under, mustard is also excellent and a very quick grower. The seeding should be at the rate of 10 lbs. an acre. Spare time will be well occupied in trimming hedges, cleaning open drains, grubbing noxious weeds, etc.

In many districts lambs will now be weaned, and everything possible should be done to prevent a check in their development, particularly in the case of studs, or lambs intended for the butcher. For the latter nothing is better than rape, but in the writer’s opinion, stud lambs should never be put on this feed. In low, damp country, where internal parasites are prevalent, the studs should be enticed to eat a little dry feed in the shape of oats and chaff.

The use of tobacco is also undoubtedly of value’ as a parasite preventative. At Ruakura a supply is always kept in the saltboxes. Lambs will commence to nibble the tobacco when a week old. The greatest difficulty was at one time experienced in raising stud lambs at Ruakura, but with the aid of dry feed and tobacco the trouble has been absolutely prevented. For early fat or stud lambs the ewes should be mated at the end of this month, and where possible it is a good plan to remove the rams during the day and turn them among the ewes at night only. It will also be beneficial

to give the rams a handful of sound oats every day right through the mating season, for fat-lamb production the crossbred ewe mated to the Soutndown ram gives excellent results The Border Leicester ram on the crossbred ewe also gives a good iamb, but it is not so early as the Southdown cruss. Young foals should be haltered before or immediately after weaning, as it saves a great deal of trouble later on, and if a foal is completely mastered in haltering it never forgets it.