FARM AND GARDEN

Waikato Times, Volume 96, Issue 15061, 7 October 1922, Page 15 (Supplement)

FARM AND GARDEN

f 1 AGRICULTURAL EVENTS FOR WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 14. MONDAY.' Bull Sale at Matamata. Stock Sale at Patetonga. Clearing Sale, Mr Geo. Simmons, •Surrey Downs, Maraimarua. v Stock Sale at Cambridge. > TUESDAY. Stock Sale at Hamilton. / Bull Sale at Morrinsville. - Clearing Sale, Mr Thos. Dutton, Ohaupo Road, Hamilton. WEDNESDAY. Bull Sale at Hamilton. FRIDAY. Bull Sale at Cambridge. SATURDAY. Stock Sale at Te Awamutu.

NOTICE TO FARMERS, Recognising the importance of giving the fanner highly scientific advice, we have made arrangements for articles to appear weekly from the pen of a recognised authority- on agricultural matters. Farmers are invited to address any'queries on /arming matters to “Practical,” care of Waikato Times, and they will be answered in the succeeding week’s Issue. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. • (By "Practical.”) *‘Permanent,” Morrinsville.-—A good - mixture is only one phase in the establishment of a profitable pasture. Lea ground should be well ploughed, cultivated, and at least one temporary crop taken from it before sowing down. A good mixture fOr your soil would comprise 12lb cocksfoot, 101 b perennial ryegrass, 51b V Italian ryegrass, 31b red clover or cowgrass,, lib white clover, , lib alsike, lib ’crested dogstail, 21b timothy, 21b poa pratensis. Sowing should be carried out in the autumn, the first two weeks of March being as a rule about the best time. “Taipa.”—lt would be better to use the temporary pasture field for hay purposes. The quality of hay from some permanent pastures is low on account of the large content of weed grasses such as Yorkshire fog and sweet vernal. The red clover sown with your Italian ryegrass will come away after the hay is gathered, and provide a ready supply of summer and autumn feed. PHOSPHATE FERTILISERS. . (By “Practical”) Of the ten elements necessary to ‘Sustain and promote the growth of crops three are usually deficient in our soils. They are nitrates, potash and phosphates. . In Southern Hemisphere and 'particularly the most northerly portions of it, there is an especial deficiency in phosphates, so that this element of plant food is often the determining factor in the yield of a crop or the productivity of a pasture. The phosphate deficiency Is particularly marked in Auckland soils as has been shown in the numerous analyses made by the Chemistry Division of the Department of Agriculture. This partly accounts for the large amount of phosphatic manures used annually in this province. ‘ - Seeing that the keynote to successful manurial

practice .centres round phosphates; jjLj. farmefs..should possess clear ideas of the nature of this class of fertilisers.

Every soil contains phosphates in " two forms. The greater amount is in a form which is insoluble in water, and therefore is useless to assist plant growth. This is said to be unavailable or dormant. ' The lesser portion of the phosphates in a soil are soluble In water, and therefore may be absorbed by the roots of plants. This is termed available phosphoric acid. It may be there because it has been directly placed there, or because chemical and bacterial, agencies have prepared it from the dormant phosphates present. This rendering of dormant phosphates into available phosphoric acid is always proceeding in a welldrained, well-tilled soil.' The change, however, is a slow one, and fails to provide adequately for the demands of our hedvy producing crops or pastures. The supply of soluble phosphates must hence be supplemented by regular applications of phosphatic manures. Chemical analysis shows in an approximate way the amounts of total and of available phosphates present in soils, and an examination of the analysis of soils in this province shows that in the top eight inches of soil, weighing approximately 2,000,0001 b per acre, there are 55331 b of phosphoric acid, of which some 9901 b are 'available for plants. These figures illustrate also the fertility of these analyses, for according to the findings of the eminent agricultural chemist, Dyer, slightly more than 2001 b of available phosphoric acid per acre was all that was required to ensure fertility. - Yet who would deny the immense benefits of-a dressing of even 2 c'wt of phosphate manure per acre on our Auckland Boils. Experience and trials have invari-

ably shown that the phosphatic man-

ures applied must comprise not only Y readily soluble phosphates, but also those which become available gradually. The first kind help a crop during the critical seedling stage, the second ensures that a fruitful maturity is attained. A crop or pasture in need of immediate assistance should receive a soluble phosphate, one requiring phosphate in the future and over a continued period (such as a pasture) should also receive a slowly-acting fertiliser. Now, the active part of any of the phosphates is the phosphoric acid present in them, but this acid cannot be applied in the pure state because it is so chemically active that it combines exceedingly readily with other elements. As a manure it is always in combination with lime in varying amounts, and it is these various combinations that provide us with the different phosphatic manures. The most stable compound of phosphoric acid with lime is found in rock phosphate or bones. The former comprises a wide range of different rocks which vary in the amount of phosphate contained in them. Nauru and Ocean Islands yield a rich phosphate rock, 85 per cent of which comprises manurial matter and the remaining 15' per cent consists of earth and clay of little or no value as a fertiliser. In very few rock phosphates is such a high percentage of manurial matter present, and this high percentage is reflected in all fertilisers derived from Nauru phosphate. Even steamed bonedust, the richest of the bone manures, contains only from 50 to 60 per cent of phosphate. The phosphate—tri-calcic phosphate as it is usually termed in

advertisements and on analysis certifi-

cates—in bonedust and in rock phos- / phate are chemically identical, but in [ the former a small percentage of nitro- " gen is present also in the organic matter composing bone material. The presence of this renders an additional manurial value in itself, but further, in the process of decay in the soil* sets.

free acids which, acting on the phosphate, dissolve some of the insoluble tri-calcic phosphate, rendering it slowly available for plants to. absorb. Henoe bonedust has always stood higher In the farmers' estimation than rook phosphate. Moreover, bonedust Is hallowed with its usage through the centuries since the dawn of agriculture, whereas rock phosphate is a much fnore recent manurial substance. The successful use of the tri-calcic phosphates in the form of bonedust and ground rock phosphate seems to depend very largely upon damp and acid soil conditions, which evidently cause the phosphoric acid to be set free more readily. In dry districts these manures are not greatly in vogue, for the results are rather difficult to notice. Moreover, the experiments conducted the world over and our own N.Z. experience have shown that whenever the soil acidity has been lessened by an application of lime, then the returns from rock phosphate dressings are correspondingly reduced. To get the best returns then from Nauru and similar phosphates, the use of liqje is better avoided so that the soil moisture may be left well charged with acid.

The slowness with which the phosphorio acid from rook phosphate beoomes available renders this form valuable for crops such as pastures, where sustained effect is desired. Immediate results need not be expected, and such phosphate manure is therefore useless for giving turnips -or mangolds that Initial spurt they require in the seeding stage. Since the usefulness of rock phosphates is largely dependent upon the action of soil acids, these acids must be given the best conditions to operate in. This is achieved very largely by grinding the phosphates to an exceedingly fine powder. ‘ This practice is now very generally adopted by manure manufacturers, and apparently with yery hopeful results. A further means of setting free the phosphoric acid from the rock phosphate is achieved by mixing it with acidic manures such as superphosphate or sulphate of ammo,nia. The acid of the manure assists that present in the soil in the liberation of phosphorio acid. To speed up the rapidity with which tri-calcic phosphate will yield up its fertilising power it is treated with sulphurio acid. This results in the production of superphosphate. Here the phosphoric acid Is made as available as it possibly can be for .practical usage. No further action by soil acids is necessary before the phosphoric aoid may be absorbed by plant roots. It is therefore the best means of supplying this very essential nourishment to plants which have sprouted, and so super is generally drilled with the seed. Mixed .with slag, or bonedust or rock phosphate, it will provide immediate manurial assistance, and when this is spent soil acids will, have liberated sufficient phosphoric acid from the less soluble phosphates to carry the crop on.

The power ,of super in the soil as an available manure does not last long. On the other'hand it is wrong to think that/it is readily leached or washed from the soil. So chemically active is it, that it quickly enters into combination. with other minerals present in the soil, forming compounds with lime, iron, aluminium and magnesium. In these compounds it continues in the. soil is more or less insoluble and unavailable forms apd is to all appearances lost. If adequate lime is present, there is a tendency to form a lime phosphate, and this is considered to be better than an iron or aluminium phosphate, for from these latter salts the phosphoric aoid is more difficult to liberate by subsequent farm practice. Super is an acid manure, anl. therefore is not advised for application in soils already sufferlpg from sourness. Nevertheless, on the authority of Dr. Russell, of Rothampstead, research has shown that well-made super has no acidifyig effects upon soils. Super will contain approximately one half as much phosphate as did the material it was made from. Thus, an 80 per cent rock phosphate will yield a 40 per cent superphosphate. The effectiveness of any manure depends very largely upon the season and the climate. In dry seasons and on light soils super gives better results than other phosphates, largely on account of its ready solubility. When superphosphate is applied to a soil possessing abundance of lime, it combines with the lime, loses some of its acidity, some of its solubility, anl so becomes less active. This process is termed “reversion,” and the resulting manure is sometimes called reverted phosphate. Of late, this reversion process is carried out- at the manure works, where the addition of some 15 to 18 per cent, of slaked lime to ordinary super produces a reverted phosphate known as basic superphosphate. This is mildly aoid and usually in a better mechanioal state than ordinary super. It is, however, an expensive way of purchasing phosphoric acid, for its analysis shows it to be low in that ingredient, and the purchaser is paying for the lime it contains at superphosphate rates. Better and cheaper results can be attained by applying lime prior to sowing super, thus allowing the chemical change to be effected in the soil. As has been hinted previously, both super and basic super become again tri-calcic phosphate in the soil. In this state the phosphorio acid is locked up and only becomes available gradually. Basic slag is another phosphatic manure which is somewhat akin to basic super in its properties, although in many respects it surpasses the latter. For. top-dressing of pastures, and for hay paddocks, basic slag is excellent. The small amount of free lime it contains and the peculiar form in which it holds its phosphoric acid, make it possessed of unique fertilising value, which cannot be assessed by analysis. However, there are at present three distinct types of basic slag on the market: (a) Bessemer slag, which in pre-war days was the only type and which nowadays is manufactured only in Continental ironworks. It contains 38 to 40 per cent, tri-calcic phosphate in a readily soluble form, (b) Open hearth slag, containing an equivalent of 15 to 35 per cent of tri-calcic phosphate, is to all intents and purposes similar to a low grade of basic slag. Its lesser conlent of phosphate will require heavier dressings to be applied, (c) There arc open hearth slags of a very low degree of solubility. This last class h,as not yet been fully tried out, but indications point to its usefulness being much less than that of the slag so familiar to N.Z. farmers.

Phosphates are likely to remain the principal manures used by New Zealand farmers, and the results of their application will be exceedingly varied according as soil, climate, farm management and other conlitions differ. Their general effects in a summary form are set out here for general guidance.

(1) They stimulate rapid root growth and development in young plants. Especially is the fibrous or

[ food gathering portion of the plant \ developed. (2) They harden up the rank coarse growth oocurrlng In land which is over rich with organic manures. (3) They hasten the ripening and improve the quality of the grain crops. (4) They, encourage the growth of clovers, whioh are capable of drawing on the supplies of nitrogen in the air. , Thus phosphate applications indirectly bring nitrates to the soil. (5) They inorease the palpability of fodder crops, giving them tjie property of supplying the bone-forming materials necessary for building up a good framework in farm animals.

BULL SALES. (By “Practical") l rne time for purchasing sires for the dairy herd is now at hand, and in the round of farm economy it cannot be too greatly emphasised that the present conditions demand that farmers should not miss the opportunity to secure animals of good constitution and proved milking pedigrees. The scrub bull is too muoh in evidence, and despite the abundant proofs of his utter incapacity and his injurious effect upon the future butter-fat production of the herd, farmers yet apparently are palpably indifferent to the losses accruing to them through neglecting to secure good proved sires. There are two ways of improving the standard production of the herd. Firstly, cows with large , butter-fat yields may be purchased ind by this method a herd may be built up at considerable Secondly, by using a pedigree bull with the grade cows of the herd, the resulting heifer calves will be in general better producers than their dams, and so gradually and inexpensively a prolific herd may be built up. The oost of a pedigree bull may appear formidable, but bearing in mind that the bull is more than half the herd, this initial expense means saving in the long run. At the forthcoming bull sales every farmer is urged to practise this all-important measure of farm economy by buying the best possible bull he can afford. Thus the day may not be far distant when overseas visitors writ no longer deprecate the poor quality of the herds seen grazing on our splendid pastures, and when we will be able to raise our average cow’s production of butter-fat from 1601 b per annum to the Danish level of between 3001 b and 4001 b.

. VALUE OF PEDIGREE. Hoard’s Dairyman says: Since the middle of the eighteenth century leading live stock men have systematically endeavoured 1 to improve the ordinary and inferior classes of live stock by adhering to fundamental principles of selection, feeding and management. As a result of their efforts modern improved types and breeds of farm animals have been produced. In the process of this development the best animals gained recognition and were registered for the purpose of recording their breeding, and naturally they became classified as “purebred.” In this improvement there has been a noticeable reduction in the time required for reaching maturity; a more economical growth and production, and a quality of product that was superior to unimproved types. 1 Only second to superior purebred animals are high-grade animals possessing 50 per cent or more of the blood of purebreds. In many Instances to-day it is often difficult to distinguish between classes of animals of the various types and .breeds. But it should be remembered that to the purebred live stock industry we owe the success of high grade animals. Of oourse it must be admitted that for ordinary farm purposes and for the production of meat, milk, wool and labour, grade animals—resulting from the use of most excellent purebred sires and good methods' of selection and rearing—serve the farmer practically as well as a class of purebred animals. There can be no sound policy for marketing purebred live stock without first having a superior class of purebred animals. Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon their being of superior merit. They must first of all be superior in those qualities for which live stock is primarily bred and produced; namely, the production of meat, milk, wool and latmur, as the case may be. Purebred animals which lack these qualities are degenerate and oftentimes are inferior to the common non-purebred classes of live stock.

Besides possessing the essential qualities for which all live stock is primarily bred, purebred animals must possess a line of breeding which will insure to the greatest degree of certainty the reproduction of most desirable qualitiesxin each rising generation of animals. Pedigrees record such lines of breeding. The recorded lines of breeding by means of the registration of purebred animals constitute the chief distinction between purebred and high grade animals. Too much care cannot be taken in the selection of animals representing the best lines of breeding, and in recording such pedigrees so that they may be easily and intelligently interpreted. Every individual animal Is but a part of many animals which combine to make up the different lines of breeding or ancestry. -,The character and quality of the most immediate ancestors will exert the greatest influence and largely determine the excellence of the offspring.

Pedigrees are valuable only to the extent that they can be interpreted. A most valuable pudigree would include only animals of superior merit. In such pedgrees there would be an absence of animals of inferior type. True stockmen are therefore responsible and necessary for making reliable pedigrees. Such pedigrees of animals represent the work of men who have been most reliable and whose judgment in live stock affairs is recognised to be the best.

TOPS AND NOILS. WHAT DO THEY MEAN? Woolbrokers and wool buyers now use the “counts” in describing wool, and we have 36’s, 40’s, 44’s, 46’s, 48’s, and so on, and yet It is certain that a good many men who have been accustomed to sheep and wool all their lives know very little, if anything, about the real meaning of the term “tops." Bradford tops arc quoted in the cable'messages every week, and comparatively few farmers know what •it means. The general definition of a \ Nested spinning count is “as many s(i.\yards as can be spun out of one pound of wool are taken as the spinning of that particular wool.” Even this definition is not sufficiently explicit, for there is greasy wool and scoured wool. If greasy wool is assumed, then one has to remember that in the process of scouring greasv wool shrinks about 50 per cent in weight, and if scoured wool is assumed, then it has to be remembered that there is about 10 per cent to 20 per cent of “noil," and a certain quantity of seed and burr, which would detract from the spinning capacity. The true meaning of the term “50’s or 60’s tops" may be staled thus: “As many 560 yards\ as can be spun out of one pound of top or combed wool represents the counts

to whioh that wool can be spun.’ When scoured wool is passed through the combing machine, all the individual fibres are made free, and lie parallel with each "other, and what comes through is called “top” or “silver.” The short knots and loose bits, or weak, mushy fibres which do not come through the comb are the noils. The meaning then of 50’s top is that a pound of the “tops” can be spun into a yarn or thread 50 times 560, or 28,000 yards long.

JOTTINGS. A Walrarapa farmer .who had to take £1 a head for his weaners last year, has just sold this season’s contingent for £2 7s 6d, a good evidence of the improvement even in the beef outlook.

A line of choice grade Jerseys was recently brought to Eureka from the Taranaki district by Mr H. A. Bowers. The line comprised 100 18-months heifers and five pedigree bulls. What must certainly be considered a record in the way of pig-raising in the Stfath-Taieri district has been achieved by Mr Angus M.clvor, of the Railway Hotel, Middlemarch, says the Otago Daily Times, when a seven-months-old pig belonging to him was recently slaughtered, and the dressed weight, was found to be in the vicinity of 3581 b.

A' lot of lucerne is being grown throughout Rangitikei and Manawatu. Even from the train one could see well-established crops. Evidently farmers there are realising, as have Taranaki farmers, the great value of that fodder.

In ten days recently about 50 horses died in Morayshire (Scotland) from grass disease. The outbreak was most virulent in the western areas of the county, where scarcely a farm escaped. In the neighbourhood of Forres horses died at the rate of two and even three or four per day. Lack of serum for inooulation purposes hampered the task of fighting the outbreak, which was causing increasing anxiety amongst farmers.. “They have bred the horns off Shorthorns in America and polled llerefords, are not uncommon,” said Sir Sidney Kidman, the Australian cattle king, in expressing the view that all dairy cattle should be dehorned. He pointed out how the cattle could have been saved from doing themselves injury by dehorning, especially in trucking or In the daily mustering for milking. It was for this reason .that the American breeder had been to such trouble to breed the horns off their cattle, particularly because there was so much trucking for long distances to the packing centres. “Of course I do not practise what I preach," said Sir ‘Sidney genially, “as the labour costs in dehorning great herds would be more than it was worth. But in small and valuable dairy herds the process would be worth while." A New Zealander interested in farming finance, who has just returned i from Europe, relates the following in— 1 cident that occurred in the course of his trip. He said /that New Zealand mutton and lamb were very highly spoken oi) throughout England. It was worth noting that it was ’'always called “prime Canterbury,” the rest of the provinces, or the Dominion itself, getting no credit for their production. He received a strange reply from p French waiter with regard to our frozen meat. “It was very good, but it tasted of wool,” said the Frenchman, ifjut what that meant he failed K> elicit. On the Continent the meat generally was of a wretchedly low quality and very high in price. There should be a great market there for our produce. ..The Commonwealth Dairy Produce Pool Committee, which controlled the Federal butter pools during the seasons 1917-18 to 1920-21, early in March made a final distribution to butter producers in the Commonwealth of £40,000. After that payment was made there was an amount in hand which was set aside to meet expenses that might be incurred until the pools were wound up. It appears that a sum of between £ISOO and £I6OO is still unexpended, and the question has j arisen what should be done with the money. The executive of the old committee, which met in Melbourne last week, decided, as,the amount is far too small to warrant a distribution to dairy farmers, to divide it between the States concerned to be used solely in the interests of producers as .occa-i sion demanded. The executive has not finally decided to what body the money shall bevhanded. j It is not generally known that the j Indians of British Columbia and Alaska : obtain their butter from a fish known to scientists as the oolichan. It is ' froih six to eight inches long, and very ; fat. Every summer this fish comes I from the ocean up the vrivers to j spawn like salmon. Millions are taken j in nets. First, they are thrown into ] rougjj bins made of cedar logs, where they lie for a few days to soften in the sun. Then they are placed in great cedar vats of boiling water, the latter being heated by hot stones which are dropped into them. This ; primitive method of heating has been found to produce better butter than : when the fish are boiled in the more j orthodox fashion. As the oil rises to i the top it is skimmed off. It hardens quickly, and has the appearance of lard. Beautifully white, it is not easy to detect it from butter, there being not the slightest odour of fish about it. The Indians pack it in watertightcedar boxes, making enough of this fish butter during the,summer months to last them throughout the year.