CARROTS FOR SHEEP-FEEDING.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXVII, Issue 3, 20 September 1923, Page 190

CARROTS FOR SHEEP-FEEDING.

In the Journal for November, 1917 (page 277), the writer referred to carrots as a field-crop for sheep-feeding. Since then, owing to the increasing, difficulty of. growing swedes free of disease, carrot-growing for sheep has considerably extended, in the Wanganui-Taranaki coastal areas. On a farm near Waverley this year 7 acres of a 13-acre field carried 800 breeding-ewes for six weeks, and did them well.- Several field-crops ' have been weighed and have given yields of from 36 to 45 tons per acre. The Guerande carrot mentioned in the previous- note is still considered the best for sheep-feeding.

Several methods of growing have been tested, but the one which appears to give the best results is sowing on ridges 21 in. to 26 in. apart, with seed at the rate of 1 lb. per acre. Thinning is not necessary, but the carrots should be intercultivated a few times by means of the horse-hoe to keep the land free and control weeds. With drills anywhere between 21 in. and 26 m. apart the cultivation is easy. Thinning has been tried, but so long as weeds are controlled it is not considered advisable. These carrots may also be sown on the flat through every coulter of the drill, seeding at the rate of 2 lb. per acre. The ridge method is the best, however, the crop being easier to. clean and feed off.

Farmers who find it difficult to grow swedes and have suitable land for carrots are confidently recommended to give the latter a trial. They should be sown from the middle of November to early December.

— J. W. Deem,

Fields Instructor.