Farm Practice and Management

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 65, Issue 6, 15 December 1942, Page 357

Farm Practice and Management

Topdressing on the Coromandel Peninsula

STRETCHING from a line through Paeroa in the south to Port Jackson at the northernmost point, the Coromandel Peninsula consists of fairly broken country, much of which still retains its original heavy bush covering. In parts, however, this bush has been milled and cleared away to make room for agricultural pursuits. Farming activities have been confined mainly to the raising of store cattle and sheep rather than fattening. This has been dictated largely because of the broken nature of much of this country. In certain localities, however, belts of reasonably' easy country are to be found where dairying and a certain amount of topping-off can be practised. On such areas topdressing has been carried out on a modified scale, and with results of a highly beneficial nature. Transport Difficulties The difficulties associated with such work on this country are, unfortunately, numerous and considerable. For instance, in the absence of rail beyond Thames, all fertiliser has to be taken from the railhead by lorry. In many cases it has to be handled a third time by horse-drawn vehicles in transporting it from main roads to farms, and the farmer concerned is perhaps fortunate if he is not then faced with the necessity to pack it out a few miles along tracks to the areas where it is to be applied. Where fertiliser arrives by . boat the farm wagon and pack

horse must still be brought into action in order to deliver the material where it is required. This problem, in itself, is serious enough where a straight fertiliser such as superphosphate or basic slag is concerned; but, when one remembers that lime also is very desirable on much of this country in order to make phosphates more efficient, it will be quite apparent that adequate topdressing under a lime-phosphate programme becomes quite uneconomic. Results of Trials Fortunately, however, trials on this country have shown quite conclusively that serpentine super is well suited to this land. Dressings applied at the same rate as straight super have shown distinct improvements in, pasture over the latter. In fact, even where heavy dressings of lime have accompanied the super the serpentine super areas have compared very favourably with them. ' , This fact should be noted by farmers on the Peninsula, as it means that their transport costs are considerably reduced by using serpentine super in-

stead of super-lime. Furthermore, under rationing they get 27 cwt. of this fertiliser for every ton of super to which they are entitled. Consequently they can obtain a better farm coverage with the manure available. Conclusions Trials have been fairly widespread over this area, but none show an adverse result through using, serpentine super. It could thus be taken as a fairly reliable guide that any ; country, which previously responded well to a lime-super dressing, will react at least equally as well ,to the serpentine super mixture; and in view of the great reduction that this will mean in transport costs together with the saving in petrol, tyres, manpower and, rail haulage, farmers would be materially contributing towards the war effort as well as improving the efficiency of their topdressing if they would use more serpentine super and less superlime on this class of country.

—C. WALKER,

Instructor in

Agriculture, Thames.

Sowing of Grass With Turnips

AN instance of the effect of a crop of white turnips on the establishment of permanent pasture sown at the same time has been' observed on light land on the Waimea Plains of Southland. ' The whole paddock had been sown to turnips and grass except for a drill strip through the centre, which had been sown to grass only. When first seen in the November (approximately twelve months after sowing) the turnips on half the area had been grazed some considerable time previously while the other half had not been . grazed at all but had been saved for a seed crop, .and was

in full flower. The accompanying photographs show very graphically (1) the relative pasture establishment as affected by a crop of turnips intended for feeding, and (2) the effect on pasture establishment of non-grazing for a period of twelve months after sowing. The area was again seen in the winter following, when the bare patches seen in the photographs had filled up somewhat (mostly with weeds) but the pasture was still very inferior where the turnips had been sown as a cover crop.

—J. H. CLARIDGE,

Seed Certi-

fication Officer, Wellington.

Pig Industry Broadcasts.

TJNDER the auspices of the District Pig Councils concerned broadcasts will be delivered in January as follows: IYA, Auckland, January 21, 7.15 p.m. —“Breeding Programme, or Fitting Pigs to the Feed Supply,” by Norman Carter, Supervisor, Bay of Plenty District Pig Council. YA, Wellington, January 19, 8.30 p.m.—“Equipment That Makes PigKeeping Easy,” by C. H. M. Sorensen, Supervisor, Taranaki District Pig Council. 3YA, Christchurch, January 21,. 7.15 p.m.—“Carcase Quality,” by H. Mclntosh, Supervisor, District Pig Council. 2YH, Napier, January 12, 7.30 p.m.— “Common Ailments,” by I. H. Owtram, Supervisor, Tairawhiti District Pig Council.

An Ingenious Water Supply System

rpHE farm of'Mr. C. Y. B. Sewell, Silverdale, like many farms in the north is not naturally endowed with a plentiful supply of water, and although a portion of the property is bounded by a creek, the cost of pumping and reticulation under present conditions makes water from this source somewhat expensive. Under these circumstances, Mr. Sewell decided to explore alternative possibilities, and with this end in view he turned his attention to a small soggy patch from which he had noticed that a trickle of water continually oozed out after wet weather. 1 Unfortunately, though capable of providing an appreciable supply in wet weather, the tiny spring failed on the approach of dry weather. However, although the flow had completely ceased, a careful investigation showed

abundance of water a few feet below the surface, even in dry weather. The problem then was to get this water to the surface without the necessity "for pumping or expensive plant. As will be seen from the illustrations the solution proved extremely simple. Taking advantage of the natural fall of the ground, Mr. Sewell conceived the idea of siphoning the water to troughs placed further down

the slope. This was simply and ingeniously done by sinking a hole about five inches in diameter to a depth of about six feet and inserting about five feet of 4-inch piping to serve as casing. The siphon itself consists of about five feet of vertical f-inch pipe let into the casing and connected to about 60 feet of piping leading to the trough. To start the siphon, the lower end of the pipe was plugged and water poured in from the top end till the pipe was full. The top end was then inverted into the casing so as to dip well into the water at the bottom. When the plug was removed at the trough end, the water immediately began to flow and has since continued to provide a very welcome contribution to the farm water supply.

—P. S. SYME,

Instructor in

Agriculture, Warkworth.

Potato Planting by Plough

T)L ANTING potatoes by plough along the furrow is quite a common practice. The accompanying illustration shows a built-up hopper over a three furrow tractor-drawn plough, behind which the planter .is seated. The tractor is driven slowly while the planter drops the sets down a chute

and these are covered by the centre furrow slice. In this instance the planted rows were pegged off and fertiliser was later drilled above the sets with a standard grain drill, appropriate coulters being blocked. By the above method the arduous work of potato planting was considerably speeded up by this grower.

Instructor in

Agriculture, Nelson.

Northlsland Lambing Estimates. TNFORMATION supplied by Inspectors of Stock shows that the average rate of lambing for the current season in North Island flocks is estimated at 89.95 per cent., compared with 90.74 per cent, in 1941. This estimate is not as accurate as in previous years, the number of breeding ewes being based on 1941 figures, as no figures are available for 1942. Based on the 1941 figure of 11,268,384 breeding ewes, the estimated number of lambs is 10,134,505. Previous estimates have somewhat under-estimated the number of lambs killed, so that it is probable that this total will be exceeded. Dominion estimates by counties, together with South Island estimates, will be published in next month’s issue of the “Journal.”' .

Modern Piggeries.

Better housing, sanitation, and facilities for looking after pigs are among the first improvements that are made with profit on most farms where pigs are kept. Plans and specifications of houses and layouts actually in use in New Zealand are' available in the Department’s free bulletin, “Layout and Construction of Modern Piggeries.”

—D. M. E. MERRY,