On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 19 November 1914, Page 53

On the Land

| GENERAL. . Many farmers in Denmark have 25 per cent, of their land in alfalfa and 25 per cent, in roots. This explains to a great extent the large stock maintained there on small farms. Large areas are being planted to potatoes in Tasmania in anticipation of a shortage in the mainland States, but the continued dry weather has caused a curtailment of the area under barley. An increased area has been sown with varieties of spring wheat. Among the 113 people who visited Moumahaki Experimental Farm last month was Professor Rutherford, the famous New Zealand scientist, who was accompanied by several of the leading farmers of Taranaki. They all spoke highly of the work being done for agriculture at Moumahaki. Sheep have been turned on to several crops of oats in various parts of South Canterbury (says the Timaru Post). The oats had, owing to the long dry spell, matured too early, heads being on stalks that are not more than nine . inches long. It is rich feed for sheep, but, no doubt, will result in loss to the farmers. There is need for the more extensive testing of the Soya bean. Small quantities of seed and inoculated soil will be supplied from the Moumahaki Experimental Farm to a limited number of farmers who will undertake to record the effect of inoculation. The Soya bean is hardier than the cow-pea, and is most desirable for fodder and for soil-treatment. If a farmer is offered a bullock or a horse at an exceptionally low price, he naturally examines the animal with unusual care, suspecting that the low price must be due to some fault in the animal, but when it comes to manures many farmers seem to act differently, and to buy just because the price of the article seems cheap., It is stated by a Wairarapa paper that as a number of men who usually undertake shearing work in the Masterton district and other parts of Wairarapa have joined the Expeditionary Force, it is feared that some difficulty will be experienced by farmers and stationholders in obtaining full complements of men this season. For the «■ same reason it is probable that there will be a scarcity of harvest hands throughout the Masterton district in the coming season. ' ‘ The New Zealand farmer is too prosperous to go in for poultry farming,’ said Major Norton during a lecture at Ashburton. * Yet you will be surprised to learn,’ he continued, ‘ that in the United States of America twice as much poultry produce is sold as any other farm produce.’ The speaker referred also to the fruit-growing and honey industries, which were gaining a- big hold in America and in South Australia. It has been found that these two industries were inseparable. Science had proved that the successful fruit-grower must keep bees. ‘ The growth of lucerne (says a writer in the Journal of Agriculture) would appear to depend to a large extent upon the origin of the seed. Those varieties which have been raised under severe climatic conditions exhibit a long, dormant period during the winter months : such varieties include Dryland, Hungarian, and Provence. Those varieties which have been raised, under warmer climatic conditions grow exceedingly well during the winter months: ; such - varieties are y-Peruvian' and Arabian. For general excellence for both winter and summer growth 'the Marlborough and Hunter River varieties are as yet unsurpassed -at Moumahaki Experimental Farm. Fat Cattle.— was a smaller yarding at Burnside last week, only 134 being penned. . Owing to the shorter supply the demand was keen, and the fall of 15s per head recorded the previous week was fully made up at this sale. Heavy-weight bullocks brought to £l7 17s 6d; good, £l4 10s to £l6 10s; medium, £l2 10s to £l3 10s; light, £9 10s to £11; best heifers, to £l4 2s 6d; U ■,'yfc*-‘•SWok.^ 'T.' .k V -v. ... pv- *... -x • .v. .. L.. .... .. •

good,. £lO to £l2 10s; medium, £8 10s to £9 10s; light and aged, £5 5,s to £6 .17s Gd! Fat-Sheep.— Of the 2364 sheep yarded, a considerable number were of excellent quality, and the yarding on the whole" was an improvement on that of the previous week. Although there was a good deipand, the extreme rates ruling at the end of previous week’s sale were not obtainable. Prices this week were about equal to the, opening - rates of last sale, but were Is 6d per head lower than those obtained at the dose of that sale. Extra heavy-weight wethers in the wool made 35s to 44s ; prime wethers, 29s to 335; medium, 25s -to 28s; light, 22s to 245; shorn wethers, to 24s 9d; extra prime ewes, to 36s 3d; prime, 27s to 30s; medium, 23s to 255; light, 18s to 21s. Lambs.— B6 were yarded, for which there was a fair demand _at prices about equal to those ruling previous week. Best lambs made from 18s to 22s 6d; medium, 16s to 17s; light, 14s to 15s. Pigs.—The entry consisted of 67 fat and 75 store pigs. With the exception of heavy baconers all classes of nigs declined in value, and in many cases sales were difficult to effect at a decided reduction in price. Heavy baconers met with fair- competition at prices on a par with those ruling previous week, say, 60s to 70s; light baconers at 42s to 555; and porkers at 30s.*to 40s were quite„out of favor, and could be sold, even at these prices, only with difficulty. Slips met a slow sale at 15s to 20s, and suckers at 10s to 13s. / BENEFITS DERIVED FROM LIMING. There is no form of manure, artificial or otherwise, which can wholly make up for a deficiency of lime in our soils, hence the special need for its application to all calcareous, sandy, and peaty soils (says Farm, Field, and Fireside').. On these soils the best results are obtained when applied in a caustic state, as quicklime, and in small quantities at a time. To dress heavily with caustic lime has an injurious effect on the necessary nitrifying bacteria in the soil. One has only to study for a little the benefits soils derive from lime -to realise its great value. It sets free and available for the immediate use of plants the fixed potash the soil may contain. It decomposes the particles of humus or vegetable matter in the soil, and sets free the ammonia, water, etc., thus rendering them available for the use of plants. It neutralises organic or poisonous acids in the soil, and thus sweetens it. It fixes the nitrogen formed in the soil, and stores it as available plant food. It is a plant, food in itself. It greatly helps in the formation of silicates or earthy salts, so useful .to all our corn crops, by stiffening and hardening the straw, and rendering it less liable to get hard in storms and heavy rains. It has an undoubted tendency to' make light land'heavy and more retentive, and heavy land light and more easily ‘worked. Summed up in a sentence, lime, from the chemical changes it brings'about in the soil, liberates, many forms of plant food that would not otherwise become available to plants. For example, potash, one of the most -important constituents of plant, food, is of little avail, except in a very small way, where the soil is deficient in lime. It is simply a waste of energy and money to apply potash to a soil deficient of lime. The best results are derived from lime when it is applied to the land frequently and in small quantities, say, from Bcwt to lOcwt per acre, and applied broad-; cast in preparation for any of our grain crops. Seeing lime has a tendency to sink, into the soil, it should be kept as near the surface as possible. Caustic lime may be obtained in a very convenient form as ground lime, and can be applied to the land in a fine state by any of the machines now used for distributing slag or superphosphate. Much, if not all, of the poisonous acids formed in the soil could be avoided by thorough tillage and the judicious use of artificial manures with plenty of lime. Be it noted, the ■ application of quicklime to green crops is not to be recommended, as it should not come in direct contact with dung, guano, or any active nitrogenous manure, which would cause a reaction and a considerable loss of nitrogen. • ' . .