ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, 14 April 1921, Page 43

ON THE LAND

a’ . f MARKET REPORTS. V MUfi y.&fiMJt- 1 -..-V■ . . At Burnside last week there was a large yarding of fat ; cattle27B headincluding - a good proportion of prime heavy cattle. The sale opened about 20s easier than on the previous week, and quickly dropped another 10s. r. A . number of cattle . not : reaching owners’ values were turned out unsold. Extra prime bullocks realised from £f7 10s to £2O; prime from £l3 10s to £l6, medium £ll to £l3, lighter from £9, extra prime heavy cows and heifers made 'from £l4 to £ls 15s, prime from £ll to £l4, medium from £8 to £ll, and lighter from £7. Eat Sheep.—A large yarding, numbering 4000, a fair proportion of which were prime heavy - ewes and wethers. ' Prices were easier by from 2s to 3s, but considering the large offering, prices were fairly uniform throughout the sale. A few extra prime wethers sold up to 26s 6d, prime from 20s to ; 225, medium from 16s to 18s, light and unfinished from 11s, extra prime heavy ewes made for a small pen to 27s 6d, prime from 14s to 17s 6d, medium from 12s to 14s, light and inferior from 6s. rat Lambs. large yarding of 2292, but the quality was not as good as usual, and on account of a reduction in ..freezing limits prices declined about 4s per head. Extra \ prime lambs sold to 20s, prime from 15s to- 17s, medium from 12s to 14s, -light and unfinished from Bs. ,Pigs. large yarding, which wasJ eagerly competed for. Both baconers and porkers realised -values equal to about 5s per head 'above previous . week’s rates. V• ' .At Addington last week ' there' was an over supply, which met a further weakened market. Lambs were a shade easier than on the previous week, whilst secondary mutton and all classes of beef was also weaker. - Stored dropped considerably. The lengthy dry spell is commencing to have effect on : supplies, and is influencing big yardings. /. Fat Lambs.—432s were yarded, 75 per cent, more than the preceding week. Freezing buyers secured the bulk of the entry at 5d to ,s|d per lb. Extra prime -f show lambs up to 23s 6d, prime lambs 19s to 225, medium 16s 3d to 18s 9d, light and unfinished 13s to 155,9 d. Fat Sheep.— big yarding. There were low values for ewe mutton, which allowed freezers to buy to some extent, and they secured a fair r: share of - the. lighter, mutton at about 2d per lb and in some -cases a shade over. There was an all-round l drop of .- from Is to Is 6d per head. Extra prime wethers 26s to 28s, ; prime 20s to 23s 9d, medium 16s 9d to 19s ; 6d, , inferior 12s to 16s, prime ewes 15s 9d to 18s Id, medium 12s to , 15s 6d, light ,9s 6d to . 11s 9d, in-.. ferior 5s 3d to 9s. Fat Cattle.-—The market receded .. sbr prime - beef -as well as secondary. . Extra' prime brought up v to 38s per 1001 b, medium to 345, inferior 20s upwards. Prime steers £l4 15s to £l7 17s, 6d, medium £lO 10s to £l4 ss, light and unfinished £5 10s to £9 15s, prime ? heifers £8 to £ 12; medium £5 1 to £7 10s, inferior £3 7s 6d to £4 17s 6d, prime cows , £6 10s to £lO 2s 6d, medium and inferior £3,to £6. - Vealers.—Big supply. There was a drop in values'. Runners up to £4, good vealers £3 2s 6d, medium calves 25s to £2 2s 6d, calves 5s to 20s. Fat Pigs.— V No alteration in values, . -•; - ; ,h • , o ;.v • . ■ - '■ -L - • • . .. I.- WHEAT AFTER MANGELS. ' There is a feeling among many farmers that man- • gels are an exhausting crop, and that when followed ... by wheat the yield of the latter is seriously affected —(says .-a, writer in . Farm, Field, .. and-. Fireside). . This.... may bp; so ?in.s a few exceptional cases, but .on investiI gation it will be found that a low wheat yield- is not I so much due to lack of fertility as to an indifferent -or t badly-prepared seed-bed. > Where the ; mangels can be I got) off foirly dry. and iho land plouglu-l l«foro heavy I rams are. experienced, the land ploughed to^riir’the rains are experienced, it is then possible to drill the seed under favorable conditions. If the ground is fairly retentive . there .. is no ~ question as to the amount of plant food available, but where it is light and : of a sandy nature the wheat will undoubtedly require some feeding. — ==^= ====^ i Tn ■ r ~~■ ii/iyS-fl ! niTflA-

, A very good plan on some of the lighter land is : to mix a little swede seed along with the mangels at ’ the time of drilling, so that by the time the mangels are pulled and carted off v the ground may be run over with sheep, . which, in consuming the swedes, help to . - •- .h -V'lwv'v . 7 r manure and consolidate the ♦ ground. r lf ‘ desired the sheep can he folded in advance of. ploughing and v no doubt this is the best practice, and work can then be proceeded with more systematically. On the heavier soil it would be impossible to attempt folding sheep on the ground at this season- of the year, is there any necessity to do so. : I have seen,rape, and even; turnip seed broadcasted over the mangel ground late in the season, when in a mild autumn it is astonishing how the rape, as well as ' turnips, come away sufficiently well - to provide sheep feed. There is no need, of course, to remove every ;; mangel off the ground, as if the smaller ones are - left these will help towards any deficiency of other food. / As the season advances it will, of course, be necessary to supplement roots M' 6r3 other green dodder by hay, while lambs intended for fattening will require a little meal or cake in, addition. ; _. r •- , There is always a risk of. over-manuring for wheat, as in these days of expensive labor no one wants the op to become laid, but; on the other hand, it is necessary to produce, if possible, ten to twelve v sacks of wheat per acre, and not a miserable six sacks, which will often result where manuring is neglected or too v much left to chance. In the old days I have known the land to be given a dressing ; of well-rotted manure, even after folding, but .in preferenceVtq ? this 5 to 6: , cwts of slag, or 3 to 4 cwts of superphosphate per acre would be better. ' Mangels favor wheat cultivation, inasmuch as they - generally occupy land | which is naturally adapted. to ’ wheat growing, and, they can usually be removed in good time, while the previous deep cultivation and manuring for the mangels are conducive to the . successful cultivation of wheat. Where land has been f c folded to sheep, it is not advisable to plough it mote than 4or sin deep, after which it should-be well crostharrowed before drilling, although, if it falls to pieces ; under the digging plough there may be no necessity for any harrowing, merely drilling at right angles to the furrows and firmly harrowing in the seed. ' I On ..some of the heavier land where the newlyturned furrows are liable- to become greasy, ' the sowing of the seed ■ may be performed as -the work proceeds, which is best effected by ploughing just - that amount of land which can be sown and harrowed before,the close ..of..the., day. In such cases the seed V may be more conveniently broadcasted, and especially ’ ‘ where" a good seed-bed has been produced by careful I ; ploughing. . ' - J■ : I h Where a large area of heavy land is broken down 1, there is always a risk of heavy rains causing the whole J r to become badly water-logged, with the result that -a® . . good season of sowing may be lost. The soil becomes sticky and greasy, in' which' condition the tines of ..the i. ; ’ harrows cut grooves ; instead ? of producing }a uniform - . tilth. . .usbqeD I. j I