ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, 21 April 1921, Page 43

ON THE LAND

•; MARKET REPORTS. \ At Burnside last week, there was a medium ..yarding of 184 head of fat cattle, of which a fair proportion were good prime stock. The market opened fairly brisk on a par with that of the previous week, but as-the sale progressed prices eased somewhat, and as 5 ; vendors' reserves were not reached a number were" passed in. Extra prime bullocks realised from £l7 to £22; prime from £l4 to £l6 10s, medium from £9 upwards, extra prime heavy cows and heifers made from £13,10s to £ls, prime from £lO to £l2 10s, ! lighter from £7 upwards. Fat Sheep.—A fair yarding, numbering 2934 —a very mixed quality of wethers and ewes. Prices were easier by about Is. all over than on the preceding week. Extra prime wethers sold up to 27s 3d, prime 20s to 255, medium, from 15s to '2os, light and unfinished from 12s 6d upwards, extra prime ewes up to 26s 9d, prime to 18s 3d, medium 12s 6d to 15s, light and inferior from 12s upwards. Lambs. —There was a small yarding of 986, only a portion being heavy and of finished quality. Consequently prices were if anything higher than on the previous week, and one or two exceptional pens made extra good money. Extra prime and heavy sold up to 29s 6d, prime 17s to 20s, medium lis to 15s, light and unfinished 8s upwards. Pigs.—A fair yarding, consisting mostly of baconers. The demand was good, and sales were effected at slightly enhanced values, or about 5s per head "in advance of late rates. There were big yardings in all classes of stock . at Addington last week. The downward trend appeared to be arrested in all sections, excepting beef, which sold weakly. Fat Lambs.42oo penned. A shade better tone. Heavy-weight lambs brought s|d, lighter 5-4-d to 5-£d, extra prime lambs up to 265, prime 18s 6d to 20s 9d, medium 16s to 18s 3d, light and unfinished 12s 3d to 15s 9d. Fat Sheep. Ten races were penned, the biggest for some months., Butchers' wethers were down, but.freezing buyers operated more freely for lighter mutton, and strengthened the values for such slightly. Extra prime wethers up to 245, prime 19s 6d to 235, medium 16s 3d to 19s 3d, inferior12s Id to 15s 9d, prime ewes 15s 9d to 17s lOd, medium 13s to 15s 6d, light 10s to 12s 9d, light and unfinished 5s to 9s. Fat Cattle. —All classes were easier in price, values receding about 20s per head. The bulk of the beef sold at 22s 6d to 27s 6d per 1001 b, the primest to 335.' Extra prime steers up to £lB 17s 6d, prime £l3 10s to £l6 ss, medium £8 10s to £l2 10s, light and unfinished £4 5s to £7 15s, extra prime heifers £l3, prime £7 to £lO 10s, medium and inferior £4 7s 6d to £6 10s, prime cows £6 5s to £9, medium and inferior £3 7s 6d to £5 17s 6d. Vealers. —A big yarding and a lifeless demand. The top price for runners was £5. Fat Pigs.—A shade better demand. Choppers £4 to £6 10s, light baconers £4 15s to £5 10s, heavy £6 to" £6 ss, extra heavy up to £6 10s (average price per lb 8d to 8£d); heavy porkers £3 J 5s to £4 -10 s (average price per lb 9|d to 10id). . POTATO FLOUR. -The production of potato flour is a big industry iiiHolland; there is an important export trade in it. The results for 1919 were not unsatisfactory, and the quantity of potatoes milled reached the pre-war average. Milk and dairy produce factories have again become busy. '"■' The output which had steadily declined during the war owing to shortage of oilcake and fertilisers and the decrease of the cattle stock, recovered surprisingly quickly, and surplus stocks became available for export towards the middle of the year, when, however, the continued falling in the exchanges made such exports more and more difficult. /Ws-i ' ' American competition, moreover, cut prices consider- , ably, and where stocks of cheese amounting to 25,000 tons and of butter amounting to about 5000 tons were said to be held at the end of the year, the future was considered far from promising, and - would inevitably affect\agriculture in general. ~: PURE SEED WHEAT: A GOVERNMENT UNDER- ;■ TAKING. ' r;".?"iu ~V It has been a matter of great difficulty (says : the Christchnrch Press) in the past for farmers-to obtain wheat true to type for sowing, and in many cases the seed used : has been • of ant/extremely mixed character J,; with a result that wheat production has suffered materially. .That"! state of things is still generally existent, but for some time the Canterbury 3 Seed ' Growers' | Association has experimented in -the raising of pure seed wheat at Lincoln College, with excellent results.'-" : y '- :^^^J^®#.@^i^f*^s«3<s^€|o€ •""'•"'

-'■•"- This season the Department of Agriculture co-operated with the Seed Growers' Association, and arranged r. for the planting of about 12 Canterbury farms, situated l between 'w. Waikari and Oamaru, of pure/Tuscan, Pearl, Velvet Ear, • and Hunters seed raised .at Lincoln College. To ensure the best of conditions and to .prevent, any reence with the accuracy of the test, the Department, also supervised the growing and threshing of these special plantings. The value and possibilities of the undertaking are indicated id a letter which has been received from the owner of a farm in the Rakaia district, who made special sowings of Tuscan and Hunters under the scheme. This farmer re- . ports that the yield for each special variety was exactly 53 bushels to the acre, and the average yield of the whole of his wheat crop, from both seleced and general seed, was over 46 bushels to the acre, a record for the district. • As the average yield of _wheat for Canterbury is expected to be from 28 to 30 bushels per acre this year, and as practically all of it will be from seed not specially selected, it will be seen that the extension of the scheme may result in a material increase in the average yield per acre for Canterbury. For next season the Department of Agriculture hopes to have 10,000 bushels of pure seed wheat for sale to farmers. The price has not yet been decided upon, but will probably be about 2s 3d per bushel more than the milling price of wheat. - > FERTILISERS: THEIR SEASONABLE APPLICATION. Experiments to test "the effectiveness of fertilisers applied at different seasons would probably add some valuable data to the science of manuring. It may be taken for granted that the results from any given fertiliser dressing vary according to the influence exerted by other elements of fertility, such as rainfall, soil temperature, and the'activity of the soil bacteria. The effect of the plant food constituents supplied by fertilisers must therefore bo closely associated with the other factors regulating plant growth. The frequent application of small dressings would probably give the best results on most crops, where soluble fertilisers are available, but this practice has generally been precluded by the high cost of labor and the difficulties entailed in the distribution of small dressings. On the other hand, a full dressing at one time, if applied 10 the growing plants, or put in along with the seed, is liable to induce a very rapid growth of plants 'lacking in cellular strength and vitality, and if this fostered condition should happen to be checked by inclement conditions, then plants readily fall a prey to the ravages of insect pests and plant diseases. It seems rational to suppose that plants thrive best' when they have their food applied in amounts sufficient only for immediate requirements. Fortunately, this can be managed by supplying those fertilisers which are not liable to be washed/out of the soil during the winter season or early spring, preferably after the land has been ploughed. Trials which have already been carried out show that basic slag, mineral phosphates, and bone manures give s better results when given in advance of the planting season. The same applies to potash salts, "French, kainit, sylvinite,' and muriate of potash, which when applied vin winter will give a much larger increase,, although:: : these potash salts can also be used at planting time. Sulphate of potash might also be used much more effectively applied, in winter. It is less soluble than other potash compounds, 'and therefore requires longer time to become dis~. , seminated in the soil, a fact which perhaps accounts for the lighter yields often obtained from sulphate of potash on potatoes and other crops, as compared- with the yields from muriate of potash and French potash salts. Sulphate of ammonia is a fertiliser which, can generally be most " effectively used after the soil bacteria have become active in spring. With regard to the other nitrogenous compounds,, much discretion is necessary to get the full benefit from them at proper seasons. A very, soluble manure./is useful as a stimulant when plants are /suffering' from fa/setback due to disease or other influences, but a/fertiliser" of this kind is liable to be wasted if given at a season- when the plants are unable to absorb it. Many plant .diseases can be traced to irregularities in growth, and often the excessive use of incomplete fertilisers/accounts for these irregularities. : The three essentials, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, must be provided in the proper proportions, and in such a way as to allow of their being gradually ,made available; according to the . requirements .. of the ; .crops.— Farmer's Union Advocate. '". ... " .--/ %i'