ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 16, 26 April 1923, Page 51

ON THE LAND

MARKET REPORTS. At Burnside last ■week 262 head of fat cattle were yarded. Prices were about 10s per head higher than on the preceding week. Heavy bullocks brought to £l3 7s 6d, good bullocks £8 to £lO 15s, best heifers £5 5s to £B, cows £3 10s to £5 ss. Fat Sheep.—There were 2837 head offered, the bulk of which were ewes, very few heavy wethers being yarded. Prices for best wethers were Is better than on the previous week, while lighter wethers and ewes realised about the same. Extra prime heavy wethers realised up to 47s 6d, heavy 36s to 425, medium 25s 6d to 30s, extra, heavy ewes to 35s 9d, good ewes 23s to 275, medium 16s to 18s 6d. Fat Lambs.lo22 head were yarded, including several pens of very good quality. Prices were a shade firmer than on the preceding week. Heavy lambs brought to 36s 6d, good lambs from 31s to 34s 6d, light-weights from 24s to 28s. Fat Pigs. —There was a good demand for all classes of pigs, but prices were easier to the extent of 5s per head both for prime baconers and porkers. There was a full entry, comprising 197 fats and 45 slips. Prime baconers realised up to 7d and prime porkers up to 8d per lb.

At Addington market last week there were fairly big yardings in all sections, and values, except for fat lambs, were inclined to be easier, particularly for old ewes. Fat Lambs. —About 4000 penned. A slightly brighter sale for good lambs. Medium and inferior were unaltered. Exporters’ values 9*d per lb, extra prime lambs 32s to 33s Id, a few special 44s 6d, prime 28s 9d to -31 s 6d, medium 26s 3d to 28s 6d, light and unfinished 21s to 255. Fat Sheep.A big yarding of whether and prime ewes. Values held up, but medium and light ewes were easier. Exporters operated on the basis of 5-J-d for wethers and to 4|d for ewes. Extra, prime wethers 33s to 365. a special line 38s fid to 50s, prime 29s 3d to 32s 6d, medium 27s to 295, light 23s 6d to 26s 6d, extra prime ewes to 325, prime 25s to 28s, medium 22s to 24s 9d, light and unfinished 17s fid to 21s, old 15s 6d to 17s 3d. Fat Cattle. — 475 yarded, including more good beef. There was a slightly easier demand. Extra prime beef 27s to 28s per 1001 b, a few special to 30s, medium beef 23s to 265, unfinished 15s to 20s. Extra prime bullocks £l4 to £l6, prime £lO 10s to £l3, medium £7 5s to £lO, light £5 os to £7 7s 6d, extra prime heifers to £9, prime £6 to £7 15s, ordinary £3 15s to £5 15s, extra prime cows to £9 7s, ordinary £5 10s to £7 10s. Vealers. — Owing to an over supply the sal© was a dragging one. Good runners to £4 12s 6d, ordinary vealers £3 10s to £4 ss, small calves from 6s upwards. Fat Pigs.—A bigger yarding and a slightly keener demand. Choppers £2 to. £5, light baconers £3 5s to £3 10s, heavy £3 15s to £4 5s (average price per lb 61 d to 6-Jd), light porkers 40s to 47s 6d, heavy 50s to 59s (average price per lb 7*d to 8d). SOIL ACIDITY. Every farmer knows that the presence of acidity in a soil is injurious to almost all crops. It gives rise to several well-known plant diseases in turnips, it hinders the growth of sweet, rich herbage, and there are some plants, for instance lucerne, that definitely refuse to grow in acid soils. The principal causes of this pernicious condition in the soil are attributed to: Absence of draining, decomposition of too great a supply of organic matter leading to production of organic acids, continued application of acid fertilisers without the corrective action of lime, fermentation of green crops ploughed under. The correctives are simple. Drainage is essential if the land is water-logged, and the application of lime in one form or another is the sovereign remedy. It neutralises sourness and prevents the formation of poisonous compounds in*the soil. It prevents fungoid diseases, and in pasture land promotes the growth of the more nutritious herbage.

VALUE OF ROOTS AS FOOD FOR STOCK. The value of roots has often been criticised on account of the amount of water they contain, but nevertheless they are regarded by practical men as one of the principal foodf for stock; they form the basis of winter feeding, and a farmer who has a plentiful supply may consider himself in a fortunate position, because upon this supply depends in a great measure the capability of the farm to support a good head of winter stock. Although roots do certainly contain a large percentage of water, between 80 and 90 per cent., their solid matter is of a high order and is all digestible. They are especially suitable for feeding with hay, straw, and dry fodder. Turnips and straw or hay go well together ; they form a basis for fattening foods, being easily enriched by additions of meal and cake. When heavy crons are produced, they are a cheap food which can be utilised to good purpose. WWWiTO GROW TOMATOES. A Homo journal gives the following in reference to the cultivation of tomatoes: Sowing the Seed. —A pan or shallow box should be made clean, and be drained, with a layer of broken crocks surmounted by a layer of leaves. The pan may then be filled to within an inch of the top with finely-sifted soil, made up of equal proportions of loam, leaf soil, and sand. No manure should be added to this or any subsequent preparation of soil until the plants have formed their first truss of fruit. On the surface being firmed and levelled the seeds may be placed at an inch apart, and should then be covered with a thin layer of finely-sifted sand, pressed down with a piece of flat wood. After a good watering the pan should be placed in a. temperature of 55 to 60 degrees, and covered with a sheet of, paper. The seedlings should be peeping through the soil within a fortnight. Further Stages of Growth and Treatment—At this stage the covering should be removed and the pan placed in a light position not too far from the glass, else the stems will become long and the plants weak. The plants must be carefully watered through a fine rose on the can, and will bo ready for removal from the seed pan when the first rough leaves have nicely developed, and when the young' plants show a tendency to become crowded. At this stage some growers move the plants singly to small, pots. I do not care to advise this plan, because my experience tells me that amateurs often have failures in this way, due to inefficient watering. A safer plan is to prick off the young seedlings at about two inches apart in a box about 4 inches deep, and to move them to 3-inch pots when they again tend to crowd. From the 3to the 5 or 6-inch pot will be all the removal necessary until they are finally planted out or potted up. .

At every removal the plants should be buried up to the base of their lowest leaves, and at all times they should be kept fairly close to the glass, have plenty of light, not too much heat, and an endeavor be made to keep the foliage a dark green.

The Catholic Apostolate among the heathen is carried on by 12,377 priests, of whom 4541 are native priests. They are assisted by 3200 Brothers, 19,373 nuns,- and 35,263 teachers and catechists. In the mission field there are 25,591 schools with 1,093,406 pupils. In the Mill Hill Missions during 1921 the Catholic population was estimated at 382,964, ministered to by 234 priests.