BY-PRODUCTS OF THE FARM

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1726, 28 December 1887, Page 3

BY-PRODUCTS OF THE FARM

The Dipton correspondent of the ••BoothUnd Times " discoursing of agriculture Bays the crops m that locality tre not over promising, especially the whefct cro, • I notice some already shot •n't not over six Inches high. We coald do wlib Eotne of the rain we had m the earlier p«rt of the aeaeoc now. If we do not get come coon the crops trill be exceedingly short. Should we not get a better price for our grain this teison than we are realising for oar dairy prodnoe I fancy those who have the lesser crops will be the greatest gainers. There In little doubt that grain growing on a Urge tcsle Is not »t present remunerative, end If farmers went m leaa exten•iveyfjr such and more mixed farming they would undoubtedly be better oft, Then what is there to prevent them from baring »n tcre or two of orchard and •lio adding an »piary to the lists of their pursuits, both of which might be cultivated at a> small cost if gone into rightjy nt the beginning, and, taking time and cost into consideration, would certainly prove the most profitable part of their business. There is no doubt that to make an orchard of even an acre m. extent and itock it properly with good fall-bearing tree* tight away woald mean a considerable out'ay more than moat of oar far mere could stand. But here we htve farmers of folly ten years' standing In the distric'j and if you take them all round tliere isn't && average of five good fruit tr^es ambngst, them, whereas any man calling himself a farmer ooght to blush at the assumption of the name if he has not intelligence enough to start a good- biz 3d orchard even from the seed, and have it In gocd forwaid condition m such time, let alone an amount of shade and forest tree?, which would not only be useful to hli stock bat give the place a homely appearance and would certainly enhance the valde of hia farm. Of course, I hear tre usual pleas of— c Ch! I'll be dead before they grow ;' o r , ' I hope to make money enough to clear cut of here In lees time, aod the Incoming tenant can do all thli* — forgetting that trees are always In* cr ei sing his wealth, even while he Bleep?, when once they get properly started, and In a few years, instead of haviDg a bare, dwolste looking place, one bas a place he can take an interest m, and In time, Instead of wanting to clear out, he does all he can to stay and go on Improving it Many of late complain of finding It so hard to live now that they really cannot leave off i heir ordinary work even for the •horteßt time to plant either seeds or trees that will not give an immediate return. la common phraeeology— wearing life oat to keep life ia.

' We know that there ia nothing on earth fgaal to American Co.'s Hop Bitters as a ' mily medicine. Look for