SEWS AND NOTES FOR THE MAN ON THE LAND.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 416, 27 January 1909, Page 5

SEWS AND NOTES FOR THE MAN ON THE LAND.

FIRST STEPS IN FRUITGROWING. TV jft'i'-.rV '' '-v.. BIG ORCHARD OR LITTLE 7 SOMETHING ABOUT INCOMES. IV. V Former. articles ■ discussed the questions of soil, drainage, and varieties— all. with a view to their effect upon a commercial'(even'though perhaps small) orchard. Shall it bea Big Orchard? A - question that will entail. considerablo thought to one about to become an orchardist : is-whether ho shall buy a lot of land or a little. A big orchard involves a large'preliminary outlay of money. Whether it be purchase, or lease wjth right to purchase, the . larger the area the greater will be the necessary outlay, unless the large area. be of._ inferior land or in a less: convenient situation. Convenience of situation, it has already been • is of supremo . importance—a . , situation,-'if• possible,-i from: which the i crop can bo carted to the' sale rooms. But the .- townsman'of the: type to whom' theso articlos first had reference' is usually'not over-bur- ■ dened with money;.and tho selection of arable : suburban land must to him mean the selection of a very small'area.: : , - . ■ , -... A Living on Four Acres. On how small'an area can aman live, corns' fortably? It is .occasionally, remarked by persons acquainted, with Hastings that on four acres of that rich,-, productive, easily-worked ' land an industrious man who loves the smell oftho soil.can make a. comfortablo'livelihood. The distance from the/large': cities- incurs heavy, railage -costs .upon -toe. produce, .yet ■ the balance' suffices-to pay a fair. wage. There are' areas nearer to -Wellington quite as productive to 'fruit culture-, as the . Hastings , plains, and-some of-them are cheaper. The ; Hastings'!fruit-growing:' sections cost- now about £100 per-acre and upwards, in bare grass,'and unless they-can be obtained on & system ; of deferred purchase the first cost us therefore ; necessarily heavy: Few , men will bo content with a plot of four acres on .which ■to'spend the rest'of their lives. They,like to seo scope for-extending.- . Visions of Acrrs. •> ■ The man who dreams of becoming swiftly the greatest orchardist in New. Zealand is a • pretty numerous individual: This is perhaps unfortunate; because already ..there are hun- . dreds of landholders in' New Zealand-.who ai;e ;■ tenaciously ■ clinging-to many -/times /, more acres.than' they are cultivating. They ''bite : off-more than they can chew,", as v tho Americans say. They grasp at the shadowy visions ■ of future greatness, and lose .much' of "tho . substance that,, with less groed,, they.-could - obtain from the; present.;. If .they.would only ' believe it, their : incomes ;w'ould .bo greater with less land,., and' their property would : • have more of assuming an appearance of tidiness: that .would-.,be 1 .bound to apoeal i to them. "-By s licking up'large areas' they i create a>land famine -I :and-incur-the-respon-1 sibility-for.thehigh prices.at which_New :Zea- | land'land.now"stands.- I Much of this.state of affairs'is due to a. mistaken-notion as to the area necessary, to support.-a .family in comfort. It is,tWintensifcyCofthe; cultivation; ; rather ■ than- the - size ■of the holding,that . de-cides:-the ; ;quantitysof.the'-produce.^'Particu-larly is this the: case with fruit-growing; ■ AiCompotenoe on Ten Acres. .No orchardist in - New 'Zealand should : gather from a.nature orchard less-(than £50 worth of fruit per acre.;: If one dedncts 20 ■. per. cent. for. all mopey. ispent' on- cultivation and: marketing, etc., there remains a net balance of £40 per acre for rent or interest and the owner's, labours- total .net,, income on the ten acres .of, £400.' "Whether "this .is a satisfactory competence, or dot depends on the owner's views.. While one man .(and his wifo) would ionsider.it paradise -to have £200 . a year; another would in perpetual ;pow erty .on £400. The average townsman, however, who-dreams of-discarding the discords .- of tho city for the music of nature on -a : fruit farm would; usually be quite content with £400. " . Successes and Failures. : , Again, there are men 'who would be prepared to take off their coats and do unaided ; all the cultural work and box'making, and . milch, of the picking. And. there are others who would refqse'(or submit in misery) to manage a plough or. harrow and who -would ■: either • have :to employ ■ i labour. to do ■ the • rougher work, or let it go undone, both of which courses would be bad.. - Hired men rarely •do the; work so well as the-intelligent .; owner. not able-' to know exactly ■, ,\?hat are the owner's wishes in-regard to the • : little, details, that_ matter- so much, and even when they do their best: intelligently, the. re- . suits, must_ necessarily, leave >something lack--r- ing.'- . for,-example, 'the "'damage;, a ploughman, could,«do: by tho simple act-of ..hanging his coat: over a-branch or an apple ;. tree.;- There ,are some apple .trees which are too worthless to, be injured by such treat- v ment,,but in tho kind of.'orchard to which these , articles are leading :up there would be the equivalent of money ,on every inch of the branch.;-Tor,; every/branch would, be -laden with .brittle fruit spurs on which the owner's iqcome,depends. r lhe branches*of a* properly built appfe tree. should i yield an income of several pence per foot. This would capitalise : into 'a considerable sum. < And it all .'depends.- : . on. the fruit buds—which, the ploughman's . coat/ would,.rub off.. ■ Then, ■ clumsiness with . the. implements, could easily lead to barking, off the main st'ems and open the way-for can-' ker._ ; And.- ae to the havoc that could be ...... WTought by' a hired pruner . It' is too awful.to bo• contemplated. ■■■■''

The Owner Must Work. ■ ~ r^^Gro -- no Gsca po'' from this conclusion '-'iniin,.;whq; , brchardist. .on, extensive lines on ten acres • •••'• do the work. • Can ho manage it it. \yill not ,tho mysteries of ploughing-be insurmountable ? Is pruning complicated and unlearnable? • ■ , . Correct pruning is not difficult l toMearn. Houghing can usually bo ,mastered even by .; a townsman. ■ Although ■ tho: plough :in the teinds: of -, a beginner is . often • a most intractable creature, sticking now its- nose - stubbornly into tho siibsoilj and rapping the ; ; driver's tender ribs, with ;the..handles, and ; then shooting upwards or darting- off at a tangent to right or left despite the desperate struggles - of the, - man at the helm—yet ; ploughing m time becomes easy. There are two-wheeled ploughs and double-furrow .< ploughs which-require less guiding .and run more "true" after the-details of proper Betting have been attended to. Ploughing to : bury weeds, harrowing and other forms of . cultivating to preserve a surface mulch and retain the soil moisture during summer -and pruning to turn tho sap into rich ripe'fruit must • all be learned, and can .all be mastered. The beginner must consult the' Government experts continually, and bo guided by their advice, he must learn all that his neighbours are willing-to tell .him, and ontop of all this be must use his commonsense— the most important item of all. The intending orchardist should i ask' himself can-: didly these two , blunt questions: "Am I lazy?" and " Havo I got commonsense?" If he can truthfully say "No" to-tho first and "Yes" to the second, then he x can go v orcharding. - ' - (To be continued.) MASTERTON A. AND P. SOCIETY'S JUDGES. The following have so • far signified their to act as judges at the forthcom-' ing Mastcrton Show in classes mentioned :— Harness arid - light horses ; ! Messrs. • G. B. (Starkey (Amberloy, -i Christchurch),; R. , E. M'Roe (Hawera). Jerseys and; Ayrshires: Mr. W* V. Harkness (Tariki, Tarariaki). . . Farmers' - sheep: Mr. W. •L. Little (ArgvleEast, Hawko's Bay). ' Fat sheep: Mr. W. Richmond (Turiroa, Hawko's Bay). - -Agricultural .produce: Mr., L. A. Abraham £ (Palmcrrttm North)." -Bread and scones: Mrs. ffm. Pony and. Miss Talbot. • ■; . -

i. ANOTHER WEED kILLER. " WILL COVERNMENT BUY AT £15,000? TEST WILL DECIDE. - The.discovory of a mixture which is claimed to be capable of effectively eradicating Caliif fornian thistle, briar, ragwort, and blaok- - berry, as well as other weeds, will be noted [- with great interest by farmers (states the I. " Poverty Bay Herald'.'). Mr. Thomas Long, < of Matokimatoki,' who has taken, out tho patent' rights of his discovery,- informed a. o ''Herald representative that, his specific, it-; was? under;.offer..'to: tM Government at', the a - present:'time,■ and if it withstood' a .Six. i. months' trial, as ho was confident it would, ho was to "receive £15.000. The eradicator 1 0 will,-it is understood, be submitted.to a .. years' test, to cover a couple of seasons.'.Mr. i--. Long-added that'on hiß property at Matoki-; matoki, he was ablp to show patches .which n , had been-treated two years ago and,wbreito-' a day without, a blado of grass. The cradicap tor, he'saidj' completely .destroyed all vegc- - - table growth , until: the' CTound;;was; tiinied. s over.- ■On November 6 last an experiment waß tried, he added, at Waihirere, 'where; to-, 6 day the patches are as bare as a table. The ~ eradicator, Mr. Long explained, could be Applied egually, effectively at any seaeon, with • ' the. weeds'standing !or cut, and inv24 h6urs' the effect was■ visible. After a-lapse;of.l4 days, Californian. thistle, ■he claimed,-■ could ' be-.pulled out with 6in. or 12in. of-the, roots, the perished and black, whilst a week • j. was sufficient to do the same - with ragwort. 1 The mixture, , the mvontor went onto say, could, be manufactured, verv cheaply—7d„ for ' ?: kerosene -tin of: four ..gallons, and he .was !• m hopes of further reducing the cost of production . ; . ~ _ Mr. Long rcoently obtained his first commission .from .-Mr. Faulkner,-of Muriwai, where:he ■is to receive, 1 £50 . for ' eradicating the -weeds,on a quarter of an acre. Two offers, Mr. Long added in conclusion, had been r®* 1 ceived from privato conoerns for the purchase of his secret,: which,, in fact, 'would-be •more remunerative to' him' than'his offer to the Government, and . he- would:bo quite' satisned to reooive the Department's certificate of approval. - The official test will be wat-checl with considerable infcerest.; - . Other Specifics. v -V There have-.been numerous : weed - killers announced .at various times, and some of them-,have/done all that, was claimed of'them. - The chief difficulty ; is• to find something that w.ill'kill the weeds,-and yet-not kill the succeeding'crop :on the; same ground. '.A most , offcctivo weed killer—a product of gas works, known, as " spent oxide "—is now used near Auokland by sdme:.of the Birkdale.strawberry [ grower6 ; '.';lt is_valuable.there for killing.sprr, rel, which, it is otherwise difficult to cope :with on;;a. permanent strawberry bed. .The i travels und«r-. ground, and soon, covers-a- large area- of , plantation.;.: .The eradication ,by digging ' out r , is; tedious and, of course, ..damages the straw- . berry:-'beds.;' The, • spent 1 oxide, is sprinkled, over-each bit of sorrel. when it is first no- . ticed, _and:'thisvkiUs;. it.:-.and - prevents 1 "it spreading;.,lt '-also :.kiUs-;.-, .:.'Strawben , y plants ,:that.,;ate withiri'-its :influence, : ' but-.it . does not appear, to -travel: laterally; : The spot' at; which'- ( ,the;';. oxide. ;is .spilt vremaih's ! barren, -'^however,and on this ■ account''.'the euro -is-shunned by some - growers -as being . too;',._drastic'.The 1 weeds mentioneS' in con- 1 ' nectipn'with the Poverty Bay specific are. deeper rooters than sorrel, ant! possibly.Mr. ; Long's preparation has advantages over'the spent oxide; • . r .