FARM SIGHTS ABOUT SANDON.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 554, 8 July 1909, Page 8

FARM SIGHTS ABOUT SANDON.

AND α-word ABOUT MANURES,

In going through the . Sandon district (writes our travelling correspondent) -I noticed many straw stacks, this, I think, showing that ft largo proportion of the oat crop in the locality had been threshed. On making inquiry as to why more chaff had not been cut, I found that, on account of .the present, low price, farmers could not compete' favourably with those who are situated nearer the railway, and oats therefore paid them better. No wonder that chaff is cheap ( when one sees the wonderful amount of grass in the' paddocks. A f arme.r- who does not .crop told me that up till now he has only used one bag of, chaff, whereas by this time last year lie nad used nearly a ton. ■'■' . ...,;; An example of the benefit of the acquisition, of suitable estates when offered by the ownors is the Ohakea Settlement, between Sandon and, Bulls. There is some excellent land in the'block, and of course some not quite so good, but the sections' near the Rarigitikei River are as good' dairying land as anyone could desire. The men who drew the:lucky marble have dono' well on . their holdings: Aβ an instance of this/one'man told me that ho had taken over seven hundred pounds off seventy acres. Most of them, ■have installed milking machines, and are entirely satisfied with them. They state that,' compared with hand-milking, it is a different occupation altogether. For-one thing,-the sheds aro always in a much, cleaner state, and another consideration' is' that the cows' seem. to take to the machines with no trouble—no kicking or "playing iip"—and of course the great thing is that milking machines make a big saving in the item of labour. _ Apropos-of manuring and how it pays, I saw in this district a patch of mangolds which had been' sown on newly broken up bush land. The -farmer' who had sown them considered that the land was rich enough, but his crop was very indifferent—hardly a mangold appearing bigger than a decent carrot. On the other hand, I -had seen a few days previously, a bit higher up across the river, a crop which had been grown with'judicious manuring.' The result was as magnificent a crop as , anyone, could wish to see. I.ihave no. doubt 'that each of these soils was'.as good as'the other, but the application of a fertiliser had made all the difference. And that is what we should look at fairly. It is not good business to be content with a seven or ten ton crop.when it is easily possiblo to get one'of from fifty to seventy tons. .