£400 A YEAR FROM 80 ACRES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 601, 1 September 1909, Page 10

£400 A YEAR FROM 80 ACRES.

HOW A WAIKATO MAN DOES IT. "What is the, secret of ..your success?" asked a writer in' ''The Pastoriilists'in talking to a .Waikato farmer .who is making £400 a ycar; : , on 80 acres. . . • . . •"The beginning, the middle, and tho ! end of it," answered' tho farmer, "is economy, aud hard work; Nowadays it is ' all''talk and write, and not enough work. ' People pay away when they ought to bo saving money. Sometimes,", lie 'continued,'"l thinkam very rich','but it is. all imagination. When I came here, miinj;. years ago, this land was "covered withti-tree, „ ; iiax, and ivater. jN'ow the Government values it at £31 per acre. Isut ono takes out of the land very little'money. -.Suppose I do weil out of dairying,one year, tlio money is required next year for draining. . There is always "plenty to'do. During my first years on tnis placo 1 'have 'sometimes goue out at night and cleared, land after a day's .work." - I'ou havo had' very good results, I be-' Hove?

"Yes, pretty fair. Good results ,como .from'.' keeping the manure going; That has been ono of tho principal causos of'Waikato going, ahead. 'Many farmers tako up too much land, and so cannot work -it enough. If they spread out £5 worth.of manure over a large area they can hardly see what it has done. I work all my land thoroughly, and manure it constantly." Speaking of some magnificent crops of "Sinclair's Champion" cattle carrots" and swedes, the farmer said: "That is all through plenty of working, and keeping" the horsehoo going to kill tho weeds." . -

A Six-Foot Crop of Kale, "What do you think of that kale?" he then asked. Only ■ one • answer could be given to this question—it was magnificent. Much of the crop was over 6ft. in 'height (by measurement). Kale is a now. winter feed to Waikato, and the farmer declared it was the best fodder he knew of for milking cows. Theso animals, also, were very fond of it. "Swedes are splendid winter feed for everything but milking cows," ho said. "Pigs, sheep, store cattle,'and horses; all do well upon them; but tboy taint milk. Before trying tho kale, this season, -I believed in the swedes for all-round feeding: but now for milking cows I have- pinned my faith to the. kale. .We use the horse hoe freely for maize,, potatoes, swedes, and Indeed, one could not farm successfully on a small area .without it. People call this intensivo farming; hut I call it 'hard-work .farming.' But wo don't farm -in New Zealand—we simply, buy and: sell. Farms are • always being chopped - and changed from pne to another, each man trying to let tho other fellow in. It is simply a test as to who can mako money easiest!" How the £400 is Made Up. 1 Asked how tho £400, was made up, ho gavo theso figures: An average of about £10 por year was. taken from each cow. (Most Waikato herds yield-only £S.) ' His crops this year wcro very fair all through. Hay wont 2 tons to tho aero; wheat, 30 bushels, to the aero; oaten chaff,-2 tons; potatoes,! 3 tons; mangolds, 40 tons; carrots,'2s'tons; swedes, 40 tons. "Wo'aro constantly selling something—produce of somo kind," ho -said, "so money is always circulating with us." The ;fnrm carried thirty milch cows, about - twelve store cattle, six horses, and fifty sheep. Its carrying "capacity, I was told, varied somewhat; but that was tho total it bore in tho beginning of June. •"This result," concluded the fnnner, .embracing . tho well-tilled farm with a . sweep of his hand,, "is the work of years.' It w'ris all dono, by my family and myself.. I couldnot have atfpidod.to pay outsido labour. You see those sn'id, pointing, to a.pilo of tho'small"tilo variety. "Nearly;..all in?,

land is honeycombed underneath with them. That is where the money goes. Tho only way to get a place' in order is to keep working at it. Kach year it must be cultivated a little .more."