DRAIN PLOUGHING AND LIMING
IN THE RANGITIKEI. It was Bsid some years ago by a gentleman who had not been to Marton for a long time previously, that the Eangitikei country was going to bo remade by the use of the drain plough and lime, writes our travelling correspondent...! As I rode into Marton •. the other day, along the .Onepuhi road, I saw the drain plough at. work on Mr. A. Frederick's farm. ' Some three or four years ago he purchased a second-hand, traction engine, and with it he has drained a considerable area of his land. Ordinarily it takes 12 to M horses to work the drain plough, so thg engine is more economical, and it is more reliable. ' . .
' There is a good deal of iron-stone underlying the Ifarton lands. As a rule, it in below the working of the drain plough, t but when, as sometimes does occur, a stratum is in the way, the job is a difli•cult one to tackle.
On making inquiry from JTr. Frederick, he. told me that the drains iriade by the ■plough last for a good many years. Of coarse, the main thing is to keep tho outlets clear and open. • . Those Marton lands -which have a clay subsoil. lend themselves to successful draining. Of course, a good many of , the Rangitikei farmers are using ordinary ary drain ■ tiles, but that is more expensive, as far. as the first cost is conecrned, than drain ploughing. The'heavy clay lands would be much 'benefited by the .application of- lime. There is ; an increasing .quantity used every, year. . This season' I have heard ef some of the farmers' using the ground onbnrnt lime, and not ordinary burnt lime. Though not so quick in its action on the soil, it is much more lasting. A large part of the country round liarlon is poor grass country, that is, coniyared_ with the bush lands, or alluvial deposits, but it is fine cropping and .root land all the same, and to go through the district at harvest time is a most pleasant experience Eangitikei and the .adjacent'districts across the' river form 'the principal grain area of this part of /the North Island. . ' • '
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Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 881, 29 July 1910, Page 8
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364DRAIN PLOUGHING AND LIMING Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 881, 29 July 1910, Page 8
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