FARM NOTES.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 685, 18 November 1921, Page 5

FARM NOTES.

BIG BULLOCKS.

In the maUter of big bullocks New Zealand apparently can hold its own. Several bullocks have gone from the Dominion ,to Australia for “sideshow” purposes, but the biggest we have yet apparently produced i§ still in this country. Mr G, F. Moore, of Bushy Park, Wanganui, is the owner. Last November the animal weighed 1 36401 b., and, as Mr Moore stajtes,' “he has been kept going ever since, and has improved greatly.” “We hope by next November,” Mr Moore continues, “that he will weigh about 40001bt. He has such a tremendous frame that I think he will make about that mark when finished.”

The North Island bullock’s lecent weight slightly exceeds, and his prospective weight very much so, the figures of the Canadian champion, whose progress the papers mention from time ,to time. This animal, “Sir Douglas Haig.” as he has been named, weighs 35701 b, and it is announced that he has “gone on the stage.” The price paid for him for this purpose was 5000 dollars. He is to show at the Ontario fairs, ini eluding the National Exhibition at Toronto, andj, if he proves a success, later to Chicago, and eventually will “go abroad” to Europe. There is something irresistibly attractive to stockmen- in these big bovines, and it has been stated that at the 1920 Royal Show in Sydney £I7OO was Taken in sixpences for a sight of a massive bullock . showing there on that occasion.

IMPORTANCE OF LIME. Lime performs various offices in the soil, but farmers should be concerned chiefly about only one, and that is destruction of acid and' poisons that make the soil unfriendly to most forms of plant life, including *the clovers, alfalfa, and other legumes. Lime was put into all soil by nature. Large areas were originally very rich in lime. Within the last ten years it has been definitely determined that a large partt of territory has an actual lime deficiency, as measured by its inability to remain alkaline or “sweet.” Many of the noted limestone valley show marked soil acidity. There has been exhaustion of the lime that was in a state available for union with the acids that constantly form in various ways. The area of soil thus deficient grows greater year by year, by this deficiency unless application nl lime in some form is made. When owners of soil that remains rich in .lime do not .accept this statement, no harm results, as their land does not need lime. On £he other hand landowners who do not recognise the r eed of Time that now exists in their soil suffer a loss of income which they would attribute .to other .courses. . WHEN TO CUT LUCERNE. Lucerne failures .a?e occasionally due more to cutting at jthe wrong time than to methods of cultivation, and in all the correspondence that has taken place on the subject this phase, in its bearing on the longevity of a stand, does not appear to have been taken into accounjt. One correspondent implies a time is obviously too,, late. Delaying a cut unduly encourages the risk of the young shoots at (the root of ■ the plant being injured, which plainly would give the plant a set baclu This applies more particularly to row lucerne, but nevertheless has a general application. A test has recently been carried out at the Werribee Research Farm in Victoria to establish the best stage to cut lucerne. Three lots were kept for this purpose and given equal treatment in every respect except in regard to the time of cutting. One plot, was cut before any blooms appeared, the second when one-tenth of the plants were in bloom, and the third when in full bloom. From the “cut before blooming” plot six cuts were obtained in the season ; from the plot cufc when one-tenth in bloom, five cuts, and from the plot cut in full bloom four cuts. The greatest yield was obtained from the plot on which the lucerne was cu,t when one-tenth in bloom. The quality of the hay at that stage is good ; but is not so fine as the hay obtained when the lucerne is cat before blooming. As the bloom develop es the lucerne deteriorates in quality, and when in full bloom the stems are coarse and woody and the leaves which contain the bulk of the nutriment are dropping. The higher ash and protein content of the hay when cut before blooming indicates that the lucerne is more nutritious when at that stage. At the same time the lower fibre conten,t as compared with the hay cut in full bloom is an indication of its higher digestibility Last year the total returns per acre from the three plots were —Cut before blooming, 5 tons 4cwt; cut when one-tenth in bloom, 5 tons 8 cwt.,; cut when in full bloom,, 4 tons 14 cwt.