PLOUGHING THE WAY TO PROFIT

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 46, 17 November 1937, Page 13

PLOUGHING THE WAY TO PROFIT

Good Pastures on Patoka Manuka Land USE OF FERTILISERS Ihe piough and super-— this combdnation transfonned poor secondclass hill-country at Patoka into wintering four ewes to tlie acre where a sheep to two acres would previously have starved. This remarkable achievemcnt has been made by Mr. Peter Halliday, who has converted dease manuka hillcountry into an excellent pasture upon which sheep are thriving. Mr. Halliday states that with the application of the plough and super a fufcure awaits much of the secondclass country in Hawke's Bay that to-day is little rOalised. Last wintered on. 400 acres so dealt with. Mr. Halliday carried 1800 ewes. With super he regards the use of liae as essential and tlxe application of a bag of each to the acre has led to his splendid results, which have amazed many farmers who have carried on their holdings without making any attempt at breaking them in. The hinterland of Hawke's Bay offers tremendous possibilities in increased production by the application of this combination, in which the use of the plough, Mr. Halliday states, is of paxamount importance. Mr. Halliday is so encouraged by the success of his past efforts that he has already put the plough into 80 acres this season and he intends to break in a further 150 acres. Sowing, following clearing and burningj Mr. Halliday finds of little awail and contends that without the plough xnuch .of the other woik goes for nothing. Splendid Orops. Wifh the use of a tractor he haa put the plough into quite diffLcult hillsijdes where it . would be almost impossible to work a team. No difficulty has Oeen occasioned in burying the light manuka, and, working down ready, crops of turnips or rape or pasture establish quickly. The foliage of the crops is luxuriant and, with the prolific growth4 splendid feeding is made available. After the plough, subterraneau clover sown at four pounds of seed to the acre has established well, giving good feeding in the pasture. The splendid condition of Mr. Halliday 's flock, is -a fine tribute to breaking-ia country by this means. His ewe hoggets, which wintered in exceptional order, are of the bold, healthy, and vigorous* type which are so keenly sought after in Hawke's Bay. Mr. Halliday considers that the value of lime is much under-estimated and he had found that^ without it, his country . did not xeeeive the full value of the super. He strongly disagreed with aiiithorities who did not advocate tne use of dime, which he had found was a contributing faetor in the sound and healthy condition of his flock. Work — And Plenty of It. > "Breaking-in country in this way means work and plenty of it," said Mr Halliday. "It cannot be done on a forty-hour week. Once the tractor starts it has got to be kept going in oraer that the maximum use can be made of the time. If anyone is afraid of hard work it is little use him trying to break his farm in by this means as he will get nowhere. It is true that we have got results, but we have had to work for them and hard at that, but t has been worth it," A look over Mr. Halliday's farm is sufficient to fully bear out the great amount of work that ha.d been put into it and its splendid appearance is a tribute td what can be aehieved. Other settlers in the district are now doing likewise and in the near future many thousands of acres in the Patoka area will be converted from manuka grow--ing waste-lands into profitable pastures, enabling farming to be carried on to a degree of intensity much above that hitherto attempted. } Purther instances of pimilar good work aehieved are to be seen on Patoka and Hendley stations and on "The Gorges" Hawkeston. The excellent condition ?f the drafts of sheep off these properties in the yards at Stortf ord Lodge has shown the worth of breaking-in the country. Manuka to-day holds sway over thousands of acres of ploughable country, but with the inroads that the plough is making a vast ehange will be effect- • ed within a few years.