Agricultural and Pastoral.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 63, 16 March 1868, Page 65

Agricultural and Pastoral.

, ‘ MANURING. (From tlie Canterbury Times, 29th February.) One of the most noticeable differences' between English and Colonial farming is, the absence of the necessity for map nuring, in order to secure satisfactory crops which has hitherto existed Here The English farmer’s expenses for ar* tificial manure alone, on anything like a highly farmed estate, would frighten many a colonist. There. is; guano, superphosphate, lime, salt, gypsum, and a variety of other things, .which are looked upon as essentials there, but of which we know nothing as yet. We shall , have to become acquainted with them, before long, if we wish to sow with a prospect of reaping. A rich virgin soil, may yield satisfactory returns year after year for many seasons, but ultimately the properties required or the development of the crop become sxhausted j the land becomes over grown vith weeds, and then, and not till then,

we sow it down with grass, and keep it eaten down bare to the roots —that being our idea of giving the land a rest. When the land gets broken up after this, our expectations of a good crop are almost invariably thwarted. The experience of the last year or two has made it apparent that good yields of corn, after grass, are not the rule; in- ! deed, we have hardly seen such a crop, but we have seen many bad ones. What we want to arrive at is some satisfactory way of manuring our corn lands cheaply. Even if grass growing did produce satisfactory results, the cost of sowing down has hitherto been too great to render a large majority of our farmers willing to break up English grass paddocks unless under exceptional inducements.

The cost or artificial manures is very large at home, and they could not be imported here except at very high rates; and we can hardly hope to see them in use so long as they can possibly be done without, or so long as there are lands yet unbroken which will pay for the labor. *We believe it would be quite possible to produce an artificial manure here at such a price as would ensure it profitable use. The number of bones thrown away from every kitchen in the course of the year must be very great. If we take into consideration the amount of meat consumed here—which must be twice as much in proportion to the population as in England, for there unfortunately many a family hardly ever sees anything in the shape of meat in their house—we must see how many tons we waste of this article, which is,one of the best manures ever used. The gelatine in the minute cells of bones, contains a great amount of nitrogen, and readily putrifies when moistened with water and exposed , to the air. It is then greedily absorbed by plants, and causes rapid vegetation. It contains twelve times more forcing elements, and from 80 to 100 times more seed-forming ingredients than straw, or the solid excrement. of animals. These remarks apply only to finely pounded and ground bones, and it certainly would be worth the while of some enterprising man to go into the manufacture of this article here, where the materials are lying unvalued arid unheeded in everybody’s yard. The price of ground bones in England is ,£6 per ton; they should be producec here at very litttle over .that figure seeing that the the raw material could be got for nothing, whilst at home i has to be purchased. This w;ould b< found a capital top-dressing for wheat and,' if sown in autumn, the wirite: L rains would assist its action very mate

Another cheap manure—-and one easy of application, and remarkably rapid in its action—is gypsum. It appears, however to be very partial, and will only act beneficially on some few plants, clover being its especial favorite; upon this its action is almost wonderful; Light sandy soils, in a dry situation, with porous subsoil, are peculiarly adapted lor its use ; a description wondrously applicable to our dry plain lands. It is: usually sown broadcast, after, the rate of, say 3 cwts to the acre. A damp day or a dewy morning, should be chosen, when the, clover is; about 4 inches.high, and under favorable circurnstances, a few days will suffice to shew its effect. The clover

plants will become, of a deeper green, the leaves .broad and vigorous, and the crop will; turri out . probably half as much, again as it would have done without if. ■ This is one of the cheapest manures in use, and may be purchased in England 30s a ton, so that good manuring costs about 4s 6d an acre. We should, like to see it tried here, and are quite sure that it would answer our most sanguine expectations in anything like a good season. -

The suicidal plan ofi burning all our < straw is one which canDOt be too se- < verely deprecated. Hundreds of cattle 1 could be well wintered with the straw i that is every year is destroyed by fire. ' Store cattle are always cheap in the - early months of winter, and any farmer ( having a .supply of oaten straw might 1 make a, good deal of. money by buying 1 in at that time and keeping the cattle in his yards till spring, when the feed coming, on in the paddocks induces many buyers to go into market, and consequently prices are high. . The direct profits to be made in. this way would be large, but the indirect would be larger still. The amount of manure ' which these cattle would ( make would > be very great, and this, carted out on i the grass lands in the early spring,

would increase their productiveness amazingly. Good oaten, straw, with plenty of water, will keep cattle in capital condition, and in many parts of England we have seen dairy cows in csalf kept in the yards almost up to the day of calving. The warmth which a good yard affords has also a great deal to do with the healthy appearance which well attended straw-fed cattle always present. Let any of our readers try the experiment, and they will have no reason to eomplairi. Farmers will have to go into things of this kind more largely than they have hitherto done. It will not do to rely upon one thing alone for a living, for if that fails, we are in difficulties. We have grown porn here till on many farms, the land has become almost entirely exhausted, and the low prices for cereals ought to have, taught us to turn our attention to other matters. He is a wise husbandman who strives to return to . the soil as large a proportion of the: virtue which he, has extracted from it as is possible, at: a moderate cost. If we will persist in;racking Qut lour land, and giving it-nothing in return, we may be quite sure that such a system! will wrirk out its own revenge; and that the land will, before long, serve us in the same way., ,: .; : j : . '