THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 554, 29 March 1913, Page 6

THE RURAL WORLD.

ORGANIC MANURES The name "organic manure" is given to all manures having an animal or regetable origin in contradistinction to those which have a distinctly mineral origin, knnwn aa mineral manures or chemical feritilsers, such as super-phosphate, basic Blag, nitrate of soda, etc. The Lest known of the organic manures is, of course, farmyard manure. It possesses the great advantage that it contains all the principal elements of plant food, as may be easily under stood when its origin is considered. It is a mixture of the excretia of animals with the material in which they are littered.

The relative value of farmyard manure depends on various circumstances, such as the kind of animal producing it, the age of the animal, the food of the animals, condition of the manure, etc.

The dung of horses and sheep is called "hot," it is dry, ferments and is difficult to preserve. It in suitable for cold soils, and for vegetables of rapid growth. The dung of cattle and pigs is not of such a heating character, and decomposes more slowly. When possible, it is a good plan to mix the two classes of dung together, to obtain the average best quality. According to Mr Hall, the analysis of a large number of analyses at Rothamsted show that farmyard manure contains about tliree-quartera of its weight in water, about twothirds of 1 per cent, of nitrogen, one-quarter of 1 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and one-third of 1 per cent, of pGtash, or, per ton, about 151b of nitrogen, 51b of phosphoric acid, and 71b of potash. The composition he adds varies very greatly, both with the nature and feeding of the animals and the treatment and storage the manure receives.

Farmyard manure, carelessly kept, loses especially in nitrogen and potash To neglect the proper management of such a valuable substance is cquiva lent to throwing money away. If one simply compared the proportion of plant nourishment in farmyard manure and cbemisal fertilisers, it might be thought economical to replace the bulky organic manure almost entirely by the concentrated fertilisers. Such a practice, however, would be very ill judged, because mineral fertilisers cannot take the place of farmyard manure except to - a certain extent. Farmyard manure contains, in addition to plant food, a substance of great importance —humus. Another organic manure that haß played a distinguished role in agriculture is Peruvian guano. It is purely organic, being the excretia and debris of sea birds, deposited in the dry regions of Peru. It still comes over in considerable quantities, and is recognised as about the beat and safest manure a farmer can employ.

Fish guano, wool waste, horn shavings, dried blood, rape cake, are all useful forms of organic manures, supplying, during decomposition; nitrogen to the crops. With these waste substances it is important to remember their poverty in phosphoric acid and potash, so that when applying waste organic substances, some phosphates and potash should also be used. Green manuring constitutes another form of organic manuring. A leguminous crop collects in its roots a considerable proportion of nitrogen from the air, and when a crop of that nature is ploughed under, the following crop gets the benefit of the collected nitrogen, but here again the necessity of applying phosphate and potash should not be overlooked.

Composts made by mixtures of all 3orta of vegetable refuse, dead leaves, household refuse, etc.,' are valuable, their quality depending on their composition; they are more especially suitable for gardens and horticulture than for general farm practice.— Mark Lane Express.

GRAZING OP LUCERNE.

In the brief history of lucerne cultivation in this country, says the Department's Journal, the grazing of it has not yet been tested. Now, however, an experiment is being conducted at Moumahaki Experimental Farm to determine the best means of -grazing an established field by both cattle and sheep. The field where the trial is being made has been in lucerne for two years and a quarter, and the plant is there thoroughly well established. After the first cutting of this season 525 head of sheep (ewes and lambs) were turned in on the seven acres. At this time the lucerne was eighteen inches in ;height, rather high for feeding off, the wet weather which had prevailed having made it necessary to postpone the stocking. The sheep not being accustomed to the rich feeding, were, not kept continuously 01. the lucerne for the first few days. They were taken off after two hours' feeding th« first day, and on the second day they had four hours' grazing, and on the third day they were allowed to remain in the field. The sheep rapidly improved in condition, and on the tenth day, the lucerne being eaten down to a safe height, about two inches above the crown, the sheep were taken off. When put on the lucerne the sheep were in forward condition, and the bulk of them were fit for freezing when taken off. After seven days, the lucerne having recovered sufficiently, 300 lambs., just weaned, were turned on and remained for a period of seven days, being taken off after a few hours' feeding for the first few days, as with the first lot. The lambs were followed by 260 ewes, which remained on the lucerne for seven days. The field remained without stock for seven days, and the 260 eweß were returned and depastured for another week. After this seven young bulls were turned on, and remained for ten days. The,-field was then closed up. As far as the eye

could see there was no deleterious effect on the plant, which i 3 growing as vigorously a bsfore. The seven acres are now being sub-divided and experiments to test the gain in weight in fattening will be carried out.

MANGEL TOPS POP. FODDER. An interesting account, taken from an American Consular report, is given of the way in which mangel tops are preserved in Germany for winter feeding. The method is described as that of taking out a kind of pit five feet or six'feet wide, and two feet deep, and as long as is required, but necessarily on dry. well-drained land where the water will not lodge. When the roots are pulled and topped the leaves are carted into the pit prepared for them and trodden down. After the pit is full the tops are covered with a layer of straw, and on this a covering of the soil that was thrown out. When the tops are treated in this way they are kept until they are required for fodder in the winter at which time the pit is opened at one end and the tops are taken out as they are wanted, as long as the supply lasts. PROGRESS OF HOLSTEIN CATTLE. "Holstein supporters have every reason to be satisfied," says the North British Agriculturist, under date of December sth. "with the progress of the breed during the present year. Not only has the demand been very great, but the old-time prejudice against those exceptional dairy cattle is rapidly disappearing. Instances of thousand-gallon cows giving milk with 4 per cent, of fat, and, in one case, as much as 5 per cent., have been recorded, as well as yields of over 1700 gallons in one lactation. Each sale produces a better result than the previous one and, with the membership of the society steadily growing, the future of the breed is very bright."

You touch a hutton and electricity does the rest. Three hundred bushels of what and 900 bushels of oats were threshed in eight hours on a farm by the Ontario Government power demonstration outfit. In addition, the power milked the cows, chopped the feed, pumped the water, and cooked the food for several scores of farenere, many of whom came from long distances.

Garden crops should be cultivated, aa a rule, on an intensive system "One down another come on" is the way to make market gardening produce a profit. This can only be done by the liberal use of farmyard manure, or stable manure, or town manure, used in combination with artificials. The bulky manure alone will not yield the necessary supply of quickly available plant food unless extravagant quantities are used. A combination of the two is the proper system, and certainly high grade artificials of a comnlete character should be applied wherever crops are to be pushed on to rapid growth, as such fertilisers are in a proper condition to feed young plants.