THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 656, 1 April 1914, Page 2

THE RURAL WORLD.

LUCERNE AS A FERTILISER. Some interesting evidence with regard to the fertilising influence upon the soil of lucerne, owing to the capacity of that plant for absorbing fres nitrogan from the atmosphere and con' veying it to the soil through the roots, is contributed by Mr H. Jacob, of Mildura :

"Having previously had good crops of maize by the application of farm yard manure, I have thi 3 season had one, if not the best, under another system of treatment. This crop grew on an average 9 or 10 feet in height. It was the healthiest and darkest green possible, and not the slightest signs of yellow leaf underneath. The following are the fact 3 concerning this crop:—ln altering my land I had occasion to plough up an acre of land which had been under lucerne for 15 years. Before that I grew barley on it, but the ground refused to grow any more, and the last crop was hardly worth cutting. I put it under lucerne, which grew splendidly. Until five years ago no maunre was applied, but since then 2 cwt. of superphosphate per acre has been put on each year. Duiing thj 15 years, of all the lucerne grown, none was put back in the shape of farm manure.

"The quantity taken off was five cuttings a year (H tons each cutting) making a total of li tons hay, which in 15 years amounted to 112 tons. This ground, which was too poor to grow a payable crop when started, is now, after yielding 112 tons of dry hay, left richer and in fit coondition to grow the healthiest crops possible. When cultivating, I examined some of?j the lucerne roots which were puled up by the cultivator, and found them full of air bubbles or in a state of fermentation, It is quite possible speaking of the land at Mildura to take up poor land and bring it into profitable condition at once, as all •leguminous crops flourish here. The tares sown with the barley did splendidly. The ground was slightly poor, but the tares filled up the spaces, and I had a very heavy crop of splendid feed. I had recently bought SO acres of poor land, land which has been cropped until it would bear no more. Of this I have planted 10 acres with lucerne. The other 20 acres I am going 10 divide up into four equal lots, with a watsr hole in the cen+re, so that the one water hole will serve the lot. Three Ids will be under crop, the fourth the cattle will b6 on. This plan of subdivision works very well, as there is no wests or manure to pick up and the liquid manure is all saved, whHe when yarding arid feeding it is lost. They will go round the lots in rotation. As soon a3 all feed is cut and taken off they will enter the paddock, and the previous one will be ploughed and sown. As this ground is poor, I am putting in tares with the barley, and thereby I hope to have a good crop of feed. In a few years without any outside help in the shape of manure, I hope to bring this land up to a high state of cultivation,"

WHY LIME IMPROVES PASTURE.

If leguminous plants are not in a pasture, they ought to be. The cheapest and best way of restoring and enriching;grass lands is to sow leguminous plants —clovers, etc. —as soon as possible after liberally liming the land. The leguminous plants must have pientv of lime to grow and thrive in Frequently the application of lime has brought to life in pasture leguminous plants that had disappeared owing to unsuitable conditions of soil. Lime chokes off the growth of weeds and inferior grasses, giving the finer and nutritious grasses—like clovers a chance to collie in. The growth of these fn:er grasses may be somewhat slow at first, and then even bare patches may bo noticeable in the paddocks. But this ia merely a temporary condition, and need cause no alarm. It showß Vvhere a patch of rubbish has been killed out. Nutritious grasses will soon cover the vacant spots. Let it never ba forgotten that on the natural limestone plains, the world over, grows the most nutritious grass. Ihe same results can be obtained with certainty by the ariicfiial use of lime. _ One or another of the essential mineral elements of plant food is poison to the different kinds of the case of sorrel it is lime. This is easily understandable when one remembers that thid weed is acid in character, and appears where the soil from one cause or another, has been lowered a condition of acid ity through loss of its lime contents. Let the soil be restored to a sweet condition with plenty of lime, and the conditions becomo unfavourable for sorrei, which disappears accordingly, but it will surely reappear if the improvement of the soil by liming i 3 neglected. The natural and healthy reaction in soils is alkaline —lime being an alkali; therefore an acid reaction is unnatural, and must be prevented by the free use of lime. The intrusion of worthless weeds in cultivation and grass lands during the past ten years is alarming, and must be checked.

Soils that have been growing many successive crops of potatoes and onions, and have sickened of these croDs, so that they have in their turn sickened and become the prey oE disease and pests, should first be Well limed (at least one ton to the acre), and sown to a leguminous crop well manured with phosphates and potash. This crop should be turned under to restore humus, and, with fresh seed, heavy and healthy crops will b8 again secured.

THE WEIGHT OP A HAYSTACK

SIMPLE METHOD OP APPROXIMATION.

In ascertaining the number of tons of hay in a stack, many farmers rely upon mere guesswork, but something near the approximate weight may be obtained if the length and width be measured, and then a tape passed from the bottom of the stack on one side to the bottom on th'ts other side, and this measurement, which is called the overthrow, divided by three. Then multiply thn length by the width, and this by the one-third of the overthrow, and then swer will give the number of cubic feet in the stack. Of course, if the gtack has different widths or different heights, measurements will have to b« taken in several places, the average of Ifcese being obtained by adding them together and dividing by the number of measurements made. The number of cubic feet of hay per Son varies considerably with the length of time that it has been stacked. With newly-stacked hay it will take about 500 cubic feet to equal a ton, and if has been stacked for two or three months, from 350 to 400 feet. After the number of cubic feet has been obtained, divide bv the number of cubic faet in a ton, taking into consideration th 9 length of time that the hay has been stacked.

THE ENSILAGE STACK.

QUESTIONS OF SIZE, MATERIAL, AND CURING. When the dairy farmer decides to make an ensilage stack ho should select a les side and set out the stack square, rather than oblong, so as to have the greatest capacity with the least exposure to the atmosphere. It is at the sides of the stack that the waste occurs. The stack-bottom should be firm. Cut sufficient grass or other crop to provide material to make a layer 6ft to Bft thick. Cart the grass as soon as mown and firm this as soon as possible, remembering that the usual process of stack building is reversed in ensilage-making, for the sides ir.Udt be higher than the centre, and damp or wet day is rather better than a dry one. When the whole has settled these sides shoud be as dense as the rest of the sack for, with the exclusion of air, waste is avoided. The following 'day the first layer will have heated to probably 130deg. F.; then a further quantity should be cut, and sufficient stacked to add a layer of about 3ft. well firmed. The temperature must carefully be noted, and should be maintained between 125deg. ana i4sdeg. The therometer can be passed into the centre of the stack through a pipe thrust into it.

The temperature, within limits, can be regulated by the thickness, and actually by the weight of the layers added from time to time. If the temperature remains les3 than 125deg., allow an interval of a day until an increasa is shown; and if the temperature exceeds lOdeg., add a greater weight by cutting and stacking a larger quantity. Nevertheless, there is no cause for anxiety, as a ividß range ia permitted, in fact some makers dispense altogether with the thermometer. The beginner, how ever, should aim at perfection, and should rely upon the indications of the thermometer.

The builder must remember that the heart of the stack, the even spreading, and the even farming of the material, will claim the greatest attention. The heat softens the hard pasts of the herbs and grasses and the substance is enormous. Uneven building may result in the collapse of the stack and the ruin of the silage, as it does not lend itself to rebuilding.

The stacking should be continued to a height of 16ft to 25ft. Tha top may then be rounded off, rough boards being laid on the top, projecting a foot or two beyond the sides. A fairly strong frame, with an upright edge of 20in to 24in, should be provided. This box frame will retain the load of earth with which the top of the stack is weighted, and the layer of earth should ba from 20in to 24in thick. The purpose is to provide the pressure to preserve the upper part of the stack, but it also serves as a protection from weather. The silage in a stack so finished will remain sound for several years.

Temperature is the first factor in making sil3ge. The sweet, green silage requires 139 to 140deg. F.; at 160deg. F. it will be sweet, but brown; at a greater heat it will be burned and useless. At a temperature of less than 120deg. F., to as low as 85deg. F., it will be acid, but will still furnish a palatable and valuable ration. For feeding out in the field the sweet green to brown silage is generally preferred. This is secured by allowing the tempeiaturs o£ the first stocking to rise freely, and controlling this heat by successive layers.

Silage an be fed to stock as soon as the temperature is even throughout the stack and the stack has settled, which should be in about two months. A well made stack will continue improving for months. It may be ac cepted that the conservation of green fodder in an edible condition for stock is effected by the sufficient and continuous pressure that excludes air and light, and so controls the actionof certain organisms that effect changes in the cells of the plants forming the silage, and that during the maintenance of those conditions of exclusion of air and light the silage is preserved from further changes.