The Mataura Ensign GORE, TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 1883. AGRICULTURAL MATTERS.

Mataura Ensign, Volume V, Issue 243, 3 April 1883, Page 2

The Mataura Ensign GORE, TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 1883. AGRICULTURAL MATTERS.

Now that the, work .-of harvesting is nearly completed, it may not be cousidered out of place or out of season if viresaya.few words to agriculturists on farming roatteVs^g'en'eraily. . Representing, and circulating in,' a purely' agricultural,. district, as this journal cjoes, we esteem t it o s ur , peculiar priviJfege to watch the interests especially of the farming 'class, to note the pro^ gress they are, making in. this, corapariatively speaking. .ne\y district, to record the success .which* may.i accompany their exertions* eitlipp individually or co}.ectiveLy,.or,:if needs^be, to give them a few seasonable liihts, "We. do not set ourselves up as an authority on matters pertaining toj agriculture, nor do we give the farmers any lengthy original dissertations on such subjects

4||f|^iPP^ c^> wholesome and? r^^ilHe^roiclesi 'are specially selec-j t^irob re^ognifeed ,;a^i'iculbura] au-' t^oritiea^for! the inf oral ation oj ojai? yeoma'ary^ '-and rejir^duced in anotKer> column; so that asa'general thing "it is unnecessary that we should do more than chronicle anything of agricultural interest occurring in this district. But the present season ia a peculiarly fitting one for offering a few . words of advice to our farmers. The harvest is all but over, and shortly will be commenced the work of preparation for next season's cropping. Our remarks will be addressed chiefly to the class known as " small farmers " — holders of from one to- three-hundred acres — and! we hope that we may be able' to j point out to them 'where they can effect improvements, which will tend to further enhance the 'reputation of the district and the financial condition of its settlers. It has been said that Southland is not a wheat-producing country ; that .its oat growing capabilities cannot bo surpassed in the world ; but that wheat of good r marketable quality, commanding ., ? highest rates, cannot •be produced. There may be just the merest substratum of truth in this ; but'Hve are inclined to think the fault does. . not lie so much with the country as with tho; farmers themselves. There is anjapparent desire to produce , heavy. yie'ds ; ..the .of competition takes' possession of the farmer, and he does his best to make his holding give a larger return in bushels than the holding occupied by his neighbor. With him it ia a question ofj quantity, not quality. Sp that,, although f airly, : heavy yields are heard of , : the quality ' of the wheat produced in; Southland is not above tho average; in fact, as we have already stated, the remark has been almost proverbial, " Southland ' cannot grow wheat." A slovenly system of' farming has obtained- in . New ;,Zealand.- , Wiat is .known 1 as .high .-,- farming, , ,or in the more popular vernacular, ••gentleman farming," is deprecated and ridiculed, the small farmer holding the idea that high farming does not. pay, and he is content to grub along from year to year in the : old groove. He knows just as well as the scientific agricultural theorist that, in order to make ( his , holding permanently pioductive, three things are necessary— deep tillage, rotation, and manure— and yet, season after season, he persists in putting in the. same crop from the same seed ; and, although he may . obtain . heavy yields for some years, the land soon becomes sick, and, at last, refuses to yield anything but unprofitable plants Then ' a buyer, is sought after. ' Besides the essentials already mehtibhed, iti is necessary to change theVseed: f of wheat f crops, at least once every thrpe years,, ;to, .produce a good quality 'of grain that will command . attention in tlie markets. 1 ; We have, before directed ■■ attention :to this branch of the! subject,' and need, therefore do no more than just refer to it here,and impress upon our farmers the necessity for giving it their serious attention. Some farmers are in.the habit of changing their seed by ob.taiiiirig it from the last crop grown on an farm. That, of course,vis no: change at all. . Farmers must 'go iur7 tlier afield, and procure the best' seed* obtainable^ , if they, would produce grain' ol superior' quality. - 1 |Bu4 if if tf were 1 to' be admitted' that ; Southland , cannot .grow wheat, it! must be; concedeii that nowhere ein - .oass ! ■ of such .-.- good quality be produced. : And yet, the same improvements might ,be eflfected in this branch; . of ', agriculture as we ] .'have already instanced with regard to the cultivation of wheat. : More care should be exereised,and more attention given to fcbe. whole business of agriculture,- and the, results would soon.be apparent in an improved quality of grain, , even if the quantity produced were not larger than under the existing! treat-' ment the land.., receives. And then again after the grain is safely garnered, a j pernicious; system is adopted.; The farmer. takes his samples, and after re-: peated,sif tings, disposes .pf. everything; in the way ef dirt, These, picked lots of only the sound hard gfrain are shown to the buyer as fair samples of the whole yield. The buyer, who is geiier-' ally a middle man, closes with the owner, and purchases perhaps .every bag he has. When delivery is taken it is discovered that the lot is "not according to sample " and then follows squabbling, and probably litigation, To say that such artifices are dishonest is to say nothing, now-a-days ; it is only one of the tricks of trade, but sharp prac*tice of this kind tonda to destroy legitimate trade in the future, and, also, to bring a district into disrepute. The sole aim of tillage is, we take it, to obtain the greaest possible amount of produce in return for labor and money expended, but it is also nocossary. to produce a good article. A farmer 'may be able to roap acres and acres of well filled cars, and make his crops pay him' handsomely too, but everyone will, admit that it would pay him better if die grain was o| ,a.bo(r, ter quality. 'To -secure- this our farmers -mus' le vMiiig to givo (lie nrt of 'husbandry., n.oro study, 1.-ii'or nml judiciou.s .ouil.iy. . '!hq return ...will come; to : tlioin in tb« Klinjx* vi a but-, ter 'pric'o for tlipir grain, nnrl _' 1 h«>ywould also, find some satisfac ioM iii ibis • tlioughtjithat they .had d ano soinitUiiii^ towards raising the .standard, of , Laming in this country.