PRACTICAL FARMING.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume V, Issue 107, 27 January 1853, Page 3

PRACTICAL FARMING.

We have copied the following extract from the London newspaper, the Times, on the extraordinary benefits derivable from a judicious system of farming; in the hopes that our native agriculturists may not only study, but prulii l)y the example thus furnished. In the neighbourhood of Leeds the laud is well farmed, whether occupied as arable, pasture, or market garden. On (he strong loams near Wakefield heavy crops are grown by good management in the market gardens here situated, ami which supply several of the thickly peopled districts of the Riding. In other parts of. the coal district the local value of produce ami the facility of getting manure have enabled the farmer to grow a succession of crops, which without these advantages he could not continue long with benefit. The following rotation is not uncommon in such localities; —(I) turnips, f2) | wheal, (5 and I) seeds eaten on, (.'0 wheat, j (0) wheal or barley according to the nature of the soil. In some rases wheat is taken I every alternate year, and Mr. Charnock, in j his report of the West Riding, mentions an ! instance, on the banks of the (/alder, of J wheal having been taken from the samelield ! for 50 years in succession, with only four | exceptions—one of these having been a bean crop, another barley, the. third fallow, and i the fourth potatoes! The crops during the J whole period arc said to have averaged. 5!) Ito .iS bushels per aero. The farift occupied ! by Mr. Johnson, of (.'hovel Orange, between : Wakefield and Rarnsley, may be taken as a j favourable sample of tin; arable farming of I the lower district or the West Riding. It | contains 280 acres of sound good laud capa--1 bio of growing good crops of wheat and , barley, and dry enough for eating the turi nips oil'with sheep. One-third of the farm is, by the common rule of the district, kept in permanent grass and meadow; the. other two-thirds—lßo acres in extent — are managed in the four-course rotation. Previous to the seeds being ploughed up for wheal the ' ground is sown with a few cwts. of salt for the purpose of killingsnails\ It is ploughed in October, and, idler being harrowed, eight \ to lOpecksof seed are drilled at seven inches apart. The seed is a mixture of Spalding's . red and Australian white, in the proportion of three of the former to one of the. latter. ! Thetwo kinds ripen together, and the mixed sample sells considerably bettor than if it had been all ivil, while the produce is believed not to be diminished. It is not found . necessary to baud or horse hoe the wheal j crop, as the laud is never allowed to gel • foul. The average product; is forty bushels ;an acre. The preparation of the land for the . turnip crop is the next process, and lor this ! the wheat stubble is ploughed, with three : horses abreast, a deep strong furrow, and j the. only furrow of the same strength given { in (he course. In spring the land is wrought to a .sufficient degree of fineness by repealed ploughings and harrowings, or "dressings,"as the conjoint operation is termed here; after j which six loads an acre of manure from the j farmyard are spread over it and lightly ploughed in. Lime is applied once in right years at a cost of 50s. to 10s. an acre. The seed is (hen drilled on the lint, the drill at the same lime depositing a mixture of eight bushels of bones and two cwl. of supcrhosphatc per acre. The rows arc I!) inches apart, and when ihe turnips are ready they are hand hoed twice, and horse hoed. About 1-liith of the crop is Swedes, the rest while and other soft turnips. Almost the whole is eaten on the ground by slice)), which are confined by nets and shifted from space, to space as the crop is consumed. The sheep cat Ihe turnips from the ground, lheseooped out bottoms being afterwards "dragged" up to be eaten. Iloxes with tail straw chaff and a little salt are placed for the sheep to eat, as this is found to keep them heaiihy, and they are not on this farm put on the; turnip:; until these have become ripe, which is indicated by the leaves beginning to decay. When put on at an earlier stage young sheep arc apt to die, and are, at any rale, very subject In scour. The turnip crop is reckoned to keep eight or ten young sheep per acre for 20 weeks. In spring tin; land is ploughed and sown with barley,* of which forty eight bushels are considered an average crop. Red clover is sown on one-third of the land, mixed seeds on another, and the other is left unsown to be followed by a pulse crop (pease or beans drillco* at 10 inches apart) in the following spring. JSy this arrangement red clover comes only once in 1 2 years. The seeds carry from three to five sheep an acre when pastured. A part is cut for hay, and in autumn the course i; completed. 20 to 50 beasts are wintered in the yards on straw and ilb.'eaeh of oilcakedaily. Eight work horses are- kept on this farm, the

thrashing being done by horse power. In winter thcv arc fed on a mixture of oat ami wheat straw, and a small portion of clover hay, cut together into chaff. This is placed in the horses' manger, and then slightly damped with water, after which about a quart of bean meal is strewed over it, whic|> being well mixed by hand adheres to the wet chaff, and makes the whole a palatable and nutritious feed for the rami horse. At night the horses arc all turned loose into a yard, where they are supplied with straw in racks. Jn summer ibey are put on the old grass land. A good many pigs arc red on Egyptian beans, which have been previously steeped 12 hours in cold water, and then, after having lain 21 hours longer to soften and germinate, are found an excellent and economical grain for pig feeding. The pigs receive as niiich as they can eat, and get nothing else. Four ploughmen and three extra men arc required for the labour or this Tarm, besides additional labour during harvest. They arc paid lis., 155., and 12s. a-weck according to ability. The rami is very compact, and the different operations avc carried on with much neatness. The fields are divided by closely trimmed and straight lines of hedges. The farm buildings comprise a huge barn, with stables for the horses and sheds and open yards for the cattl->. In the stackyard the crop is secured in high long stacks, in the Lincolnshire fashion—the largest of which is estimated to contain not less than 1,000 bushels of wheat. Besides this farm Mr. Johnson occupies other extensive farms in the neighbourhood, managed on the same plan.