DEFECTS IN COLONIAL AGRICULTURE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 878, 7 February 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

DEFECTS IN COLONIAL AGRICULTURE.

The disastrous and ruinous effects of the exhaustive system of agriculture generally followed in the Colonies have been frequently pointed out, and numerous and varied suggestions have been made indicating the means by which an improved and more rational course of cultivating the soil might advantageously be adopted. But so far as our experience and observation have extended, there has been only very partial attention given to one of the most important matters closely affecting the future prosperity of the agriculturists as a body, and indirectly the whole community—how to maintain the fertility of the soil unimpaired. It is an ascertained fact that the agricultural lands of this Colony are, when first cultivated, extremely fertile, and produce more abundant crops than almost any other country having a similar climate and temperature. It must be evident to an accurate observer that, in many portions of the Colony where agriculture has been for some years carried on, the lands are gradually deteriorating in their capacity to yield such crops as formerly, and yet our remark is true that small interest is taken in the important problem we have stated. Various reasons could be given for the singular disregard of the warnings and advice of those who have written and spoken on the subject. It certainly cannot arise from ignorance of the fact, that soils originally capable of raising remunerative crops have been slowly but surely deprived of those constituents essential to the production of good crops. Everyone does know, or ought to know, that, in the older Colonies at least —such as South Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Victoria —there are thousands of farmers who have practically realized the truth of what we state, by the loss of their capital, the heavy mortgages on their properties, and the wretched and costly shifts they must continually adopt to raise money for current expenses by the forestalling of their growing crops—yea, frequently, even before the seed is sown. The ultimate result of such a kind of farming is the Bankruptcy Court, We believe the three chief reasons for the neglect of the principles which generally guide other men in the maintenance of their capital intact (for the soil is the fixed capital of the agriculturist) are these : First, the insufficiency of money capital of those who become cultivators, of the soil, They are therefore compelled to get as much from the soil as possible at the least expense, and they cannot afford to relax from this course of robbery until the evil of which we write has been accomplished. Second, the prevalent ignorance of the first principles of the science of agriculture, and too frequently the inexperience of the details of good practical farming. And, third, but not least, the great, difficulty arising from the high rate of: wages, and the scanty supply and poor quality of the labor obtainable for the numerous minor operations essentially necessary to the carrying out of the alternative system of cropping as practised in Great Britain and elsewhere. The practical benefits from the adoption of a rotation system are now universally admitted in theory, ilthough, from the reasons already _ stated, it is practically ignored and leglected in most of the Colonies. The lamentable results that have been consequent on the neglect of this 'ational system —one of nature's most lpparent laws —have not to any great ;xtent manifested themselves in New Zealand. The limited period that has lapsed since the originally fertile soil )f New Zealand was brought under )lough is barely sufficient to develop he mischievous consequences of crop)ing too repeatedly with one kind of )lant on the same soil. But while his is, as a rule, fortunately true, there ire not wanting many syrnptorns of the >ver cropping with cereals in the agri-

cultural districts of the Colony. We have recently seen crops of oats and wheat growing in some of the best soils in the district so light and altogether so inferior as to force us to [the conclusion that the management must be deficient, for despite the dry season, we maintain that by a system of deep and more thorough cultivation, in conjunction with some degree of attention to rotation, the crops on the soils referred to should yield a larger return of bushels per acre than what can easily be obtained on the hilly moors of Scotland. Farmers of large agricultural experience who have visited this Colony have remarked the very small area under root crops, and a perusal of the annual statistics distinctly proves that restorative crops bear but a small proportion to the cereal crops under cultivation. We have every reason to apprehend that in the course of a few years more we shall have cause to lament over the fruits of the ruinous course of farming so generally followed, be the reasons what they may which may be urged for its continuance. The crops usually considered as restorative are turnips, mangolds, potatoes, carrots, etc.; beans, peas, tares, etc.; and grasses and clovers, etc. One potent cause why the two first divisions of restorative crops are not more generally cultivated is the high expense involved in performing those simple operations connected with their cultivation which are mainly done at Home by boys and girls. This at least is given as the reason for their not being more largely cultivated. The rapid development of improvement in all kinds of implements will, ere long, make this excuse untenable. No argument of the kind can be successfully urged why clovers, and especially red clover, should not be more universally grown as intermediate crops. The expense of seeding chiefly with red clover for one year's crop of hay may be considerable; but having regard to the preparatory qualities known to be connected with such a crop for the successful growth of wheat in succeeding years, the perfect " mine of ammonia" which the ploughing down of the after math would convey to the soil, the large quantity of nutritious food that would be available in winter for dairy cows and other halfstarved animals, we think powerful considerations have been adduced in favor of its more general adoption. The usual practice of laying land down under grass does not, we confess, impress us with an opinion that the improvement to the soil consequent on the presumed rest from cropping is frequently fulfilled. Observation and statistics prove that grasses are grown to a considerable extent by farmers. But we contend that their growth is often but an aggravation of the evils from perpetual grain-growing. Fields after fields are to be seen sown down with rye grass for the purpose of raising seed, that have probably produced several crops of grain, and without the aid of manure in any shape, Every stalk of these cereal crops is again religiously depriyed of every seed by the merciless thrashing machine, the straw alone remaining to be offered to halfstarved animals as hay. We ask what possible benefit can the soil derive from the substitution of one cereal crop for another ? But this is not all. After this foolish robbery of the soil, the weakened plants are Jeff to form a pasture upon which to graze a. few cows or bullocks, until every root of good grass is eradicated and replaced by couch or other abominable weeds, ever too ready to occupy the place of useful plants in badly-farmed land. The breaking up of this so-called old lea. is followed by another similar course of punitive and exhaustive cropping, Is it difficult to foretell the inevitable | result ? We strongly advocate the more general cultivation of red clover as one of the means to resuscitate the soil after a course of grain growing; and trust our remarks will have the effect of eliciting the opinions of some of our farmers in this district, If corroborative of our opinion, well and good ; if, on the contrary, they are prepared to oppose our views, we shall gladly re-open the question, and endeavour to conclusively prove that we. are right. At all events, the subject is one worthy of earnest consideration.