HINTS TO SMALL FARMERS.

Patea Mail, Volume IV, Issue 328, 8 June 1878, Page 4

HINTS TO SMALL FARMERS.

[From tlic X.Z. Country Journal.'] DIVERSITY IN FARMING, Xow the small farmer must not attempt to follow the example of those v.'lio can burst of their large farms, and ■who often indulge in “pride of proprietorship.” Ho must not confine kirns'lf to one thing. Ho will find it greatly to his interest to have variety. Ho must, ns far as practicable, carry 'on a system of diversified farming: so that if one thing is a. failure, other tilings may keep him on Ids feet, it is nek often that every kind of farm produce is a glut in the market. Butter may be low in price but wool may command a good figure. Potatoes may be hardly worth sending away from the farm, but grass seed may bo scarce and high in values. When 1 speak of diversity in farming, I do not allude so much to a system of rotation ol* crops:-:, in difi'erout paddocks, which all good farmers ought to adopt, I rather mean that, whore practicable, and where their holdings arc large enough, settlers should have a'mixture of dairy fanning’, sheep fanning cropping, and Irnitgrowing A good deal muse of course, depend on circumstances 1 , upon soil and location, and upon the amount or labour that can be at command. But, writing for the benefit of small farmers, I say they should, as a rule, go in for a diversified system of operations. Agricultural authorities all agree that a mixed system of husbandry is the thing that ought to ho generally adopted. Even for sepia tiers, with extensive runs, it has been recommended. A writer in au Australian )taper says ; —“ By adopting such a plan the squatters would have n better chance of keeping their stock in health, for they could use a- condiment with the hay, thereby affording a chance of food to ■their slock—they would have more wool, and a bettor quality of it, for when sheep arc let down too low in condition, the wool cannot be so good ; they would improve the quality of their pasturage, and (he quantity of stock could bo increased, because, i( they do not adopt -this'pUnv,‘they must reduce their stock materially, and in good seasons the grass that is not consumed withers, with the hot sun and drying wind?, to that degree thal (he haul gets no benefit of it; but, when it is put through the stock, by the above process, it is converted into good manure. The pastures could then bo kept from getting too bare raid exposing them b> the loss of lac best grasses ; the exira manuring, too, would encourage iho.besi sorts of grasses, tor it lias always been found that top-dressing brings back the best qualities of the grasses.” If it would he to the interest of the squatter to adopt, in the place of the usual system of grazing, a modified system of mixed fanning, how much will it be to the ad vantage of the small farmer to pursue pudi a course ! I need hardly slate that such a mot bud is good for the land. The aim should be so to manage alarm that the soil shall not be impoverished. The capacity of the land to produce should not bo lessened, but rather increased every year. A true fanner will so manure his fields, that, after taking a crop off, they will be in a proper condition to grow another crop. Producing bay and straw, he Ims a plentiful supply of food and bedding for his stock, especially in the winter months. Themannrohmp, being attended to, assists, with the addition ofgur.no and bonedust, to enrich the ground. Sheep are changed from one paddock to another, and they improve the hind on which they run. 1 look upon, a diversified system of farming as a profitable system. A .settler having about a hundred acres of land, the larger portion-in grass, can run, in addition to a small dock of sheep, some ten or a dozen cows. The produce in butter or cheese should bay sufficient groceries and leave a balance ibi oilier purposes. lln will have so many bead of young cattle to soil every year. T’ao wool and perhaps a few iambs will bring' in an additional item. If the orchard is sufficiently advanced there may bo fruit to dispose of, and that, with the money obtained for bacon and poultry, will be a.hwvs welcome. Ati' i in iliiE vrny by proper management a farm.w may raise neatly al! the food necessary for himself and family—his dear, meat, vegetables, and fruit, besides having a considerable quantity of one thing or another to send to market.

Of course it would- not bo p&ssible fot mo to enter into any. lengthened details as to how this diversity is to bo curried out. Each farmer must study the matter and decide lor himself. Ho must calculate* whether he lias sufficient help m his family to cany on a dairy, or whether .his fences arc adapted for keeping sheep. Ho must understand something of the nature of his soil in regard to cropping, and of the location of his farm in relation to a market for his produce. lie must consider whether it would bo more profitable to turn bis crop of potatoes into bacon than to semi them to tbs market at a heavy cost for carriage ; whether it would pay him belter to consume all his hay by feeding 3ns cows and horses, or whether ho should turn it into cash, in no u momma's. It has often been thrown in the teeth of fanners that they disdain to produce little tilings, to utilise what has been termed the nooks and comers. The rulingidcaseems to be, to rely upon one or two thinsrs rather than a number. Many a (armor, for instance, would pooh-pooh the idea of making money by keeping poultry, and yet iiee’ii says that nothing pays bettor. What » small proportion of dinners in some places, Avho are in the habit of greVring their own grass-seed ! ,

Yet, with a little trouble, they might produce sufficient for their own use, and ■ have some for sale. The following'is. what the editor of a Melbourne papa' said some time ago on the subject: —“It. is the constant experience of most farmers that at times the main crop fails, or there is a glut in the market, and ho cannot ’realise at a living profit. It is just ’then that the despised sources of income are most welcome; hut how lew can say, { Here is something.that, small in ifseli, will enable me to wait till better linn s arrive for the. disposal di my main produce.’ Lot an impartial spectator visit one of our ordinary homesteads ; he will he surprised at the narrow lines upon which Australian agriculture is conducted. .On one side are cattle and sheep, and bn the other com crops, *with possibly the commencement of a fancy experiment, and that is all. He sees styes, built years ago when pigs were thought worthy of attention, but now the stye’s are empty. Where are the poultry ? Tie will find a few rough barn-door fowls strutting about round the wheat-ricks, nothing more. If he happens to be.a city man, accustomed to pay heavy prices for poultry tor home consumption, he will stare with astonishment When informed that not one in twenty farmers care to breed them. Where are the horses ? • Ho will find just enough on the place to get through the work, and no more. He will go far before he finds any attempt at systematic horsodbrooding. (Supposing the visitor should.make remarks upon wiiat may be evident facilities and advantages for some industry, be will probably get the answer which a. large fanner who possessed splendid opportunities for the rearing of poultry is reported to have made. He admitted they would pay to some extent, but with a movement of impatient, added : —‘ I can’t 1)0 bothered with such fiddling things as that.’” By way of conclusion I may say that, if proper forethought be exercised, and a wise -system of cultivation be carried out,' the small farmer need not fear that —Ins land being tolerably good and having a little Capital to work —ho will get along, if he obtains a comfor! able living o[f bis farm, has the wherewithal to buy fertilisers For his land, every year sees that his farm is becoming more proJnelive, and has crops of various kinds Lo dispose of. he may be regarded as snccossiul. His ultimate prosperity, however, mainly depends on the nu'nngnnci’t of tleiails ; and, if' ho goes on without system, without care and economy, Ins farming; may -end in disappointment and loss, Agkicoi.a. Auckland.