FARMERS’ COLUMN.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 144, 20 February 1915, Page 2

FARMERS’ COLUMN.

COMMON vJESTSJE i ARMING. The land is like a bank. It' yon do not put money into it. yon an not draw nv out. except as an overdraft aim an overdraft lias eventually to be met. If thr overdraft has to be met from sources other than the farm, then there is something wrong with the farming. The aim of a good farmer is to work his laud in such a way as to increase the productiveness of his crops, whatever they may be. to the greatest extent.

The question is: How is this best done? And the throe most important factors are: By the careful selection of seed; by good preparation of the soil; and by the liberal use of suitable manures. If the seed put into the soil is pure, with good germinating power, the plant starts ou its career under favourable auspices. Other conditions being equal, the crop grown with the best, seed will produce the best yield; it is as hopeless to expect a satisfactory crop from faulty, seed as it is to get good animals from inferior stock. Further, the variety of seed selected should be suitable for the soil and the district, because it often happens that a variety which gives excellent results in one district proves a poor producer in another locality. Avoid being tempted to buy seed of an Inferior quality, because it is offered at a low price. Cheap seed is false economy.

If sound seed is a necessary start, good preparation of tlie soil is an essential second stage. The seed must have properly prepared land to begin its life, the surface soil in fine condition, and the under layer porous and well aerated, so that the tender young plants can raise, get array quickly, and penetrate downward in search of moisture and nourishment. Cultivated soil is not an inert mass, but a segregation of millions of organisms which act beneficially in

converting organic matter and other substances into compounds available for plant food. These organisms, in order to do their work, must have air and a suitable environment. If the soil is impervious to air, either by being badly caked on the surface, consolidated underneath for want of deep stirring, or badly drained, the soil cannot be brought to a high state of productiveness. Hence a thorough cultivation and preparation of the soil is essential. Having thoroughly prepared the soil and sown good seed, it is equally important to take care that the young plants sprouting from the seed are well supplied with nourishment. Vain is the expense incurred for the seed and the labour expended in preparing the soil if the plants are half starved. Plants are living organisms that grow by feeding’, and they require an adequate supply of proper nourishment, just as much as young stock. Soils which have carried crops year after year do not contain sufficient plant food for a now crop and, therefore, the important essential substances must bo supplied to it. The essential substances, as is well known, are nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and sometimes potash.

Lime is equally essential if deficient in the soil. It is a soil improver as well as a plant food; its presence in the soil is also a protection against some forms of plant disease; therefore, whore there is doubt about there being sufficient in the soil, a dressing needs In Ingiven. It is not necessary to be heavy, half a ton of quicklime on clay soils or a ton of crushed limestone per acre on light soil and on grass lands being about the average. Of the other essential substances, phosphoric acid —phosphate of lime—is probably the most important. It is generally deficient, and no crop can grow well or mature properly without a good supply of this ingredient. Farmers can be strongly recommended to be liberal in the use of phosphate manures, either superphosphate or Thomas phosphate.