LOCAL FARMING.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 67, 13 September 1884, Page 2

LOCAL FARMING.

Nil believe n few ivmni ks on what some of o i ir local fanners are doiny" in tin! >v.iv of impiovements and cultivation, will bo of inteie^t to many ol our readers. It is always a pleas.mt "tiry t.t> •/\vp publicity to enterprise of the ni4.11; sort, and doubly so w,un it concerns our own * 1 ii>r riot- ; and we r.n 1 11 k a brief account nf the I'diiisi 1 I'i'ini^ pursued uiili advantage to both him-"lf an i this dfstiict ' y Mr »i. B Smith, of Teirace Km mi, Wai 1011, may |>rove useful to others. Mr Smith has nad the sulvanvage of considerable expeiience. in birui-ni-T down Suiitn prioi to ms settling in our mi Ist, an I sidi owns a farm of some SiM) acres in the Province of Canterbury w.iien is let at tite yearly ient«il of 2(>s an acre. It is now some six years ago .since Air Smith too\ possession of his W.uhou I'juui, which is r-o.ik' 2()-)^k^i-r('3 in extent, and the free.iol 1 of \vi, ,n he ptireh-ised from Air F. St.ange. Jv_t the time of his entering on it ; about half t lk* land was in swamp. T.iis na> since bi en drained and sown down to ura>s with tiie exception of some of him lr"d acres, which it is intended to burn and treat in a similar m.uuiei this summer. About -100 acres of the dry land have been well laid down 111 permanent pasluie ; ol tin 1 balance, about .')() acres now form plantations, eic, adding greatly to the appearance of tne place. About 20 acres have been set apart for potatoes and roots ; 400 acres are under whe.it ; 100 acres being winter wheat, sown last June, and wnic.li now looks very promising with well-ueveloped plant, and 3\)\) acre- spring wheat just sown On a portion ot this lan 1 two previous crops have been reaped, making the piesent the third successive wiute c.iop Mr Smith goes in for thorougu wording and stirring of the soil, as experience, extending over some yeais, lias proved to his entire satisi action that thorough cultivation pays the farmer, and does away witii tiie necessity of many tons of artificial manure on land not many years in cultivation. We may here state aho th.it Mi Smith purposes feeding off .iliiiis wheat when about G lneiies high, in order 10 consolidate the lan 1 and cause the. plant to '' stool." Much of the 500 acres of land just sown into spring vvneafc was under high ti-lree so recently as last November, when it was cleared for first time, ploughed up, and sown mio swedes in December, w iich were fed off by cattle during the winter. Now when ploughed for the second time it h, is become quite friable and easy to wor.v ; and tne wheat has gone in in h'-st-clas.s order. 100 acres sown iiro oats which looked vcy healthy, nine mont.is ago was .ill s«va.iip and u-troe. Speaking of turnip y;rowiu;, »•• <■ mly he.c rt>111 irk that Mr Smiths experience goes to prove that, althoui; 1 contrary t<; the general opinion, s\ve te< do l>etr»r in freshly broken up land and nn ier ron^h cultivation than w ute tiirn.p. In fact, in some land he ohtaiuc I a gooil cm" wnere swedes were sown, whilst on iht adjoining laud the white tuinip aiuio-t proved a failure. Up to i!it« p re-en t time Mr Smith has not go > v in for sheep or dairy farming at all, our iniVf all ms stocK and fattens off the The Kind lias all been bioken up with double furrow ploughs, three such were .it work the day wo went, over tins farm. viz. ; two Reid and Grey's, and one Wallace and Hotnam's ; the latter stands liii-flie^t in Mr Smith's estimation, oeiug easy to handle, light of diaaght, and doiUL* lirst-class work • we must s iy ,\\\ the ploughing that we saw was most creditable. Mr Smith is a huge employer of labour, and keeps regularly at work not less than three 3-horse teams and one •4-horsi 1 do. Were more hirmors in the district to follow this -400 i example, the result woulif .s»v>n !>e felt in a veiy sai-isfitctory maim r. We would remind our readers t.i.it \lr Smit'i does not employ so many teams an i workmen from any '' hobby," but for the vrvy excellent reason that he finds it puyx best to do so. Since starting to- crop he uas steadily increased the area tirougntnn ler cultivation each year r beciuse he finds it the best course with regard to financial results. His i>vain crops have been exceptionally gooil, and enuour.iged Mr Smith to this year sow a larger acreagethan ever l>efore r especi.-tlly t ) wheat, for which crop the soil seems well adapted. The draught horses are kept steadily at work the year round, and .ire all staunch, well-shapen animals, tlut it won I I be difficult to beat. Mr Smith cuts up a huge quantity of chaff yeai ly, usiim one of Andiews and Bev.m's {0 .nstc'iuivh } latest cnaff-cutters. Tins is a splendid machine, and in the perlormance of ii^ work leaves nothing to- be desired. It is capable ol' cutting 1^ tr.n.s of chnfF per hour, sifts out nil dust, riddles out the long straw s r fills the bayfs*, and presses sime, so aa to contain as much as OOlbs each, by a most ingenious selfacting screw arrangement, very similar in principle to the propelling screw of our ocean steamers. A steam engine of 4-horse power drives the above. Mr Smith considers the custom of cntting down all ti-lree when clearing land a great mist-ike, and always leaves some small patches standing, and has fo-nid his stock thrive imic.i better through having this shelter to resort to from the cold and wet in winter, and Irom t!,o heat and Hies in summer. We could write much more of intere-t that v.i ,tes under our observation wnilst yoing over Mr Smith's far 11, but will eoiciule <>y advi&ing any iuteivdte.i to g*>au t see, lor