FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 9, 4 February 1909, Page 4

FARM AND DAIRY

i Speaking to a Colonist reporter in ti'cgard to the suitability (J l' laud ill tin 1 (Nelson district for fattening sheep for tlree-zing purposes, Mr. «J. Aila.i .Mitchell., iniauagor of ithe Xeisun Freezing Company, expressed the opinion thai d'arniers, especially in the Waiiuea il'lains, would find it to their advantage to work their crops in rotation. Farmer* •For years past had been cropping their •lands continuously, and they could not •expect to do well out of them, whereas •if they cropped one year and grassed -the other they would not only benefit •themselves, but would benefit their land. •In some parts, Mr. Mitchell said, where •the hind had-been allowed to stand idle •for a season or two, no effort had been

•made to sow dawn grass, and the hind <had become overgrown with weeds, lie •strongly advised farmers to alternate .their crops, and predicted that good refsults would be obtained by adopting •this course. When at Kohatu recently •Mr. Mitchell said lie noticed a splendid •crop of oats, which he anticipated would •yield fully .sixty bushels to the acre, and •said ii land could do that, with proper cultivation and attention it woukLgrow •anything. .Mr. Mitchell noticed considerable progress in the Takaka district. and found farmers very enthusi'.t.nic about the freezing works, their /promises of support being very satisfactory. i According ,to all available information. there are excellent prospects of a bountiful harvest in the South Island fln a month's time. Speaking a few days -ago t<> a Times reporter. Mr. Bruce. of I •the Agricultural Department, said that I >. verytiriiig pointed to a good season. I •There had lu-eu very tittle damage done' •yet by tlic prolonged rain>, and all that »was wanted was a week or two of sunny cuid breezy weather, .so that the yrain •might become well filled, A return "produced by Mi*. Bruce showed that there (were approximately 11,300 more acres

under wheat- in Otago this year than (last, when the acreage was 4">.055. Much •of this extra sowing was in North Otago, where there was an increase of (nearly Till per cent., taking oats also •into consideration. The area sown ill mats was not so large, taking the province as a whole, but there was an •astonishing increase in the amount of 'rape sown. This, said Mr. Bruce, indi'cated that farmer-' were realising the 'benefits t'» be derived from the e.xporta'iion of fat lambs, for it was for fatten'ing purposes that rape was used. The 'turnip crop everywhere was looking . 'Well, particularly in Soull7l and.