FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 327, 1 March 1910, Page 8

FARM AND DAIRY.

AX ELTHAM EXPERIMENT. \ EFFECT OF MANURING WORN-OUT' PASTURES. Mr. H. C. Sergei, of Eltham, forwards us the following interesting report -jii an experiment conducted by him on bis farm. Stuart road, under the auspices of the Eltham branch of the Xew Zealand Farmers' Union: The pasture was selected by Mr.! Chapman and myself last winter. It i was the worst piece on tke whole farm, j and had been badly sown down about Si years ago, before 1 came on the place, j /The main desire was to find out, if pos- > ,sible, whether top-dressing a pasture of this nature would renew it, or, rather, put it into first-class order. In I my opinion, on the year's result, to the ' eye,. it has failed, although manuring has greatly improved it. I think it. ,would be better to plough and re-sow j to get the best results, and then wat'jh I carefully, and with proper handling and ! very little manure maintain its condi-j tion. Each plot of the experiment is one-! twentieth of an acre. The manures were put on at the rate of 3e\vt. to the j acre at the end of July, and the plots fenced off on Ist November, The, grass was cut and weighed on 11th Feb-1 ruary. I was delayed in doing this lat- ( ter Operation, and as it was somewhat late much of the crop was dry. otherwise the weights would have been considerably heavier. Before cutting, i .Messrs Dawson, Carter and Bennett' kindly inspected the plots, and I think I lam correct in saying that ttioy thought Nos. 5 and 6, to the eye. were the best for all-round pasture, being in a sense well balanced with clovers and grass. The superphosphate (Xo. 4) had a great predominance of cowgrass. The reason why the steamed bone weighed so badly was on account of the grass on that plot being particularly run out. The unmanured plot showed up rather well in my opinion, being in the corner of a very large paddock of my farm. We did not top-dress with basic slag as I already had a paddock of eight acres, half of it dressed with slag and potash, three years ago. Unfortunate'y I was away for some weeks at Christmas, and'no definite weights were taken. All i can say is that my sliaremifkers, who are very competent men, assert that, if anything, the unmanured four acres produced more hay than the manured portion. It must be remembered that the whole of the eight aer.-s is of the best of the land on my farm. The crass was weighed as follows: Xo. °] -Unmanured plot (rate per > acre). 2ions 4cwt. "ors. Ost. Sib. j "Xo. 2—Green none (rate per acre),| 3 tons Ocwt. 2i[rs. Ost. 4lb. \t 0 . 3—Steamed bone (rate per acre),j ! i<m IO.'WT. flurs. Ist. 4!b. . :.c. 4-: : (rat,- :-:•:• aci-) ! " v.';''" C-^^-'f 1 : .',n,f boM'> !::ali an:!; ; ; ..i"',' ,■ ~ : ,- .- 'v. •_ t.a;- V::\vt. '

i prii-.itiop in (•iin'.:i , .--.ioi! '■'<'■'•'■ i"' l '". l ' l ' iroi'd deviation.- The sum of Cll'i to In: granted in full -ettlemeiw. " In reply to c. :'.',P! fro-.i. tlic ComniissioiK'r of Crown Lauds, it was re-| solved, on the motion ot Cr*. Rcberton and McCutchan, that tlie wlioie of tile thirds on sections 2, 5, and 7, Mangao- i whata special rating area, be pledged ; for payment of interest on loan, and that tlie chairman be empowered to sign the necessary certificate. ' From C. Finnerty, complaining of the state of Mohakau road—Matter already ; under consideration. ! From William Smith, applying for j employment.—To be informed that tne! Council had no information that the i Government was about to hand over a j portion of the Ohura road. I - From the Rev. D. Hyde, re water-1, tables near Huiakama Church—Referred to engineer. | Prom Public Works Department, re, ] authorities for work on Kohuratani road. From Receiver of Land Revenue, covering certificate of thirds pledged on Whangamomona road loan. | From Valuer-General, re various mat- \ j ters.—To be informed that the Council * contemplates striking its general rate j in June next. On the motion of Cr. McCutchan,! c seconded by Cr. Meredith, it was re- j ( solved that the attention of the Gov-! ( eminent be called (through the member for the district) to the position in which local governing bodies are placed in respect of their inability to collect arrears of rates from Government on I the forfeiture of Crown sections. Some discussion ensued on a motion by Cr. Anderson, seconded by Cr. MeCluggage, that the attention of the Government be drawn to the iniquity / of the practice whereby Crown reserves' "

are exempted from loc-ai government taxation. Eventually Ihe motion was lost on division, the mover and seconder voting for it. and Crs. Roberton, Jones, I Mcllroy. Meredith. and McCutchan against. . It was decided, on the motion of Crs. I McCutchan and Mcllroy, to expend the sum of £lO in clearing slips on the Whangamomona road between the township and the Poarangi road. \ The chairman was empowered to sign the consent of the Council to a deviation on the Mangaowhata road, subject to the approval of the section-holders concerned being obtained. The special order making a special rate of 11'/id in the pound over the Mangaowhata special rating area was confirmed. The clerk was authorised to procure the necessary furniture for the new offices, and also to dispose of the Council's s'afc at not less than £25. It was resolved that application again be made to the jjoara to nave tne section next the Council's section vested in the county, a copy of the application to be handed to the local member of the Board. Accounts amounting to £SBS 7s 2d were passed for payment, and the meeting adjourned.—Post.