FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 184, 14 November 1910, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY

CLOSE ATTENTION TO DAIRYING. Roth Use dairy farmers and the (iov("l'linit'iit iiro giving very close and careful attention to tne bettcnnctu o: the industry (writes Dalgety's Review). Every ell'ort is being made by feeding and breeding to increase tne milk supph and percentage of butter-fat per cow. and all the incidentals of manufacture and marketing' are being closely watched, in the improvement ot the dairy herd? commendable care is being shown in many districts, and it is not unlikely that at some future time there will be in this country a more or less distinct breed of New Zealand dairy cattle. At the State experimental farms crossing is being tried with the idea of ascertaining if an improvement on any of the present distinct breeds can be evolved. Speaking at a gathering of Waimate Plains | farmers recently, a well-known South Taranaki declared that a breed of the future would be the "Taranaki" cattle, in other parts of Taranaki experiments have been made with an Ayrshire-Jersey cross. Some of the progeny from this cross breeding are now in milk, and are reported to have turned out satisfactorily. A Kiwitea farmer says tuat he has crossed Holsteius and Jerseys, and is pleased with tile result. He is satisfied with the milk and considers that his cattle are hardy.

SOIL FERTILITY. NEW THEORIES. There are many people who while sitting in comfortable armchairs and enjoying the good things of this world are yet imbued with a pessimistic view 01 the eventful future of the food supplies of the world. They take a telescopic glance at. far distant times, and shake their heads despondingly. The days will come, say they, when the earth will refuse to bring forth her increase, when lean crops will lie followed by still leaner, and gaunt famine will staik through the world.

Their gloomy views are based on the argument that the crops which are produced in tiie world remove large quantities of plant foods from the soil than are replaced, and as these plant foods are absolutely essential for the production and sustenance of crops, it must logically follow that, sooner or later, the depleted land will lose its productive power. Such speculations as to what may come to pass, although of no practical concern to us to-day. are interesting, especially as we consider ourselves in some wise as the guardians of the coming generations, and, therefore, it is a matter of consolation to us to think that we do not share the forebodings of our pessimistic friends. They seem to us to leave out of consideration the inherent rapacity of the soil, and still more the power of science which will find a way "to open the earth's breast and find precious food." If we take any ordinary good soil and calculate the quantity of plant food in the top Gin, we iind that it contains sufficient phosphoric acid for about 170 crops, potash for 2.~>0 crops, lime for more than 200!) crops, magnesia for more than 1000 crops, and the layer below contains still larger quantities of the mineral plant foods. These substances are to 'i very great extent inert, and are gradually brought into use by tiie cultivation of the soil. It seems to have been a wise dispensation of providence that the mineral constituents in the earth's crust should only be available slowly, and as the result of man's labour, otherwise their too rapid use, before science laid a governing hand on them, might have been attended with danger.

It is argued that North Africa, Italy, and Egypt, onee grain-producing centres, have long ceased to be so, and this diminution is attributed to soil deterioration by constant cropping; but may it not with more justice be set down to more pregnant causes which prevented proper cultivation. North Africa was devastated when Carthage was destroyed bv the Romans. Agriculture in Italy fell into decav when tiie Roman Empire was broken 'up by Attila's German hordes; what corn could be grown in Egvpt when the Mussulmans were sweeping through the land with fire and sword?

As well might a future historian say that the land in England is impoverished by cropping because the acreage under wheat has decreased the last three decades by more than 1.090.000 acres. Take a glance at the soils of Europe generally. "The European soils have been occupied* for agricultural purposes for 1000 'years or more, aud during that period' have been regularly cropped for grain and other produce. What do we find? The soils are now producing larger crops than ever before, in conse quence of improved methods of cultivation. According to an extract from a report connected with this problem, "an exhaustive investigation has been made of sojls for the last IS years in certain countries of Northern Europe in which crop yields have been increasing, ana likewise the soils of the United States. including the older soils of the States and the newer soils of the West-

ern States. The results of these an alyses. published side bv side, show no significant difference in chemical composition between the older sods _ ot Europe and the newer soils of the United States Microscopical examination ol the soils fail to show that the longei occupation-of the soils of Europe has chained noticeably the minera!og;cai character of the soils. It is reasonable to infer from the work that has been done that within historic times the occupation of the soils for agricultural purposes has failed to r.oticeabh- change j the mineral character of the soil mater-, ial upon which the future life of the nation must ultimately depend. Tae reason for this and the laws of Viture, which permit the soil thus to be continuously occupied and used forman- | kind as freely as the air. are complicated and difficult to understand, and offer profitable fields of research for our a»-i-iculttm.! colleges and experimental stations."