PRACTICAL FARMING.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 August 1922, Page 12

PRACTICAL FARMING.

SMALL FARM IDEAL ; . A CASE IN POINT. 4 The small farm ideal is destined to play a very important pan in the development of the province, and until it | is realised the "maximum productivity of • the land will not be reached. The pro- I cese of subdivision is very slow, and will { probably continue to be so until the pressure of increased population de- I mands a greater return from a given ! area. But there are farmers who real- ; ise that intensive farming on a small • area at the present day gives much bet- 1 ter returns for the labor expended and the capital cost entailed, while the holdings are something to be proud of and not extensive, unkempt wildernesses returning up to half or less of their cjvpacity. A striking illustration of this ideal is provided by a little plot of 2S acres at Ngaere. farmed by Mr. K. Tarrant. Last year this little farm carried nearly a beast to the acre—27 head of cattle —and fed them well. It produced about-5000 lb of butter-fat from a small herd of cows during the season juat ; .past; while for the previous year a herd of 13 cows and 1 heifer yielded 5300 lb of butter-fat. The pasture.- on the plot were decribed by an Agricultural Department field instruetdr as containing the best grass he had ever seen. Pome of the methods by which these results were obtained were explained to our representative the other day by Mr. Tarrant. He has great faith in lucerne as a fodder and been cultivating it for eleven years with much success. From a field of two acres Mr. Tarrant last year took four crops of lucerne. Th? first crop was cut in October and made into ensilage, while it wa~s later cut and fed out to the cattle or stacked for hay. At the third cutting the lucerns was up to 47 inches in length and the crop was so profitable that it was impossible to cut it with the mower, the scythe being used. The field was then fed off until the middle of une, and at present the crop is again several inches high and will bp ready for cutting for ensilage in October. Another field of I similar size gave results almost equally as good, in suite of the fact that it had an exposed south-westerly aspect. Not everyone, said Mr. Tarrant, obtained such success with lucerne, and he had had many enquiries as to the methods of sowing and cultivation he employed. Tnnoculation of the :<?cd before sowing he considered an essential factor, and for this purpose he had obtained very satisfactory results from the use of a substance *r.!led Farmogerm. Before planting, the seed was mixed with sugar and water and an eight shilling hottie of Farmogerm. this quantitv being sufficient to treat the seed .e--quired for an acre plot. The result obtained from this treatment was compared with untreated plots, the color of the lucerne bein'- very much better. Mr. Tarrant had also experimented with innoeulafnd soil obtained from , the Moumahaki Experimental Farm, with very satisfactory results. The soil was bagged from the ..lucerne plots at the farm and -was landed at Mr. Tarrant s farm at a cost of 18s for 4 bags. Sown with the seed this innoculated soil had o-iven very good results, and innoeulation is now considered by Mr. Tarrant as one of the secrets of the success of lucerne growing Thorough cultivation, with basic-slag top-dressing, was also considered essential. He had so thoroughly cultivated one of his lucerne I plots that his neighbors had inquired what was to be sown in it. In a very ‘short time the plot was covered with Ha luxuriant, growth of lucerne. He con- , I sidered it necessary tn cultivate the plots with Hip tyne harrows, or other J cultivator, at- least twice during the [ season, for the first time after the first [jerop had been cut. , Tn common with the experience of other farmers. Mr. Tarrant’® swede cron last season was a dismal failure, and had to -1h» ploughed in. But he had a good yield of mangolds and carrots to fall b\’ck on. and the cattle fame through the season in the best of con-

At the present time there is an abundance of mangolds, carrots, ensilage and green oats on the farm and the pastur«*s are showing a good growth of srass. the quality of th? grass being in remarkable contrast by its strength and greenness from that on many other farms. This fact is largely due to tyne harrowing which Mr. Tarrant stressed as an important factor, used in conjunction with top-dressing. The 28 acres in question are divided in small paddocks, every dividing fence being planted with live hedges, and all open* into a small central paddock, direct--1 ly or by means of a fenced lane, and i here ample water is supplied by a wind- ! mill and rock salt is laid out for the i cattle. It mav be argued that intense : farming of this nature entaile too much i labor. Be that as it may, Mr. Tarrant : farms his little plot with notable suc- | cess, and at th? same tim? does all the ! carting required by the dairy factory I without employing any labor whatever. IHe is convinced by practical experience that even with land at a high price. 1 with rates and taxes all very high, the land can be made to pay bv those who know how. Hi® farm is part of an ori-

ginal farm of acres, which has been subdivided into three farms and is now producing very much more than it would even if it were left at its original small size.

If methods such as are adopted bv our best farmers were generally adopted it woulrf seem there would be ample room for subdivision, for many more men on the land, emigrants nr others, and still for increased prosperity of the individual farmer. Thickly populated as it mav he in comparison with, other provinces. Taranaki is no+ producing a tithe of its maximum, and in it® agricultural future, sound and bright in any ! case, there is great scon? for advaneeI ment. for greater production, and its attendant advantages.