RURAL TOPICS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9173, 22 August 1908, Page 5

RURAL TOPICS.

(By "Agricola") THE WEATHER. The temperature on the whole during the past week has been much milder. The sun is now giving forth a considerable amount of warmth, and there is a very appreciable growth in the pastures and crops. Reports from most of the outlying districts is that there is now an abundance of grass, the hills looidng a mass of verdure. Heavy rain fell during Wednesday night, and the following day cold showers from the south were experienced. There must have been a heavy downpour on the slopes of the Tararua ranges as the rivers were swollen with flood water. In conversation with a number of upcountry settlers I gather that there is every prospect of a record lambing. In many instances cattle have wintered very badly indeed. This unfortunate state of affairs is largely accounted for through the rough feed having been destroyed by the summer fires, coupled with the drought. 'J he tune would appear to have arrived when settlers wiil of necessity require to make mors ample provision and shc-iterfor (heir cattle during vinSi-r if they desire to achieve the maximum of profit and the minimum of lubs from their herds. THE QUALITY OF OUR WOOL. A perusal "f lie returns of the May sales in London thows that a very large percentage of the clips realised very low values, and in the face of this, and notwit .'Standing the generally low prices for all but merino wools, the que-tion presents itself. Are the flocks of the Dominion improving in the quality of the wool grown? Complaints from time to time have reached uj that the Romney strain of blood teirii,' used to such a great extent dv many met dors is of a falling off in quality, ttje'staple proemed bung short and wanting in lustre—two important points. Conversing with an authority who has opportunities of observing sheep in most districts of New Zealand, he gave his opinion that there was far tr.o much injudicious crossing of different breeds of 3heep which had a detrimental effect, and that the wool producer! was suffering deterioration in consfqueuce, very few flocks of sheep being bred anything like true to type. Consumers of our wools have expve s;d the opinion that the cutting-up of the large stations and the distribution of the flocks is a po'mt factor in the falling of the qu.lityof the clips; and no doubt this policy has had a great deal to do in leading up to such a state of affairs. On many of the smaller holdings, the farm: r is not ?n expert breeder, and keepf) only a very ordinary class of stock, lie often starts his operations from o_d lots of exes picked up at auction sales, and the progeny -sired by the r>ost ordinary ranis, with a result of .ailing off in the quality of both carcase and wool. Really what the sheej -farmers' aim should be. and what he < :culd keep steadily in view, is the pic Auction of an even type of sheep suiuble to the quality of the land his farm consists of, and upon which they have to depasture, for it is a well known fact that climatic influence and environment have a marked effect on both the quality of meat and wool. The English farmer arrived at this stage some years since, as as witnessed by some thirty odd breeds of distinct types in that country. ' In the catalogue of .sales previously alluded to, it will be seen that some few well-known clips of even type and well got up for market have reached figures as high as Ud, lOd, Qd and per lb, and this tends to prove the. contention that if the wool is well and even grown and marketed in good order that good values will be realised.

WHAT STOCK SHOULD BE GRAZED TOGETHER? The reply to this must be that it very much depends on circumstances. It is well-known that different kinds of animals graze land on quite different methods. Hones are v(ry dainty feeders, and will leave ore patch of grass untouched, while they will devour another Jot dose into the ground. A padd )ck grazed by horses always presents a mcst univen appearance, having a close sward in parts, and others alnost fit to mow for h:ty. Cattle graze much mora evenly over a field, but leave tha grass on the average much longer than horns on account of their want of front teeth, and the use of the tongue compelli-g them to keep to long grass. Sheep on the other hand crop the pastures v*ry close indeed, being enabled to do so through having very small nozzles, which allow them to get close to the roots of the herbage when grazing. It is very interesting to note there peculiarities, and study the results of these, three classes of stock when they are depastured in the same paddock. The outcome is that the portions discarded by the horse are eaten hv the cattle, but the sheep take toll of almost all, and their grazing is so close as to be at the cost of both the other kinds of stock. There are lessons to be learnt from these particular habits, and which have an effect on dairy cows, that may not always be taken cognisance of. With hortes and cattle feeding together tftere'is often no detrimental effect. With cgttle, particularly milking cows, and sheep grazing together there is quite another tale to tell. It is an old and trite saying, "that sheep quickly take the cream off the milk,'' which is obviously the case as the sheep devour all the most nutritious grasses and clovers, leaving the coarse feed for the cows. As a rule these cows and sheep should not ba grazed in the same paddock at the same time. Though it may be profitable to keep a few sheep on a dairy farm, or to occasional v feed off paddocVs with them, as they are very useful in assisting to keep down ragwort and some oth-r weeds. SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. Electricity, according to recent investigations and trials, appears to be an important element and force that may lead up to beneficial results in increasing and stimulating the yields of ceraals, root and vegetables. Much has yet to be learnt of the real value of experiments tried up to the present time, but sufficient has been done to demonstrate that it is desirable that further research should be gone on with. So far it has been proved that the growth of plants and

seeds can be stimulated by either electric light or currents. With the formsr, experiments have been going on for thirty years, and more recently by the use of electricity drawn from the air to the soil, by which means in America, yields have been increased to over fifty-fold. Not the least fascinating experiments are those on the electrification of seeds in Australia, and alluded to in the "Sydney Morning Herald," and which recorded increased yields of wheat and beans i as resulting from the trials. The process is extremely inexpensive, and simple, and any ordinary farmer can carry it out in his own house. In a South Australian experiment, seed wheat which had been soaked in a solution pf bluestone was used, an electric current being applied to it. The mode followed is that while the seed was in the solution a wire connected with a zinc or copper-plate : previously placed in the bottom of the bag and another wire connected with a similar plate at the top might be connected one with each pole of the instrument, such being the ordi ■ nary electric machine commonly kept in dwellings for use in rheumatism. The wheat and bluestone solution was left in for five minutes and the handle of the machine being turned for that length of time, the seed then being sown in the ordinary manner. Mr of Escott Park, tested the plan on some beans, the rasult showing that the beans so treated gave much larger and heavier results than others not simultaneously dealt with. This experience indicates that legumes benefit from the application of electricity as well us cereals.