FARMING NOTES

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 25 February 1913, Page 6

FARMING NOTES

SOME INTERESTING ITEMS. LCCEKNE. Ju regard in tiio cultivation of Jucorno the overseer of orchards and wardens at ilio Ruakura. Farm writes: —Since cutting the plots on tho 23rd October the.rate oi' growth has boon variable with the several varieties, Arabian and lVruvian outcrrew all others during ihe first three weeks. Smee then Hunter liner and Colonial have gained oil them, so that now Colonial i.s heaviest. American, made, greater growtli during this month tluln in. any previous mouth dating from -sowing. Turkestan remains'dwarf, resulting in the. lightest crop. Plots testing what results can be oouunetl from single lucerne-plants have noon laid oif. Jn conjunction with the.se are tests to judge wnat benefits may be derived hy using highly nitrogenous manures to lucerne and leguminous crops, also to compaio ,s(iT]-inoculation versus no inoculation versus stable manure. All the new .strains of lucerne received were sown in theso plots. Without, exception tho germination: was over 90 per cent. Since appearing above ground tho seedlings started away strongly, and a good stand of each new variety is assured. - , AVK.STKRN WOTHS GRAM?. At lluakura three acres were sown with, the abovo grass on the 14th -May, 1912 and, although the winter was wot~and some of the land in question naturally so, tho first crop averaged 15 tons per acre of green torage. ihe grass was lit for cutting on the itli October. It was carted out to horses and cattle (including milk cows), and it was relished by nil the stock. J lie milking'-cows maintained their How oi milk well while being ted on it. J lie seconu crop was allowed to ripen or seeu, and has been reaped with the binder. Had this ibeen required tor green forage, it was available for that purpose on the Ist December, with an averago weight of 12 tons per acre. Provided too weather is reasonably moist a good third crop of green fodder should lie available in a tew weeks time. Miie great drawback to tins "Tilss is that it removes so much leitility from the soTT; and under -New Zealand conditions its cultn ation should be confined to strong soils. It i« an annual. If sown in May it undoubtedly ccmes in at a time when i there is often a scarcity of teed, but a crop of, say, oats and tares, or, .say, barley and tares, could be available at tho same time and would be bettei fodder and much hotter for the soil. Possibly the best use to which this grass can be put is to feed it ofl.m its young stage with lambs or sheep, netting the paddock off in plots so.as to allow the fed-off plots time to recover. The western woltlis undoubtedly grows a much greater weight per acre than tho ordinary Italian rye-grass. THE SOYA BEAN. A medical point of view is given in the Lancet of the 21st January, 1911: "Oil account of the great nutritive value of the Soya, bean it is well worth medical "attention, more particularly for liabetic cases, because of its low proportion of starch. For making biscuits, soup-powder, infant and othei foods, it will be widely used in future when its dietic value becomes better known." In the United States it has been found that the yield of crops of all kinds is increased where they follow Soya beans, wheat in large fields showing an increase of 5 bushels pei acre over that grown on land alongside that had not been under beans. Wheat generally follows a, nitrogen- ■ ous crop in the usual rotation schemes en tho Continent. As a fodder crop, as a soil-renewer, tand as a green manure, tho Soya bean has been successfully grown in countries other than its native habitat, and under varying climatic conditions. Jl'here are over three hundred known varities and hybrids of tho iS-oya bean. AX IDEAL VILLAGE. The International Agricultural Exhibition which is to be opened at Ghent on tho 26th April, 1913, promises to make an unusually strong appeal to every one interested in agriculture and country life generally. A very largo undertaking in connection with the Exhibition is to be an "ideal village." From an English point of view the dairies will probably be the most interesting part of the display. There will be one in each of two farms of the village and also a co-operative dairy on a larger scale fitted with the very latest machinery and according to the most recent ideas. The farms will also be stocked with animals and machinery, while a series of competitions in shoeing and the repair of. farm implements will be held at'the blacksmith's shop of the village. Horse and cattle shows and ploughing matches will also be held during the run of tho Exhibition. Beside the actual village buildings, a number of halls for the display of agricultural machinery have been built. Tho Ghent Exhibition as a whole covers, roughly, 250 acres (about 50 acres more than the Brussels Exhibition), and will be the most important one since the Pa-ri.s Kx'c'bition in 1900. Tho English pavillion will be practically filled with a machinery exhibit. The Twentieth International Congress on Agriculture will be held at the Exhibitkm from the Bth to the 13th June under the patronage of the King of Belgium. ITEMS. As an explanation for the rapid extension of the trade to Germany, Gov-

ernment fruit experts stato that the market, facilities at Hamburg are much superior to London. In the German centre every case is opened for inspection, but at Convent Garden only one case of a lino of apples is opened, and as a result deception is easily possible. The spirit of is spreading among Nelson fruit-growers. On the Motueka.'side of the 'Moutere Hills many cf tho growers have combined to form what is known as "The Moutere Fruitgrowers, Limited," whilst at Stoke, oil the Nelson side °f the hilK. has been formed ''The Stoke Fruit Distributing Company." It is gratifying to know that those properly registered trading companies have as (.no of their main objectives the bringing of the grower and the consumer into closer touch. There are 22(i South Island farmers co-operating with the Agricultural Department in the conduct of Held experiments this season. Altogether 8,739 exoeriincuts will be conducted on southern farms. From the 12th May to the 31st .December of last year 315 lo'ters Ironi farmers were received at the Ruakura Farm of Instruction, asking for information in regard to lucerne. In a class of seven in a. dairy-cat-tlo-judging competition at the recent Hnrowhenua Show, cadets lit hi tho Weraroa Experimental larm occupied the first, second, and third positions. During the last six months of 191.2 the British Government spent in compensation in consequente ot foot-and-mouth disease in England and Wale's a sum approximating £52,000. Mr J. T. Shepiieid, Manager (-■• tint Waereuga Experimental Farm, who possesses the power of wator-duMia-tioii; has recently investigated Central Otago country in th:.s connect ion. lie has found that over tlie greater part cf Central Otago there are strong indications m many localities ol the presence of underground water. In more than one place huge volumes of subterranean water were located.