FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Argus, Volume III, Issue 173, 21 August 1897, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM & GARDEN NOTES.

I'm: WFATUEit.— At this time of year better and mote favourable weather than we are now enjoying could hardly be looked for. A few showers have fallen during the week, but outride work has in no way been retarded. There is plenty of moisture in the soil, and the lieht showers have been sufficient to keep the Fill-face moist and encourage growth. The soil is in fine condition for tilling and it is seldom t!iat_ so propitious a lambing season is experienced as the present one. + + +

Wheat.—Wheat is in good demand throughout the colonics. Southern holders arc disinclined to sell, believing their position to bo a etrcng one. Pur-chis-s have been male by the Auckland millers in Christchrch, and a steady demand is also r. parted from Dtined.n. ChrLto'.urch quotations are from 3s lid to 4s 2d ; Dnncilin, from 4s 3d to 1* 6d. The markets of the Old World and Anurici arc animated, and prices are still rising. The recent elanii\ic done to the Con'inental crops by blood is tho stimulating cause. Latest telegraphed quotations from Mark Lane show that 36s per quarter has been reached, equal to li 6d per bushel.

The Oat Market.—The oat market has wilted, and in Dnnedin it is reported that values have receded quite 3d a bushel from the quotation of a month ago. The Sydnty market is dull, and the Milbourne maiker, owing to the decrease! demand through the growth of feed s-uoc the bicik up of the drought is going down steadily. The West Australian market is full up, and when it is relieved by consumption Melbourne purposts putting in her surplus. Stocks held in Duncdin are reported heavier than ever before at this period of tile year, and the outlook is said to be not very bright. Duncdin quotations are from 2s to 2s 4d ; Melbourne, Is lid to 2s 3d ; Sydney, up to 2s Id ; Hamilton 2s Gd to 3s u'd.

The Milk ?i;rri.v.—The supply cf milk at the various factories is not large, nor does it appear to increase very rapidly. Dairymen, not expecting that the factories would open before September, of course did not time their cows to come in before that month : and, unless they happened to have a plentiful supply of fodder, it is, perhaps just as we'l that their cows have not calved as yet. Favourable as the season has been, the pastures, unassisted, would as yet be altogether inadequate to keep the cows np to their milk. Those suppliers who intend to milk next August would do well to tear in mind the condition of their meadows this season —the most genial for some years past. It muse convince them that even under the most favourable circumstances, the paddocks will not furnish sufficient: grass to run their cows to early in the season. Not until October does crass become plentiful in Waikato. Roots and good sweet bay or ensilage will give the best results in August ; whilst Cape bailey or Italian lycgrass (sown in the autumn with pleniy of manure) would give abundance cf good sueculent feed in September.

The Rixdebi-est in Afkica.— The long contest against tho southward march of the rinderpest in South Africa has unfortunately not proved successful. Wo learn that in the Capetown House of Assembly, on June 3, Mr P. II Fume, Secretary for Agriculture, stated that the shooting of cattle had been stopped, as it had been found useless any longer to attempt maintaining a clean I (It. The prospect for the catllc-owner in Capetown is a Tcry gloomy one indeed, as nothing can now prevent the disease from sweeping all orer the colony.

(iooi) Rktuuks Fhom Daikyixc—ln the Yotrain district of Victoria some good incomes have been mndo during the past 12 months from milk supplied to the local butter factory (says the " Australasian "). One supplier received over CIOOO, whilst anotlirr got C 730. Others ranged from t'3oo to .t'loO, and if others products, such as pigs, he added, manj of the incomes would reach big figure?, as in several instances where pigs were fattened substantial cheques were received. ]t is thought that the I'loO man netted over ,f)00 fioin this source nlrne. The incomes of holders of farms of from .SO to 100 acres aic estimated at Co per acre per annum.

PHESKRVJNC! EdCS : CHICKENS KMO.M Eceis IS Months Old.—A correspondent informs the " Mark Lane Express " that be has preserved (g r g= fresh for 12 months or more by a very simple i roccss:— Wrap each egg the day it is laid in a small square of newspaper and pack tlicsc eggs side by side in a box, layer upon layer, until it is full. After the lid is fastened down it must firrlly be stored in a dry cool place, and secondly, be turned upside down at hast three or four lint's a week. He writes : " A neighbour of mine has for years batched out a lot of chickens from eggs no stored and turned, 12, 10, and rome 18 months after they were placeel in the box."

PjEHor.NED Cattle.—The Indiana Farmer says : —" C'f a lot of 20 ycarl'ng and two-year-eld steers now being fed at the Oklahoma experimental station, 11 were dehorned in November, the others having been dehorned previously. Three days later the dehorned steers were found to have lost an average of lllb each in weight, while those previously elchorned showed an average gain of IMb each. One week later the freshly dehorned steers showed a gain of :>olbearli, the other nine a gain of li 1 lb. The apparent loss from the dehorning for the 10 days was about 1 Gib each. Not. one of the dehorned steers seemed to show any ill cfl'i ets irom the operation, but they evidently ate less for u few days."

Ai:ani>on.mkntoe tiik Contest Acaixst BINUEKI'EST in Afkica —The How inflicted on South Africa by the rinderpest must have been very terrible (remarks the London " Spectator "). It has cwept lUie.desia, has annihilated the herds in Khnma's country, has temporarily ruined Bcctiuannland, line prostrated the farmers of the Transvaal, and has now struck Cap* Colony itself with such virulence that all plans for dealing with it have been officially abandoned. It is usel'Ss to shootjdown infrcted heads, every kind of game distributing the poison, and' there is no coufidenco felt in any system of inoculution. The cnly thing to be done is to help the farmers to replenish their herds with imported stock, and with the few beasts which have escaped, and which may bo presumed from some unknown cause to be free from liability. The wor.-i of it is that as the pest descends fioni Central Afn'ci,, win re the conditions of animal life always remain the same, there is and can be no guarantee against its periodical recurrence. Africa is not a nice continent.

WoPKixii or The Cukdit Poxcieu Act in Vii.toima.—'l he Melbourne Leadersays: -"The Credit Foncier Act came into operation on December 21 last, and dining the seven in mths that have elapsed, loans amounting to C'236,48-5 have been granted to SSI farmers, being an average of i'l9o each. The total number of applications valued is 700, and if the first month of the yi ar bo omitted, as it "wns occupied with the preliminary i rruligements nccc-.-ary to Mart the new business, Ibis would show an average of about l!0 applications dealt, with every week for nearly si.\ months past ; but the average curing the last live wcek-s bus

been 39, and now applications nro .'•till coming-in at the rati) of between 30 iiml •10 per week. The present rate of progress would nnpesir to indicate that the first year's business will result in ndvaLces of over £.100,000 being made to tho farming population of tin; colony, arid the number of fanners receiving direct benefit within the 12 m nil.s would ei ideally exceed 1000 ; but Lhe nuiubi v of others deriving indirect benefit will probably bo even larger, as privatu mortgages and lending companies, in their nnxicty to keep gooil securities, are offering tbo farmer better term?, though it is hardly possible for others to allow the farmer 31i years to pay off his debt as the saving's bank does, with the option of paying off all or a portion at any time."

FARMING NOTES ON NEW ZEALAND. SOUTH LAND. The agricultural reporter of the Mel-l-ounie Leader has lately made a tour of this colony. The following are his obicrvitious on " Funning in Southland : TURNIPS, OATS AND GRASS. Drainage, has b:cn the chief means of making cultivation on an extensive scale jossiblo in Southland, but to obtain good crops it is absolutely necessary to have recourse to a regular and libr nil system of manuring. Unlike many of the virgin lands of Victoria, that will stand cropping f"i- years with very little apparent, diminution of their fertility, thcsoilof New Zealand Ims to be fed, and fed libeiully, or the j iehls obtainable will be to small as to leave no margin of profit over and above tho cost of cultivation. In fact, no one thinks of cropping without at the s-ino lime using artificial fertilisers, such us bone dust, superphosphate, guano, &c, and where ever practicable, firing the land a heavy dressing of lime, tn the estimation of cultivator.', LIME RANKS HIGH as a means of increasing the yields, and in all districts where it can be conveniently obtained, heavy dressings are given to the well drained land. So marked is its effect in Southland that farmers cannot be brought to believe that lime in itself is not a manure, that its action is merely to release the fertilising ingredients in the soil. They point out that the effect of liming cm be traced to an inch, and after a dressing is given, good crops can bo counted on with ceitainty. They are, of course, wrong in considering lime as a mnnure ; but no doubts can be entertained legarding its really wonderful effect upon the well drained soil, as regards both crops and grass. No less apparent arc the results which follow the application of artificial manures, providing of course that they are in the matter of quality all their purveyors claim for them. The starting point in connection with cultivation in the southern districts of New Zealand, as previously noted, is the draining of the land. TURNIP CULTIVATION The foundation of the New Zealand system of agriculture to-day is, generally Speaking, turnips. In Southland, where wheat is not grown to any extent, tho rotation is turnips, oats, grass, or where the land is in good condition, two crop? rarh of turnips and oats ma} - bo taken off before the laid is land down in pasture. The preparation of tho autumn fallowed land for turnips begins in October, the work consisting of giving the laud two or three strokes of tho disc harrows, so as to produce as fine a tilth as possible, and enable t. e turnip seed to geminate evenly. The land is then rolled, so as to crush lumps and consolidate it, after which tho turnips aie sown, usually broadcast, but sometimes in drills, ['he reason for broadcasting is on account of the large tus-ock roots not bring properly 'ootcd they offer resistance to the drilling machine, and prevent the even distribution of the seed. The almori invariable custom is to fow from 2 to .'! cwt. of aitifirial manure with the turnip seed. In a few parts of Southland the virgin soil will produce a crop of turnips without mnnure, but this is unusual. THE TURNIP MANURES

pcncrally used arc bonehust, superphosphates and guano, a mixture of the two first meutionee? being frequently made. The reason for mixing is to bring the superphosphates into a solvable condition. A ureat deal of the supi rphosphatcs used in New Zealand come fn.m England and Germany, and as a rule they are greasy, sticky and lumpy, and before being sown they have to be emptied from the hairs and broken up. Kven then they will not pass freely through the sowing machines, and require mixing \vi:h some dry substance to make them easily distributed, hence the iteccs-ity for usir.tr lonedu«t. The prices of manures in the Invi rcargill district of Southland are : •j'. ; guano, L'l ; and snpotpbosphate, ,t'3 10s. For the turnip crop the lust menlionrd is considered by those who habitually use it t(> be the ariilicial fertiliser, Ii cwt. of it being equal to at least 2 cwt. of bones or guano, heno, although it co«t« a little more for ton. it is actually a cheaper manure. There is no doubt, that much of the land in Sotithi rn New Zealand is capable of producing a crop of turnips without manure, but one of the chief reasons fur uMng fertilisers on virgin soil is to cans.' a lipid growth of the plants and biing them to the rough leaf stage, when they pos?ea a comparative immunity from di.«ease. If the turnips remain t.'io long at the two-leaf stage there is a likelihood of them getting a bid check, in which case a large percentage will perish, while at the same time the whole crop may be attacked by the aphis blight. The seeding of the tin nip crop is very light, from G to '.() oz. per acie only being used, and the former quantity more frequently employed than the bitter. The sowing of new land generally begins about the middle of October, and niiy be continued at intervals up to the cnel of November, but when land tint has been previously crapped is being utilised seeding operations may not conclude until about the end of December. EEKDING OFF TIIK 'IURNII'N.

Turnips nre chiefly required for the winter keep uf sheep,' Iml it frequently happen* Unit (lie early sown fields are stocked in the month of May. The period, however, depends, to a great extent upon the diameter of tin: so imti. In feeding off tlie crop the invar iaide practice is to give the sheep only a small portion of the paddock at a time. A temporary fence, consisting of licht posts, diiren into the ground '.\ith a mallet, aiid wire netting, or a coniliimiition of plain and barbed wire, is ijuickly run up, and by this mcam a turnip held is utilised in seot'ons. It is not wise to compel the sheep to eat oil the turnips in one section btfore riving them a fresh " break," as it is called. If the first section is not eaten (-11 too closely Lite sheep when a fre>h break is given will come back ever the list hteak and clear up all that Mas left. 1 he feeding capability of a field of turnips is generally estimated It 20 sheep per aero, and it. is not uncommon for '_'•") in-r acre 1 > be topped up to the condition thai rju.ilil'n •- themforthc portion of being coiiMehred "freezers." The feeding < M' «f flic turnip cron sown on virgin land is always o..i.(.luifc.d before the < ml of Auj.mii I, and if tlie next, crop is to be turnips n train, whirl, lioprtnlly happens, the land is poughfd I i i,,,.], ,!,.,,,,;,. ,),.,„ it ttil , ,]ie hr,l tune, the ~|,j. ~t being lo bring up now soil On tins occasion the working Which the .-„il ~.,„ rw . t j vtd „,.,, |], e treading of the ftook will have completely broken down the tussock roots, and consequently a fine tilth i„„ | )0 ,„ C p.,,. L ,j .vlrich permits of the soil b, ing thrown up into ridges and sown with a seed drill. On the small farms a ridging plough si.nihir to that omj lnyed in the enltivation of potatoes in \*iciorin, is used, '.ml on the large estates thowoik i« done by me ins of it Ihroo-funow ridging plough", which is capable if doing al mil 10 acres a day. After the land has been ploughed in August, it is allowed to lie until (Jetu-

ber, when the disc haivows are set to work, and tho soil pulverised thoroughly, after which the ridging plough is brought into requisition and is followed immediately by Ihc turnip drill. Subsequently, when the crop is well above ground is it. lrrso hind, and it also may require thinning, si as to give the turnips an opportunity of growing to a largo size. The varieties that arc chi.ily grown are the given top yellow, and the purple top Aberdeen, W'aito's Eclipse bring also cultivated to some extent. In Swedes, ih<? vavieli sire o.'ue fly Monarch, Champion,Elephant and Skirving'wl'urplo top. STORING THE TURNIPS.

Thn practice on tho great majorit)- of farms is to lift a portion of tho Swedes, say, one-third of the crop, the largest roots beinsr selected, and lay them aside in heaps for future nsr. The ordinary turnip;- wi 1 not do for this purporo, but the Swedes will keep for a considerable time if IlKy arc placed on dry ground and covered with straw or thatch to keep the rain oil'. When being stored in this manner, the tops and tap roots are cut oil, but, not so eh se as to cause n loss of sap ; if roughly handled, or if the tops are cut too close, the turnii s »re likely to rapidly decay. It is :i decided advantage to have a quantity of fodder stored in this way as a stand-by, as the Swedes, when they are carted out iuto the fields later on, materially help to cave tho grass, while at the same time they greatly assist in promoting the hcalth'of the sheep. Tin-: crov/iN(! ov oats. O.ils always follow turnips in Southland, and thn aiuiost invariable rule is to sow in the spring. 'J he latter is not the custom in many other 11:11 ts of Now Zealand, where the rainfall is not so heavy, and autumn sowing is frequently found to yive best results; but in southern districts Hie winteis are so cold and we', that it, is found advisib'e to delay the sowing to as l.tto a period as possible. For this season, therefore, oats are seldom sown before the beginning of Njptembir, and are generally harvested about, the following February. Many cultivator* drill the oats in along with abjut 2.J cwt of boncdust per acre," while otlurs prefer to sow with the broadcast machine, from 2A- to 3 bushels of feed per aero bring used. The varieties chiefly cultivated are the Sparrowbill, the Tartarian, and tho Danish Tartarian, all of which yield well. An average crop is about 10 bushels, but the yields may vary according to the conditions of the soil, the quantity of manure used, and tho seamen, afl the way from 20 to 90, or in very exceptional cases, 100 bushels petacre. After the oat crop has been harvested, the preparation for the final turnip crop and SOWIXO DOWN WITH CRASS begins, and the work is commenced as soon as the weather and the condition of the soil will permit. The land on this occasion is always manured with a mixture of bonedust and superphosphate', the latter being patlicularly usoful in giving the turnips a good start, while the foriiur, being s'ower in dissolving, is ol great hsslstance to the young grass. The grass seed mixture hitherto greatly in favor consists of 20 lb. ryegrass, 10 lb. cocksfoot, 3 lb. Timothy, 3 lb. cowgrasF, '2 'b. white clover and 21b Alskye, or a total of !(• lb. in all, the desire being in every ease to establish a good sole that will provide abundance of seed for stock. Crass pastures rtre not allowed to remain down in the Southland districts for more than four, or at the veiy longest, five years. At the end of that time their feeding cipability becomes greatly impaiied, and weeds begin to take 'possession of the soil. An aero of grass one or two ycar.l old is belter than three, or perhaps font acres of old pasture', and is, besides, more wholesome for the sheep, hence trie practice of not allowing the land to remain out id' cultivation "too long. Notwithstanding the vtry wet climate, the sheep in Southland are remarkably healthy, and do not sutler from lung or stomach worms, fluke or other di-xv.scs thai are so common and tirribly destructive in Victim, and their immunity from disease is, undoubtedly, hugely owing to the fact that the pesllins are so frequently broken up and die soil cropped before biing again returned to grass, The working which the soil receives while under ' crop destroys the genus of animal diseases, and the land is not left sullieieutly in pasture to become dangerously contaminated. It is more than likely that if many of the rich pasture lands 111 Victoria where lung WJitn is now so troublesoiue, weie broken up and cultivated for a few years before beinir again laid down under grass, the result would be a large reinotion of the annual loss ot slock, and if the practice were persevered wi'h the disease would in all probability be stamped out.