FARM NOTES FOR SEPTEMBER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1792, 19 September 1884, Page 2

FARM NOTES FOR SEPTEMBER.

(From the Christchurch Telegraph.)

After the boisterous and unsettled weather during the latter part of August we may reasonably expect a few weeks of pleasant and genial spring weather, and realise, t&it " the sweet season that bud and bloom forth brings" has really arrived, September is necessarily a busy month with farmers, as it is the most suitable time for sowing many spring crops; but it is more particularly so with those who, having heavy low-lying land, cannot do much in the way of tillage operations ere this on account of the rainfall during August rendering the land too wet for ploughing. No matter how anxious a farmer may be to go on the with the ploughing, he will find it more advantages to wait for favorable weather for working the ground than to push on with it when the land is full of surface water. Of course a good deal may be dono to relieve the ground by open drains, but in a reientive clay these require to be very numerous to have much effect, and very many in terfere with the ploughing the ground. A proper system of underground drainage would enable wet land to be worked at any time but very few of our farmers can see their way to incur the great expense entailed by carrying out such work to any great extent. It is not always the early sown crops that turn out best, and oats and barley may be sown with just as much chance of success as those sown a month earlier. Canadian oats should be sown as early as possible, on account of their liability to take the red rust if not sown in time to allow them to ripen pretty early. Spring sown barley generally does well under favorable conditions, but it is a crop that requires a great deal of preparation; for instance, barley often follows turnips fed on the ground, and the treading of the stock during wet weather causes it to plough up pretty rough after a spell of dry weather, and it is almost impossible to bring it to a tine tilth with one ploughing, even with the use of a good clod crusher. The disc harrows and clod crusher, repeated alternately, would have the decided effect, and would be better than a second ploughing. A new kind of circular cultivator is now- coming into use, which appears to be an excellent implement for pulverising the soil and throwing out weeds on to the surface, It will be very useful for cleaning land preparatory to sowing grass and clovers, or for ilax, mangles, or any other crop which needs clean soil and a good tilth.

The first sowing of mangles should be now made in the best plot of land on the farm, for no crop requires good land so much as this, and there is no land so good but will be all the better for mangles if freely manured, One acre of good clean soil well worked and manured will qive a better return than four or five times as much' land put in anyhow and without manure. Mangles are often sown broadcast, but this plan entails a lot of labor in thinning out the thick patches and filling in where too thin, and the better way is to drill the seed iu rows about 2ft apart, so that weeding can be done until such time as the leaves meet across the spaces and prevent weeds making any headway. Prom 31b to 51b of seed per acre is ample, and there is a very handy little sowing barrow to be had for a few shillings, which is pushed by hand, and drops the seed at any required distance. Field carrots should be sown this month, and they also require good soil and deep cultivation to permit the root to descend to its full depth without being checked and spoilt by meeting a hard subsoil a few inches from the surface. .Tares or vetches are well known to be a good clearing crop, as the densoness of the crop generally smothers everything else. A good crop of tares, mixed with a few oats to keep them up, gives a tremendous lot of food, and are very good for horses while working hard in hot weather. No time should be lost in sowing beans, as they require a long time to come to maturity, and do not ripen well late in the Autumn. Beans are* good crop to sow in a paddock

while it is in good heart, but requires cleaning. The beans being dijjfa allow the horse hoe to keep downtfle weeds, at the same time stimulates the growth of the beans. Peas are gene rally sown broadcast, and are also good for cleaning ground if the crops grow strong and thick enough to smother the weeds. About two and a-haJf bushels ofneasper acre is a good seeding. A If any grass is to be saved fovsefel stock should not be allowed to feed it ■ after the first week of this' month at • the latest, and it is a good plan to & break up and distribute cattle drop- f? pings by running light triped harrows '' over the grass. The beat paddock of grass on the farm should be the one selected to save seed from, for-it is not profitable to save up a lot of inferior grasses and rubbish, such as lop or oat grass, fog, ie., which have to be removed from the sample before the crop of seed can be sold or usd. While pushing on with the work in early spring the farmer will require to give careful attention to the draught horses, as they are very liable t&.it sore shoulders when going into stjKiv work after the comparatively, easytimes during winter, and if they get JL badly galled now it is very difficult to .< get their shoulders right again all the seasou, and prevention is manifestly better than cure. Collars lined with basil and stuffed with hair are the best, for the leathor can ho' kept soft and pliable by frequent applications of neatsfoot oil. Bathing the shoulders with strong salt brine tends to harden the skin and prevent galls, especially at tho commencement of spring work, The only certain cure for sore shoulders is rest, but if not allowed to get too bad the sore place may be relieved by cutting a slit in the hame groove opposite the sore and pulling out a portion of the padding, the face of the collar being then pounded, makes a depression which removes the pressure from the sore without throwing too much on another place, as I think is the case in using pads, which often merely change the location of the sore. The slit will ji not damage .the collar. w The generality of farmers' flocks begin lambing early in September, and the ewes should have a warm, sheltered paddock to themselves, and be attended to as frequently as possible. I find it saves a good many ewes' lives by giving them, when woakly at lambing, a dose of warm oatmoal,. which is easily carried in a bottle or two, and it is often the want of a little nourishment that causes tho death of both lamb and ewe, when the latter has a.difficult time. Dairy cows, for some time before and after calving, should be well fed and kept in a shed or covered yard on cold nights, the calves also should be housed by nights until they are old enough to pick a bifc of grass. Good feed and shelter while young gives them a good start, and a half starved and stunted calf will never make a profitable beast.