FARMERS’ COLUMN.

Waipukurau Press, Issue 298, 20 August 1908, Page 6

FARMERS’ COLUMN.

_— o THE SOWING OF RAPE AND KALE.

[by

PLODDER.]

The best time to sow rape is during September, up to the end of the month. Some plots may be sown in the beginning'of October, but the best crops I have seen have been put in during the last days of September. A couple of pounds of rape seed per acre, certainly uot more than three, with about three pounds of mustard seed, makes a good mixture. All the coulters should be left on the drill, and the seed should not be put in deeply. The mustard will be in flower probably when the rape is ready to eat off. Lambs are very fond of it, and it neutralises some of the effects of rape, with its overheating tendencies. It is [not advisable to sow a whole paddock at once, because it all comes to the feeding-off stage at one time. Better results are

obtained by sowing in sections with a few days between each sowing. Rape may be sown in the autumn as a catch crop, but it does not grow as well as in the spring. On warm land, however, it comes as a jvelcome bite in the winter and following spring. Kale may be grown under the same conditions and requires the same kind of cultivation and treatment. I consider kale can be sown later than rape, and it resists drought better. Kale gets a very firm hold of the soil and if sown ■when the land is grassed down will give a picking for a longtime. Rape being a heavy plant, the best manure to use is superphosphate and dried blood, with a little bone-dust added. Two hundred weight is a good quantity for general farm land. Swampy ground should receive a mixture of basic slag with this manure. If rape is to be sown on stubble, the land should be deeply ploughed in the autumn and left throughout the winter. Cross ploughing is not necessary, and on down land a good deep stroke of a cultivator should be given, or several strokes of the disc. But there is one thing that a farmer should remember, that is, the land must be thoroughly worked and left free in texture, and should be rolled before dri]ling.J 8 M IWj Rape does best on deep loamy soils, but may be grown on any soil almost, except dry lands or poor shingly soil. 'Rape is a very rapid grower, and is generally fit for eating off about three months after-sowing, It is very evident that rape and kale will have to be more extensively sown in the coming years, and I think farmers could help one another by imparting their experience to each other on the growing of forage crops.

SMALL PIGS

lii every lot of pigs there are. usually a few that never do as well as the balance. They are not only an eye-sore to the owner, but they make the litter uneven at selling time. Once they get behind the larger pigs keep them backward, and from day to day it often happens that these pigs seem to j grow smaller rather than larger. There are two ways to handle these little runts so that they will in the end afford a little profit. One method is to make an extra creep so that they can daily run with the other pigs, but have their feed apart. Their small size will permit of this arrangement. The other method is to simply shut them up by themselves in a yard associated with clean sleeping quartersand feed them largely on slops. A laxative food, such as gruel, will contribute much to their general thrift. To look after these pigs thus separated means extra labour, but it is more than balanced by the improvement in their condition. If they are allowed to run with their bigger mates nearly all the feed that they consume is practically wasted. Worms are a 7 great cause of unthriftiness, and special attention should be given correct this ailment.