FARMERS’ COLUMN.

Waipukurau Press, Issue 300, 25 August 1908, Page 6

FARMERS’ COLUMN.

——-0 THE SOWING OF OATS.

(By

Plodder.)

In dealing with this question I shall endeavour to give a general idea of the time and season to sow the different oats that are drilled in this and surrounding districts. The classes mostly used are Algerian and Garton, while here and there one hears of different farmers planting other kinds. The kind mostly sown is Algerian, in fact, every farmer I know has made his sowing chiefly of it. The reason this seed is favourite is for its smut resisting qualities. The usual sowing is from 2 to 2| bushels per acre, but heavier seedings, where the crop is to be chaffed, have been known to pay. A plan that I consider a good one, but which I have not seen adopted in this district, is cross drilling. Seed drilled this way gives better results than that treated any other way. Of course, on the hillsides one could hardly cross drill ; but I consider that wherever it is possible it is advisable to drill this way. Directly harvest is finished farmers should set to work on the ground where it is intended to plant the seed, and get drilling done before the end of June at the latest for the best results. It is not absolutely necessary to sow manure if the land is in good order, but a hundred-weight of superphosphate is not amiss if early feeding is required, and it also sends the oats away quickly, so that they get firmly rooted before winter. Early sown oats will withstand the effects of a subsequent season of drought better than later sown oats.

At this time of the year, for those who were unable to get the autumn sowing, Garton is perhaps the next best or mostly used kind. This can be sown at any time from July till September. Of course this oat could be sown in the autumn, but on the wet hillsides and flats it would not withstand the continued moisture so well as the Algerian. I see no reason, however, why on drained land it could not be sown at the same period as the Algerian. Duns and Tartars stand feeding off much better than the other named varieties. If the autumn sowing had been more general throughout this district, farmers would have got more fat sheep away this past season. Farmers in this district do not appear particular enough in the selection of . their seeds, most of the Algerian oats I have seen this season being small and badly cleaned. I would suggest th at-farmers when purchasing try to select seed from other districts than the one they live in, also to get machined seed. One lot of oats which I handled this season had a good percentage of Californian thistle among it.

CORRIEDALE SHEEP.

Mr E. H. Ensor, o£ Mount Grey, Canterbury, writing to the “Australian Pastoralists’ Review,” says : —ln reply to inquiries as to my reasons for favouring the breed of sheep, of which I have macle a speciality —the Corriedale founded on the English Leicester and Merino cross. Many people asx the question, “ Why try to introduce a new breed of sheep when already we have so many breeds ?” The answer to that question is, that the conditions of sheep farming have entirely changed within the last twenty years. Twenty years ago, before the freezing works began to absorb our surplus stock, the most profitable sheep to keep was the one which produced the greatest wool value. Breeds, of course, varied from the Merino to the Lincoln, according to soil and climate. The outlet of surplus stock was so small before the freezing industry became established that there was no need to depart from the old-established breeds. In Australia and New Zealand the production of wool to export to the more thickly populated parts of the world was the mainstay of sheep-farming, the carcases being of little value, except to supply the needs of local towns. In England and other

thickly populated countries just the reverse was the case. The sheep -which produced the most valuable carcase in the shortest time was undoubtedly the most profitable where there were large cities to be fed and only a limited amount of country on which to raise sheep to feed them. The wool was of far less value than the carcase in this case, as it had to face competition from colonial grown wool. Thus we see factors at work which in the colonies have tended to produce sheep for their woolgrowing value only, and in the older countries the profit lay in the meat-bearing capacity of the sheep, the mutton market being supplied entirely by local, production. But now that the colonies can compete with the mutton trade as well as the wool trade of the world it means that we must raise sheep which will produce as much money value per head for wool as the Merino and also produce the highest quality mutton for export. The advantages of a Corriedale flock compared with a Merino flock are that the surplus stock from the Corriedale flock are worth double as much as Merino sheep for mutton purposes. Again, the Corriedale wool is worth on an average nearly double the value of wool from most of the coarse wool breeds, and the mutton is the best quality for export. The reason I have gone in for this breed practically to the exclusion of all others is that the conditions of sheep farming have so changed since the freezing industry began to absorb our surplus stock, that I could see that the wool-and-mutton sheep was to be the animal of the future,

My experience is that the deeper a Corriedale flock becomes established, the better and evener the sheep become. I have heard many complaints that the Corriedale is hard to fatten, but have never found this difficulty with the English Leicester for a foundation on the one side. Once a flock becomes established it is, I consider, the greatest mistake to use first-cross rams, for there is a quality and lustre that can be bred into Corriedale wool which cannot be equalled by any first--e Toss wool, and better fattening qualities can be bred into a Corriedale flock than can be attained by any first-cross sheep. Some epidemic has broken out among horses in the Takapau district and is proving very destruct ive, several animals having already succumbed to it. The lambing on Mr Paul Hunter’s estate, Wallingford, is now practically over, but in other parts lambs are still coming. There are now between 300 and 400 acres under crop, principally for winterfeed, at Wanstead.

Many of the settlers on Otekaike are still unable to work the ground owing (says the Oamaru “ Mail ”) to the frost. One tenant reckons that the ground is frozen to a depth of at least six inches. Old residents of the locality, in comparing the season with previous winters/ consider that though frost was more severe in 1903, the land has been kept in a frozen state longer this year than in any other within their recollection.

There seems to be a good inquiry for steers at the present time (says the Auroa correspondent of the “ Hawera Star.”) A good line of 2 to 2| year steers were sold a't £3 17s 6d recently, and there is no doubt that the prices of that class of cattle will considerably advance as the grass ygrows. Pigs are in good demand at present —a sow close to farrowing changed hands at £6 12s 6d.

As usual at this time of the year (writes the Akaroa correspondent of the “Lyttelton Times ”) several Peninsula dairy herds are being disposed of, owners either retiring altogether or being tempted by the high prices now ruling for cocksfoot to shut up all their land. On the other hand, those farmers who stick to dairying as being the most profitable use of the land are willing to give good prices for cows. Ata clearing sale held on Saturday at Onuku upwards of thirty cows were eagerly competed for and averaged considerably more than £7 per head.

A remarkable jump, by a nine-months-old colt, got by a thoroughbred out of a hunter mare, is told. The colt was in the field with his dam, when the groom in charge came and took the mare away, shutting the youngster in the field. The colt began to grow restless when he saw his mother disappearing, and, after galloping once round the field, went straight for the stone wall which surrounded it, and cleared it without touching. The place where he jumped was afterw.ards measured and found to be 5 feet 7 inches from the ground to the coping. A farmer, writing to the “Florida Agriculturist,” says that he rids his farm of rats in the following manner :—“ On a number of pieces of shingle I put out about a teaspoonful of molasses, and on that I put a small quantity of concentrated lye, and then put the old shingles around under the cribs. The next morning I found some forty dead rats, and the rest left for parts unknown. I have learned several farms have been rid of the pests in the same way, and have never known it to fail.”

The “American Farmer’’says that in Oklahoma farmers are forming “ acre clubs,” each member taking an acre for an experimental crop, doing his best with it, and, when the season is over, reporting his experience, inclusive of mistakes, and describing his methods. This is the most practical form of agricultural education, and the plan might well be adopted elsewhere. Few farmers are so skilled m agricultural science that they cannot learn something from their associates. The Oklahoma plan is a kind of extension of the experiment station, a reproduction in miniature of the individual farm of the principles governing the stations. It is a most excellent idea, and, if generally carried out, will prove of great educational benefit.

Consequent on the complete failure of the turnip crop so far as the Taieri was concerned, it was anticipated a few months ago (says the “ Otago Daily Times ”)„ that cattle would by this time be fetching famine prices. But this faihue of the turnip crops on the Taieri Plain virtually proved a blessing in disguise. As subsequent events went to show, had the Taieri turnip crop been a success, large numbers of cattle would have been fattening on it, and the consequences on the occasion of the recent heavy floods there would have proved disastrous in the extreme, as the bulk of

them would have been drowned, while, further, farmers would have been depending almost solely on their turnips as fodder. About the time of the floods a number of the larger butchers of Dunedin went out into the country and purchased cattle, confidently believing that prices were bound to go up. But their anticipations of an unusual rise have not been realised, although it must be admitted that cattle are at the present time making very good prices. This is doubtless due to the large numbers of cattle that are being fattened in Southland, where there is an abundance of food, and whence large numbers have been forwarded for grazing purposes. But there is another aspect to the question as far as the Southland supply is concerned. Buyers from Canterbury are purchasing rather freely there, and taking the cattle north with them. " The result of this clearing will be a hardening of the market here, and it is forecasted that in October and November cattle will be much dearer than now, and prime beef will be a much scarcer commodity than is the case at present. Incidentally, it is not anticipated that there will be any great scarcity of mutton.