CAMBRIDGE FARMERS CLUB.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 718, 23 January 1877, Page 2

CAMBRIDGE FARMERS CLUB.

PARM INhPECTION.

(Prom our Special Reporter.)

Continued from our issue oj the IZth mat. On Friday morning we crossed the Hori« tiu at Pukeiitnu, hsiviug been kindly granted the use of Mr .Reynold's boat at that place. Arrived, we guiued our steps (or rather our horses') to ihe farm of Mr ii Parr, whose die entry was wheat. We had now an opportunity of seeing what the Waikato, or at lease this portion of it, is capable of doing, tor a liner crop of wheat it would be Lard to conceive. According to the juoges opiuion, however, Mr Parr is one added to the nuinbfr who have been led iufco the error of sowing epnng wheat, for although it has the appearance of a magnifiuaut crop, the result of ihe ihrasuing will not, they say, confirm tbe estimate formed of it now while standing. [The judges are\ j quite right too, Ed W. T ] T.iere are -• about twenty acres of ii, ha>f being 60wa with seed grown m Canterbury and half wiih what is known us the. "Adelaide purple siraw" The amount of seed per acre was 1£ bushels or 100 lbs, not uo much by a busliel as Mr Clark's, and yet the crop is thicker and fijer m every respect, anJ wiil ptobably yi Id, makiug all due allowances, 40 or 45 bushels por acre, i'he land was previously m clover, which had been mown for hay for many years successively. It received only one ploughing. Tbe crop has suffered somewhat from rust. Ifrjm here we had rather a long ride to visit Mr E, B Walker's crop of oats. The paddock is near the old Norwegian Mill, close under the Puke, kura hills. Although it borders on the fern land, the soil where the oats were grown v itselt heavy swamp land, quite black m appearance. The crop was nearly all reaped and m stook. Mr Walker having been unable on account of us ripa Btateto allow it to wait for the judges However they saw enough, I thins, to convince them that it is tbe bast crop m tbe district. The cordon was now drawing closer and we had neany completed the area to be visited. A pleasant ride of about three miles brought us to Mr Hicks's farm, which is situated on the west bank of the river about lour iniies irom Cambridge. Horaes, gates t»nd gateways, best wire fence, and best mixture of grasses, were the ciaßaes m which Mr Hicaa exhibited. EigLt horses were shown, aad wiin one exceptim they were all draught stock, ai.me of them would compare with any horses m the district, both for size and bone. Tbe gates were constructed on much the same principle as those at Kureka but the slide is preferred. • Mr Hicka argues that .his piaa aLhough a trifle more co a ,ly-- l he S e gates cost, including posts, 30s each- prevent more effectually the "kinking" o f the wire. They were only for the rnost^art, newly erected and tU- wires had not on 8 0-ne been .- strained to their proper tension,. Mr Hioka

puruos^ly refrained from fruichini «th m up on oc.'ount of th»» judges vi*it preferring that everything should remaii 3 tst us ib was. The gateways near^ thi bo'ne'itead are t)tarn po?ts and painya but on other parts of the farm th* paling are substituted by wire, similar. to thins at. thrt Swamp Uompanv's station. Th< wire fence sliowrr.was about half a mill long and was c-im^ospd of pointed totan posts ant/ seven strands of ranging win irom No 4 to No 8 The paddook shown for the übssu bss mixture of graces" was laid dowt previma to Mr Hioka' purohaae of th' farm, and consequently he was unable tc give tha exact quantities of seed sown, bnt taking iuto consideration the facl that it has been down five years, and that it is constantly stocked with sheep, the appearance of it is excellent. The predominating clover ia, as might be expected, tha white. v I now arrive at the last farm on the list, Mr Reynolds' farm, at Pukekara. We oime first upon his wheat,, and I fancy that had we seen it prior to Mr Parr's, we should have been muoh more impressed wi h it than we were, although it is m every respecfc a most satisfactory crop. It i» not very large m extent, probably not more than 4 or 5 aor<B. One curious and valuable fact m connection with this wheat, must be mentioned. k One half of the ground produoed, last year, a crop of mangolds, while the other wii m clover, and, al>h >ugh the clover was ploughed doVvn when pretty hi#h, ■Ihe superiority of the portion following mangolds ia very striking, aud yet the befit part was not equal to Mr ParrY, although, aa I have said, this latter was -flown after clover. The land appears to be similar m both; instanc s. l'bi* seed waa also of the spring kind, and was sown at the rate of 2& bushels to the aore. We then through some of thefineSt^WW to be seen anywhere m the district, whioh was also entered. The growth of the clover was, m some plaoes, literally marvellous, and here too we saw some cur>osi i-is m the way of th sties. One specimen, about 7 feet bi^h, bad a stalk quite flit, measuring nearly a foot across. It deserves a place m the Philadelphia E«p sition. Mr Reynolds had also entered his horses, but, unfortunately, owing the harvesting operations, and perhaps m some degree to the want of good communication be* tweea the forms, they could not be conveniently got together, those that were here at Pukehura were, however, of firstelass description. Mr Reynolds has lately parted with Borne of his finest ShorMe stojk, having no further -need for a lar^e number, the heavy portion of the labour, the laying down of permanent pasture, having been nearly accomplished. A year or two ago, he oould not have J 'be-'U beaten m this cltiss. For ''The best collectioa of implements, Mr Reynolds^ was the only entry, «nd bere again the difficulty of gettin together all the implements presented it.se -f On thin farm there were a mow- . ing machine (Hortisby), set of Howard's tflxible H'irrowH, double furrow plough {(Wallace's;), Uambridge roller, ajt of sig« •zag harrows, beaid '8 the ordinary implements found on every farm. Before "losing I would like to say two Words *>n the appearance of the district .generally. Three things strike one very forcibly on a jjoura*y such as ours has Firit. The ma 'nificent appearance of the grass ; second, the fine appearanoe of the stock of all kinds ; third, the en--couraging aspect of the cons of all -doscript.ons, and I might add a fourth, the generally prosperous cordition of the 'district altogether. Poor spots 'or pas"ture, miserable corners of crops, and dean cattle, may hire and there be met wit.'s but the general 100 , the tout en■temble i* truly hopeful. . Whatever intflunnce may retard individual progress, it <cartninly does not Ho m nature, for she lis bouniiii'ul everywhere, and asks for not ang but a little labour and energy. 'Th<j future of this district is a great one, Every season sees tha brown patches displaced by green ones ; every season some ,part of the ti-tree and fern rooc yield ground to the wheat and the mangold ; ■and every jear men who have passed years •of their lives on ofh?r and by report more •fertile parts of the colony, seek a place •within its limi' s. OtteoftljeJud.es, Mr Strange, has only lately come from Cm'terbury, and much against the advice of tfriend* and others, has wUely settled here. To usa his own language, " the Waikato is suffering under a vote of want of con--fidenee " It is suppssed to be one part Bwamp, one part sand, and one part ■sterile hills. But his own opinion, formed from whnt he has se n (this was not his first vi>it round the district), is one very different. He says that the average of t'm crops grown here is bettor thin that of Canterbury, and the quality •of the l>ind is b-tter and m >re uniform. The difference botneen the two lies m the fact that there they escape the necessity of laying the land down m grass, and bense they have facilities for growing a larger extent of crops than the Waikito ■settler*. They have another advantage, namely, cheaper labour ; or at least better appli mces for utilis og their labour. A Canterbury farmer garners his wheat or otts for what a. Waikato farmer pays the proprietor of the threshing machine If or the services of that alone, independent of the w-4363 of the m^n attending on it ; and m a greater or leaser degree tin comparison nolds good with every-thing-^e. iSrooa land is not the sine qua non of farming. Adequate machinery, both for reaping and threshing, skill -d and <moti rately cheap labour are quite as needful. Another feiture m fhe country, and one that should not be patsed over, ia the attention paid by moat of the settlers to Ihe planting of trees. I may mention that the plantations of Messrs lHartyn, Runciman. Reynolds, Hicks, •and the Swamp Company— of which mention has been made, m another place, are m a most flourishing condition, arid give promise of becoming shady groves and miniature forests at no distant period. TTruit trees too, are everywhere abundant, bub at no place, perhaps, oould such a variety be seen as at Mr Reynold's, Pukerimu. I have only m conclusion to thank the exhibitors generally for their uniform kindness and courtesy, at a time when the excessive heat rend, red the calls on their hospitality most fre •qunnt. I also desire to think the judges and (he energetic secretary of the club, Mr Battle, fjr supplying me with every information m their power to give.