MANURE AND SHALLOW PLOUGHING.

Waikato Times, Volume XI, Issue 887, 28 February 1878, Page 3

MANURE AND SHALLOW PLOUGHING.

Under the above heading we republished from the* Herald,' m our last issue, some remarks made by Mr John Wallace, m his speech at the agricultuarl society dinner, at Waiuku. In a letter to yesterday's « Herald/ Mr Wallace enters more fully into the subject as follows : — "Sir, — The report lurnished to yon of my sayings and doings m tbe country, by the gentleman who represented the * Herald' at Waiuku are generally so acsurate that I accouut for bis having to a certain extent missed tbe meaning qf some of tbe remarks I made at tbe above show. After alluding to the different classes of stock exhibited, I referred to wheat, culture, and gave not only what bad been my own experience during the past season, but also adverted to what a neighbour bad done' m the much-abused district of F at Bush, and gave the results. I h*id 140 acres of wheat, whicb I cultivated m two breaks of about 70 acres each. Break No. 1 gave a good crop of Norway oats two seasons agp, but the shaken oats choked the clover and grass seeds, so after losing a season, I broke it up m the beat of summer, about 7 inches deep, intending m this way to raise the temperature of the soil to at least the depth of the furrow,' and afterward tried to plough the seed furrow only half this depth, but did not succeed. The narrowness of the wheels and the bight of the D F ploughs caused tbem to sink sufficiently deep to, bring the old surface up again with its uugerminated weed seeds, and tho weeds would certainly have got the mastery if I had not force J the crop on by drilling 3cwt. of Bell's bone flour along with the seed. I was fortunate m getting a prolific kind of wheat fi\>ns Messrs Wilcox and Jakins, and although|fully one-third had been destroyed tor seed purposes m the thrashing, the yield from thiß break was 26 bu-hels to the acre— not bad under the circumstanced. It would have been mnch greater had it '■ not been for the weeds sorrel, and another weed ,■ with seeds resembling: gunpowder. The second break was old pasture, chiefly medow fescue and sweet sented vernal. This was ploughed (shallow-skimmed is the popular term) m May, andj' left flat as a pancake to rot the seed until the middle of July, when it was again ploughed m the s»me direction, six inches deep, keeping the old sward still under. It lay one week m this state, the weather being fine. It then got four turnes of heavy barrows, folllowed by the drill, with two bushels of seed and 3cwt of the bone flour,. Tbe braird was rather backward at first, and this I atribute to the seeds being deposited m the cold soil, so recently turned ap» but after the spring weather set m it came on amazingly, m seeds, bright clean straw, and the yield I estimated at 30 bushels to the acre ; although, judging from the size of ear and and the number of grains m it, it is not such a prolific sort as ihat sown m break No. 1. The seed was bought from a different bouse, and was both cracked and sprouted; consequently, no moie than two-thirds of it came through. So much for last year. lam 'now ploughing; . for next season's crop 8 inches deep, to get up the the temperature. I will not plough * again, but will, with either the Otahuhu cultivator or Howard's lifting harrow, keep stirring the soil, from four to twelve inches deep, until seed time, then drill with bores the same as last year. The neighbour to 'whom 1 alluded bad

82 acres m two breaks, one of which was ploughed only once m the heat of summer, and on attempting to give it the seed furrow, the old sward coming to the surface, the ploughing was stopped, and a Coleman cultivator run over the field twice to half the depth of tbe ploughing just before seed time, then 1£ bushels seed mixed with lj cwt bone-flour — drilled in — resulting m a clean crop and 35 bushels to the acre. Mr Thomson's second break was m what the Rev. G. M. Reed was wont to designate ' the Sloughs of the Flat Bush ;' this was skimmed rather late m the season, and again ploughed late m July. If bushels of seed, with li cwt. of bone-flour to j the acre, resulting m, as m break No 1, 35 bushels to the acre. There is no mistake about the above yields. The Flat Bush machine thrashes all the crops. Your correspondent, ' Settler,' as well as those who have been badgering me will see that I am no believer m shallow cultivation. One word more before closing. From the success that has attended the wheatgrowers generally this season, we are likely to have more growers next year. I would warn all not on any account to sow wheat upon other than ' than dry lands m good heart.' You may just as well throw your money m the tide as sow wheat upon wet, poor soils. Upon suoh soils the farmer will have a better chance with oats. Apologising for taking up so much space, — I am. &a, John Wallace, Flat Bush.