FARMING NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1272, 24 August 1880, Page 2

FARMING NOTES.

Wheat, Clover, and Sheep. Under this heading an American contemporary has the following: — "In Great Britain the average yield of wheat is 2G bushels per acre against only 13 bushels in the United States. Wheat is no longer a profitable crop in many parts of this country, where the yield was very largo within the memory of men who ate still young. The soil of England has been cropped as many centuries as ours h.is dpca r les, and is increasing- instead of diminishing 1 in fertility. The English h-ive rendered continued wheat production practicable by combining this industry with growing clover and raising sheep. It. is Hkely tli.it we must adopt this practice, or give up raising wheat except on new land, and our supply of virgin soil will soon be exhausted. Clover returns to the surface . tt oil much more than it ta es from it. It derives much of its sustenance from the air. It 3 growth is wonderfully increased by an application of land plaster, which costs very little. The production of clover improves the soil mechanically ss well as chemically. Its roots penetrate the subsoil deeper than any plough or harrow. Its foliage shades the soil and keeps it moiafc during very hot and dry weather. There is no better food for cheep than clover. Sheep, when feeding on clover, leave their droppings scattered about where they will manure the soil to the best advantage. Winter wheat sown on a clover sod, enriched by the manure of sheep, will produce* a vigorous growth, and ordinarily affords good pasture during several months. Where winters are mild, wheat may be eaten off by sheep without injury to the crop. In fact, the yield of grain is often increased by allowing sheep to feed on the foliage during a portion of the winter months. "

Getting Ready Land for Barley. L-md intended for barley cannot be got ready too early or tilled too much ;of all our cereals, barley requires the best preparation. The land ought to be as well and carefully cultivated as if it was intended for a crop of rots. Only good farmers should attempt growing malting barley —the crop is a profitable one if well grown, and if the grain be plump the price is usually as high as that given for wheat ; but, unless the land be well and highly cultivated, and the c:op receives more attention than one farmer in ten is disposed to give it, it will pay better to grow oats or some other grain. Lind for barley should be deeply aud honestly ploughed, and made fine with the bcarifier. Exhausted lands are most unsuitable for barley, and it will be unwise to attempt growing it upon a paddock which has been maturing wheat or oats, perhaps for years. The best crop to pi ecede barley is either potatoes, maize, mangolds, or any other in which the sc.irifier or ho^e-hoe was worked during- the summer. Barley loves dry, well-drained soil, and the "lands " ought not to be too wide, nor too flat in the crowns ; treat it almost as you would a garden crop, it will well l-epay the trouble. Prepare the seed as carefully as you can, discard all thin, shrivelled grains ; sift the seed well, as smill weed seeds are very apt to attach themselves to the "awns." Two bushels drilled is sufficient seed for an acre. — Abraham Lincoln's Quarterly Report.