Agriculture AGRICULTURE AS A BUSINESS TO PAY.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1568, 22 July 1882, Page 6

Agriculture AGRICULTURE AS A BUSINESS TO PAY.

r""»* *••"•" BT AN OLD COLONIST. The fashion, lately not so prevalent in Englaiid, ( to go into fanning as a species of amusement, or as a change from the - other occupation of the party concerned, ""still "prevails in the colonies. What, " ' from the facility with which land can be obtained, the difficulty of investing spare [ f cash in a safe and profitable manner, men • invest in land who, under different circumstances, might never own an acre. 1 The 1 earth hunger which is said to afllict r our race, is fully developed here : and 1 when once a piece of land is acquired, it ■ lias to be improved in some way. We go 7 -to see it, taking the sweetheart, or the '• wife, with, it may be, some of the olive '" branches also, and the chances are that 1 we'are smitten with the natural beauties and freshness of the surroundings. A liking to live there is aroused, and, in ' very many cases, other business is dropped, and the man who becomes the owner "of the land, it might be by accident, finds himself occupied Mith the very many trials which beset all who take up new land. Or it may be the feeling is concentrated upon a place that haa been occupied, but, which, to the novice at farming who purchases it, soon becomes bristling with distractions in every direction. Such a state of things is disapointing even to the man that has means, and many become wearied of the contest at the first stage, and give up. Or if circumstances ai'e so that they must go on, , it is with only half a heart in what is being done. That sort of thing does not last for long. Then the farm is dropped, and there is from that time forward an addition to the always numerous body who believe and say farming in the colonies is no good. It would be easy to show how much the same process is in opeiation in England. Or rather, it would be (safer to say the process was in operation there ; for, of late years, farming in the old land has been so notoriously bad, that enthusiasts i even fight shy of it. The era of amateur farming or gentleman farming there seems to have gone for ever, unless it be in the case of those unfortunate land owners who cannot rent their farms, and 1 who are compelled to work the land • themselves. The foregoing cases are referred to only as indicative of what the more scri- • ous case is with men in the colonies who '•take up land, and who have at first neither the skill nor the capital to work ;it advantagcouly. Thousands of such cases occur in the colonies every season, 1 and they are likely to continue while it remains an impression that anybody who can get possession of sufficient land can go fanning, t( and make a Jiving of it," as the saying is. No doubt many, even with all the odds against them, do manage to make a living ; and some do hotter than that, and manage to do really well. But they must bo men of more than ordinary capacity both for work and for business. Otherwise they would scarcely succeed. We .say this with no intention whatever to dishcaiten those disposed to go into farming. The desire is to put the matter in its true light and to make clear tho difficulties as well as the advantages of settlement upon the land. It is a very beriotiti mistake to suppose that success can be won at either farming or grazing without experience, and backed by no small share of business tact Let anyono disposed to doubt this, visit the farming or grazing: districts, and uoto tho successful men ho may meet. That they are shrewd and capable men he will sec very quickly. Thoir business — and farming and gracing in tho colonies means business— has led them to habits of careful calculation, and ability to take advantage of whatever circumstances may bring in their way, whother in dealing with their land in tho host manner ; in observing the seasons ; in harvesting, and in disposing of what their industry has developed into marketable form. This is a high standard of excellence, it will be allowed ; but it is a standard reached by hundreds who occupy land in tho colonies, and amongst them ' are those who make money at grazing and those who farm profitably, and do not sell to the squatter again for grazing purposes tho luud thoy have become possessed of. In those papers, the important bearing that fencing has upon success, has been pointed out. lfc is as near as possible an absolute folly for a man to suppose he can, without good and sufficient fences, make all that can be made out of his land, While the land is open, it is a prey not only to roaming beasts from outside, but hiaown, becomes a losb, if not a nuisance, ■until they arc kept iv workable order by means of fencos. Next to fences comes the importance of having sufficient water for such emergencies as follow all settlement in the colonies — which really follow settlement everywhere. For it is by no means correct to suppose that we are the only people who suffer from want of wator and drought. Leaving tho possibility of irrigation being possible at some future time, the presence of water ■in sufficient quantity for both man and beast, is an immediate necessity. If it can be got upon the land either in the ' form of springs, creeks, or water-holes, it is well to stretch a good many points in order to have the water. If it is not on the ground naturally, arrangements ! for securing a sufficiency from below . ground, or by storing it on the surface, is a matter of first importance. Well- ' sinking and boring for water, are becoming commen operations of lafe years ; ■ and, unless extra good and sufficient reasons stand in the way, in the form of money considerations it is better to arrange with mon accustomed to the work, to sink wells or boie for water, rather than for the owner of tho land to - tackle the job himself, or to pay men by the day for doing it. Of course there are cases in which men are compelled to sink ! wells or bore for water, or to build dams, or else to remain without tho facilities for having plenty of water. Any way of getting or saving water it better than the but too common habit of leaving it to chance. Ruin and disaster are most likely /' to follow the latter course of proceeding. But in all cases where wells are sunk, or dams made, it should be a point, if possible, to have the work done for a stipulated amount, or, at all events to get some one or more to assist in it who have had exp«rienr.e. We hear much said now-a-days about [ dam-making. It is not a very complicated job, certainly. Ability to use the ./spade, pick and shovel; or, it may bo to drive an earth scoop, are important means , to the end desired. But brains tell in , dam-making as in other operations the settler has to encounter. The country is „' already dotted with dams, a very great ' .proportion of whioh have proved a delusion and a snare. It is a common fault of works of the kind that the storage . reservoir behind tne dam becomes filled up with soil, swept into it with the rain.•water, or tho dam in whole or part, is' ,', carried away, or it fails to hold water. f^-Why? Because a bad site was chosen, &»nd ; there was either insufficient' arrange- 1 .Vjnents.fliade to let off all the water that ( Jf/'ityeyflbwed the roseryoir ( : or the dam waa l]£ofygna&e,,oT was not sufficiently tisht" pt^Kof^'jjffabor in, th<j 'first ,place. The illatterjus'Vvery common occurrence, and is ' Plr^liP pvnly to insufficiency of clay No 'work 'of the kind can qlay ; and there ehdiilftf BS> ||||iH|3|pt<o| it to make euoh. a, wall or

puddle- screen In the dam .that no water could get through it. If the clay bo properly beaten up with plonty of water and then well rammed into the dam, from the firm soil or rock below the bottom of the resorvoir, up to the top, and all across the dam from pide to nido, no water can pass through, and the work is safe. So with the bottom of the reservoir. It should be well puddled clay. Not a drop should pass through. It is by not preventing leaking in the bottom and face, that so many wretched dams are seen in the colonies. So for, reference hna been mado only to storage of water for the uso of the house and for stock ; and, in the colonies, a living and money can be made where there w sufficiency of water for such purposes. But, wherever, opportunity is available, irrigation for cultivation purposes is an operation that can be made to pay handsomely. Where a commencement only is made with irrigation, the kitchen garden with a bit of lucerne, are as good as the best to gain experience on. Both the vegetable and the grass quickly show the effects of water applied to them during dry spells. And for both purposes the water can be let on to the land without the special exprrience and skill which are necessary for applying irrigatinn water with success to large fields, and to extensively-cultivated crops.