THE CULTIVATION OF MUSTARD, &c.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1694, 15 May 1883, Page 2

THE CULTIVATION OF MUSTARD, &c.

We {Melbourne Weekly Times) hays often recommended mustard as a fodder plant. It has so many advantages, and not the least, in this colony, where high farming is not the rule, is th it it will grow rapidly upon almost any sort of soil. It may also be sown at any season, and if only there be the least moisture it will grow. It is much relished by both cattle and sheep, and yields a gieat weight of food. No soil capable of bearing a crop at all ia too poor for .it, and herein is one of its principal merits; but, at the same time, it gives a proportionately large return for good tieatment, or when allowed a good soil to grow in. For feeding purposeß, rape is about equal to mustard, but it will not grow upon such poor soil. As food for a dairy, very few plants excel it for increasing the quantity or improving the quantity of milk. It is a pity, but although we have travelled many miles this autumn round about Melbourne, wo cannot call to mind having seen a single patch of either mustard or rape, but we saw hundreds. of cows in a miserably poor condition,' Another succulent plant, and one upon which we have often treated, is the vetch. The seedsmen have lately been sending out Italian ryegrass seed. This species of 'grass has been considered an annual, but in many instances, and under certain conditions, it has proved itself perennial. In England, it needs frequently to be sewn with barley, but not so frequently as that better known as the " perennial." In the low-lying rich lands of England, and where sewage can be used' or irrigation adopted, the yield of Italian grass per acre is^ almost incredible, something similar to the rich plots of lucerne in this colony. The above-named ryegra s s has frequently" been .mown c.very six weeks, *nd a heavy - swath ;'; ' too. Italian rye-grass is much relished by all live stock, and, according to the results of very recent experiments, if made into hay, -it was -universally preferred to th it made from common rye-grass. When allowed to ripen' its seed, the weight per acre of the latter exceeds that of the perennial, and it is generally believed that the nutritive substance ex* tracted from the herbage affords more saccharine matter ,than' even that cele? brated rye-grass known in Europe as ' ' Pacey's. " In ' purchasing < rye-grass, a little knowledge of the different appearance of the sort' is necessary: ' ' The common, both the annual and perennial, are clean seeds, without any awn ;' but the Italian has a very small terminal in shape of a short awn at one end ; but there is a most obnoxious weed known as the " goose grass," the " Bromus Mollis," which is so dangerously alike in appearto the Italian species of rye-grass tnat^ft has not unfrequently been sold inJfl^B market for the true' Italian. Th/*n^b^F easily distinguished if placed alohgiiOe each other. The goose-grass is a larger seed than the Italian, and has ''* longer awn attached to it. Sainfoin or sain foil, or, as it is called in France saintfoin or holy hay, is also, or rather has been, recommended ; but we," unlike some people, never -could see the "merits of sanfoin. It-will certainly; like mustard, grow .where nothing else will, j but.it it three years cbuoirig^to maturity m a cool climate, and 1 two 1 years in warmer localities. It loves chalky and limestone soils. ' Here we have so many superior plants to choose from, that' it is quite'unnecessary for our farmers to trouble themselves about sainfoin. The -same with chicory as a fodder plant.. It, is highly prized in certain parts' 'of Europe; and would, nor doubt; 'be^advantagequ.s, here on a rich, light -soil, to be aft^t wardt. laid down in gfafesj but its roots are very troublesome when the land is required for any other crop,

"This insurance ~ policy is a queer thing," said 1 Dobbs reflectively.' "If I can't' sell it, I cancel it, and if Icancelifc, I can't sellifc." f > •' - ■ ffA'SoYJn Mobile, Alabama, 'bet four dollars tbatt within two specified dates there' would be^two'fires in the city.^'He wonthe^mon'ey, but has be^fl oerifc fe ]au for firing a Qowple of four-s&r^ buiW«