THOROUGH CULTIVATION.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1709, 19 June 1883, Page 3

THOROUGH CULTIVATION.

Tjie subject of tlccp and thorough culture of the soil ineiits more attention than has liitliei to been given to it by oiu New Zealand farnieis, The abundant oiops of grain that have been leaped fioin the natu willy feitile land in this colony, and the compaiatively short pciiod ihuing which it has been cultivated, have l)linde(l Clio peipection of agriculturists to tlie benefits of moie thoiongh cultivation. But in the older settled distncts the eflects ol shallow and inefficient cultiva tion, coupled with the exhaustive system of continuous gi am glowing, ate becoming appaientin decreased yields of grain, and in the foul state of the fields from noxious Meeds of c\eiy descnption. 'J he climate of this colony io supuiwr foi the growth of the oidmaiy farm ciops to that of Australia or Tasmania, for we arc not so subject to long continued dtoughts. In the generality of seasons we are favoined with both the early and the later iain&, and noseiious checks occuis to prevent tho productive development of giam ciops. Thcieaie, however, evei> now and again seasons when we have long and trying spells of dry weather ; <md tho tcsults of the harvests of ISB2 in some of thciichestdistiicts of the country were dcmonstrwtiv eof the veiv seiious evils ansing from the shallow system of ploughing, I am fully poi<-uaded that on most of the fauns wlieic the faihue Mas greatest the loss would not have proved so disastious had the land been deeper ploughed and moie thoiouglily cultivated. On some of the 1 idlest and deepest of lands, tho failure was so complete that the cittlo weie turned into the fields, and even where the ciop was allowed to mature, the threshing machine ie\ealcd the lament able fact that it might h.ue been bettci policy to have ploughed it under at an eaily --tago in its giouth, as the yield was only horn five to ten bushels per acre. The failure could not possibly have been the result of poverty of soil, for the same lands in the districts ie-feirc-d to are this year turning out magnificent crops of wheat of from 40 to oO bushels per acie. The successful Urou tli of crops is not alone due to our kind of soil, for liowe\cr rich it may be in the essential constituents of plant food, unless its mechanical condition is suitable, there will be failure nioieor less. When the meio suifaceof the soil is only stirred, and the lower soil and subsoil are left unmoved, it is easy to see that with an unusually dry season the inevitable lcsult will be a poor ciop. The subsoil may naturally be of a hard or tenacious clay, and in some cases may I become moie solid and in> penetrable from the continued action of the plough, and hence the roots of wheat tail to enter much below the surface. They are forced to live and thrive upon the few inches of surface soil, dry as a dust bin, and therefore tho crop is starved with ceitamty — albiet the chemical natuie of the soil may be almost perfect. The braid may be viguousand promising, but very soon in a diy season there is a change, veufying the words of Scripture, that the seed sown by the wayside " springs up and soon witheis away because it has has no loot.'' Agiiculture will never reach perfection until it approaches as nearly as is consistent with prudence, the thorough pioccss of culture that is iollowed in gardening. If we expect to leap ciops in the lich degiee that aie -within the leach of all piopeily cultivated land, we must imitate as closely as possible the piocesses of the gardener. The chiet of these is deep cultiue and frequent stirring of the soil. Tienching, digging, and spading are common terms, and they must mean something ; and it is also known that stirring tho soil often is as good as manure. Do we not see and know there is a benefit from these operations? I therefore advocate the advisability of deep and frequent culture. It is not only that a greater area of soil is provided for plants to seek their piojer elements of nutiition, but the soil itself becomes sweeter, more fiiable, and mellower. Besides these advantages, there is, moreover, the still gi eater and more desirable benefit from thorough culture in the well ascertained fact that land so cultivated is neither so liable to be injured by continuous rains, nor does it suffer so much from protracted dry weather. Kveiyone who has had experience in farming, and who is at all observant, must have noticed that in seasons of drought on those fields that have been thoroughly cultivated to a pood depth, the crops will be green and flourishing, while in others where the usual style had been followed they have quite a different appearance. I remember that many years since I was furnished with a convincing illustration of this fact. An interesting and strong controversy took place in the county amongst the farmers with reference to the comparative benefits of fine fancy ploughing of the land, and of deeper and rougher work. Having an experimental turn of mind, and having abundant opportnnites of gratifying the propensity, I' determined to test the matter by a practical trial. In a field of about 20 acres I employed the styleof prize ploughing, andittheotherhalf the work was done deeply and roughly, the ploughs having short mould boards, « r and 'breaking up tiie fu'r,rpw| slices. Oat,s were' ih'eh' sown in' the spring,' the drill machine being used across the one h'a]f of i^he I f^ol t dj Vfhjlo^hepothpr was sown broadcast. The lafce'spring and summer werenmu^glly dry»ratid tbe t crop iwSs' "theMoWncft ifolgodd W-Vfaa ex^t^W f s / ' - V ".. < \ i

The part, however,' that was ploughed in the grand style so much lauded by the advocates of piize ploughing was so,, much inferior and was so palpably suffering from the drought that the difference was obsei vablc afc a long distance, and on noting the result after threshing, there was a much greater yield from the roughly hrokeu-up portion of the land. The subsequent practice on the farm was much influenced by the result of this • tiial, and in no instance was there any solid reason to doubt the superior efficacy of substantial work, especially when there was a dry summer. — Otago Widias.

" Whkn a new railway is to be built in America," says :in English paper, " the iirst they do 18 to 'bieuk ground,' which is done with great ceremony. The next thing is to break the shareholder, which is done without ceremony." Pkince Leopold of Hohenzollern, brothei of the Duchess of Connaught, has been apprenticed to learn the tiade of a locksmith, in accoidaucc with the custom of the Royal family of Prussia. Pnocmu: yonr stock of seeds as soon as possible. As seed time approaches, j the seedsmen aie crowded with ordeis, and moieor less delay may occur. It trying new \arieties get only a small quantity until it is known that soil and locality arc favourable, PAUL'hIU^M IN LOM>ON.— The following is a census of metropolitan paupcis (exclusive of lunatics in * asylums and vagi ants) taken on the last day of the weeks named hereunder (enumciatcd inhabitants in ISBI, 3,513,000) :— Fouith week of Maicli, ISB3, indoor 54,830; outdoor, 42,907 ; total, 97,743. Fouilli week of Ma\ch, ISS2, mdooi, 52,014.; outdoor. 43,001 ; total 9i,973. Foiuth week inM.ueh, ISSI, indoor, 52,020; outdoor , 43,723 ; tot.il 75,473. Fourth week of Maich, ISBO, indoor, 45.03G ; outdooi, 42,13 9; total. 91,093. Vagiants idievcd in the metiopohs on the last day of the fourth week of March, 1833 : —Mm, 363 ; women, 113 ; childiui undei 16, 18 ; total 493. "Tin: Coming Democracy." — Mi L.ibouchere isnothingif notthorouyh. His views on democracy aio well known, but they have never been expressed to .such a sweeping' extent, as in an aitiele in Gil Mai eh number of the " Foitnightly," entillcd "A Democrat on the Coming- Deinocr.icv." This exposition, the London < orre^pondent of the New York Tribune is of opiukm, "students of English politics cannot afford to neglect. Mr Labouchere, it is true, i.s not a lecoguised exponent of Kudic ilism, bnt he is a bingul.uly f i auk person, and his views may be taken as shared by a few of his colleagues in the Houso, some of whom are less able and all less out-spoken. His sympathy with Mr Chamberlain, for example, is close, and ho looks to Mr Chaiubeilain as a leader. Mr L'lbouehere's programme w ould htai tie most of the reasonable polltioiau.s who call themselves Liberal ; not less from the way in which it is urged than fiom its extent. The earlier items will not btuke you in America as subveisive of society, levolulionaiy though they are. Equal eleehnal distnets, payment of election expenses and of membeis of the (Htate, biennial Paihatucuts, abolition of the llousc of Loidi as a legislative body, tin-so, j)ieeeded by the adoption of .in extended franchise, are the moio immediate objects Mr L.ibou'here proposes to him-elf. They are, however, only pielimin.iiv — ouly a pulling of the political machine into uipid working older. With the Lords out of his way, and a Demociatio Hou-e of Commons, Mr Labouchere would proceed fo abolish the Civil list and put the Queen (whom he permits to remain on the thiono as ornamental h'guiehead) on a f-alary of 50,000 dols <i year, like the President of the United States. He would disestablish and disendow the Church of England ' at once,' and devote the 13,000, 000d0l a year to be gotfiomits levonucs to educational purposes. He would settlethelandquestion by making occupiers owueis He would hnufc the numbei of acrcsa manmayown, and ot pouuds sterling he may accumulate. Taxation would bo based on the' excellent piinciplo ' that those ought to pay who can best affoid it. Customs and excise are to be abolished, and the buidcns now laid on ' industry' to be sustained by help of a piogressivo income tax and piogiessive succession duty— rising to oC per cent. And so on and so on. These may do for samples."