On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 1 May 1913, Page 59

On the Land

,; . .: - - GENERAL. "' - , , -'■ * The best way to draw a rusty /nail is to drive it in a little first. v - '" •* ~ » • To prevent potatoes sprouting, , Dr. Schiller of Brunswick (Germany) recommends placing them on a layer of coke. The oxidation of the coke produces oxides of carbon and sulphur, and these mixing with the air, retard the sprouting.

. Compost made by mixtures of all sorts of vegetable refuse, dead leaves, household refuse, etc., are valuable, their quality depending on their composition; they are more especially suitable for gardens and horticulture than for general farm practice.

Green manuring constitutes a form of organic manuring. A leguminous crop collects in its roots a considerable proportion of nitrogen from the .air, and when a crop, of that nature is ploughed under the following crop gets the benefit of the collected nitrogen, but here again the necessity of applying phosphate and potash should not be overlooked.

Fish guano, • wool waste, horn shavings, dried blood, rape cake, are all useful forms of . organic manures, supplying, during decomposition, nitrogen to the crops. With these waste substances it is important to remember their poverty in phosphoric acid and potash, so that when applying waste.organic substances, some phosphate and potash should also be used.

: - : There were only average yardings in all departments at Burnside last week, whilst tne quality of the fat cattle and fat sheep was not up to the standard of late sales. The fat cattle forward totalled 180 head, and these consisted for the most part of cows and heifers, with a few pens of medium to good quality bullocks. Butchers' stocks were heavy, and prices all round were considerably below previous week's rates. Bullocks sold at from £lO 10s to £ll 10s; extra, to £l2 15s; medium, £9 to £10; light, £7 10s to £9; good heifers, £7 10s to £8 ss; medium, £5 10s to £7. Of the fat sheep forward (3857), a good proportion were aged and inferior ewes. Prime ewes and wethers sold at prices on a par with previous week's rates, but light and inferior sheep were Is 6d to 2s easier. Prime wethers sold at from 22s 6d to 245; extra, to 27s 3d ; medium, 20s to 21s 6d; light, 18s to 19s 6d; prime ewes, 20s to 21s 6d; extra, to 295; medium to good, 18s to 19s 6d. There was an entry of 2600 fat lambs. Prime lambs sold at from 17s to 18s 6d; extra, to 25s 3d; medium, 15s to 16s 6d. There was an average entry of pig's, and prices were on a par with those ruling at recent sales. At Addington last week there were again heavy yardings of sheep of all classes, and a good entry of fat cattle. Fat lambs sold well but irregularly, and fat pigs were easier. Fat wethers sold at about previous week's rates, and ewes were easier., For fat lambs the fluctuation was equal to about Is 6d per head, A few show lambs sold up to 26s 6d. Tegs made 18s 6d to 22s 9d; ordinary freezers, 16s to 18s; and lighter, 14s to 15s 6d. In fat cattle the range of values was from 19s to 27s per 1001 b, according to quality. Steers realised £8 5s toi£l2; N extra, £ls ss; heifers, £6 5s to £9 ss; and cows, £5 12s 6d to £9 15s. In the fat pigs' class choppers made £3 to £5 7s 6d; heavy baconers, £3 to £3 lis; and lighter sorts £2 10s to £2 17s 6d; equivalent to 4fd to s£d per lb, according to quality. Heavy porkers brought £1 18s to £2 4s, and lighter, £1 13s to £1 17s, equal to s|d per lb. Large stores realised £1 13s to £2 6d; medium sorts, £1 2s to £1 9s.

THE RUAKURA RUST-RESISTANT OAT. The Ruakura Farm of Instruction (writes our Hamilton correspondent) has produced by selection an oat which is, without any doubt, the most highly disease resistant oat ever grown in New Zealand. The oat originated in the year 1908 when Mr. A. W. Green selected a single head from a crop of the Argentine

variety. He also made over 1000 other single head selections in the same year, but the results obtained : from none of these was equal to the original head from which the ' Ruakura Rust-Resistant Oat' has been developed. In 1912 enough seed had been saved to sow five acres, and ; the crop when harvested this season yielded 99 bushels to the acre (90 r of the -first" class oat and nine ; bushels of ~ seconds). .• The variety from which the Ruakura oat was originally selected was sown alongside this year's crop-with" the result that the unselected oat was completely destroyed by rust and a fungoid disease brought on by the wet season The fact that the Ruakura oat was undamaged speaks well for its disease resisting qualities. At -harvesting time the ; oat was. subjected to a week's rough wet weather without any practical damage, while another crop of oats adjoining was turned a very dark color, and rendered useless for threshing. The oat is light in color and of a very fine quality, the- weight of an imperial bushel measure being 481 b. It is not intended to place the Ruakura rust-resistant oat on the k market this season, but free samples may be .: obtained by farmers on application. No .more than one pound & supplied to any one applicant. Samples of this oat are now being distributed to all parts of the world, in order that it may be thoroughly tested. • «

SEED CHANGING^. & The fact that crops run out on farms if we keep on using our own seed continuously is one of the phenomena which have never yet been explained satisfactorily. New varieties are always brought out-, by improvers, but many of them tend to die out after a year or two and have to be resuscitated/as it were, by bringing in fresh seed again in other words, a variety run! out. Against this there is the fact that the continuous selection from the best crops is one of the methods of improving any particular variety, and in this way a crop can be regenerated, and some of our best varieties of corn have been brought into existence in this, way. Notwithstanding this, there is the fact that perpetually growing the same class of seed on the same farm tends to depreciation. in the value of the crop. ": Most people have found out that, change is good, and if any particular variety has been found to do better than others, then it is wise to go back to the same source when regeneration is required. • ■ - As a rule it is a good plan to get seed from a better soil and climate than one's own. In the case of the corn crops, however, it has been found that the heavier grain per bushel is not always the best to sow for raising a go*3 crop, and one of the anomalous things that one finds in farming is that the small-sized seed which is sifted" out of the bulk is found to be heavier per bushel,. and mil actually give the best crop sometimes; possibly this may be due to the fact that the kernels in the small grain are very often as large as those in the larger grain—the difference in size being really due to the difference in the size of the'chaff scales; in any case, however, it is a good plan to have fresh seed at frequent intervals and to have a change from one to another to find out which is the best one to adopt for future use. A farmer might select a grain or two of his very best crop and prepare it for seed purposes, and thus follow a scheme of regeneration: in a small way.