ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, 10 March 1921, Page 43

ON THE LAND

MARKET REPORTS. There were very large yardings of fat cattle, sheep and lambs at Burnside last week. As export buyers were operating on very much reduced limits, a very decided drop in alb the above classes took place, and the sale prices were in the region, for ox beef, according to quality, of 30s to 35s per 1001 b, cows and heifers 20s to 255, while wether mutton brought 3|d to 3|d per lb, ewe mutton 2Jd to 2|d, and lamb from s|d to 7|d, according to weight and quality.

Fat Cattle.—A big yarding, totalling 291 head, composed principally of well - finished steers and heifers. Export buyers were operating to a limited extent, which helped to keep prices fairly steady, but nevertheless a fall in prices took place to the extent of 35s to 50s a head as compared with the previous week's rates. Prime bullocks brought from £l4 to £l6; medium, £ll to £l3; light and unfinished, £8 to £lO 10s ; prime cows and heifers, £lO to £l4; medium, £7 10s to £8 15s; light and aged, £4 15s to £7 ss. Fat Lambs. Another large entry, 2021 coming under the hammer. Export buyers secured all well-finished sorts at a reduction on the preceding week's rates of about 3s, while unfinished sorts were very hard to dispose of at 6s a head drop on late rates:—Prime lambs brought from 22s 6d to 28s 6d; medium, 17s to 20s; light, 12s 6d to 15s; unfinished, 8s to 12s. Fat Sheep.37o7 were offered, the quality being good. Prices receded from 6s to 10s per head for heavy-weight ewes and wethers, and for light-weights a drop took place of from 4s to 6s per head. Extra prime heavy-weight wethers brought to 31s 9d ; prime wethers, 20s to 24s ; medium wethers, 16s to 18s 9d; light wethers, 12s 6d to 15s; extra prime ewes, to 24s 9d; prime ewes, 16s. to 20s; medium ewes, 12s 6d to 14s 9d ; light ewes, 8s to 10s Gd. Pigs.—A large yarding of both, fats and stores. Prices for fats showed a drop of 10s per head on the previous week's values. Stores also met a very dragging sale, prices being 7s 6d to 10s lower than on the preceding week. At Addington market the yarding was a particularly large one; and there was a substantial allround drop in values, which reached lower points for mutton than for years. Fat Lambs.—Values were easier, and averaged 7]d to 7fd per lb. Freezing buyers operated keenly at these figures. Extra prime, 28s 2d to 30s 3d; prime, 25s to 28s; medium, 21s 9d to 24s 9d; light and unfinished, 14s to 22s 9d. Fat Sheep.—Wether mutton sold at about 4'id to 4£d per lb; ewe mutton, 3d to 3|-d; and towards the end of the sale at less. Extra prime wethers, 28s 6d to 32s 8d; prime wethers, 24s 9d to 27s 9d ; medium wethers, 21s to 245; light and unfinished wethers, 12s 6d to 18s 9d ; extra prime ewes, up to 26s lOd ■ prime ewes, 19s 6d to 23s 9d; medium ewes, 14s 3d to 19s; light and unfinished ewes, 8s 9d to 13s 9d Fat Cattle.—A yarding of 370. Prime beef dropped about 30s per head, and secondary about 50s. A fair proportion of the entry was passed, the good feed prevailing saving graziers from accepting the low rates Extra prime steers, £22 to £25; prime, £l7 10s to £l9 12s 6d; medium, £l3 10s to £l7 ss; light and unfinished, £6 5s to £l2 10s; prime heifers, £lO to £l2 12s 6d; ordinary, £6 to £9 10s; prime cows, nl 10s to £ll 7s 6d; medium and inferior cows, £5 12s 6d to £7 ss. Vealers.—A big entry, with lower values in sympathy with other priced. Runners, t? 10s; good vealers, £3 to M ss; medium calves, ±1 17s 6d to £2 15s; small calves, 10s to £1 10s ii II S. s 1 -~ A weak demand, except for porkers which sold well Choppers, £5 to ; £8; light baconers, £4 15s to £5 ss; heavy, £5 10s to £6; extra heavy, up to £6 (average price per. lb, 7|d) ;. heavy porkers, 10|d^ £3 5s to £3 ( avera § e P rice P er lb >

PULVERISATION OF THE SOIL * In these days many, cultivators are apt to pay too much attention to the chemical treatment as distinct tiom the mechanical treatment of the soil (says a writer in Farm, Field , and Fireside). The experienced farmer believes in harrowing and rolling, or such mechanical operations as will help to bring the soil into a fine division as regards its particles, so long as they do not orm a wet plastic mass of the consistency of clay or putty. Thus quite half the labor on the majority of arable farms is devoted to the pulverisation- of the soil the fertility of very many soils is solely due to the fineness of its particles, and those who have studied plant growth to any extent know that the fine rootsof the plants live, as it were, on these minute particles and that repeated or almost constant tillage operations, especially that of hoeing, play a very important part in securing a heavy yield. . : fhaf F T myard^e has a value fi uite distinct from that of _ imparting manure to the soil, namely in its mechanical, effect as divider or' disintegrator of the soil winch when S properly usually s S up: ply most of the requirements of plant growth When strawy manure is applied in the autumn, the underlayer of -w becomes well aerated, * process which cannot possibly be performed where manure of this character is not employed. •' manures are useful for suppyling certain ingredients in which .the soil is deficient, such g as' phosphoric acid, potash, and-nitrogen, but their presence of °th0 C soil 61 lttle effecfc 011 the character and texture loamt heavy clay soil will hold more moisture than a sX r f?o "f y 8 1 1, I yet the . cla 7 will be the first to never l- A nf . lou gb t 5 because in ordinary practice it is n evei k e p t ln so fine a condition. If the soil is well pulverised to a good depth the crops will not suffer from drought to any appreciable, extent, yet with ordinal culture the product of almost every crop is much lessened in every season owing to the lack of moisture Where sub-soiling is practised, as in the case of thatVo Ur aige mar Jet gardens , Will be noticed hat the crops are considerably stronger and more pro--1 fie than where the plough pan, or hard strata of subsoil, remains unbroken. •

st*Where the particles of soil are fine, water constantly rises 1 to the surface by capillary action during drv W tv y - an ff Ch ? r S ° ° f the surface becomini dry, but this is effectively moistened by dews at night IZuTT™/ fine SOi1 ' even in tlle eat of the day ; i; will be found moist and warm, thus supplying all the equisites or the rapid growth of plants, wiiile a hard! lumpy, half-pulverised soil will be found' dry, and wil often open to the depth of a foot or so on the surface AH practical farmers realise the necessity of securing a fine friable seed-bed, especially in mMWk a Zet7 7 hlC t Can not possibly be" obtained Without repeated ploughing? and especially " cultivating and owing, just in the same way as a gardener must work down the large clods of soil by rolling and raSg until the particles are reduced in size S th ft n^ Vmg °^ tai ned an ideal seed-bed, the. seeds can then be sown fairly shallow, and, further, they are always certain of receiving a constant supply of air and moisture, which are so essential to.germination^^