ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, 20 October 1921, Page 43

ON THE LAND

MARKET REPORTS. There was another large yarding of fat cattle at Burnside last week, 220 head coming forward, the greater part of which consisted of good well-finished steers. There were very few heifers and cows offered. Owing to the presence of a number of country butchers, competition was good, and prices can be quoted 10s to 15s per head in advance of the previous week. Extra prime bullocks £l9, prime £ls to £l6 10s, medium £l2 to £l4 10s, light £8 to £lO 15s, prime cows and heifers £lO to £ll 10s, medium £8 to £9 ss, light and inferior £5 to £7 ss. Fat Sheep.— 2804 sheep 'were offered. The quality was excellent, the greater proportion of the yarding consisting of prime and well-finished wethers, the proportion of ewes being very small. The market opened with prices for heavy wethers about Is 6d to 2s per head less than the preceding week's rates, while light-weight sheep were bringing a shade less, although there was no quotable change in values. The market was kept up by the presence of graziers, who purchased ' a large number of the lighter-weight wethers. There were two trucks of very fine shorn wethers offered that realised 16s to 19s per head. Extra prime wethers 21s to 24s 3d, prime 18s 6d to £1 0s 6d, medium 16s to 17s 6d, light-weight 14s 6d upwards, extra prime ewes 18s 3d, prime 16s to 17s 6d, medium 13s to 15s, light-weights lis upwards. Eat Lambs. —Forty-nine lambs came forward to the sale, the quality of a number of them being excellent, and the balance of the yarding being composed of lightweight young lambs. Competition was very much on a par with that of the previous week. Extra prime lambs 35s to 375, good lambs 26s to 325, medium 21s to 255, lightweights 15s to 17s 6d. Pigs. There was a full supply of pigs, all classes being well represented. The demand for large pigs was a little weaker than at the previous sale, while a good demand existed for porkers and small pigs. Best baconers realised from 8d to per lb, and best porkers from B|d to 9£d per lb. At Addington market last week there was a full yarding of all classes of stock. Beef, owing to outside supplies congesting the market dropped 5s to 6s per 10011). Other sections of stock sold up to recent rates. Spring Lambs. — 300 penned. A good sale for all well-grown ltffnbs, but small sorts were not in request. Top prices were from 29s 6d to 32s 9d, prime 25s to 295, medium 20s to 24s 9d, inferior 15s 3d to 19s. Fat Sheep.—A good entry. A free sale at the preceding week's values, practically a total clearance being effected. Extra prime wethers to 29s 6d, prime 23s 3d to 27s 6d, medium 20s to 235, light and 'unfinished 16s Id to 19s 3d, prime ewes 19s 9d to 23s lOd, medium 17s 3d to 19s 6d, inferior 15s 3d to 17s, prime hoggets 17s 3d to 20s, light to medium 15s 9d to l7s 6d, Fat Cattle. An over-supply. Prime beef dropped in value £2 per head, and light beef eased only to a small extent. Extra prime bullocks to £2O, prime £l4 10s to £l7, medium £ll 5s to £l4 7s 6d, light and unfinished bullocks £7 2s 6d to £ll ss, prime heifers £9 15s to £l3 2s 6d, medium £7 7s 6d to £9 10s, light and unfinished £6 to £7 ss, prime cows £8 5s to £l2 15s, ordinary £5 5s to £B. Vealers. —Runners to, £4 ss, good vealers £3 5s to £3 17s 6d, medium £2 2s 6d to £3, small 5s to £1 15s. Fat Pigs.— large entry and a weaker market for porkers. Choppers £3 to £5 10s, light baconers £4 5s to £5, heavy £5 5s to £5 average price per lb 8d to B£d, light porkers £2 15s to £3 2s 6d, heavy £3 5s to £3 —average price per lb B|d to 9£d. THE DEPTH TO PLOUGH. ■ • Deeper ploughing is being advocated at the present time as a means of getting larger yield of crops (says the Farmers' Union Advocate). No good farmer underrates the importance of deep ploughing, but he wishes to know where, when and for what it is to be carried . out'. If he is told to plough foot deep for wheat he does not agree. He knows that four or five inches are deep enough. He

% , . - _. __. _ - has already ploughed as deeply as the nature of his land will allow for a preparatory crop, such as potatoes or roots; and he knows that immediate deep ploughing for corn will bury the rich surface soil, bring up a mass of raw material, which has neither been weathered nor. manured, and probably inundate the land with weeds. There is a time and a place for everything, and for deep ploughing among the rest, and it may be well very briefly to remark on both these aspects. If land is ever deeply ploughed, it should be before winter really sets in, in order to secure the full effects of frost upon the newly-exposed soil stratum. To attempt the same operation in spring would be to court failure, for the frost is the best pulveriser, -and without it raw subsojl would simply be a bar to fine tilth. Still more important is the place or situation, for deep ploughing cannot be practised unless the subsoil is suitable for the purpose. It is impossible to plough up rock, and it would be a mistake to bring up gravel, barren clay , or white and grey sand. The desirability of deep ploughing must rest upon the character of the underlying soil. Some soils are vertically continuous for several feet, but "most are naturally shallow, and their color and texture alter perceptibly below the first six inches. The highest authorities on • fertility claim the first nine inches as the theatre of bacterial action and but little nitrogen reaches the subsoil. Nine inches are, however, well within the limits of deep ploughing, and where the soil is sufficiently deep, the depth of the ploughing may be increased with advantage at the proper time and season. Time and place are brought into harmony in the case of .deep ploughing in November or December in anticipation of roots, potatoes or mangels, and the degree to which is should be pushed must depend upon the natural depth of the staple. The best plan is to do it gradually, i.e., at the successive periods in which the land comes into rotation for roots. Deep ploughing for corn crops is not found to be desirable, but as the land has been previously subjected to deeper cultivation, no one can say that these crops do not benefit from it. The subject of weeds, and especially of charlock, bears strongly upon that of deep cultivation. It may flood a barley field with charlock, but when used before winter, and in anticipation of late-sown root crops, there will be opportunities for destroying this pest, as well as of other weeds brought to the surface. The idea of direct' deep ploughing for corn crops may be considered impracticable; but deeper ploughing, carried on for a series of years, at the proper time, and for the right kind of crops, and, it must be. added, on the proper sort of land, will result in a gradual deepening of the staple and the permanent improvement of the land. i - ■