858 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [Dec, 2, 1920. 



that if any farmer imagines that change of variety complies with 

 the principles of rotation as good husbandry, he is quite in error. The 

 practice absolutely fails on that score, valuable as it may be for other 

 reasons. 



It is perhaps not out of place to remark here that there is no reason why 

 every variety should " run out '' in time and follow the course of those 

 that have " run out " before it. " Run out," it is to be feared, is largely 

 the consequence of farmers' own crude methods of selection and neglect of 

 the sound indications of virility and freedom from disease. In other words, 

 it is the result of successive plantings with little regard for the characters 

 that should be perpetuated, and for those that should be eliminated or con- 

 trolled. " Run out " is not an essential of the industry, and a recognition 

 of this might yet see some excellent old varieties that growers are inclined 

 to bemoan coming into favour again. 



On the score of change of seed, it might be remarked that the introduc- 

 tion of seed from one district to another, especially from somewhat harsh 

 conditions to more favourable ones, is good practice in the culture of some 

 crops, being frequently followed . by good yields. At the same time it 

 shoidd be remembered that experience also shows that given sound methods 

 of selection and culture, acclimatised seed has recommendations that the 

 grower cannot afford to ignore. 



Inter cultivati on . 



The working of the land under a young cane crop is generally on the 

 lines of flat cultivation in the earlier stages, the objects being (1) to prevent 

 the loss of moisture and (2) to control weed growth. Cane-farmers appear 

 to be well aware of the value of a loose surface as a means of conserving 

 soil moisture, and also to realise that the quantity of plant-food avail- 

 able in the soil at any one time is limited, and that if weeds are allowed to 

 take an ample supply for themselves, then the more valuable cane plant is 

 deprived of essentials to its development. 



The harrow is usually employed while the plants are still small, successive 

 workings filling in the plant furrow until the crop becomes too tall to be 

 treated in this way. A Planet Jr. horse-hoe, fitted with narrow tines for 

 scarifying purposes is used by many as the plants grow. A few farmers 

 even open up the ground on either side of the plants when they are two or 

 three weeks above ground, leave it so for a few hours — perhaps for a day — 

 and then break the middles, thus throwing the soil back upon the plants. 

 The effect is no doubt to aerate and warm up the soil while yet it is possible 

 to get close to the plants; later on as the roots spread this would be 

 impossible. 



For later cultivating operations, the disc cultivator seems to be favoured by 

 many farmers. It is largely used on the coast by maize-growers, having a 

 raised frame that enables it to be used on a crop until it has attained a 

 height of 3 feet 6 inches; this frame can be lowered and the discs reversed 

 to convert the implement into a disc harrow. With this or some similar 

 implement the rows are inter-cultivated and the drills hilled up, the work 



