770 



has been taken away, consequently new land has to be cleared and 

 broken up so as to obtain the same amount of forage ; and peopl ; 

 complain about the land and grumble because it is not like what it 

 used to be. [Part V. of the SETTLER'S GUIDE is devoted to the 

 manuring of lands, and those who contemplate dairying in the 

 most profitable manner cannot do better than thoroughly study 

 this part.] Manure the land heavily, and do not be afraid to 

 demand big returns. Take two, three, or even four crops off the 

 land in the year. It can be done if you look after it well. Wherever 

 possible sow all crops in drills, so that the land between the drills 

 may be cultivated and kept stirred and open as long as may be 

 without damage to the growing crops. Keep the weeds down and 

 the soil loose and open, and even in a dry season fair crops may 

 be looked for, and not in vain. What is wanted is not large areas 

 of poor land under cultivation, but small areas of rich land, and if 

 not naturally rich, made rich thoroughly well cultivated and 

 forced to yield heavy crops. 



A dairy farmer has other work to do than to spend half his time 

 in ploughing and working poor land. It is a waste of time, so much 

 extra work on the horses, so much extra wear and tear on the 

 implements, and the results unsatisfactory. If you think it is not 

 possible, try one acre, or even half an acre. You can get in, say, 

 barley or rape early and have one good cutting, probably two, then 

 a crop of turnips or peas, and then maize, or sorghum, in the one 

 twelve months, and see what returns you get from it as compared 

 with the other land in proportion to the time and labor expended 

 on it. One fair trial will convince you that there is money in it. 

 As to the matter of what crops should be grown and how they should 

 be treated, I will not go into that now, but will deal with it later on. 



As to the permanent pastures in some parts of this colony, 

 many of the better class of Knglish grasses might be grown with 

 great advantage instead of couch grass, which, in nearly all other 

 parts of Australia, is looke 1 upon as little better than a weed, and 

 steps taken to eradicate it and stop it spreading. Of course, the 

 grasses that are suitable to one district are often not suitable to 

 other districts, and experiments will have to be made. These experi- 

 ments will be of the greatest value to the agriculturist and dairy farmer, 

 as he will then have reliable information to go upon and save himself 

 years of fruitless endeavour. In districts where there are good 

 native grasses it would be well worth the time and labor to gather 

 the seeds of the best of them, sow in pots and then cut for seed to 

 be sown on the farm. Many of these grasses stand our climate 

 much better than any of the so-called artificial grasses will, and not 

 only so, but in the other colonies some of the best flavored and 

 best keeping butter comes off the pastures where the cattle are fed 

 entirely on native grasses. Witli a very little trouble in a couple of 

 years enough seed could be saved to sow a number of acres, and 

 would amply repay the small expense. 





