March, 1914 



THK (MRDEN AND FIELD. 



463 



.-ii.iit to work for iihout foiirtevn 

 d;n later, as it wns \ orv drv 

 'i.-ro. When the liiinhs came, in 

 c first 2<x) I don't think there 

 w . re 2o Shroi).s-hire-cross lambs. I 

 (Milv have i,<xx) acres of land, an;l 

 have boon runninii on it T,ooo 

 •"^rown sheep, besides cattle and 

 horsi^s. I spoke of the Dorset 

 Horn ten vears ajjo for producin'!; 

 f it lambs, as I was born in Som- 

 ersetshire, Rn<;lind, and cati rc- 

 iiuMiiber them all m^- life." 



^[r. Korde's first consi{^~mncnt of 

 this season's lambs recently ar- 

 rixed in Svdnev, and were sold in 

 the open market at the Ilomebnsh 

 .irds on 12th November. The fol- 

 lowinc; are the prices realised : — 

 56 lambs at ^i6/to to 

 Ill lambs at 15/2 to i.s/?- 

 l\ lambs at 14/ to 14/1 

 The whole consiirnmcnt of ZTo, 

 all of which were snckers, averaged 

 1^''^. All these lambs were the 

 nrojj'cny of Dorset Horn rams and 

 I.onjrwool-Merino ewes, and are 

 che lambs referred to in the letter 

 quoted abox'e. 



Discing Stubble Land before 

 Ploughing. 



The aim of the wheat-jjrower in 

 districts of limited rainfall should 

 be to endep.voiir to collect and 

 conserve in the soil as mucli as 

 possible of the rain that falls 

 throujrhont the year, in order to 

 supplement the rainfall during the 

 period of jjrowth of the subsequent 

 crop. This is the main object of 

 fallowing ; but our present method 

 of fallowing allows of a period of 

 the year in which no attempt is 

 made to store up moisture, vi/.., 

 from, the harvest time to the time 

 of earlv fallowinpr in the month of 

 June or July. After harvest, the 

 sod, owing to its hard crusted stir- 

 face, is in a very favourable condi- 



tion to part with its moisture, 

 and the great evaporatin"- u"e-icH'« 

 heat, drv^less, and winds — are 

 actively at work. Dut it the sur- 

 face of the vS«il can be loosened, 

 and a soil mulch formed, this ex'a- 

 noration can be checked, and any 

 suridus moisture left in the lower 

 soil o\cr and above the needs of 

 the preceding cron may be saved, 

 and the soil at the same time pre- 

 pared to receive the autumn rains, 

 instead of ^allowing them to run 

 off the hard surface or become ra- 

 pidlv absorbed by the h'lt, dr" 

 nir. 



Since water is the limiitinir fac- 

 tor of crop production in dry dis- 

 tricts, the more moisture that is 

 stored in the soil, other conditions 

 beinp- equal, the larger will be the 

 returns. Therefore, the farmer 

 who can thus start the year's 

 " soil moisture accoimt " with a 

 " balance brought forward " and 

 increased "deposits" in tVe earlv 

 "art of the Vear shotild make ad- 

 ditional nrofits which will much 

 n-rore than recompense him tor tbp 

 extra labour and time ex^ien'^od, 

 and in a dry season this addition- 

 al moisture conserved may make 

 all the difference between crop suc- 

 cess and failure. 



The soil at harvest time is usu- 

 ally not in' a suitable condition for 

 nlourrhintT, owing to its hard, rli— 

 state, nor is it advisable to nlou -h 

 at this time, as the work can be 

 '■"erformed more economically and 

 nuicklv with a disc cultivator, i''-- 

 lard may then be plniii<-hed at the 

 usual time duriu"- winter or earh- 

 snriu"-. The disc cultivator will 

 cut into the hard surface soil, cre- 

 ating a loose, dry mnlch, " Vh 

 \yil1 arrest further evaporation 

 and enable the axttumn rains to 

 nenetrate the subsoil. - 



This early discing before nlougn- 

 ing does more than aid the con- 

 servation of moisture, and has also 

 much to recommend it to farmers 



XWCOtUClO : aomathjiig about 

 your mathod* of braading, raa.rin^ 

 Mid majia^iiitf Liva Stock T Lat 

 aa h»Ta it if it will only fill th^ 

 b»ak mt a Pm* om»d. 



L J. RICHARDS S 



CARRIAGE, BUGGY 

 SULKY & MOTOR BODY 

 .BUILDERS. 



THE LARGEST PKIZE TAKERS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 



t Two yeftis' guarantee with all new Vehicles. TyreLag included. All ma- 

 * terial kept in stock until naturally seasoned. Write for Catalogues and 



Prices. 



INSl'ECTION INVITTiiD TO OUR SHOW-ROOM AND FACTORY. 

 Establisfaed in 1866. 



Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide. 



in the more favoured wheat dis- 

 tricts, especially where it is the 

 intention to sow wheat again the 

 following season : — 



1. It chops up the stubble so 

 that it can be more readily 

 ploughed under, thus adding valu- 

 able organic matter to the soil, 

 and returning to the soil the 

 plant-food it has remoyed in its 

 erowth. It is necessary, howev^er, 

 that stubble should be plon'rhed 

 imder early, in order to allow of 

 its thorough decomposition before 

 seeding operations begin, as dry 

 straw decays .slowly, and unless 

 thorouo-hly decomposed it leaves 

 the soil too open, causing a ten- 

 dency for the soil to dry out 

 readily. 



2. It puts the soil i'ito a condi- 

 tion conducive to the germination 

 and growth of all weed seeds th^it 

 are at or neqr the surface, which 

 growth will be destroyed by the 

 subsequent ploughing. 



3. The soil is in a suitable con- 

 dition for ploughing at any time. 

 In the event of a dry spell, the 

 operation of ploughing is rendered 

 more easy, and the soil breaks up 

 in much better condition. 



4. It cultivates and pulverises 

 that portion of the soil which, 

 when the land is plourrhed, wnll be 

 deposited at the bottom' of the 

 furrow. One of the nrincinles for 

 conserving moisture is that the 

 sub-surface soil .should be finely 

 pulverised and firmly compacted, 

 thus increasing its water-holdi'i- 

 capacity. It also increases its 

 capillary attraction and places it 

 in the best possible physical condi- 

 tion for the termination of the 

 seed and the develo-Dment of nlant 

 roots. The root-hairs of plants 

 feed on the outside of the small 

 particles of soil. Therefore, if the 

 sub-surface soil is cloddy. tF^ ^ ' 

 food is " locked up " in lumrts, 

 and the feeding area of the plant 

 is reduced. Thus, p^d^•erisinp^ the 

 soil may be the equivalent of fer- 

 tilisin'^ it. If for this reason alone 

 the early discing of the soil before 

 plouf^hincr is a practice that it 

 would be well for the farmer to 

 adopt. — Agricultural Gazette of 

 N.S.W. 



