Farm and Garden

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 363, 23 April 1903, Page 2

Farm and Garden

ORIGINAL ARTICLES? ; WILLOWS AS RETAINERS OF THE BANKS OP RIVERS. . . ■:■ 4tfs£MNEofthe problems that confronts «V 5» the farmers is the use of proper plants under the varied conditions of soil and climate. Usually the most productive fields are in the alluvial lands adjoining streams; and this is particularly true in regard to New South Wales, as in the other colonies the valleys afford the best conditions for crops. In many localities the streams in these' valleys, during heavy rain, become rushing torrents at a period when the- soil is most easily washed away and the adjacent parts overflowed; and it has often happened that through the changing course of a stream, fertile fields are ruined; nor is the abandoned stream bed reclaimed without great labour. Such loss of land can ba prevented to a great extent by properly planting willows along the banks. Willows have a natural affinity for banks of streams. They do little damage to adjacent field?, since their shade is not intense; their root system is deep in the soil; and Bome species, by their peculiar habits, absorb the water mainly from the streams. Their root system is; very unusual; it forms a dense and extensive mass jußt at the edge of the water; and no matter how deeply submerged, or how much washed, the willows remain securely anchored and thrive. Another advantage which willows possess over most other trees is the rapidity with which they grow. Venerable looking willows are if ten young. Willows are easily planted j a branch f-'f any size put into a stake, and driven into the ground in the autumn or spring, will root and grow rapidly. Willows with fragile twigs propagate themselves in much the sama way. The best species to plant for this purpose is * Salix Albi,' or some of its sevetal varieties. It forms the most compact and extensive root masses, and grows in any soil. Other species will serve for the purpose, especially the arborescent kind, but as a retainer of stream banks the white willow iB the most efficient. -' WEEDS IN PASTURES. In permanent pastures weeds are seldom troublesome during the ordinary year if the pasture is well established. But some seasons the pests seem to get a start and thrive in sjite of all that can be done. Frequently weeds will come up in a sod and prove a great annoyance. Where pastures are top dressed, seeds of dock and thistle are often' distributed, and get a start no matter how careful the farmer may be. To control these weeds the methods must conform to the character of the peßt. If annuals, run the mower over the pasture before seed is matured. This will probably have to be done twice during the season. Many farmers only have one mowing, allowing the weeds to blossom, then cutting before the seed is formed. That may result in a killing out of the weeds, but to allow thsm to grow so large before cutting is objectionable to stock feeding in the pasture. If the weeds are biennials or perennials the only plan shrcof breaking up the grass land is to go over the field with a sbarp hoe or spade and cut the weeds off just below the suface of the ground. Careful work with common thistles, mullein, burdock and the like will result in satisfactory control. Perennials with underground root stalks are more difficult to manage. Not only must seeding (where seed is formed) be prevented, but leaf growth must be kept down, so that the stems will be smothered. The leaves are, as it were, the lungs of the underground stems. If they are destroyed persistently the plant will perish. Where a pasture is badly infested with perennials having underground stems, about the only way to destroy them is to break up the pasture and devote it to cultivated crops for a few years. If very persißtert, sow to small gram, and as soon as the crop is harvested plough the ground and go over it with a cultivator often enough during the summer and autumn to keep down all' leaf growth. If ona year's treatment is not sufficient, repeat the second year. By doing the work thoroughly the weeds can finally be conquered. POULTET FARMING. Yards for fowls are seldom too large. They should be big enough so that the grass will grow and keep growing. A Plymouth Rock speoialist keeps ten to twelve head in each yard, of fifteen by one hundred- and twenty-five feet of space, and always has plenty of turf; kept in that way the fowls are clean and healtßy. In a contest record an average of thirteen barred Plymouth Rock hens laid one thousand five hundred and ninetyeight eggs during the year'; and nine single comb White Leghorns laid one thousandund seventy; and twenty one pullets in five months laid nine hundred and nineteen eggs. This gives an average of a hundred and twenty-three eggs a year from Plymouth Rocks, a hundred and nineteen for the Leghorns, and ninety-two in five months for the pullets. One pullet, a black Langshan, hatched in spring, laid her first egg in six, months' time; and when not quite a year old she had : laid a hundred and twelve eggs, having been broody .three times. . The barred Rocks and Leghorns were, of all conditions as to qunlity and age', land, under the circumstances, the egg yied was creditable. ..._,„

Comparing the Leghorns and Plymouth Bocks, the former lost heavily during the winter; while the Plymouth Bfocks, though also falling off in winter, maintained a much better average The conelusion arrived at was that the Plymouth Rocks are very suitable for those people who have limited space, and want eggs all the year round, and occasionally one for cooking. Tn a test for fattening jxiultry with different rations, it was found that a mixture of two parts corn meal, two parts ground buckwheat, and one! part ground oats, with an equal weight ofj skim milk, gave a pound weight of gain for less than threepence. For inducing the formation of bone and muscle in young poultry there is nothing better than bone meal. One tablespoonful to every twenty chicks, morning and night, is mixed with the food. Cora meal and po»lard in equal parts, and mixed together, make ■ an excellent feed. , •".'.„• K;