GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 701, 29 December 1909, Page 8

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

6 : . ; l'An r 'Aghburtxi'n;.farmer. said last week: 'fEad rain : if alien. :a : weokVago',. ■■ I. con--0 fidently expected to thresh on an average •' of 50 bushels of oats ; per. acre; hut, in' ■"• view of .'the altered conditions, my esti- '-. riiato • not exceed 27 bushels at. J .the. outside.";.%.;. .' ; i '. '•,.'. ' .-.Wairaraparape and .< turnip .crops are i .reported'.:to: be:.-in,:excellent,-condition. : [The spring -weather favoured, a-fine seed "■ bed, and ■ to this p is attributed to some J extent'the quiet start of .the crops. SucJ cessful .'fattening of the'lamb and mutton' J: niay: be .expected,to. follow, and a; steady,! .:.' output to the -freezing.:works! VSome' bat '"; crops,.however, hate been badly.;,'dam-. 0 aged'byicaterpillars.'.-.';- : ...."-..". : .'.."• : :.V : "..vvj:,-..' !. Although' there has;.been a slight de- '. crease! of the area in bats in the North; ; l Islandthis season .in favour of a greater- ■ area'of wheat,-the' difference is not so; " marked as one would have expected, in view'of the'difference in the'outlook of the two cereals... In the Wellington prqt yince, the. oats. cover 16,000 '-,- acres," as: j .against7l9,6l9, acres last year. 'Wheat, .-: however', 5 ' acres,.as against {; GOoo' : acres' last%ear.': ■ The- high average; a yield (35 bushels) per acre of wheat is' 9 due .chiefly to the excellent crops in ji Otago, where the estimate is 37 bushels' per acre over 80,000 acres. On' Auckland's ■| .2600 acre's, Hawke's Bay's .1000 acres, an'd. ,;!. 1000': acres, the,- average'' is, : esc' 'Hm'atcd : ;at,'36. t bushj3ls !,Canterg. 'buryfs-;averages'is,.3s;'.bushels', but' els'et where'-the: average, does'-not exceed/34 j. bushels. \v Wellington province comes in tt : the. 3-1-bushel group.' .-■'•' s '•;-■. A; Taran'aM farmer'states;.that'a deebce" tion-bf dtfok root cures potato blight;' Sci-' 1 entists, .however,,.have never yet, claimed t to be able: to euro any of the fungi that s live: inside-the leaf tissues, as does the s .potato: blight.-/'Thoy.havo 'only claimed 3 to :be i able:,to prevent;; it.. ; The dock, root f, Specific • wasi'-tested). loveri (me' -row of , po■j tatoes, badly affected .with blight, and a »• -new; clean .growth ; from ,the hitherto deI, cayed-stems;.resulted: x'Thd 'originator- of ~- ;.the'' idea credits! it; r .to' ; the 'dock extract. ?• He 'SuggestsAthat if: the curative : prinb: ciple is. the bitter'element of dock rootj \ a: preparation of,'quassia; might have the' t sauie-'effect.-.,,0ne /would, like; however, t- to'see' the-decoction' tested' ninch more ••.; extensively:.^before:.he-could rely on eo o slondor a hope to protect'a valuable crop " of potatoes.' '.',--■■ . i A'Bush: Districts, "farmer suggests as'.a e i Ui6 - 8l"t of "pork, and ".. ..bacon that farmers' should market their ':. pigs'at.a lighterj'weight..