SOFT ROT IN TURNIPS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 873, 20 July 1910, Page 10

SOFT ROT IN TURNIPS.

RESULTS OF'EXPERIMENTS. Mr._ G. do S. Bayliss, North. Island fields- Instructor, reports at length on turnip'variety.'trials, which have been; conducted under -his direction, and as "soft rot" is fairly extensively dealt with the matter is of considerable interest at the present time The'majority of the soft turnips in the North Island, says Mr. Bayliss, were destroyed by "soft rot," and in many' cases hardly a single bulb was left, to mark the pi,ice where the turnips had been. Although some of the varieties tested would seein slightly more resistant than others, none of the varieties as yet tried have proved immune; anu among many .of tne varieties there "were even no individual plants which were proof against n. ■ The main, chance of escape / would eeem to ba,' therefore, by attention to the health of, the soil ; by early ploughing awl frequent cultivation oi' the soil, bo as to expose it, during the winter . xnonths, to atmospheric influences as much 'as possible; by liming, so as to render it less congenial to tho . low ■forms: of life . which spread the disease in the soil; by keeping up the balance of fertility in the, soil, so as to promote a quick and healthy growth ill . the young-plant, and by avoiding the growing of plants belonging to the same, order upon- tho same land; except at-judi-cious. intervals; by cleaning the land from weeds, during the winter months, 60 that such parasites as pass the winter in-various forms, and are-depend-ent for food upon the immediate neighbourhood in which they find : them-, selves, may be in this manner . destroyed. At Turakiua, Mr. G. L. Mar-, shall put in seven varieties. f The -lamd was prepared late in the season', and the weeds practically took possession. The varieties which did best, under those ■ unfavourable circumstances, were Sutton's Aberdeen Green •Top (yellow), Sutton's Centenary, Sut-. ton's. Mikado, '■ and Sutton's Early: ..Sheep Fold.

•The' following varieties were sown, at IJr. Penny's,, -Sanson, and the figures in parentheses represent the tonnage yields per aero:—Challenge Early Marjvel (8J), Sutton's Early Six ' Weeks ,{24}), mir ( st's Pomeranian White Globe .(24); Sutton's Imperial Green /Globe,(28), and Hurst's Aberdeen-Green Top,, yellow (14 J). Mr. Penny reports that Challenge Early Marvel germinated in-', differently,- and the same applied to this variety in all the trials made .inj ithese experiments this,'season.. ./About 3.0 per centi-'ofthe crop was affected:by,, ••"soft rot.' . Early Six Weeks'and. Ponie-' jianian White" Globe are useful, varieties for early feeding, about 10 per'cent, of' •which, but about only/.5' .per .cent.' of ithe Imperial Green Globe,were affected ; with "soft rot."- Part of this crop tad been sown on land ploughed' early, "■and part on land ploughed and-'culti-vated just before seeding. . The take on ithe early ploughing was nearly 100 per ■cent, better than that on thekte ploughing, the roots were nearly double the size, and the early ploughing yiekl,ed:2o tonsper acre against 11} on'the Qate pfeughmg. : ' . " ' '~'»' -V At Mr. J.' A. Macfarlane's, Ben Hawke's ,Bay, the land, was ,6omewhat.'infested with-weeds, and; ; the\ crops more or less a. failure in consequence. Garten's Selected Pomeranian White Globe-proved a good variety, as -•did also Sutton's Imperial Green Globe, loth appearing suited to the district. ■Ground limestone 1 would probably rirpve beneficial on' tßis soil. . At Mr. J. Balsillie's, Kairanga, nine "varieties were" put.in. All suffered ibadly from leaf parasites. These plots were sown on December 29, 1909. On !AprD 2, the following were badly ■bhghted :—Sutten's Long -Keeper,': Mikado, and Sutton's Aberdeen Green Top (yellow). The following were :less affected by •■ blight:—Sutten's Early Sheep Eold, Garten's Centenary. On June 14, it was found that all the turnip varieties had completely " rotted away, hardly a root being visible.- The Pioneer Turnip-Swede,' which appears to be really a swede, was the only one unaffected by "soft rot."