Farm and Garden

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 300, 5 October 1910, Page 6

Farm and Garden

DRYING SEED POTATOES. Various methods have been recommended for preventing the ravages of Irish blight among potatoes. In this country spraying the tops of the growing crop is the usual practice and its results are generally satisfactory in saving the crop, provided that the spraying is done properly. But has it any real effect in getting rid of the disease? According to the investigations at Kew Gardens some years ago, the disease adopts two methods of continuing its existence, one by developing through the stems with the object of throwing out its spores to spread the disease in various ways, and the other method is to develop through the roots into the new potatoes. Preventing the disease from developing through the tops may have a certain effect in checking its growth in the opposite direction, but it does not appear as if it could altogether arrest the development. The Victorian Department of Agriculture has gone another way to work, and that is to ensure eradication of the disease from the seed potatoes. This is by kilndrying the seed, a method that is claimed to have been successful. Various temperatures have been tried, but the most suitable heat to be applied has not been given in the information published on the subject. The cost of erecting kilns is one of the difficulties in the way of the success of the method, but a suggestion has been made to the Minister that should solve this phase of the problem. It is proposed that a travelling kiln should be constructed at a cost of £2OO, and it could be taken to the various districts in the State where Irish blight has been located. At present there are eleven spots in Victoria where the disease has made its appearance. This is a matter that our own Department of Agriculture should inquire into, for if successful it is a cheaper and more rational way of dealing with the disease, provided, of course, that the yield is not seriously affected by the drying of the seed.

MANURING VINEYARDS. Messrs Seppelt and Sons, the wellknown vignerons, of South Australia, have for some time been experimenting in the manuring of vines at Seppelt'field, near Angaston. Their results conclusively show the immense value of phosphatic manures in that district. The following details clearly show the quantity of manure applied per annum, and the increase of yield obtained:—Plot No. 1 received no manure and yielded 6021b of grapes; plot No. 2, 1 cwt superphosphate, J cwt sulphate of potash, and J cwt sulphate of ammonia, produced 15941b.; plot No. 3, i cwt sulphate of potash and I cwt sulphate of ammonia, 7061b; nlot No. 4, 1 cwt superphosphate and 1 cwt sulphate of ammonia, 11131b; plot No. 5, 1 cwt superphosphate and i cwt of sulphate of potash, 12081b. A complete manuring as shown in plot 2 has given the most satisfactory results, and the yield, compared with the plot which received no manure, increased more than two and a-half times. The immediate results are mainly due to the method of applying the manure. By merely broadcasting it it takes several years before a material difference is noticed, and this may in the past have discouraged those who have given the subject their attention. It is essential that the manure should be placed in the immediate vicinity of the root area, as many of the stiffer soils will prevent the soluble portion from being directly available when broadcasted.

THE COW'S UDDER. The simple assertion that the strippings are the best of the milk will be emphasised by something in the way of reason for it. To begin with, the secretion of the milk in a cow' 3 storage department is a mystery not yet fully understood. As is the case in all such mysterious processes of Nature, there are experts who have the explanation ready and glib-tongued in giving it. But the fact remains, they know very little about it. It is wisely speculated that the process is not very unlikely blood-making, with the difference that the red corpuscles of the blood are replaced by white corpuscles of fat, and the change may take place in the milk gland. The udder is full of veins and vessels engaged in the work of selecting milk material and making milk of what is conveyed to them by the digestive processes and from the circulatory system. The milk stored in the bag begins to separate at once, and thus the first drawing is what may be termed the skim; the strippings are the cream. Good farmyard manure is considered the ideal dressing for potatoes.