THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 646, 25 February 1914, Page 7

THE RURAL WORLD.

HOW TO PIT POTATOES. Do not leave them too long in the ground, or they may start a second growth; on the other hand, see that they are quite ripe before diggirg. The beat way to Btore ihem is by pitting. Spread a quantity of dry straw along the ground, two feet wide by whatever length may be necessary fur the quanti'y yuu have. Heap the tubers up on this triangular wise; cover completely with another layer of straw, then with clay or earth Never remove the covering until you are ready to use the potatoes. Start at one end and withdraw the daily or weekly supply, covering the end up immediately you are finished. In this way you will not disturb the whole pit, but will gradually lessen it until all the tubers have been extracted. Then you can d'"g the straw into the soil. DISEASED TOMATOES. A enquirer asked for the best spray in conectioti with "Black Spot" in tomatoes. In reply Mr G. P. Dar-nell-Smith, biologist to the Department. stated that there is little doubt but that bacteria are the primary cause of this disease, and that the presence of fungi (usually Macrosporium tomato) is secondary; hence spraying the fruit after the spot has appeared is not, as a rule, of much use. Bordeaux mixture (6-4-50) Bhould be sprayed on the plants immediately the blossoms have fallen. Observations point to the conclusion that most of the infection occurs through fispures near tne base of the style. Fissures and irregular cell formations are very common on tomatoes at this point, and when the styles fall off a more or les? rough scar often remains, which favours infection This probably accounts for the fact that 1. Some varieties of tomato are more free from Black Spot than others. 2. The reports of the results of spraying experiments are often contradictory. An irregular and intermittent water supply favours the development of the disease in question, while constant watering with sufficient water to reach the deeper roots is a preventative. Exposure to too much bright sunlight. alsc favours the development of Blank Spot; whereas artificial shading of the plants, allowing them to develop sufficient foliage to shade the fruit or even planting them closer together than usual, tends to prevent the disease. The use of a large amount of nitrate of soda as fertiliser has a tendency to make the tomatoes susceptible to Black Spot.—Agricultural Journal of N.S.W. TO KILL TUTU. A reisdent in the Pahiatua district, •J. Ellmers, inform a contemporary that he has proved by years of ex perience that young tutu can be killed out absolutely fir it of all by cutting early in the spring, cutting the plants as low as possible, When the young shoots come up, take a piece of hard wood, like manuka or rata, and bash the young plants down with this. This treatment causeß the plant to bleed badly and a second or third application will effectually exterminate this dangerous pest. Mr Ellir&rs also says that a cow that has been tuted can be saved by adopting the following plan—Put a stick in the mouth to keep the mouth open, so that the gases may be thrown up from the stomach. If there ia help at hand it aids che recovery to have cold water thrown over the beast's back. Pour over a bucket of cold water at a time. If the cow getd up and goes down again the treatment must be repeated, even a second, and, if necessary, a third time. NUT BUTTER. The increasing popularity of butter made from vegetable oil is a matter of serious interest to colonials, who have built up a huge butter trade. Some ten years ago attempts were made to introduce vegetable oils in the manufacture of margarine, only animal fats having been previously employed. Since then great advances have been made, and in the manufacture of margarine chemistry has achieved one of its triumphs. Today nut butter is one of the staple articles of food for the masses. At ( firßt cocoacnut oil only was used in its manufacture, but many other subtances are now employed, such as ground nut oil, and palm kernel oil. To make all these oils a perfect basis, they are treated with a light alkaline solution, which absorbs all free fatty acids in them, making the oil neutral. After this certain remaining volatile elements, which would tend to produce rancidity and an unpleasant flvour, are got rid of heating the oil to a temperature of 450 deg Centigrade. The residue is a perfectly odourless and tasteless vegetable fat, which is then mixed with a quantity of milk, and in order to provide the flavour and taste of natural butter, a number of culture 3of germs in which exist butter and contribute largely to its natural flavour, are added. One of the advantages of nut butter is its cheap ness, for in spite of a rise of almost 100 per cent, in the prices of vegetable oils during the last ten years, the compound can be manufactured «»ith profit and ?old to the public for 6d a lb. The popularity of this artificial butter is attested to by its enormous sale. Nearly 50,000 tons are produced in England each year, and still the consumption overtakes the supply.

THE SILAGE STACK

The main policy in sta«k building is aimple. Let the ensilage stack be built up to a height at which it becomes difficult to unload from ths waggons, and then be left, and another stack commenced. When that is done there is a two-fold advantage —fermentation starts and ths stack rapidly sinks. When it is found advisable to check fermentation building can be resmued at a much lower level, and that reduces ths labour and also tends to make the resulting silage more =ven in quality. It is important tbst before resuming any of the mouldy part on top should be removed. Building without a break would have a very unsatisfactory result, for there would be sour silage at the bottom, gradually changing to very sweet at the top, land the variation in the flavour iB a matter to guard against, for it would not have by any means a beneficial effect on the cattle who feed from it. Ensilage in an actual silo ia of uniform flavjur. Mi' Ballard, an Engilsh stock owner, found the wastage of stack ensilage was nearly 25 per cent., but even so it'wiis often cheaper than silo. On Mr Ballard's farm over 100 cattle received a ration of silage, and throve upon i T ,Jjand seven bullock 3 which received a ration at night of ensilage shewed ;i gain of 2£!bs psr day per head on 64 days.