NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 7

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

In a note whirh I received from Mr "Walter Blackie, of Glasgow Blight on Farm, Ta.ic ri, he details his Swcdas. pxpenence this year in fighting the blight on the swerle turnips. Having an idea that the fly in its j first stage— for it looks like a speck of | transparent jelly— would be as easily killed as any furgus, Mr Blackie decided to tiy ! fl spray of (he Bordeaux soda mixture, 1 which is adm'ttedly the best preventive used ' in spraying; to combat fungi of any kind. I Unfortunately, he had no sucee««, but his I work is valuable as a guide to others. He ' states: "The first rime I sprayed a few ; drills w'th the usual Bordeaux mixture (Sib .soda, JOb blimstonc, to 100 gallons of water) shortly after thinning, and agajn a few weeks later, but still before any signs of blight made ira appearance. The mixture slightly discoloured the leaves, and now the turnips are quite as bad with blight as if the\ had never been dressed. So far as I can 'cc the sp,-a\ ing foi blight on the swedes with Bordeaux mixture i° not a success." And again: "I am afraid if some tpemfic cannot he found in a cliy season such as this, (he *\\<?<le= are doomed. I can well ren. ember ycar^ ago when it was impossible to grow swedes, and no one for some years attempted to do so " This is one of tho^e subjects which demand the pre-pnee of experts in our midst. Xo lehable information is available as to what extern poisonous substances like bluestone and ar«enie may safeh be used in spraying loots which will, three or four months later, be u^cd for feeding oatt!e. This year there will e\wlentlv be no danger, because tihe blight will make a clean sweep; but ihere ia always the chance of poisoning \aJuuble animals, and the risk is too gieat to use re-agents which we know would be effect i\e. Another farmer reports that he has sprayed with kerosene emulsion with a fair .imount of success. All th*> insects in sight wore killed, but the trouble is that the undersde. of the leaf were smorhered with bhkrht, and where two or more loaves were jammed together the spray failed to reach the insects. So many were left that the pants will sootL be covered again. Still, the section of the field sprayed is better than the rest. If the emulsion had been bprayed on immediately after the b"igihfc mad ' its appearance, and repeated at intervals, it would certainly have kept the blight in cheek. It is. however, useless as a prevent no. and only accounts for the insects it comes in contact with. The following proportions were used : ilb of ordinary yellow '•oap was dissolved in 1 gallon of boiling water, which was then poured slowly into 2 gallons of kerosene, kept vigorously 6tirred all the time, either by means of a syringe or churn. Then one part of the emulsion go made was mixed with 15 to 20

■'' " - a I Cheap Bulbs for present planling. See i KIMWO AND Blair's advertisement, page 8 1 of ihie i«su«, for specially che»» lines of I Tulip*, eta. I

T pa'+s of vvatci. ,in<.l h v\a- lc.iK foi spiaylns. I ~ Fletcher says ih^t ""[lie gu'.uo^i pioblom ii^ farming is (hat of maintain* Condition! mg the fertility of the soil, >?ce«sary for which is irs power to product Producing ciopa. It i-. not mere plan^ Crops. food — it i< Rater, air, sun-lig-lit, plant food, temperature soil, oacteria, and all the other factor' end conditions, which make si soil hcibitab'.e for planl c . It is concerned with the texture of the soil as much" a» with ns richness, and its «a.ter-movin.(i po\v< i as much as its composition. PlanH j foot! is but one of the ninny conditions ! iieoes~aty to th<= giowth of crops, and often I iir ia the least essential condition. The fer>-J j tility of the soil ie the sum of all the conjl I tht ions that make it possible for the eeeJ / i to sprout, the blade to spread, and the earl jto ripen. It is the inherent power of th<i> i soil to produce crops." It will .be observed 1 , that th<> first thing mentioned hero is water, j I A sufficient supply of moisture is the_mosfc rn-jortant factor in producing 1 crops- All I the other items mentioned depend on this. i If tl c water supply is excessivo the land, lies cold and growth is slow; if insufficient, no amount o£ aiv. 6unhght, warmth, or plantfot}d will produce a crop. Tl»-e drcight recently experienced in some portions of tUo Doirmioi' sufficiently demonstrates that, la an oidirary seasou plants derive their supply of moisture mostly from the shower* winch fall, but in a dry one the evaporation from the surface of the ground and the tian.-piraion of the plant; is greater than the rainfall, and recourse must, be had to the store of moisture underneath. Tillage operations are, therefore, guided by tho climate experienced, either to rid th» soil most quickly of its surplus water, or to retain a sufficient amount of moisture for cereal crops. This latter ia done by ploughing early and harrowing the ground at intervals, and especially after rain, so. as to break off the stream of evaporation, to tb' surface until the crop is covering ths ground. Then there is air. The roots can iio more f]o without a supply of air than <hf> le.-<vp<; can. The ground must be we'i cultivated, so that the air can pene'.rate freely thiough it. The aeration of the soil is helped on by various means. The air in the soil expands as it is heated, and some of it is driven off. If the atmospheric pressure fall" 1 the air expands. Rain water, in falling, displaces an equal volume of air. Drainage, therefore, has considerable influence on the proper aeration of the land, but right working of the ground is the one thing that bears on its efficiency most. The next fector is the temperature of th© ground. A wet soil is always a cold one,

but a dry soil ie a warm one. The temperature of the soil and the amount of moisture are closely dependent on each other The seedbed of a soil well drained a.nd worked will be much warmer than that cf a badly-tilled and drained one. This »s accounted for because on a well-tilled soil there is less evaporation to cool the surface, nnd also because it is more difficult to rai»=e the temperature of water than ajiy other substance in the soil. Hence from a temperature standpoint it is essential that the coil should not be too wet, and the necessity ss sl-own for cultivation to provide the blanket on top which checks elaboration And warms up the soil so as to make it guitable for seed germination. Another factor in impro\ing the soil that it may better minister to the needs of the pant is, iaccording to W. H. Day. 8.A., Lecturer in PhysjcM of the Ontario Agricultural College, a proper sanitary environment of the roots. <>n this point Mr Day writes as follows: "Ihe latest investigations arouse the suspicion that the apparent exhaustion of soils is no due so much to the depletion of the Stock of plant food as to the lack of proper sanitary conditions. Animals forced to exist jn an atmosphere rendered foul by th^ii- own poisonous exhalations scon ceaso |to thrive; the plant abo-v e-ground likewise (gives up waste 'product*, which if not removed become a menace to its safety. Is it not therefore natural to expect tihat from the roots of the plant also there are excreta that, if allowed to accumulate, ' threaten its very existence? As proper ventilation is necessary to ensure the health of the animal, as diffusion, draughts, anct winds must bring- fresh air to the leaves, so must itillage or other treatment purge the soil of the injurious substances cast off by the rcols. In the purifying process it is be4ievec< that air. and, therefore, cultivation and -drainage, pla>s an important part. Certain fertiliser ingredients are effective under certain conditions, but more potent *till is organic, matter in the form of humus. ,There is another method, however, of eliminating the toxic or poisonous effecis of these excrete. Whatever they may be. it appears that those cast off by one variety of plant are not, as a rule, injurious to another variety ; hence the possibility of rotation of crops. By the time the first crop comes round again, the intervening cultivations ha.ving stirred up the soil, exposed it to the weatthering processes, afSowed the air to enter in, and permitted .the humus to do its work, all the excretions injurious to that crop have been remoVed or neutralised, and we .secure a yield equal to the last one. Hence it is by proper rotation we may go on cropping our fields >from year to year, cropping them indefinitely, without any apparent exhaustion, biid. indeed, by wise rotation even increasing the yield."

The principal stumbling-block in the way of registration and impro^cIhe Inproremtit ment of stallions is the fear of Horses. that veterinary surgeons, on j examination, may baie different ideas as to what constitutes soundness. No uniform basis on which their decisions should rest has been attempted, and there are so many points on which there might reasonably be a difference of opinion that veterinary officers do not care to take I Tip +he work. When one tries to work out a. basis of some sort on which the examination shouM rest, it is fcmnd to be a difficult matter. Absolute soundness cannot_ be defined without introducing controvert ible 'matter. A horse, to be perfectly sound, must nol only be free fiom disease and the effects of "disease, but it must also be free from anything thar might interfere f'.with its work, and that is where room for [difference of opinion crops up. A veterinary surgeon knows perfectly well from the conformation of the animal ihe sees in front N)f him that it will probably be perfectly wuseless in 12 months from date if it is /worked for that time, and yet it may be [(perfectly sound in wind and limb at the 'ipresenfc moment. One veterinary surgeon fin such a case might find that the horse ,was sound in spite of his conformation: another might consider that in two or three [months' time the subject undar consideration would certainly bru^h himself lame, or I' something of that kind, and declare him at 1 once unsound. These considerations make owners shy of submitting their laluab'e ani,mals to what must admittedly be at present an imperfect tribunal. But there is no ieason why one particular method cf examination should not be universally applied to several of the worst ailments, and regulations made defining the importance to ibe attached to each di-sease or deformity. The Chief Veterinary Surgaon of the Dominion cou'.d easily formulate such a scheme. In Pictoria they have an optional scheme, which is bound 'to help in the improvement of stock, and there is no reason why we should lag behind. They confine their attention to 10 point?, and the Government issue certificates on the reports sent in ■through the agency of the agricultural societies. A similar scheme here would rid the oountrv of a host of "scrub" stallions, which never should have been i-etained for the purpose, and which ruin the season for a good horse.

Away up in t>he Pan Luis Yallev. an elevated plateau. 7500 ft hiprh, PM.fei between two langes of ill© Lambs. Rocky Mountains. in Colorado, a system of feeding Irmli<= on peas ha« assumed such enormou= dimensions that more than a quarter of a million we fattened last winter. The ,«ea= are usually grovin on grain stubb c. and when rips the~ lamb* are simply turned in to hane«t them, and clear up every scrap of the cron. If is estimated that from eight to 15 lan bs per acre can be carried. and the ground i^ improved in condition both by the orowthof a leguminous crop and ( by the folding of ihe lamb* on it. Hie . s\stem is one whioh might 1-e adopted m , some of our drier distnet* with achanHpre. I The quality of the lamb rais-ed i« second to none, and it secures a meat demind in tli--iargor markets of Ihe States. The nan of operation, originally in practice vras to use the pea croj cut green and n^-le into , liav, and feed it in corrals alon? with mai?e or"grain. and fatten the lambs in th-s way. But one farmer had a late croo =hod on Ihe ground, into which, with sonr> trepida- ] tion. he turned a few lamb* Instearl ot lieina injured by the unlimited quantity of matured peas, as he feared, these lamb* thro\e amazintrlv. beatm? the otheis. And it -wji decided there and then to mature the ciop in the field in future nnd fo d ■il.e lamb* on it. "Shepherd Boy." in his woik on "Modern Sheep tlni*. de«ciir-e<; the m-ult-: "Our experience thu^ far with this method of feeding lus demon -n r.ted thiee things- That lambs cm be turned jnto a pea field with piapticallv no danger of them kiJV-jg themsehes . thatthflydo

not gel 'off feed,' but a.U thrive apparently equally well ; that the losses are less than when fed in the corrals in the usual way ; that they oan be fed to a, finish entirely on the 'pea crop; that they ship well,' tho shrinkage being light; that they kill out well, the percentage of dressed meat being ' "iery high; and that the mutton thus made is a very superior article, and is creating a distinot and increasing demand for the pea-fed lamb. ... It would naturally be supposed there would be great wa«te of feed in tllie method of feeding lambs; that as the lambs run over the feed -and thresh ' oui most of the pea grain thers would be a large part of it they would nc\er get. and which would not toe recovered in any way, i.ncl that after' the lambs had run o^ er the pea feed a few times, at 'east, they would cease to eat it until starved to it. But neither of these suppositions is true. It v/culd seem that the soil keeps the feed sweet as long as there is any feed left, and 1 the p^a. gram which 'becomes coveted up in I the loose dirt by their running over it, a« > some of it dees, they will dig out and eat and it is not a rare or unusual thing, but a general and constant practice. /They a'l l^arn quickly, and it would seem that they like the grain better after it has been r>i ried, and it is surprising how clean they v.'ill eat up the feed in a field and still riiako th_o usual gain. So long as they ge( 'full as ticks' and are quiet and contented 'md lie down it is safe to conclude that they are getting plenty fe eat and are coing well, although the field, to the casual observer, would seem to be almost bare of feed. The success of the method depends upon certain climatic conditions, which are three in number, any one of which being absent will render success very doubtful. These are : First, a climate sufficiently cool f or the peas to thrhe; second, the vines rust continue to grow or lemain gieen ltntil after summer or fall rains ha\e ceased, s.o that they wi'l ripen or cure down, like prass does in the 'short gras> country.' If rains occur after the vines ha\e lipened or dried up it will blacken and rot them, j spoiling them For feed, and will sprout tho ! pea gi am: third, a light snowfall during the fall and winter, and the snow must bo dry. and the air dry enough to evaporate > the snow as fast as it melts, so that the , ground wi'l remain dry." j

"A O. E." writes to ask : "'What is the best ' manure for bringing old Corrcspoarieiice. ground back to a good con- , dition for growing crop?' 1 If mv correspondent will take the trouble ' to read the rural note headed "Conditions Necessary for Producing Crops," he will have some idea of the problem he has set me. His information is of the most meagre , description. A history of the previous cropping would ihave helped a lot; the piesent condition of the ground would a'so I have been some guide : but I am left to , assume that the ground has been cropped 1 out, and that the present sole of grass is j not worth patching up. If that should not ' be the case the best pan would >be to improve what grass you ihave by re-seeding and top-dressing at once with half a ton of slag per acre if it is stiff land, and with 6rwt of slag and 3cwt or 4c«t of kainit if the ground is light. If there is no pas- 1 ture worth mentioning and you can cultivate your ground, grow any covering crop rhat will succeed in your district, like vetches or rye. or oats, and plough that in before spring, after forcinsr the growth with any manure available. Then after tho irost 13 over seed down witih 201b of red clover and 101b of Italian rvegrass. and alow it to stand grazing for two years, when it also is ploughed in. If you ha\e treated these crops well enough to secure a. good bulk of them, and the ground has carried a fair amount of stock, you need not fear that it will fail to grow cereals j afterwards. I

The swede crop this year is V>eir>e rapidly consumed and ruined by Blight in blight, and although Swede Turnips, some energetic farmers have been experimenting with various sprays to overcome it. so far their effoits ihave not been crowned with much success. It occurred to me that with care a poisonous snray might be used for the purpose, and I sent the following telegram to Mr T. W. Kirk, Biologist to the Department of Agriculture: "Would Ilb Arsexate of Lead ix 700 Gallons Bordeaux Mixture be Safe for Swedkh— Ant Ciiakce of Saving Them?'' Mr Kirk replied a^ follows: "Fouhteek (14) Poricns Arse.vate Lead to Four Hundred (400) Gallons Bokpe\ux i^ntAT ii 1 * Necessaut FOR COWB-KTIXG Le\F-EATIXG INSECTS AS WELL AS FtTSTOL-S DISE4?E SpBIT AT OjCCE AND DO NOT FeLD TO STOCK FOR FoRTNIGUT."

Evidently Mr Kirk thinks there will Vie no danger of using the roots after a fortmuht, and as the swedes wi'l be washed by every rain that falls for the next three monriis there ought to be no danger. But thers bo danger m allowing any animal to feed on the tops soon after spravinsr, and thar would ha\e to be carefully a\o;ded. Inferentialty Mr Kirk admits that the Department have nothing bettor to use. This spr<>y will have a decided adiantaoe o\or the kerosene emulsion spiay. in that it «i 1 poison, the leaf, so that any injects missed under the leaves will be po-soned when they spread nn to the --urface snra.ied. But the same difficulty will exist in aettiner under the leaf and covering the whole plant. This will bo tioublesome, but worth doing if 't saws the crop, and mu=t bo left to the mgeniiirv of the operator. If it takes two or (inee men a few days e\tm. that clocnot aniount to much jf a supnlv of winter food is thus secured. The imauaMe instructions givon with poisonous spia%s aro tliat hish pie«<ur° and a \v>y fine sp t -av ii c sufficient for th« pumo-o. haidlv enough to wet the leaf. Ii i> thf r^oi~on which efects the cloaiancc n ore rhjn immci=ion m rlie <|iray used. Ti.oi > i-. t^eieforp. the choico let ween kei<<sf"iie cmukion and Boidsaux Miixtine mixed with aisetuts of ieaci for the blight. Tlio^c who-e -.wcd"s are attacked TOTi'iir can effect a clearance with the former if the\ ais c.ucful to aot | tinder the "e^f. but whet" 1 tho ciop ifnrtiiev advanced and the lea\ ->« c'appe<l 1 dowi the latter will h a fotuid to I.e. I think. i! finitely pr-'fciabl" ] " AOIjICOLA.