NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 6

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS

At the Agricultural Conference held last week in Wellington an Iniproremeut interesting- discussion took of Pastures. plaoo -on the question o£ grasses for pastures. That this subject was one of the greatest importance was generally conceded, particularly the renewal of the southern Crown pasforaJ areas, which are admitted on ,all sides to be- de+eriorating. Various suggestions were proposed, one being that the land should have a. spell from stock, and so far as soir»e of the grazing runs of Otago are concerned this course, there is not the slightest doubt, would be very beneficial to the growth and recovery of native grasses, provided, of course, that the rabbits were kept under and the land clean. On lower lands, consisting of downs and undulating country, a change of crop was thought to be desirable from time to time, but at the samo time ploughing was not always practicable The best alternative was said to be to seed the land with * fodder crop, and even a crop of thistles ■was admitted to be effective in improving the soil, because in dying it would leave a surfaoe deposit of humus gained at the expense of the subsoil. White clover is, of course, one of the greatest renovators of all ; though the carrying capacity of land is' not always apparent on inspection. A comparison was made as between similar pastures in Canterbury and Auckland, and it was noted that on the former pastures, though compartively bare, 6heep kept ra good condition, while it was admitted that sheep on similar ■ pastures in Auckland would starve After a very thorough discussion on the question it was resolved that all the farmers' associations in New Zealand be asked to cordially co-operate with the supervisors of experiments in both islandsin top-dressing' so that other experiments suitable to the class of fanning practised may be arranged for in their various- districts, and also that for the improvement of the Government runs some 'portion o one should be set aside' for experimental purposes so as to ascertain if any 6ystem of improving the pasture can be economically carried out, and in order that publicity should be given to these and otner cooperative experiments frequent reports should be published by the supervisors, otherwise the results are not known until the yearly report is published, when sometimes 18 months have elapsed after the experiments have been initiated, and thereby much of the interest and -value of the work is lost. Recent experiments carried out at Rothamsted showed that a beneficial change in pastures followed very quickly on manuring. The manured gxaas contained less woody fibre, more fleshforming material, more sugar and fatty constituents, and (in the hay) more succulence. Year by year the mischief done to the crops by the increasingI»«<«tmrtloii of 3iumber of small birds seems Small Birds, to become greater, and nrnnv proposals and suggestions have been made with a view to combating the small-bird nuisance. A suggestion was put forward by Otago at the oon* ference in Wellington: "That the Govern-*, ment be asked to place f a sum of money on the Estimates for a bonus or prize foi? the discovery of a poison or other effective means for the destruction of smalt birds." It was pointed out that the sparsrow had been originally introduced to suppress caterpillars, and in. that direction hadf perhaps done some good, but ihe took too heavy a toll, as his food i had been ascertained to be: Grain, 75 per cent.; gran seed, 5 to 7 per cent. ; weed seed, 10 to 17 per cent. ; insects, 2to 6 per cent. ; and

More Planet, Jr., agricultural and garden implements are in use in the world than any other three makes put together. — Nimmoand Blair.

other things up to 5 per cent. Now the little owl was being tried, and whether it -would be as successful in the direction expected yet remains to be seen,. Fear is expressed that the little owl may destroy starlings, which all farmers know are valuable insect destroyers. Prom all accounts the wheat and strychnine poison advocated by the Government seems to have given the best results. Sugar syrup should be used for mixing instead of milk, which turns soar. The wheat should be scattered with dhaff, which> attracted the eye of the sparrows, ' and perhaps caused these cunning birds to think that the wheat had dropped from a leaking sack. For small-bird destruction the general consensus of opinion of farmers in Canterbury and Otago is that carefully-prepared and judiciouslyspread poisoned wheat is the best means of coping: with the ever-inepeasing nuisance. The little owl and other enemies of the sparrow and linnet may for a time attack tne small birds, but there is not the slightest doubt that they -will also attack our ■beautiful native birds, which- are becoming more scarce every year, and, like the stoats and weasels, the small owls may perhaps develop a Jiking for the chicks of the poultry yard. At any rate, it appears from what has been learnt by experience that what are called the natural enemies of small birds, while helping to do good work in one direction, may ba operating equally as energetically against the interests of the farm in other directions. In other words, we may later on find that the <Jisesse has become greater than the cure. Turnip and rape pests are always with us, and it is only, by prompt Turnis and Baye and careful measures being Pests. taken that they are ket>t within bounds. On the <order paper of the* Agricultural Conference was a remit from Canterbury — "That the attention of the Government be called to the need of preventing the spreading of the blight and diamond-back moth among rape and turnips, and that the Government be asked to carry on experiments for the mitigation of the rtest." A proposal was made that the trouble might be combatted by introducing varieties immune to the pest. Another suggestion was made that more information on this question might be obtained from the Old Country, which was tiie home of these diseases. From ence in Otago, at any rate, the weather and climatic- conditions nave a great deal to do with it, and the aphis of the , turnip is often suppressed by a change of weather, But the diamond-back moth is more persistent and more difficult to combat. The aphis is always worse on swedes than ordinary turnips, while the diamond-back moth lodges on the undersides- of the leaves, and thus escapes being destroyed even by spraying. In the course of discussion, Mr Kirk, Government Biologist, said that there were three pests to be considered — fungus, aphis, and moth. The fungus, as explained in. the leaflet issued by the department, was often carried about by the insects. Experiments on the control of these pests had been undertaken by the department. These went to show conclusively that the moth on the under side of the leaves could be sprayed just as well as the potato diseases, which also lodged beneath the leaves. The latest information received from the Old Country did not carry them, any farther in their investigations, and we should not rely too much from nelp<- from the natural enemy, although in several cases help has been received in this way. Information is now supplied that the Government are importing some foreign varieties which are eaid to be go vigorous as to resist insect pests, although one of the varieties already tried has been found to be not very palatable to sheep. In ordinary seasons, with a fairly heavy rainfall, less trouble is always experienced with turnip blight, and the sum of the experience of turnip-growers seems to show that the later-sown crops -are less liable to blight than those which have been put in earlier. However, it is to be hoped that some practical and effective solution may be found to combat turnip blights, otherwise in seasons which promise to become dry it would be wise for farmers to grow far more mangels than are at present used in Canterbury and Otago. AGRICOLA.