FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 272, 23 December 1909, Page 1

FARM AND DAIRY.

DOCK IIOOT AND POTATO BLIGHT. A correspondent writes: following up till? note published in the Taranaki Daily News, 1 would like to acquaint your readers with the result of experiments I have nmde. I made a deeoetion of dock root (liumex crispus) of 1 in 10 strength, i.e., one pound of clean washed doek root boned in two gallons of water until reduced to one gallon. Taking half the gallon, 1 reduced it by adding one and ii-hnlf gallons of water, and sprayed a row of potatoes in which signs of blight were present only to a very slight degree. Call it Group A. The flavor of this attenuated decoction led me to doubt whether it was strong enough to be of any value, and I used the half gallon of the original decoction undiluted upon a few plants that were attacked by blight very severely (Group B). In the case of one plant (C) particularly the foliage was nearly all destroyed, and the stems black and quite soft and flaccid. The whole of these plants would have been dug out and destroyed if the note in your paper had not attracted my attention, their appearance being hopeless. Within about four days the whole of the plants sprayed with the strong decoction had taken, on a healthy appearance, tnc change in "C" being extraordinary. II had recovered much of its erectness, the. flaccidity of the main stems had almost wholly disappeared, while their green color was restored to a very considerably degree. A few days later "C," under the influence of particularly muggy, unfavorable weather, lost some of tile advantage gained, "B" appearing to withstand the adverse conditions very successfully. Pressure of business matters has prevented the following up of the' experiment as it should have been. to-day presents the curious appearance of masses of healthy-looking foliage at the end of discolored and more or less flaccid stems. I. am inclined t.o think that another application of the decoction may restore the plant to apparent health. Both "A" and "II" look perfectly sound. \lv trials' establish. if tliev prove nothing else, that decoction of dock root is well worth systematic Taranaki Daily News, the bittcf principle (rumicin) in dock root is found to be the source of its efficacy, it would lie well to test infusion of quassia in the same connection.