FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 394, 20 May 1910, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

TO PRODUCE BIG CROPS. TI-IE WONDERS OP SCIENCE,

Sir Oliver Lodge, the great scientist, has been engaged for som« years in experimenting with electricity in the matter of agriculture, and his efforts to utilise electricity for reinforcing the fertility of (plants have been crowned with success. The Lonuon Daily News goes so fiir ;si to say that Sir Oliver Lodge's ■system, weighed as a business proposition, has justified itself, and what was •tentative and experimental is now being taken up on commercial lines as a practical auxiliary of husbandry. The experiments have been carried out by Mr. Lionel Lodge, who has control of this department of Sir Oliver Lodge's work, and the developments of the past year or two were recently explained to a News reporter by Mr. Lionel Looge. "Have you ever noticed," he asked, "what a remarkable impulse is given to a growth of crops by a thunderstorm V He pointed out that that was the effect of a strongly charged atmosphere, ann the object of his experiments was to supply a similar stimulus systematically. The artificial reinforcement of the electricity in the air is more necessary in dull, cold weather than when the sty is clear and bright. The action that the] electrical discharge has on the plants,] Sir Oliver suggests, may be considered as artificial sunshine, and as in no way talking the place of manures. The richer vthe soil the larger tile increase that may be expected. With most plnmts, on average soil, the electrified area may uc expected to yiem 30 per cent, more than the non-electrified. If a higher increase than this is obtained the results are considered good, and if tower poor. On rich soil very much larger percentages have been obtained. The power required is quite small, and many of the installations at present working are in unskilled hands. The current of electricity' is discharged from a network of wires above the plants. This field network consists of fine iron wire, the wires being spread about ten yards apart and eighteen feet or so. above the ground. The wires are so fine that it is difficult to see them even wihen standing immediately below them. The current can be generated either by a. small dynamo or from the nearest mains, and by means of a transformer it is raised ito the hisrh pressure required (about 100,000 volts). Several of Sir Oliver Lodge's plants have been laid down in various parts of the United Kingdom and in Germany with successful results. A rough estimate is given by the News sh'owine the value of the svstem to agriculturalists. Taking 24 acres of strawberries as fruiting every year, the other six acres being young plants do not come into bearing, or land being given a clearing crop (which iwould also be beneficially- influenced by the current), the calculation works out at something like this: The total cost of the installation is estimated at £3OO, and the annual upkeep at £63, including depreciation (15 per cent), fuel (for one horse-power oil engine), and labor (two hours a day). The average return from an acre of strawberries is £3O, and a 33 1-3 per cent, increase, which it is calculated will result from the current, is £l2 per acre. After/deducting cost of picking and marketing the extra, crop, the net result is .worked out to give a profit of £ 129 on an outlay of £3OO. This sounds like good .business, and we are assured by the News that experience has proved the calculations to be correct. Here is a chance for some of the Aukland and Southern strawberry growers to experiment. Some of the market gardeners and potato growers of the Dominion might also be enterprising enough to apply Sir Oliver Lodge's system to their cultivations. Perhaps the Agricultural Department might see its way to try the experiment at one of the State farms. BUSH LAND THAT IS "SICK." A STRANGE DISEASE. A local we printed the other day-again i drew attention to a great area of "sick" country, for which fresh ettorts are being made to discover a cure. The latest doctors called into consultation are the Hon. T. Mackenzie and the Chief Veterinarian, Mr. Beakes. In the northern country, the Mamaku, Okoroire aim other districts, with an area of one million acres, are affected by this strange disease. If a remedy can lie found it is said that the value'of the land will be enhanced by about five million pounds. About ten years ago Mr. Gilruth reported upon the diseased country as fol]cws:—"This particular disease, which is Confined .to the tract of land lying in the vicinity oi Tauiunga, and extending from there* to Rotonia and Lichfield, was made the subject of an investigation by Mr. Park three years ago. Quite recently I had the opportunity of visiting the district and examining some affected sheep, but did not succeed in getting typical cases. It appears that both siiecp and cattle will do well and put on condition for the first few months after being placed in this diseased country, but Is time noes on a gradual wasting sets in, which ends in death, if they be not removed to another district. Removal to another district, although to all appearances worse food, results in rapid recovery. The post mortem examinations I 'have been able to conduct mi two sheep and one cow (forwarded to Wellington for more careful examination) revealed absolutely nothing- which | could lie determined as causative of the \ progressive anaemia characteristic of, the complaint." Part of the pastoral country in the Bay of Plenty carries an abundance oi splendid-looking feed and yet to put

JI sheep and cattle there is fatal. From I health they at once begin their decline , j until they become anai -mic, dropsical, , J emaciated, and death supervenes. Even | w,hen dead .tile organs .-o tar have refus- : I od to yield their fatal secret to the vet- [ erinary experts. Searching examination I has been made uvrithout practical result. i, From five to eight mo.tlis is reckoned II to be the longest tliat .-.bock can live m the conn'n-. and yo. .y animals are more .-/.'Cih, v affected than old. \_un- ] ously (•:. „ . , it .--.tores are taken there they can be quietly "finished oil'" in prime condition; but if they are left a shade too long in the deadly country they fall away rapidly and are "finished off" in quite another sense. Here seems another curious thin" 1 : Experiments made under the direction ot ; Mr. Gilnith in 18!)!) and 1900 demonstrated that sick sheep recovered when ■taken out of the district, even though they were fed exclusively on grass cut from the afl'ected .pastures. Thirteen sheep in very low condition were taken out from Roitorua bush pasture and put on an absolutely bare piece of ground at the Waerenga Experimental Farm. Three times ia week feed cut from their old pasture was sent out for them. I They improved in condition steadily, j with the exception of three which were I practically dying 1 when brought out. These even improved slightly, and lingered on for a. fortnight. Of thirty-six sheep put on a. 50-acre clearing in the bush where feed was plentiful only twelve remained alive at the end of I three months. The result of an experiment of this kind make 9 the cause appear still more obscure. When in ibhe Wai'kato recently the Hon, T. Mackenzie promised to conduct a series of experiments. He stated vim an analysis of the sou taken from places w'liere the disease iwas present, and a microscopical examination of tissues j from diseased carcases, had revealed a j deficiency of .phosphates and the presence of silica. \et the same grass, fed I to siheep that have been sent to clean i country (as to Waerenga, for instance) ' served to restore the animal* that it (or something else) had previously sickened. It is said teat the stock instinctively recognise the infected co.untry, and if they can break away will immediately make off to fresh pastures. The mystery is one of the most subtle and interesting which 'the Department has had to tackle. —Hawera Star. , NOTES. j " The Tarata Dairy Co. obtained third place on ibhe grade list for the .past season with an .average grade of 93.06, just a quarter of a point behind the highest score. This is very creditable to the manager, particularly as the factory has no pasteuriser, and is still using the oldfashioned churn and butter-worker. The tests at the are at present very good, ranging! from 4.4 to 6.4. During the month of April the Ballance Dairy Company paid to suppliers ■the sum of £4580. The output of .butter is eight tons in excess of the quantity made during April last year. The price .paid for butter-fat was 10y,:l per lb. Cheese factories are recommended by the South Island Dairy Association to put a thicker middle Mitten in the cheese j crates, and nail the battens to it. In I many cases factories put only a thin ! batten, which does not hold the na«s, I and the crate is very much weakened.