FOOD FOR PIGS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 October 1940, Page 9

FOOD FOR PIGS

* GROWING OF SUGAR BEET INSTEAD OF MANGELS. USE OF BORAX ADVISABLE. “I am advised that there is still a good supply of sugar beet seed available for this season’s sowings,” stated Mr N. Lamont, of the Department of , Agriculture today. “There is, however, every reason why farmers should place their orders at once as crops will be sown during the next few weeks and supplies of seed may soon be exhausted. There is no question that this crop will become a very popular one and for pigs, at least, can be expected to replace mangels entirely as a winter root crop. “Full information for the growing of this crop has been given both in these columns and in recent issues of the ‘Journal of Agriculture’ so that there is no need to repeat the details. Suffice to say that the procedure, is practically identically the same as for mangels with the important exception that sugar beet tops can be grazed and the roots fed green and growing without harm to stock. Yields of sugar beet I roots have proved to be at least half of that expected from mangels under the same conditions but the yield of the former is actually considerably greater in terms of actual food value —due first to the fact that the beet roots have over twice the feeding value of mangels and secondly to the fact that the tops increase the yield by about two thirds of the weight of the roots alone. In actual fact, therefore, one acre of beet roots and tops equals about dne and two thirds acres of mangels. MOTTLED HEART DISEASE. “Experience with sugar beet has not been sufficiently extensive in the Wairarapa to enable one to discover whether much trouble is likely to be encountered with mottled heart disease which is common overseas and which occurs in this country. This trouble is, however, quite easy to control and it might be as well to take precautions, as mottled heart has been found to some extent in local swede crops. In England this disease is described as follows:--Tt-is first visible on the youngest leaves of the crown which cease to grow and curve slightly outwards. Their stalks,. chiefly on the inner side and even up to and including the lower part of the leaf, bear dark brown, scurfy patches and become abnormally brittle. Wetting and yellowing occur later and the leaves finally blacken and die. . . . Shrinkage of the root precedes death in severe cases.’ “These symptoms may sound a little alarming, but the trouble has been completely controlled by the use of commercial borax. While it is not expected that serious cases of this disease will occur, except possibly where the beet is grown on the same area without borax dressings for two or three years, it is suggested that farmers be" on the look out for the symptoms described above. If mottled heart of swedes has been prevalent on the farm, or if the beet follows a previous crop of beet or even mangels, it would be advisable to take precautions right from the start. These precautions simply consist of broadcasting up to 201 b. per acre of commercial borax before sowing and in order to ensure even distribution of this small quantity it is best mixed with a hundredweight or so of sand or dry soil.

USE OF BORAX. “Should symptoms of the disease be acted when the crop is being cultivated, the trouble can be largely corrected by scattering the borax along the rows at the rate of up to 101 b. per acre. If there is, however, any reason to suspect that trouble may occur preventive measures should be taken and the borax broadcast before sowing. “With the exception, of this readily controllable disease, sugar beet has been You nd to be relatively free from serious pests and disorders. It is, therefore, confidently recommended to all who intend wintering pigs next year. Where good pastures containing a fair proportion of clovers are available for grazing the pigs, no other food but sugar beet should be necessary but in most cases a small quantity of a protein rich supplement would be advisable in the form of meat meal or peas. With the help of good grazing or a supplement as suggested, one acre of sugar beet should fainter up to 30 store pigs—and wintering does not mean merely keeping the pigs alive, but maintaining them in a good flourishing condition.”