Pasture Notes.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 21, 6 August 1920, Page 13

Pasture Notes.

BASIC SLAG. Owing largely to the war, and the changes thereby brought ahout in the making of steel muqh of the basic slag now on the market is of reduced fertilising value. In to enlighten farmers on the subject the Britiah Board of Agriculture is distributing a leaflet. According to this information there are now tliree distinct types of slag whieh must on no account be confused : — - 1. — Bessemer slag, containing phosphoric a-cid equivalent to 40 per cent. or more of tricalcic phosphate, largely soluble in 2 per cent. citric acid ; usually ' 80 per cent. of the total is guaranteed soluble. 2. — Basic "open-hearth" slag, containing less phosphoric acid, equivalent to 15 to 31 per cent. of tricalcic phosphate, largely soluble (80 per cent.) in 2 per cent. citric acid, the first pouringa being richer than the last. 3. — Basic "open-hearth" slag made by the use of lime and flourspar, containing as much phosphate as the poorer grades of the precedmg class, but only slightly soluble (20 per cent. or less) in 2 per cent. citric aeicl. The first of these types, the Bessemer slag, is the material which for many years was well known as one of the most effective of fertilisers for pasture land. The second and third types have come into prominence in recent years, and especially during the war, as . the result of changes in the method of making steel. At first sight they are not very promising agriculturally, but iieid experiments have shown that they possess distinct value. The second class have proved substantially equal in fertiliser value to the old Bessemer slags when compared on equal phosphate eontent. The third clafcs liave proved more effective than was at first assumed ii'om their low solubility in citric acid. Where the growing season has been sufficiently long these slags are approxi mately as useful as the others, in spite of the low solubility. Where tne growing season is shorter or an eai'ly start more necessary, the liigh soluble slags have proved more effective. SMUT PREVENTION. At the Wagga experimental farm trials have for some time been made with the prevention of smut by treating the grain with dry copper carbonate instead of bluestone— coppef sulphate. The bluestone treatment often means cracked grain, and is apt to delay germination. As the result of their conclusions the authors finally adopted a treatment with dry copper carbonate. The latter, which was in the form of a powder, was dusted through the seed at the rate of two ounces to one bushel of vvheat. The grain and the fungicide must be thoroughly mixed, preferably by mechanical means. The results of this treatment sbow distinct increases in the yields per acre. These increases were substantiaJ, amounting in some* cases to practically 100 per cent. They summarise the advaritages as follows : — 1.— -No water is required. 2. — No injurious effect is caused to either the grain or the young plant, as in the case with bluestone pickling. 3. — Seed wheat ca-n be treated weeks hefore it is sown. 4. — No damage is done to the grain if it should lie in a dry seed -bed for weeks hefore germinating. 5.— A. better germination is ohtained. 6. — The proccss is quickea* and less lahourious than wet pickling. 7. — A better yield is ohtained. 8. — The whole of the season's requirements of seed wheat can he treated at the farmer's convenience, and not necessarily within a day or two of sowiRg- v This process is certainly worth a trial on some of the grain crops which the4' Agricnltural Department have supervision of.

DRY CLEANix>u WOOL. It is observed that in the United States a system of cleaning greasy wool by the use of Plaster of Paris or Gypsum, is under test. It is clarmed that the process is less costly than tho; usual wool scouring methods, that it is more effective, that the fleece may be so treated that it remains unhroken, and that the wool, after undergoing the treatment, is in the best condition for the purposes of manufacture. It is probable that this dry cleaning wool process will be demonstrated in Australia very shortly, hut theire is no indication that New Zealand fellmongers are interesting themselves in the matter.