TO DESTROY SORREL.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 16, 24 February 1914, Page 11

TO DESTROY SORREL.

SOME ADVICE FROM TASMANIA.

A Tasmanian farmer gives ,the following helpful information for its eradication:—"l can guarantee a practical clearance of the rubbish if the land is treated "..with lime and some form of potash. Sorrel appears to come very strongly after using superphosphate for several* years, and the root formation thickens" and strengthens. It is when it reaches such a stage that it is most difficult to get rid of. On the fallow I should use the spring-tooth cultivator freely during the hot weather; so as.to kill the big roots by means of the sun's rays. If they can be dragged together and destroyed by fire, so much the better. When using the spring-tooth the lime could be applied up to a ton per acre; I used from "Scwt to lOcwt per acre. It would pay well to throw the paddock out of crop for a season, so as to be able to work it. The first application of the lime will have a considerable effect upon the weed, as where it grows after liming it will be stunted and sparse. Another dragging about and liming in the autumn will practically settle it altogether if a dusting with kainit or sulphate of potash be added. That was the method I followed, and it has proved successful beyond a doubt, for the land has been adverted from a sorrel patch to such aif will grow anything except sorrel, The connection in the use of superphosphates for some years and the ineieas© of sorrel is of interest to wheatgrowers her©.