SWEDE DISEASES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 207, 15 June 1936, Page 8

SWEDE DISEASES

l EASY AND CHEAP REMEDY. STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER. (Per Press Association.) MASTERTON, June 12. The Hon W. Lee Martin (Minister for Agriculture, made an announcement to-day regarding the prevalence and the methods of control of disease attacking swedes. He said the disease known as mottled heart or brown heart of swedes had become extremely troublesome during last seasan. Much attention had been paid overseas to a similar disease, and satisfactory control measures had been suggested“ The fields division of the Department of Agriculture followed up the overseas work by carrying out experiments in various parts of the Dominion, and although the results had not yet been completed, they were sufficiently encouraging to permit him to make a statement.

The treatment which had been put under trial, and which had been found very satisfactory by the fields division, consisted of applying 1011) an acre of ordinary commercial borax to the land at the time of sowing. The deficiency of borax in the soil was apparently the cause of a number of dis—eases of crops, and it was of interest to farmers to know that such a simple and cheap remedy was so effective in controlling this particular disease of swedes. In order to facilitate the ap—plication of such a. small quantity of borax, the material could be mixed with fertiliser without loss of efficiency from the treatment. Too great a concentration of borax 'should be avoided, however, if the manure was being sown in contact with the seed, and where the crap was being sown by means of a ridger, which allowed of the fertiliser being sown both with and below the seed. The borax should be mixed with the fertiliser, being delivered not actually in contact with the seed, so as to avoid germination injury. Where turnips were sown under the usual methods there appeared to be no danger of such injury, if not more than 41b of borax was mixed with each hundredweight of fertiliser.