THE COUNTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 127, 29 May 1914, Page 11

THE COUNTRY.

J THE OX-EYE DAISY. (

jjjEBIMENT? rX CTAPICATTO*

dnirr -omrtimc= oaJUed <!* OI "': V on VfCt perennial with «£".■«"■'■"■• '"=•■ -*"*■ -Sv on 1- an.! aeaendfd to romlMi ih. » oi: J£ seed,, and contaminated chaff J rom i«hi" ? and winnowing the States «ome years a?o, the oHje at l«rt after it blooms in which to mature us •sed>" Cll ,!tat thc - v wi " ?- nnl,rat,, ' ,- li rotting i* prartieeU within such a period, therefore, scedin:: i< unlikely lo occur Thr ffiv of salt h.i* been recommended br the Cnitel to« Department nf ijriraltnro: perhaps Gcwt per ax-re mijht usefully bo tried on prassdund in earlT April: it miiht be beet to try halt in'acre first, and it any marked effect were otwrved durinj! the summer, the vet of an area miifht be treated in intnmn. The salt is unlikely to d.imaßr gnFSM permanently, thomi'i it may scordi them at first. On pastures where the weoj abounds. Jepartnrm? with shenp in spring and smnniw is ueefnl, n- ehet-p are known to rit the Toirag shoot.* of the ny-eye :ind other (reeds, thu.- preventing tlowerins. Cittl*. however, reject the weed. The Canadian Dep;irtmfnt, ,if AsTirul tar? rpi'ommrud piouti imp up or infested land, an<l a .-hort rouition jndndmir down 1" nover nt oriort intenaJs. as probably the hr-t mot.hod ot rlearin? Imd oi this wnwl. \s the weed is shallow ploughing down mpeaTS to kil! it. AltboTish always reputed t> lie a -won.l of rand in poor condition, a oas« mime under the notir-p of ilif- Hntisli Boanl in 1911 in whir-ii land in liigrh manurial condition infested. The land in qnestion is at Tohermnry. BB'.wted had been.present for mnny ;<ars previou? to ]!>ll. but bad nev/t----grown plentifuDy. an,.l had "iinfincil ufell to sharp. ra;hfr light luam <"/ri a gravei snheoil. In IPIO and 1911, however, it aprea<l on to both strong lonm and peaty land, with ?priou? results. The aralile land (Ijn at-res) was worked on th« following rotation:^ (I) Lfa oats from prase. (2) l.lreen trop—turnip?, mangnb and (iravily manured wilh tantnyard manure aid artificialti i. ioi (>at3 with era'. 3 seed (dresed) wit'i Scwt basic Ma? per ecre). (4) Ryejrrafla rut fur hay, i ."■ i P«ond ycur of hay. itfi, i7| anil Partnrc* The ox-eye daisy m not noticed in the oats from £ra,s*. the root?, or the oats with gra..-, seed, hut appeared in the ryegrass of the following year, and tte second rrop of h-.iy was 'hadlv infeted. In this case (and the weed was present years before t,ht: grass was sown down), "eeeds" of liie «.'c>i may have keen introduced wilii lite grass seed soffn in the oats, an-1 the weed would lenra appear in tile ryejra.-s .i year !aler. and would he stron-iy csta.blished and flnwer freely by the time tin: sorond "op of hay wn* uken. romainin- until "" nrxt plouihiiif:. A .'wond possible of infesta'ion was introduftion oi liif peerjs *ith t!ie farmyard manure to I".-- green r.rop, tlie ihorou-i, ) lO ein? piron preventing tlie seedling i'renmin» estabJUh,-,] until the oats were wwii. in the ]ea oats the time would also probably not allow the wwl u> Iμ--<orae tstablish.NJ before Hie ro.»t crop w is taken, and the latter would pnstPone its appearance until the ura-s . J( . P j was sown down. "Seeds" of the weed ™»y he dLstribDled |.y the wind from *«M to field, and if t.h, ox-eye set. >eed freely in one firld it may m ,^ n that lh( , adjoining neld* an infcne-l durinc the next year or two. The weed appeared In renew itself by «M only, and mi K !it probably have been in check by .sxr'.y .uttinj:. It was ibowev-r, derided lo'mrry out an experiment to trwt the ».|li.- ; ,,.y of salt plots, earh of loiir-tifths 'of an acre "i sue. were ULkrn in two Held', the nnt having bw-n [our veare and th" ««ond thr,.. ~,,i ,„„ - VPilr ; half pr'ai^v^ii "? e . aon - "n iD.«p.vi l on J .',f »c date of .sowmp. ,t .ippeamd that the p™tc- number n f till . ox (|aUv . Pints were in viporous leaf, about one '*k or more ahnv.. C r.., m ,|. ~ few l,.,vin ? •oraicd stem., „; three ,n, ~.., „, height, "reedays after tii.. Ftrmller plants were blackened, and tho- with threc-iiesh terns w,-ro drnopinj. 1,, ~ fortnight the Whol« nf ,:,, , n ,,r,, r planu %v .: rP oompietely kiile.l. wi.il.. tbo*' w.th tire, J*«ni hud r e,,,;, CT ,,|. The iprin,; ol Wj*M very early, and it ,- prutrlblr «>« if the ? a|t !, :I ,| | „ BllVril t V n (llv6 *»r.icr when ihe plana- w.ti- ju-i abo'vT ~' • U,V ■"■'"- '"' f,,r "" ,J v?,;;: 1 '; -■-,'.-;■ f-v -■'— J; " - l: ■» ti.ree .i.tT-r,-,,: p..,-,- H ','. rr «.| Crt ' on th.we pan ft, ~ • i . to hay,' ,„', l, ai , ,1,,' n1l aTP J, Wnber. and ,c, nxe.eJ M,, 3 lrathf r strnn.- land) the numbers wen respectively ,», i-. ,1-,, 7 an , ~., 2T *eed plant*; anri ,', r rint d i!i 3 ht Iran on crave!, r a , -:, ,!., .-,«. „„/,,-, 14' Piams. Th . D!l . ~n n( - Üb ; -M -wmi por yard in tni «»e ot thr f.rst f..,.j. „,! IK4 , f< , m . ir bCT (232^.oi'we Pt i*' nn in. t-hir-i cqn'LT.

r 1 yard of Plot 1 consisted mostly of -small ■ and weak flowered ste.ms apparently j checked by the salt, and it was thought that these would not have matured their | seed. The average number of weed stejns per square was. therefore, placed at 27 ;n ihe case of Plot 1, and 58 in the caec of Plot 2. compared with 21.1 and 184 from untreated parts of the field. Th* ertimaXed increase of hay was sewt per acre on Plot I. and ii* 'ewt on Plot 2, with a considerable improvement in the quality of the hay. Reckoning one ton of salt to three acres, the cost of the I treatment, worked out at 12/ per acre. j