THE LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 107, 7 May 1924, Page 10

THE LAND.

FARMING IN THE KING COUNTRY.

ERADICATING BLACKBERRY. VARIOUS METHODS EMPLOYED. (By "AXCUORITE.") In <vn;iin lm-ationa throughout this extrusive territory these erstwhile ncglei-iod liin.l- of the natives became infested with noxious weeds, and many indeed are tin. , moans employed by the pro-en;, seniors to eradicate these pesta to slum—-iiil and profitable occupation of their lands. Among these v.eo<is the Mai'kberry is considered to be the most formidable and persistent, and the hurde.-t to completely eradicate. Various Methods Employed. Upon a large farm near Tβ Kuiti, the owner. Mr! J. F. Lever, is successfully clearing up his property with the a id'of a large lierd of goats, and where these animala lia\c been allowed to run on the property the weed lias almost entirely disappeared. Jn the first instance, t lie denser patches of blackberry are burnt o(T, and when the young shoots begin to show above the ground the goats are turned on to the area, which they nibble closely, tlius preventing the plant from gaining control. The constant, nibbling at the weed causes it to lose its otherwise vigorous vitality, and it eventually dies. It has boon the experience of -Mr. Lever that the goats prefer the blackberry to the ordinary pastures, thua they cost little or nothing to maintain, especially as other stock can be depastured with them. On this property may be seen the results of the good work done by these animals, where formerly there were blackberry bushes ten and twelve feet in height, and in parts of the holding they practically reigned supreme. On one of the boundaries there is a very heavy growth of the weed, just out of the reach of the goats, but they have it clipped clean on their side of the fence, which gives the boundary the appearance of a well-trimmed hedge kept by an expert gardener. The fact that these animals prefer the young shoots of the noxious plant to other food should commend the experiment to other settlers who are troubled with this prolific and pernicious pest. Mr. Lever had found that cutting the weed in the usual way with billhooks was an ever-recurring problem, and he now considers that regarding the blackberry menace, the humble goat is the solution. Other Methods. Where the land infested is of a ploughable nature it is the practice of experienced farmers to eradicate the weed by a system of rotation of crops, which has the great advantage over other methods, in that it involves the production of useful and valuable crops in the process of suppressing the blackberry. The rotation of crops generally consists of soft turnips, barley (black skinless variety), oats and tares, then temporary grasses—as ryegrass, and red clover, and cowgrass, in the order named. The soft turnips are fed off early in the season, in order to allow of the barley being sown in good time in the autumn. The turnips are sometimes sown on ridges or in rows wide enough apart to allow of intercultivation of the crop with the horse-hoe during their growth, as this method assists materially to check the growth of the weed under review.

This intereultivation is, however, not looked upon as unproductive -work, or merely for the purpose of the eradication of the pest. Soft turnips are always sown, as the swedes have the great advantage of occupying the land too long for the special purpose in view. The autumn-sown black skinless barley, which follows the soft turnips, yields good winter feed, and is then ploughed down in time to allow of the sowing of the oats and tares. The oat and tare mixture is, calculated to produce what is known as a smothering crop, or in other words, a dense crop which will weaken, or destroy the ■weed to be suppressed, chiefly by cutting off its supply of sun and air. Then usually follows the seeding of the temporary clovers and grasses, which are sown in the late autumn, and this crop is frequently cut for hay the following season.

It is fundamentally essential, however, that during the growth of these crops, intercultivatinn be carired out at intervals, and that the work be done in a thorough manner. If all the crops preceding the last one have been well managed there should be very little evidence of the weed after the hay has been removed from the paddock. Where it is desired to suppress blackberry in a single season on a small area of infested ground, it has been found to be a most excellent plan to plant the land in potatoes, as the necessary intercultivation involved with this crop usually obliterates all traces of blackberry after the tubers are lifted from the soil.

Spraying With Arsenic.

Other methods employed are to fire the bushes, and when the shoots spring tip after the burn they are sprayed with an arsenical solution every time they make their appearance. For those who ■wish to prepare their own spraying solution the following mixture can be recommended as having good results against blackberry: Boil together lib ■jvhite arsenic, 21b washing soda, and 2 gallons of water. When dissolving use a slow fire, only allowing the mixture to simmer slowly; as, if the solution is boiled ton rapidly, there is a rislc of the material boiling over. The liquid should become quite clear in about half an hour; then it should be made up to ten gallons, with added water. It is not advisable to make a concentrated stock of dissolved arsenic, as in all probability it will crystalise upon cooling, necessitating it all being boiled over again. In spraying with an arsenical preparation one should stand with one's back to the wind, so that the material will be carried away from the operator. As the mixture is exceedingly poisonous, all stock should be kept off the lands being treated with the solution.

The Tery first step towards 'blackberry control should l>e to prevent the pUint from bearing fruit wherever possible. This can be done by either cutting down the vines and burning ihT 1 ' w- y s P ra y' ln S the bushes with c* *l™ ut ; on , l des , cribe 'i- The eradication diffifet V\ land 9 offers "° v* r es °™ceful farmer! the great difficulty la TOet with when ' the plant i s growing on lands of a rocky or stony nature, which prevents the use of .mplenients, or in situations that make cultivation either impracticable or undesirable on account of soil

erosion.

How Blackberry is Spread,

The spread of the pest to clean areas is mostly due to its seed being carried by birds, and when thus established, its increase is mainly due to the long vines "or shoots running along the ground and becoming rooted at the extreme 'cuds, and by this means commencing [the building up of a fresh clump which, unless destroyed, will ultimately beiomc merged into a solid mass of 'tangled vines. The spectacle of black-liorrv-infested lards of excellent finality is only too common in many parts of [the King Country, and more active ',-teps should be employed in the eff'ecitivp eradication of this persistent and undesirable f"e to all progressive farmin™ communities.

NEW ZEALAND WOOLS.

A BRADFORD COMPLAINT. STEADY DEPRECIATION IK QUALITY. (Written Specially for "Star ,, by R. AY. Reid.) The president of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce, Mr. F. A. Aykroyd, in an interview to-day, substantiated the statement which he made recently to a gathering of Bradford merchants about the deterioration of the colonial wools owing to incorrect breeding. Mr. Aykroyd is of the opinion that the use of the Romney ram for breeding purposes has produced a wool most undesirable from a user's point of view, with staples of irregular quality, prolific in "kemps," which will not take dye, which defects all become apparent in the yarn. Mr. Aykroyd will not accept the suggestion that the Romney has been the foundation of the New Zealand flocks for twenty years. It may have been used for that period, but the Lincoln s and the Leicesters were the basis of the breeding of nearly all New Zealand flocks. "In any case it takes time for the blood really to show itself. ,, "For the first year or two no material harm may appear, but later it becomes ruinous." "I assure you it is not a fact that there have been no complaints. There have been many. Go to Sir William Raynor, Mr. Harry Dawson, James Hill and Sons, Francis Willey and; Co., John Reddihougli, Ltd., Whittingham and Sons, Cooper, Triffit and Co., I guarantee there is not a single wool merchant in the city who will not support mc in the contention that there has been a falling-off in the quality of New Zealand wool in the last five years or so." "If you suggest that we have not hitherto been very vocal on the subject, 1 might point out that we have never before had the same opportunity of bringing the matter to the notice of the colonial Premiers." "Moreover, the effect of the breeding has not shown itself with such prominence as it has done latterly. "The breeding defects of which we complain are now getting so intermixed with the various flocks that yon can hardly get away from them, and it is that circumstance which is causing the alarm." "My contention is that the Hawke's Bay district is being ruined by the Romney." "The Hawke's Bay district wools are not a patch on -what they were 25 years ago." "They are not anything like so good." Mr. Aykroyd suggests that the English Wensleydale, the Corriedale, and a Nottinghamshire animal should be substituted for the Romney. "It is time," said Mr. Aykroyd, "that someone spoke up ftom the wool-users' standpoint." "Xo one has spoken up for the last ten or fifteen years. Users have jogged on as best they could." "But now they find themselves up against such a serious problem that they are compelled to speak." "Mr. Massey, when I showed him the sample fleeces,* said at once that he could see what was wrong, and it must be altered." •Mr. Aykroyd here refers to the visit of Mr. Massey to his home at Birstwltn Hall, when he examined specimen fleeces.

SUPERPHOSPHATE AND SLAG.

INTERESTING COMPARISON. For the benefit of an inquirer, Mr. i Thos. H. Patterson, Instructor in Agriculture under the Board of Education, makes a comparison between basic elag and superphosphate. The matter ia one of such general interest and inquiry on the part of farmers that the text of the reply is reproduced below as follows:— Phosphate Contents. —Belgian basic slag (17-20 per cent, P205). Total phosphate, 37 per cent to 43 per cent, calculated as tricalcic phosphate. Super phosphate (42-44 per cent). Total phosphate, 42 per cent to 44 per cent, calculated as tricalcic phosphate. Lime Content. —Belgian basic slag, 44 per cent, as oxide of lime. Superphos- | phate, 12.7 per cent, as oxide of lime. | The comparison of percentages of | phosphate in each manure is of not j much value, because in slag it is not j definitely known in what form the phos- , phate is present. In superphosphate it i is present mainly as water-soluble phos- j phate, and in local super about 26.4 per cent of the super is available watersoluble phosphate, according to the i analysis kindly supplied by Messrs. I Kempthorne, Prosscr and Co., Ltd., Auckland.

In the Bessemer slags (of which Belgian is one) the phosphate content which is available is "citric" soluble. The "citric acid test" is a quick laboratory method, which claims to approximate to the behaviour of the weak acids in the soil on the basic slag. Actual experience shows that the claim is well founded in this case.

Again, the comparison further is limited in value because slag suits certain soils .and climatic conditions, while super suits other conditions. In the one case a farmer would get better results by using the one than the other. Again no fertiliser promotes white clover like basic slag if the abovementioned conditions are suitable.

Re the lime: basic slag- has never been a standardised fertiliser, and hence the amounts of lime present vary very much. The above figure is from a line of slag analysed. Another line may have 37 per cent oxide of lime. Moreover, the lime is probably present partly as a phosphate, and partly as a silicate. In super it is mainly a sulphate (hydrated).

It is a truism that you cannot compare unlike things, but, from a practical farming point of view, the fact that basic slag contains more lime per unit than superphosphate is the main thins, buper acts better on soils well supplied with tone: In both cases the value of but nfihrV n ?\ in the U»w intent,