SWEDE INDUSTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 139, 13 June 1936, Page 13

SWEDE INDUSTRY.

COMBATING DISEASES,

ENCOURAGING TESTS MADE. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) MASTERTON, Friday. Encouraging results in combating disease in swedes were the subject of an announcement made to-day by the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. W. Lee Martin. He said the disease known as mottled heart, or brown heart, of swedes had become extremely troublesome in the past season. Much attention had been paid overseas to similar disease and satisfactory control measures had been suggested. The Fields Division of the Department of Agriculture had followed up the overseas work by carrying out experiments in various parts of New Zealand, and, although the results were not yet complete, they were sufficiently encouraging to permit him to make a statement. The treatment put under trial and found very satisfactory by the Fields Division consisted of applying 101b an acre of ordinary commercial borax to the land at the time of sowing. Deficiency of boron in the soil was apparently the cause of a number of diseases 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 application of such a small quantity of borax, it was considered that the material could be mixed with fertiliser without a loss of efficiency. Too great a concentration of borax should be avoided, however, if manure was lieing sown in contact with seed. Where the crop was being sown by means of a ridger which allowed the fertiliser to be sown both with and below the seed, the borax should be mixed with 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 were mixed with each hundredweight of fertiliser.