Stock and Station

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 10065, 1 August 1925, Page 7

Stock and Station

(By “SETTLER”)

I NOTES FOR FARMER AND GRAZIER

BLACKBERRY PEST

EXPERIMENTS AT WAIROA

(By “Settler.”) That the Government is alive to the need of checking the spread of blackberry can be seen by the investigations that being carried out 'in! the different parts of the Dominion by highly-ekilied officers under the control of the Agricultural Department. Experiments are now being carried out in the Wairoa district, and about. 40 acres of a badly-infested area has been taken over by the Department close to the town. Experiments arc? being made by Mr. E. P. Northcroft, late of the Otago University, who has charge of all the blackberry investigation work conducted bv the Department. Mr. Noi ■thcroft lias spent several weeks during the last, few months in AVairoa conducting experiments and the aim of the Department is to find' some means of economically killing the blackberry. Several patches of blackberry have been sprayed with various mixtures, but the weather during the past two months has been most unfavorable, and heavy rain falling on the plants just after they have been sprayed 1 naturally weakens the strength of the solution, and does not allow for a fair test. It is a noticeable fact, however, that of the patches of blackberry treated, not one of, them shows any signs of life on the surface, though, of course, it remains to be seen 1 whether the roots have been killed. - The experiments are, as yet, being carried out verv much in the dark. The sprays used include sodium arsenic, various compounds of arsenic and caustic soda, arsenic and sulphuric acid, and a combination of arsenic salt Some interesting conclusions have been arrived at by Mr. Northcroft in the course of his investigations, and 1 one of them is that it does not pay to cut the blackberry a't this time of the year, as it appears to do more harm than good. Blackberry spreads in much the came way as the dodder plant. It sends out long shoots about four or five feet long and then turns clownwards and takes root again in the ground, forming another crown. It is unite common for a. shoot to spread into several branches just before it enters the ground, and each branch will take root. Thus can be seen the difficulty that is met with in trying to eradicate the. pest. It is at this time of the year that this spreading movement is most prevalent, and in cutting the vines it would be almost impossible to se.ver each shoot just above the ground. In dealing with ploughable land, the summer is the best time to plough, as the roots are turned up to the sun and. consequently, almost. if not quite, killed by its heat. In- the winter or colder and damper months of the vear. the sun does not have that. effect and, consequently, the plant is hardly affected by the ploughing operations.

FARMERS AND POULTRY

VALUE TO SMALL SETTLERS.

Mr. F. C. Brown, chief Government poultry expert, gave an address at Masterton recently on poultrykeeping as applied to the farm. MiBrown illustrated how successful poultry farming could be made a supplementary occupation on the farm, Small settlers in particular, he said, realised that in those days of _ highpriced land and keen competition it> was to their advantage to get the most out of their holdings. He considered that, providing the co-oper-ative scheme was solidly supported by farmers, the poultry industry was bound to take its place among allother phases of fanning life, and wouid be a decided factor in the prosperity of the Dominion. Once they could get, the eggs; successfully marketed the standard would have to be maintained, and this was where the farmer required educating. Dealing with general breeding principles, Mi*. Brown said that » in-breeding was adopted merely to intensify, certain qualities in birds, but. should onh be done when one ,had absolutely perfect type with the necessary constitution, vigor, and maximum egg production. The difficulty in in-breeding was that it also intensified any deficiency in a bird Feeding was also of vital lmpoitnnte, and the lecturer exploded the old theory of over-feeding. Maximum layers, he said, could not be overfed, and when a bird became too fat it could be taken that she was engaged in producing eggs. Too much attention Jerald not be paid to careful rearing, and when this was accomplished' a change of ground was the secret of maintenance of heavy reducing stock,—Auckland Herald.

FRUIT TREES.

HOW THEY SHOULD BE PRUNED

Some interesting information was given bv Mr J. W. Wilson, Governluent orchard m the couise oi ; an address on pruning fruit trees at Palmerston North the other day. In pruning, said the speaker, lnos people made mistakes, the most-con mon being cutting too high Whenever a cut was made, growth resu.ted due to the sap flowing <-to tlie cut. By cutting low, the Iruit was made to" grow nearer the trunk. Thus the tree should be cut within two or three buds of the trunk. For the the first three or four yenrss fruit should not be looked for as, during this period, the tree was being shaped and trained for the future. The “whipsticlc,” or plant of 12 months’ growth, was next dealt with. This should be cut to within 18m. of the ground. Three lenders were looked for in the first 12 months and with this end in view buds near the ground should be rubbed off. It- was advisable to allow a few more leaders than were actually required and the best could then be allowed to grow. The old idea was to trim everything with the object of deve oping fruit spurs, but this did not work out m practice. The laterals should be left; this checked the flow ol sap and developed fruit spurs, and the tree could then be cut buck to them. In cutting to a lateral two or three buds should’be left in case one turned ,to growth. Leaders were meant to lead and must be clearly defined in pruning. Crossed branches should be cut ris this was likely to cause damaged fruit. ' . ~ In making a cub it was anyisab e to make it on the s'ant which let the water run off. When a big cut was made it should be painted with tar. If a branch seemed to have too great an outside- tendency, cutting to an inside hud would help fio remedy matters. In some cases, the lecturer said, trees were merely poles for six or seven 'feettfrpm- the fjroijnd-j ..this i-yvas', due ‘to\ cutting' too long in;.ail endeavour:,to-‘obtain fruit early.**-

PIGS IN ORCHARDS. 1 Small pigs, up to the age of four or five months, are especially suitable for turning into orchards where little routing is desirable, and if a few heaps of cinders- or old buildingrubble can b® .thrown down in .several places, these will keep, the pigs busy- for the greater "part, of. their time, and -Jthey will show, but:; littlo 'dispd.s’fidh 'to ; Tout. With a dry feeder on wheels in - the orchard,-and ;::i. automiitlp water fountain—neither

of which costs very much in these days—labor is reduced to a minimum. Food and water will require uep.enishing, say two or three times a week, and at the same time the feeder can be moved a short distance in order to distribute the manure and to save the ground from being damaged. When pigs are being fattened m sties there is no more suitnlSe' place for the latter than the, orchard, chietIv for the reason that there is no better material for mulching fruit trees in spring or autumn than mg manure. At the same time a run out occasionally, even for fattening pigs> is a great advantage, and will be the means of avoiding such troubles ns cramp and rheumatism^to which pigs in close confinement are often subject. The sty in the orchard, however, moans much labor saved-.-in the carting of- manure, and a still greater saving in this direction can bo achieved if a sty or two of the movable type can he arranged for. Not the least of the advantages of having the manure on the spot where in is wanted is that there .is no of the mater a-1, as is so often the case when it is stacked in the yard, where much of its value is cJiss'pated bv drainage and exposure to the weather.

KEROSENE TINS

I-lOW TO MA KE USE OF -THEM

Till I. came to the Dominions, 1 knew littlo of them (writes “A.A.A.” from New Zealand to the Daily Chronicle). Now I know that they are of The Things That Matter. Not in towns, perhaps, but in the backb'oeks; and next in importance come their cases.

To begin with, I have seen a house built of kerosene tins—its roof was of kerosene tins. Not a great house, perhaps, but the happy old-age pensioner who lived in it. and 'who had built it, thought it was prime. And there is a garage, the neatest place possible, where every possible k.nd of tool and duster and gadget is; kept in a kerosene tin; all tins cut- to fit, some of them falling forward like corn-bins, some with little circular holes, big enough for a hand to slip through, all polished and smart and every one neatly labelled. In a farm, where, money is not too easy tins and their cases are everywhere. The shelves are made of the cases:, so is the side-table, and the chairs sometimes are nailed together out of the boards and roughly-turn-ed legs are fixed on. The farmer milks into a couple, slung over his shoulders by a yoke. The ducks and hens drink out of them —with a tin-opener they can be cut smoothly to any size. The dustpan is the top of one, al. the stores are kept in them, and the milk is scalded in one. Of course a big one makes a splendid pan for boiling jam, and an excellent crock to store eggs in. You can make a cake in a half one, cut lengthwise—and, indeed, I know one little farm that does all its quite good cooking in them. Bread is kept in them, and all the dusters and blacking things; and what better shelter for furs from moths than a fine big one. well and trulv soldered? In the garden they are invaluable. A shallow one to sow seeds in, and a, row of. big ones on the verandah for shrubs. These are painted according to taste, and look gay. With a selection of them, cut- in various sizes, any child with imagination has all the tovs he wants.

And who can imagine a picnic without them? Of course the tea is boiled in one, and the boat is ba'ed with a. half one. and the wild bees are robbed and the honey is harvested into one blackberries are gathered, mushrooms are carried—what happy memories gather round kerosene tins! The Kerosene Tin is a power in the land. It awaits its laureate—he is sure to come—ordy he ought to be a she. X give her a present of the first line,:— “

“I sin«• the Song ,: 6f the Kerosene Tin- ”

NEWS AND NOTES.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Whereas Russia, before the war, not only fully supplied her own needs in cereals, but aiso exported wheat in large quantities to other nations, she is now comoe.led to purchase that essential commodity in foreign -markets. The same remark applies to other agricultural products. Lucerne and mangolds, or lucerne and turnips, are unexcelled ration for the dairy cow. Mangolds or turnips will encourage the milking power, but .at the expense of the cow’s conditio'n, while the lucerne (either green or hay) will balance the feed and keep the cows in proper condition.

Don’t forget that the brood sow is called upon, in developing her litter, to furnish all the necessary matter to grow the various parts of the p_g in the litter through her own feed. So supply her with plenty of bone-mak-ing material: if it is accessible to her she will supply herself as she desires it. A clean, straight open-furrow finish represents almost as much good judgment as does a perfect strike-out, for the character of the last strip to be ploughed depends very largely on the fashion in which the rest of the ;and lias been ploughed; the ploughman finds neat finishes difficult to accomplish if the furrows are not straight. The profitable pig is the one that never stops growing from the time it is farrowed up to the time it is hauled to market. The wise grower stimulates growth, in the pig before tlie litter is farrowed by keeping.the sow in good condition. It is assumed that the sire and the dam are of the right type, big and growthy. It lias been proved in the Dominion, states the Auckland Herald, that maerocarpa posts last longer in the ground than either matai or totara. It is evident that many do not realise the value of this timber for fencing.

THE CULTIVATION OF ORANGES

SHOULD BE PROSECUTED IN

POVERTY BAY. It is to he wondered at that, in a district such as this, with its ferhlo soil and mild climate, the cultivation of oranges is most extensively carried on. The orange tree is an ornament to any garden and one or two orange trees grown in the place of shrubs would be both ornamental and profitab’e. The trees have a good foliage and the fruit hangs, on for a long time. Orange trees need very little special attention though, of course, it is generally recognised that the better treatment they receive the hotter they respond. Practically the only thing to watch is that the ground m which the trees are planted is not too damp. Orange trees are slower to mature than most fruit trees and the Poorman’s marmalado oranges do not start to bear until they arc about four years old. Tho sweet varieties take a little longer. The sweet varieties recommended for this district by the Government . orchard st. My McTndoe, are the Navelencia and SL Michael. ' '