FARM NOTES.

Grey River Argus, 22 July 1922, Page 6

FARM NOTES.

To remove odd stumps, a corrcsponI dent gives the fcllov. ing:—“Get a 2in. 1 point I wedded i.ilo one end of if. With, a i sledge hammer drive ibis under the i slump as far as may be necessary. | Drup half a stick of <l\ numitc into the ! hole thus made, and tramp -earth upon ii until the hole is filled; then light the | fuse. The stump will be lifted entire- • iy out cf the ground with no earth adhering to it, so that it may be burned th.- next day. Another correspondent recommends: —“ln the autumn boro an inch hole down into the centre of the stump 1-1 in or 16 in deep. Put a couple of ounces of saltpetre into the holo, fill with water, and plug it tight. In tho spring take out half a gill of kerosene oil and light it. The stump will burn away slowly without blazing, to the ends of the roots leaving nothing but ashes.” Investigations had shown a veterinary expert named Dr Seddon, that forage poisoning in horses'* and impaction diseases—were due to bacteria which' were closely related. Forage poinson was were closely related. Forage poisoning was due to the eating of fodder, mouldy or otherwise (damaged, for; ge or grass from low-lying districts being chiefly responsible. The disease of cattle—impaction paralysis—was not confined to Victoria. In South Australia it -was known as “dry bible,” and in Tas- . . a as “Midland cattle diseases.” I-t disease termed “lam.ziekte” in South Africa, ■which also seemed to be identical, was du ■ to (1) depraved appetite, leading to bone chewing- and (2) the eating of bones of animals dead of the disease. Such bones contai nod a very powerful poison, produced by bacteria during decomposition of the. carcase. A peculiar feature was that sterilised (or non-toxic) bonemeal, in the form of “licks.” cured animals j of this bone-chewing habit, and thus prevented the disease. An interesting experiment in fattening lambs on forage crops has been carried out at the New Zealand Experimental Station, at Moumahaki, the experiment being undertaken because tho growing of rape had becom-o rather precarious on many of the old fashioned ; farms. A fodder that could be substituted for rape was thus badly wanted. Tho station therefore, decided to i test a crop of field peas in comparison •with a rape crop. On tho same day crops of field peas and rape were sown on adjoining fields, ■with tho soil in each very similar. Equal areas were i sown in each field, and each crop received th-e same treatment and manur1 ing. The crops wore ready by Febru- ' I ary 2, when a lot of very level crossI bred lambs by a Southdown ram were divided up, weighed, and put in equal I numbers on each field, fi'lie lambs had not received any artificial food previous y, ami had been running on fresh pasture. Between February 2 and February 22 tho rape-fed lambs made an average gain per lamb of 9.41 lb, and those fed on the field peas an average gain of 12.G511), the grain in favour of the pea forage being 3,271 b per lamb. We arc told in the report that “the lambs on rape made the most headway during th-e first two weeks, but the gain in ’weight of the lambs on peas during the third and final weeks was remarkable”. Professor Perkins, of South Australia, says that lime is necessary to ensure good crops of lucerne. Where the soil is deficient in that substance lime should be applied annually towards the end of winter and prior to the first summer. Irrigation at the rate of 4Gscwt to the acre of recently slacked lime, or double that amount of finely crushed limestone or carbonate of lime. The field might be given a touch of the weighted harrows subsequently to the application of lime.