FARM AND FIELD

Lake County Press, Issue 2788, 5 June 1919, Page 7

FARM AND FIELD

(By F. 0.8.)

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

SPRAYING FRUIT TREES. For some time past it has been prac tically useless on account of the heav, . and almost incessant rains to attemp . to spray the various orchard trees while even the work of pruning ha ' been greatly delayed. As soon as tin i is completed, however, and more favour able weather conditions exist no tiim must bo lost in thoroughly dressing the trees with either Bordeaux mixture lime, sulphur solution, harbas, rod oil or other effective fungicides and insecticides. In the material applied the grower must be guided by the objeel for which it is used. If for destroying fungoid diseases Bordeaux mixture vermorite, or lime-sulphur solution is a safe and effective remedy when properly applied. If on the other hand the trees are infested with mussel 01 other scales, red mite, aphis, or othei insect posts, harbas or red oil is the i most effective remedy. S The dressing of all orchard trees it i an important and very necessary operaj tion, and should in no case be neglected. The number of pests that nearly every fruit-grower has now to contend with, not only with insect pests but fungoids and other insect diseases, can only be overcome or even kept in check by thorough and persistent dressing. No person growing fruit trees should neglect to use the means at hand to protect the trees and fruit from the various pests. The material, with full directions, how. and at what strength to apply, is procurable at any of the seedsmen. The advantage of winter spraying is that material can bo applied while the trees are dominant at greater strength than would be safe when the trees were in leaf. Peaches and nectarines, even though sprayed during the winter, should be again well sprayed when the buds are swelling and just before bursting into growth. This assists to check the foliage being injured by leave curl, hough it is by no means a sure cure, is adverse weather conditions in early ■wing has much to do with the spread of this disease. BONE MANURES. A few years ago there was a disposition on the part of agricultural analysts Hid professors to depreciate the fer/ilising value of dissolved bone manures, and to express the opinion diat mixtures of superphosphate of [ lime with a little sulphate of ammonia j or other nitrogenous material could bo depended on to produce equally good j results at a less cost. Greater experience, however, has shown that the old-fashioned preference of many farmers, practical and intelligent men, for a bone manure is not without its justification, and can be defended even from a purely scientific point of view. \ greater knowledge of the action of bacteria teaches us that these useful organisms flourish best when there is a supply of organic substances in the soil, and it is this organic character of bone manures which makes them more valuablo than simple mineral compounds, and as superphosphate and sulphate of ammonia or nitrate of soda. A pure dissolved bone fertiliser, in which the bone material has only been partly dissolved by acid, or a bone' compound manure containing a considerable proportion of the bone structure softened and rendered friable by tho action of the acid, possesses fertilising qualities which might with advantage to agriculture be more widely appreciated than they are by farmers. The plants may be regarded as tho bestjudges as to what is good for them, and the luxuriant appearance of pastures dressed with such manure or turnips to which they have been applied, is significant of their value. CULTIVATION OF MAIZE. Maizo is a crop that might with advantage receive moro attention in this country than it does. It yields a bulk of wholesome fodder not surpassed by any other green crops, and although not very rich in nourishment, it supplies a wholesome food. Tho most suitable soil for its cultivation is a loam, but it will grow on light or heavy soils so long as the former is not too poor, and the latter not very sticky and wet. An important point is that the land must be well supplied with plant food. A good dressing of farmyard manure should be given in autumn or early in winter, and besides there should be an application of artificials. The crop makes a big demand on phosphate of lime and potash as well as nitrogen. An expert recommends 12 to 15 tons of dung per acre, with two to three hundredweight of superphosphate at tho time of sowing, followed by one hundredweight of nitrate of soda as a top-dressing, and we suggest that a hundredweight of muriate of potash might with advantage be mixed with i tho superphosphate. The crop is a I potash-loving one, as shown by analysis; it extracts 431b. of nitrogen, j 181b. of phosphoric acid, and 361b. of , potash, and the supply of tho threo chief plant foods should be given in . full measure. i THE HEAVY-WEICHT CHAMPIONS | OF THE POULTRY YARD—THE LICHT BRAHMA. Without exception the Light Brahms is the heaviest breed of fowl, and on that account is chiefly noted as a meal bird. The standard weights are twelve pounds for cocks, nine and a hall pounds for hens. Cockerels and pullet; weigh respectively two and one and i half pounds lighter. When the bird: are properly managed the i'ull-growi fowls are pre-eminent. They are murl appreciated as layers, and produce bes when eggs are high in price, and tin eggs, being brown in colour, are greatl; in demand, as tho flavour is excellent As mothers they are docile and atten tive, and for limited range are favoui ites, because they scarcely fly at all 3 Tho Light Brahma, being the larges . fowl raised in a general way, holds similar relation to tho poultry industr 3 as tho Shorthorn bears to cattle. J 3 stands what may bo called "stall fecc inn" well, and will produce mov pounds of meat for the amount of foo consumed than any other variety 1 fowl. { When bred with a view to egg pr< - ! duction the hens have made records i j high as two hundred and twenty-fn I eggs in a year, and there are son [ ' I strains which are almost now sitter Because of their profuse feathorini

in■iwiiiiwi limn i'iniii—iiimmhii i iw mnin»i ■mm i i I they will stand more cold weather tha 1 any other breed, and thus when pre porly cared for. rank well among pre ducers of winter eggs. That is a ver, 'mug point in their favour, becaus winter eggs are high priced. Auothe advantago is that only about a four loot fence is necessary to keep then in because they do not fly much. Almos no other fowl excels them in ability t< thrive well in small enclosures. Thoi are market birds, and will fatten wel when mature, and command the highes* market prices. When one year old cocks weigh ten to fifteen pounds, cock c- erels nine to eleven pounds, hens nine ■y to twelve pounds, and pullets eight tc it ten. At ten weeks of ago, chicks an s, ready for broiling at about half a pound is in about ten weeks. On reaching these is weights they are fairly quick. Anothci r- ",ood point about the hens is that the.v !G 'oldom steal their nests. g \\ - FERTILISERS AND SOIL. e t An aero of ordinary soil 9in. deep g may weigh anything from 2J to 2J ), million pounds. A ton is 22401b., and s 1000 tons are therefore 2,240,0001b. >- Roughly, then, tho top 9in. of an acra 1, of soil weighs 1000 tons. A wheat - r grower who applied lewt. of superr phosphate to the aero is considered to e be giving a heavy dressing, and won- ' tlerful results are often obtained from s tho use of from 281b. to 401b. per acre. - It is worth whilo considering what this e means. Take tho lewt. first. This is t f-qual to lewt. of fertiliser to 1000 tons 0 of soil, or one plant food for which 3 the super is used, we only from 17 , to 20 per cent, of the super is phosi phoric acid, which is the effective - plant food for which tho super is used, 5 we may sav roughly that 201b. of super 1 is mixed with 1000 tens, or 2,240,0001b. > of soil, which means one part of phos--1 phoric acid to 112,000 parts of soil. i This is about .0178 per cent. A f-ewt. i dressing of super per acre of course supplies half the quantity, or one part ; of phosphoric acid to 224,000 parts of soil, or .0089 per cent. When a farmer applies 281b. of super to the acre he adds one part of phosphoric acid to 448,000 parts of soil, or say .00445 per cent. Is there anything more wonderful than the fact, well known to farmers, that the addition of this minute quantity of phosphoric acid to a soil may make all the difference between a practical failure and a good crop when j the conditions are favourable?