THE FARM.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIX, Issue 134, 9 June 1906, Page 1

THE FARM.

Hawke's Bay farmers are losing faith in spraying for the potato blight, believing that, in that ' district at any rate, the earth itself is infected. Those acquainted with the Irish blight say it is not the same; for, whereas the Irish blight turns" the potato black, but leaves it still hard, vthe disease in this district gives the potato a frostbitten appearance, and when pressed it has a rotten, soapy feel. Quite a novel method of rearing chickens has been successfully adopted by a local resident (says the Bay of Plenty Times). A hen'hatched a number of chickens, which were secured, but all efforts made by the owner to catch the mother failed utterly. It was then decided to endeavour to rear the chickens without the hen's aid, and they were placed in a small box^ round the sides of which were nailed some pieces of warm cloth. The result is that the. whole brood have been successfully reared, without a single loss being recorded. The Southern Standard says: "Mr Morrison, one of the new settlers on the Edendale Estate, has received no less than £960 for a crop of potatoes grown inside an area of nine acres square. A return of £100 an acre should pay the rental of 15s without nuich trouble." This has been pretty well equalled in the Wairau, but the rental value would be somewhat higher here. Potatoes are in demand up to £11 P61 * t°n on rail at country stations in the Waikato district, and, as the local supply is small and must soon become exhausted, holders are now asking £12 Pf ton. Seed potatoes are wanted at £12 per ton net, but sellers are hard ■ii ?i - ,Wheat» oats, and chaff are ■all at higher values, but large quantities of the latter are now being delivered ■ which • were bought by merchants at A)s per ton less than present values. Concerning the potato market, the Lyttelton Tunes says:—The price of potatoes continues to bo a source of anxiety to the heads of families, and many are said to be substituting onions, which are very cheap this season, m preference to paying 25s or /Jos a sack for potatoes. It is reported that many people who have good crops of potatoes are digging and pitting them prematurely, and such earelesst ness may moan thn loss of many late crops. Growers are still holding; fairly large supplies of the tubers, and the whole of the Chatham Islands crop which has b^eji a good one, is said to have been purchased by Timaru merchants. It is not likely, therefore, that the price will go higher than at present.