THE AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9552, 1 July 1911, Page 7

THE AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT.

ITS UTILITY"TO THE FARMERS. EXPERIMENTS AND- THEIR RESULTS. • ■ VALUE OF FERTILISERS. > ■ ■ v Th'o'obiect of the'exhibife' made by the Department Of Agriculture: at all the prinuipal winter dairy shows''in'the OomiJionJ said Mr A. Macphersoh,'Fiold Instructor for tho South Island, .who attends' all the Shows in his official C capacity., should be mainly educational in tlie,-way of showing what can be produced under varying conditions. What the Departmont tries to do is to demonstrate to tho farmers what crops arc. best adapted to different localities, with''duo.,regard to tho nature, of tho :soil' .and ''"lirnatio conditions. You:saw those exhibits of roots that aro now being packed up nrior to removal to tho Hawcra Show. Thoy comprised mangold wurtzel, yellow and white fleshed, turnips.. Well, tlicso roots wero takori in an immature state. They have .been out of the ground (or a considerable tinio, and they were not fully grown when they wero lifted, consequently tho average yield per :,acrq could not bo accurately, ascertained at tho time of lifting, becaii66„they "ould, not be considered to bo fully matured. ~But this does not detract from the educa; tional value of tho exhibits in enabling farmers- to judge, from" tho; experiments carried out in the various,districts, what, varieties are. likely to ..da bent in their respective localities. Of course, the root*; have suffered more or less frorn tho-pro' longed drought which affected iho whole Dominion, and which was a apccially Sc\cro visitation in tho South. Farmers can judge which special '■ roots do best during a period of drought. «'•: - Thero is another, feature with regardto these-roots-- that is, tHoi svrcsdes tod-" the yellow and white fleshed turnips, for;: the mangolds are not affected in this" respect—namely, in connection with those pests the diamond-backed moth and the aphis, which at times cause such.deva,sta-. tion among the turnip crops. The lesson will bo learnt as to the varieties best able to resist thoso pests. Mangel wurtzel is not attacked by the moth. With regard to turnips, there ■ aro also the diseases known as fingcr-and-too and> black rot. There'are samples of each sent'from Momohaki Experimental Farm, and they ihow wiiat a terrible pest the .diseases indicated are, as they simply convert tho roots into a- worthless eubstanoo, instead of constituting a valuable stock food. From the exhibits at tho Show', tho farmers can form a correct judgment as to what varieties of turnips »re best capable of resisting attack by these pests. In my opinion, in cases where theso diseases in turnips make their appearancetho best pian is to give tho land a spell and apply limo in sufficient quantity. By giving tho land a spell I mean not to grow tho same crops in. which the diseases named have shown themselves on that particular land foraseries of years. Then wo have an exhibition of tho effect and benefit of certain manures. The difference ie 6hown between tho products of tho unmanured land and tho crop produced on tho manured land, growing on the same or adjoining plot, tho soil conditions, except in regard to'manure, being exactly alike. Theso are the masters that farmers require to study if thoy aro to succeed. Tho manuro that will suit one district or locality may be found quite unsuitable for _ another, and (ho only way to ascortainis by aseriee of farm experiments, carriod out in the different 'localities under tho supervision of the officers of tho Department. Now hero is the result of an experiment with a plot of land,'area five acres, made by Mr G. L. Marshall,_ of Turakina, and it gives some significant results in connection with manuring. It was dressed with 4?owt. ot 'lag, at a cost of 21s per aero. Tho test was a grazing one and tho object of tho oiperiment was, to institute a comparison between tho returns from tho manured and tho unmanured land. Results wei;o given for various short periods, but tho result for the wholo period from Octobor, 1905, till January, 1911, was that the avorago number of sheep whore tho land had no manure was 2jJ sheep per acre, v/hereas on tho manured land the average was equivalent to 5 1-lfl sheep por acre, or closo on double the carrying capacity, and this was for an additional expenditure of 21s per acre for fertilisers. In a subsequent conversation with Mr G. do S. Bavlis. Field Instructor for tho North Island, that gentleman mentioned I hat it had been sometimes assorted that the North Island could not grow field peas of tho colour and quality required for tho export trade to. the Old Country, colour being an important essential, but the results of various experiments proved that craps could b'o produced in tho North Island equal to those grown.elsewhere. Now, said Mr Baylis, hero are the. results of «omo experiments in field peas, grown by Mr 11. Evans, of Mastorton. Tho variety was White Ivory, and tho official verdict was that the colour was excellent and tho quality first class. Another experimental patch was grown by Mr W. Miller, of Mastorton. The variety with which the experiment was made >.' as Partridge peas. Tho Departmental note was splendidly grown, but a bit'oil' colour as if affected by the weather during the period of harvesting. A bright ' sample is required for export. The third result was grown on the Marton Plots, tho varieties being Blue Imperial and White Ivory. To this samplo was attached the very gratifying ticket ihat tho samplo was quite equal to tho best Canterbury grown. Being harvested earlier in the North Island they could be landed in London when tho English markets aro usually bare. A fourth experimental plot was grown 'by Mr W. Miller, of Mastorton, and tho vleld was- pronounced to bo an e/ccllent •■ample,, "equal to any lino that we have soon produced in New Zealand." The special value of the pea crop is that they store up nitrogen, and thereby, enrich the soil for the crop which is ito follow,

Ah ensilage experiment gave 'a very interesting result. The ensilage was made of a crop of maize growing on, threequarters of an acre. The crop was simply mado into a stack and covered with about two feet of earth. Of course, there would bo a.littlo waste at the out,sido of 'the'stack, but on the other hand, / had there< been' a silo, tho _ stuff ; would I first have to be carted to it, and then f carted from it to tho paddocks for tho stock. Tho crop averaged thirty tons

to the acre. Mr .Baylis also referred to what was being dono in tho way of making the gum lands to tho north of Auckland productive. Tho time was when it wsw thought that these gum lands were absolutely, worthless, but by tho use of proper .fertilisers very good results wore being obtained in the way of good crops .of .root?. .-•.■-,■ ,'.'■' Mr Baylis spoke very highly of lucerne as-a fodder.plant. , Ho'snowed a small plant, the. roots of which had already penetrated four feet down to reach the moisture. Lucerno had been tried in Kai*.. ranga and on tho flats on the 'ftangitikei river, and. in both pkse? tho roil appeared'to be suitable...Xlieerne would do well in a great many places in the North blpd, its'"great-value being its growth during'a dry season. It keeps green' during a drought and makes good ensilage and splendid hay, and tho farmer also gets such a heavy crop off a small area, _, There had been some experiments in ..luoerno. growing at Toko, a snort instance 'from Stratfo'r'd. The first cutting was not. recorded, tho second gave., 6.8 ion's per acre and. the third gave 3 tons per acre, Tho manure' consisted of lOcwt. lime. •4c\vt'.. superphosphate, and tlio ,oost was , 27s ,, ! pe : r : acre/ 1 ; ■-':'.';".. ; :■ ■'. .'-''. ' :'in turnip growing ; Mr; H. 6„..Serg'el.i an Eltham farmerj'in -growing'li plot. of. Sutton's Prizewinner' Globo variety, used 501b superphosphate, 1051b bone meal, 91b ■potash and 101b gypsum, tho r.os't being 12s 9d per aero, and the yield was 40 tons. Another experiment with (ho same crop was 2cwt. superphosphate, Jcwt. lime. ■tewt. sulphate potash, 801b 'gypsum, and 1 cwt. of bono,flour* Tho cost was 25s 6d per;acre,/and,the yield *os ( at the •. rate'of 60;tons>por..acre..; ...,>/., \. . ' Another of early ploughing. ■Twb 'Wops of swedes grown by Mr Sergei, of TEltnam, on adjacent plots, in one case produced 25 tons to the acre; and in'tkWer'JQ t"ns. In.

fho latter caso the- land was plowed on November 5, and >in tlio former on Dooember .15, clearly showing tho rJuntag'* of early ploughing Tho land was tho tame, the 6eed tho same, and tho inanuio tho same, b,ut th,o land y, as ploughed six weeks earlier, whence tho increased yield ;-.■ Another, manure that: has been tried jwith success 'was.; ; licwt.,,of, bono flour, •ljcwt. siUphaJeof {immojiia and iewt. of ;ealt being' 22s 9d. ;, A fertiliser for-cereals which '.sj'iive good .results at the Marten-Junction.plots-was 'a« follow} :-;1001bs blood-manure, lOOlbs 'bonomeal, 501ba superphosphate and ;'l2lbs sulphate of potash, the -'lost being •equivalent to ,7b 7d per cwt. . A manure that has given good results for tho growth of beet,on tho.sum lands 'to the north of Auckland, was"3cwt of superphosphate, 3c ivt.~ of blood and bone manure,' 361bs suljihate of potash, 51hs .eulphato of ammonia Maiden Island guano, which is a phqsphiitic guano. 'The cost was equal to Us 9d per .acre, tho land haying been previously limod. Tlio seed was sown on December 12. :..'.'■

With regard ■ to root crops tho main essential is cultivation, and to keep the green leaves growing. It had been demonstrated that .tho fceblo condition of the plant was most relished by -the gem by which blight was propagated. Mr Baylis also strongly emphasised the advantages of oarly. ploughing, suitable ■cultivation and proper plant food.. S ■ :long as Iho plant could be kept growing, ■pests had not the.chance that they.had when tho leaves 1 M'ero' limp and withering. By good cultivation , tho natural /■moisture was consorved, and the growing !plant had a bettor chance. "' • ' In the liold experiments tho Government finds. tho manures and the seeds. and the farmer provides tho labour, and the produce—tho crop—belongs to him. Thus, tho men on tho land acquire special 'information with.regard to tho capabilities of the soil in their- respective districts without having to visit tho Experimental farms for that purpose. The Department analyses soils lor far. mere, and supplies advice as to tho best manuriai treatment, ■ Tho applications recoived '.are not as numerous as might bo expected, as forms indicating the procedure may be obtained on application to the Department of Agriculture, Wei lington, A.large number of different, -arieties of wheat and oats from different parts of tho world are being tried at various experiment stations to ascertain now they would suit different localities in iho Dominion. ■