FERTILISING TURNIPS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 47, 24 January 1936, Page 5

FERTILISING TURNIPS.

It is becoming a practice in Canterbury for farmers to cross-drill their turnip crops with superphosphate. It has been claimed that the turnips arc immensely benefited by the practice. If so, the present season appears singularly suitable for the work, as in the dry conditions that have prevailed in some districts the turnip crop is looking very indifferent, says a Canterbury exchange. .The method has been to cross-drill the crop with the coulters lightly in the ground, using a cwt or more to the acre, preferably when the plants are not too far advanced. It is claimed that as a result the weight of the crop is materially increased, also the feeding value of the crop. Many farmers, before adopting the practice as a standard one, having experimented by crossdrilling in the first year only a portion of their turnips. They have found that the stock showed a decided preference for the parts that were cross-drilled. The crop withstands much more satisfactorily the attack of finch pests as the diamond-back moth. This is brought about by the impetus given the crop due to the cultivation with the coulters plus the superphosphate. The cultivation with the coulters aerates the soil and also* helps to control weeds. The annual trek of sheep from Marlborough to Canterbury has begun. Several largo mobs have been seen on tho road in the last few days, and all have been in good condition. Only a few cattle have been travelling.