THE SOIL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 11 February 1913, Page 2

THE SOIL

The following items are i-nlled '■ from the .January issue of the ••.journal of Agriculture" : NEW ZEALAND' HOPS IN LONDON. The High Commissioner for New Zealand in Britain reports as follows, under date of London, 28th. October : The exhibits of hops received from the Dominion were duly displayed at the Brewers' Exhibition, and were awarded the first prize in the classes both for "Hops suitable for Fine Ales," and for "Hops suitable for Ordinary Beers." The. hops were well displayed, and attracted a considerable amount of attention. Several inquiries have been received from hop merchants concerning the output of the Dominion. Information has been supplied to them, and the names of hop-growers in. New Zealand have been furnished, so that probably buyers here will open up communication with them in regard to the crop for the coming season. Although no other entry of colonial hops was made, and consequently our samples met with no competition, I •hink they rather gained by being in a rlafs by themselves, and secured a good advertisement for the Dominion. The effect, on the New Zealand hop trade at present may be small, but many perons who previously knew nothing of the product have certainly been interested therein, further inquiries on (he subject may be expected.

HIGH PRICES FOR SCOTTISH SHORTHORNS. Mr George Campbell, Bieldside, Aberdeenshire, • a well-known exporter of purebred Shorthorns to the Argentine Republic, has obtained, at a, recent sale in Buenos Avres, an average of £972 L3s 6d for eight bulls and £229 10s for eleven oows and heifers. The top price ;£3,144) was got for the rising two-year-old sire Sunbeam's Pride, by the famous Pride of Avon. Sunbeam's Pride was bred by Mr_McWilli.ini, Gai-bity, and sold at the Perth spring sale in February last for 130 guineas. The nexthighest figure (£1,746 13s 4d) obtained In the Argentine by Mr Campbell was for the rising two-year-old sire Scottish '.'rest, which he purchased at Perth in' February for 86 guineas.—"London Morning Post." NATIONAL DAIRY CONGRESS. A National Dairy and Cold Storage Congress will be held, at Ghent duving ihe forthcoming international exhibition in August. Two of the subjects to be •'salt with in the main section will be •"The Obtaining and Preservation of Raw Milk" and "Rapid Methods for the Control of the Purity of Lactic Fermentation." In the cold-storage section one of the . übjects set down for discussion is "Laboratories for Research oh the Subject '. f Cold Storage." The secretary, of the ' 'ongress is M. 0. Andre, 59 Avenue des Arquebusiers, Brussels. LIME-SULPHUR V. BORDEAUX MIXTURE. For prevention of leaf-curl on peach ."nd. nectarine trees .these two mixtures have proved equally good a Ruakura Farm of Instruction, for on trees of the •■ame variety sprayed with each mixture no sign of the disease appeared. THE FERTILISING ACTION OF SULPHUR, (Jour. d'Agric-JPrat., Sept. 5, 1912.) | Previous experiments in France had .■hown that flowers of sulphur added in very small quantities to soil in pots < a.used a notable increase in the yield, of the plants, and that the action of the - iilphur was very weak when the. soil had been previously sterilised- The present experiments showed the fertilis:ng action of the flowers of sulphur to be due to its stimulating effect on the bacteria which convert organic nitrogen compounds into ammonia, and also on ' he nitrifying organisms of the soil. WINTER SPRAYING OF APPLETREES. On apple-trees in the orchard) at Rua-'-•ura Farm of Instruction this sea-son reults point to Bordeaux being better for winter use than the lime-sulphur solution. Trees sprayed- with the winter formula of the lime-sulphur solution reouired the addition.of the summer solu- ' ion Jo the first application of arsenate of lead for codlin-moth. Trees, on the M;her hand, sprayed with the 10-10-40 Bordeaux mixture did not renuire the, -•didition of the summer formula to the '•rsenate sprav.