ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13435, 13 March 1907, Page 3

ON THE LAND.

• ' •"";:'■•':■. ',-■,.;.- : . ■■:■ '.'■■■■ . ■ • ' . • MENACE OF THIS FRUIT FLY. " .•■■■■> '■■'!■■",. ■ ■ ' _, e : :■;■;}.■ Mb. FliExai has forwarded to the "V J* torian ■ Minister for Agriculture ; * > re- ; port 'upon hi* inspection of the Al* bury district, where the [ fruit fly was ;, said to be prevalent. Mr. ' French »tat«» ;' that ho inspected many small gardens in lbs town, some bordering en the main street, and found the > fruit fly rampant. From what he could gather from the'resident* the fly' whs in most of the gardens m ■/,. Alhury. The town* had more peach tree-* within a. radius of half a rude than could, bo /', found within a srxmile radius of Melbourne. In the fruit shop*, although tlm fruit looked clean and good, the flies wore careering on tho window panes, He had DO idea that b*» would find the place M badly infested, but his vi.nt had routed the people to a senso of their danger, and a meeting of the Fruitgrowers' Society was to bo Hold, at which Mr. Fioggatt, the New .South Wales Government entomologist, and . some inspectors from Sydney would attend. Inspector Adams, of Now South Wales, informed him that ho had found plenty of specimen* of the fly in. white peaches grown close to Wodonga, in Victorian territory. These poaches were all sent to Sydney. Mr. French had sent Inspector I'll'iotui to examine Wodonga. hut ho found thy' fly in only one place, which in a straight line was not more than 'three mile* from Albury, Mr. Flench had also heard that the fly was at Corona, which was even nearer to Victoria, and only a short distance from Kutherglen. Unless the post was stamped out of Albury and Corovvii, Victoria could not hope: to escape infection. They had the power to prevent the fruit being sent across the river, but they could not prevent the prat flying across. At Albury he .saw Kir "William Lytic, who told him that at his place on tho Blue Mountains the whole of hi* fruit had been ruined by the fruit fly. In conclusion Mr. French MY»: —"I do trust that the Minister will not pay any heed to the mischievous and, positively untrue statements brought forward by certain interested persons who, being entirely ignorant of their subject, declare that the fruit fly will not thrive in Victoria.' The total Dumber of packages of fruit by rail from Sydney to Melbourne during the last three month*. according to the Albury railway books, was 7667 cases, mostly citrus fruits." RES SPIDER ON CITRUS 'TREES. The best remedy for red spider on eitru". ; trees, according to the California)] Fruiti grower, is sulphate of potash, prepared as i ; follows:— 321 of potash, 371b of finelyground sulphur,* ana 2lb of salt to 50 nations of''water.' .The Btodt .solution thus made is diluted about 100 times before spraying. In 'spraying citrus trees for red spider it appears to bo necessary to use extension . rods. so that the spray may bo applied upward and outward from the inside of the tree, ! and also toward the contra of the tree from the outside. - , » ':■-.:. .■; The red spider of deciduous fruit tree* ; may be controlled by the use of sulphur v sprays. In .preparing* this insecticide it i*» recommended that lib of wheat flour ho mixed with ono gallon of water, after which ' the mixture is brought to a boiling point, thus forming a thin paste, which should be stirred, so as to prevent the formation of . lumps. In practice,, tho paste may most conveniently lie prepared in 20 or 2!) gallon lots. Fifteen ;pounds powdered concentrated lye and'lßlb' of sulphur ore then to be boiled ; together in 20 gallons of water. After the sulphate of potash' stock solution and the "I flour paste have been prepared 101b to 151b > of sublimed .sulphur and 141b to 201b ground sulphur should he placed in the spray tank with four gallons of the flour paste and • from ono to two (rations of the sulphate of | potash stock solution. Water should then be added to make 100 gallons. It is recommended that every effort be made to wet both the upper and . lower surfaces of the leaves and to wet the twigs. For an almond tree 20ft, in diameter from 12 to 14 gallons of spray arc required. -..'.'-.'•. ' WHAT IT COSTS TO FEED DUCKS. Some of the leading poultry breeders nt Victoria are at present ; conducting some rather resting feeding experiments i in, ."' a private way. a few of thorn having placed themselves mulct ■■the supervision and direction of the poultry expert of the Agricultural Department, who had previously given them somo advice, on tho general question T; of the best kinds of food to! produce rapid; flesh*. Mr. Goldsmith, of Kyneton, who is a largo breeder of ducks, has taken accurate records of the expense of feeding these birds from tho time they are hatched until they are 10 weeks old, arid lie has found, that tho average cost of food; for that period has come, to Is 9d per couple. Ho has fed ' on barley meal and 'skim-milk ■ mixed together to the proper consistency, all the food being scalded. "Tho feeding has been done three times a day. ' , THE COW AT CALVING TIME. In the course of an address on the cow at calving time Professor Majors, an American authority, said:—lf a heifer with first calf,.. her udder should bo rubbed and the teats worked gently, eo as to have her accustomed to tho idea of being milked. Much trouble with kicking cows might have been pro-, j vented had the owner devoted a few minutes now and then to. the handling of the heifer. # , Exorcise should not <be neglected, and it is" much better for a cow to bo running out of doors in tho bright sunshine than to be shut up in a close stall. Frah air and exercise are powerful aids to a healthy condition. As the day of calving approaches seo that j the atall is bedded with good clean straw. | Let no droppings or urine-soaked straw remain there longer than necessary. It is very desirable, too, that the hindquarters of the cow, including tho vulva, bo kept as clean as possible. When calving takes place the herdsman, or, better, the owner, should;-bo near at hand, without being too much in evidence. Many herdsmen seem to consider this a time when their services can be dispensed with altogether; others are anxious to assist, in the operation, whether they are needed or not. There is a happy medium.. Ho should seo that the presentation is normal, otherwise the cow may strain until she' is exhausted, and may die; or she may "do some lasting injury to the tender organs. As soon as the calf is dropped the cow will, as a rule, lick it dry. If she refuses to do this tho calf should be sprinkled with wait, ' and this generally has the desired effect. ; " SALT FOR THE. STOCK. Frofessor Babcock's experiments give the following conclusions: r , T J r ; ; : - •'. "In " every case the cows exhibited an abnormal appetite for salt, after having been deprived of it for two or three weeks, but in no case did the health of the animal, as shown by \ tho general appearance, the live weight,," or the \ yield of milk, appear , to be affected until a much longer time had elapsed. This period of immunity varied with individual cows from leas than one month to more than a year. > > In every ease there was finally reached a condition of low vitality in which a sudden and complete breakdown occurred, from which recovery was rapid if salt was sup- i plied. This stage was marked by loss of appetite, a generally haggard appearance, a rough coat, and a very rapid decline in both live weight and yield of milk. "Tho breakdown was most likely- to occur at calving time or immediately after, when the system was weakened and th« flow of milk large. In general, the cows giving the largest amount of milk were the first to show signs of distress. They all j suffered less in the pasture than when confined to; the stable. . ''The behaviour of the cows in these, trials indicates that their food contained sufficient chlorine to maintain them in goodhealth, while dry, for an indefinite period, and it seems probable that, under conditions existing in Wisconsin, a dry cow or- a steer would suffer no groat inconvenience if given no salt except that contained in the ( usual X feed eaten. It is calculated that the ration given in these experiment* contained chlorine equivalent to about 0.750z of salt per day, and it is assumed that this is the minimum amount of salt required per 10001b live weight to sustain an animal that is not ■producing milk. 'If: tin's; amount is not present in ; tho food •it should' bo .supplied ; directly. : ';' ''], : .~„.r \.;•"•'■'/...■ ■' ' .-** In addition to this a cow should receive enough salt to compensate for the chlorine ' contained in the milk produced. In generali this will require about 0.6 of. ounce of " salt for each 201b of. milk , given. A slight excess will do no harm, , and! it'U recommended that'-': dairy , cows in Wisconsin bo■■; ; - givee at least loz of salt - per day. : Excep- ' tionally ' heavy milkers > will.require more : than this. • ."■"'.'" -■';•.■''•;•' ' f ~M> : "Tho uniform result* obtained with ---»UJ£ cows' employed in these trials indicate I beyond question that -in "Wisconsin and in other regions? similarly located salt in addition to that obtained in the food is absolutely -; essential *■ to the 1 continued health of a dairy cow j while producing milk. • " It 'is evident, * moreover, that the amount ¥,v of salt which * must : be; supplied '■ directly will - vary greatly in* different.^localities.rt iijiieinir fty more at ■ high elevations and ;at r places^re-Vv mote from th.o sea," . * '.