ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13846, 4 September 1908, Page 8

ON THE LAND.

■"■;■'. ... : "'.r.:'■".-.■'': "';■.■■..: ; . .-'■.:•:, n---:v,... ,<■':,;■' -y : ; SCOTTISH SHEARING] ' gig A; TOTTNO Australian ; writes as follows to t - ||f friend, in Adelaide: —" yesterday morning 1 : was at another farm at eight o'clock to see a |xj| Scotch shearing. This latter was really too m funny. One man sat on a fence bossing M and three others shore. They each caught i-. a sheep and lugged it. into the middle of » ||| sandy yard,- and then the fun began. Their £>-"_ method is extraordinary—exactly opposite to 1 ,- the Australian. The chief thing that re- j|| mains in my mind is one man'kneeling o» 0 the' sheep's neck, another holding him \i\ *-, by the tail, and the third giving a Ig Hackenschmidt exhibition. This is not ex- '■;•;, aggcrated. When they had each polished ,- off their respective victims they rolled up g the fleece, not at all particular to.a pound ;'< of extra Bind, stood up, heaved a sigh, ~; . hitched their trousers, lit pipes, took a pull fg at a ; large jug, and then strolled after an- ~; other sheep—about 30. a day. And yet thir j was one of the finest farms in the district ■, (Aberdeenshire)." "\ r PARASITES AND FRUIT PESTS. ; "I have no more faith in the value of El parasites as an absolute solution of the or- g chard 'pe.to problem than before I under, | took the trip." That crystallises » a .en. I tence the conclusion arrived at by Mi. fal- ! ter W. Froggatt, F.L.S. (Government Ento* A Biologist of New South Wales), after ex- g haustive inquiries and experiment, in many B lands. Obedient to his instructions from the States of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania, in whose j - interest* he went abroad, Mr Froggatt care- ~ fully followed the trail of the fruit fly -j around the world, and lost no opportunity to \ acquire the best information from observa- gg tion and from the experience of entomolo- ~, gists who are searching for means to effectively combat these destructive .agencies. :•■, Mr Froggatt was firm in his conviction. ;; , -You know," he informed a press repress- ,;■ tative, in a semi-confidential tone, nothing ;| would have pleased the New South WaW § orchardists better than if I had brought f| back a 101 lof rotten fruit and a stock ol HH these parasites and told them they would ; | clean their orchards. No; I saw nothing || that would justify me in altering the opinion -.--. I held previously." _ NEW 'AGRICULTURE. || " Electricity in Agriculture" is the sum ■; ject of an important article by Sir Olive* ■<$ Lodge on the results of certain experiment* -j which he has been making. As tbj authol |g points out. the effect of electricity on agri- jj| culture has been studied since 1846, and M. Studied scientifically at intervals during the If last thirty years, notably by Professor Lem- g strom, Mr. J. E. Newman, Mr. R.Bomford, M and Professor Berthelot, Electrical -treats g ment has resulted in an increased yield of m 30 to 40 per cent., with an improvement if ij the quality of the crops bo treated. Thes« advantages have been noted on mangolds, |g raspberry canes, tomatoes, and wheat.; Th« H electric treatment of plants is simply an a| improvement on the natural conditions under which plants are grown in the fields, for, a«i !.j Sir Oliver Lodge points out, the electrical if state of tho earth and its plants is very dif- j^ ferent ■ from that of the atmosphere. , ; Tho 1 consequence is that under normal condition! M electricity is continually' leaking from' the B hairs and points of plants to overcome th'i m "difference of potential. : It is natural te m suppose that this discharge, which must oc- B cur chiefly at the delicate growing points of |; plant*, exercises influence on their develop- g ment, and experiment has proved this in- g fluence to be beneficial. ' ,'. || ■■■■ ■ :■>■■ : " ■ :: '■■ ■■•• '■;■'■'■:■ I i - ■ 'Pi :' '■■ '■;■' '■ ';<•; '•■'■■■ ,/.'. '"■' ■;■■"■', . ■.-- ' ; - '-.v ...■'■ ■■■ m. SULPHATE OF AMMONIA. : ' 1 ■' '■■■'■• :■■■■■< . ;■■-■ ' ■•.-■ ■■■■.■'■■. ■■ ■'■' ■■■,' ''■_'■"■ ■ p The following extract from the Mark Lan* . H Express Agricultural Journal will prove sug- S gestive and interesting .to our farmers: « 1 The consumption of; sulphate of. ammonia .'. H for agricultural purposes "ill Great Britain is | about 80,000 tons, with a value of £960,000; I in Franco the consumption is estimated ta» i be 73,000 tons, and in Germany 270,000 tons. 1 with respective values of £876,000 ana, »■ £3.240,000. - • £ ;.'■■■. In .France \ the use of sulphate t ' of ammonia | is restricted principally to the northern dis- J tricts, which are the best agricultural parts I lof the country, and where the production of | i crops is conducted on a system as energetia I I and intensive as any in England. There, a* I ;in this country, sulphate of ammonia enters § ; largely into tho fertilising; mixtures offered 1 by the trade. " _ * J :. ; :'.; 1 In Germany the fertilising value of sul- 1 phate of ammonia is greatly appreciated. | As a rule, it is mixed in varying proportions I with superphosphate, and offered with cor- 1 responding guarantees of analysis, as am-; 1 ; moniated superphosphate. There is an enor- | mous . demand for such a combination with 1 a guarantee of 9 per-cent, ammonia-.and '8':-- i per cent, phosphoric acid. 1 ■■■;; Such an association of sulphate of am- 1 monia and superphosphate,, mixed sci%e tima , I before use, undergoes chemical action, which | increases the efficacy of the two ingredient*. 1 Part of the phosphoric acid combines with 1 the ammonia, as phosphate of ammonia. . : I The mixture is v found to produce very fa- jj vourablo results on potatoes, mangolds, beet- jj root,- and is also employed for top-dressing I cereals, although in this latter respect if J cannot be said tj take the place "of the .; 1 more quickly-acting nitrate of soda. . ' I Tho best result is obtained when both are | used; they supplement and help one an- 1 other. Tho effect of nitrate of soda is | quicker, while the action, of /sulphate of am- | monia is more permanent, and is continued I throughout the period of tho crop's growth. ] For cereals the ammoniated superphos- I phate is used at time of 'sowing, . and the | nitrate of soda in due course as a top 1 dressing, if the crops require a fillip. | For mangolds a similar application is efii« - ] carious. S SEARING LAMBS' TAILS. • J During tho last few.yeirs immense pi* I gress has been mado in the use ot- the sear- 1 ing iron for docking lambs'; tails in place of 1 the old method of cutting them off with a | knife. The method was at first looked upon I as impracticable by sheepmen, or; at all | events, as only of use iu small flocks where I time was not an important facto?. It war | considered that when many thousands ol 1 lambs had to bo dealt with, the removal ot 1 the lamb's tail with a searing iron was im- I practicable, even by those who recognised i that the operation of removing them with i a hot iron was much . more beneficial to th« i progress of the lamb. Gradually, however, i large sheepmen are becoming converted to || the belief that by the use" of- proper M methods very little timo is lost, and them a is a,great gain in effectiveness from adopt- fj ing the method of searing. The effect ol M removing tho tail with a soaring iron, instead ffi of with a knife, saves the loss of a con- M siderable number of lambs, because it ren M ders them less liable to attack from flies, ||| prevents bleeding, and causes tho wound to fe heal much more quickly than a, cut from t §j knife. Tho wound of the scaring iron is alwayl H antiseptic, and there is therefore no trouble || from blood-poisoning. It is stated by those %'A who have tried both methods, that not 01113 1 is there a much smallor percentage of loss U but that, the lambs treated with the searinr |1 iron are not put back by the operation <) I marking, as are those. which are treated it fl the, old way, and a lamb at a given age M which has been operated on with a.knife, 1 The agents claim that seared lambs will H mature three or four weeks earlier than || those treated in the old way. I