ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15566, 25 March 1914, Page 13

ON THE LAND.

HREEN MANURING. Jr '' i' desired to sow down any land which Iv- been [.tripped of i| s ,op at this time ,i \ car, the ordiimrv seed mixture in.,v lie employed, wnli the addition iif ii"t n.'-ri l ban ;>lli of rape added to it per ai ■■ 1' this is sown on " red" land in good n'aii. tiee troin the incumbrance i t any 1 ' 11 ■ 4 > lop. an excellent braird Mill be 1 ' ! ,i i in, in ii ii in ii for folding sheep .: '• In 13 or 14 weeks the rape and y III! 4 ,1 IS.- Would I* icadv for eating iff. ami i ti-'' sheep weir confined to brakes. •- i" 'Miii",' off turnips, they would c" i' 11 '' "■ I 0 1'! I" the surface and a b,M!lll"i' .-waul Would be left whu h rni.'ht .t! 1 :•! i -< ' | 'ii<l folding later oil if d-v-ired \ '.her pu.titable method of treating :: a:"l lion) win. h early clops |,i\e be, u |i: ' w 'd Would be to grow* some i i.i.-'' ' : •' : i<•>■ll manuring, to be 1 ' ••• i^l i: later >11. It is better to do tins than t ■ ■- ininwr fall, (■ or green an'inn.: pin poses there is nothing betetr than iin.tt.ird. It takes rout, easily, grows <j:ii,ki;. . a: d when ploughed in makes an x. .'lien; i i •'( i rat r>n f. r wheat or any ioi'umi !•"" n gi.uti ci.,|, Primrose Me. I r.rt 11 ■ ' that "on bare fallow land r; i-tar.l . I" be «..tvn and ploughed in wh.'ii la > «n, and a second and third ir.ee . '■ ■be .»c.*i i ploughed in. The 1-1 ■'■i: I .'-d • '••?> de, a\ quickly. and supplies hat - ■'! d nitrogen to the soil, and at the >. i"' 'line keeps down weeds. It must n I' allow to seed, of course, because : •• plants would l*> too strong to plough vd> i , while the seedm ; might lead to future tumble. (>■' the tv'o varieties white iiiu.'-i.ud is the favourite for this purpose, and it is rem,ukable low (he mil is improved both, in texture and fer nifty, by t Ms system. Hie land is being (allowed ,«inl cleaned, the weeds are , licked. th" texture is opened up, and a large mass citing vegetation j s mixed with the sod, thus preserving the nitrates, while '.he «h'le thing is done with a minimum < I labour." That is surely high ronimendati n. I i the Woburn field experiments. three fodders were ploughed in -vi 7. , tares, rape, and mustard. The wheal yields following mustard ploughed iwere several bushels per acre better than those following rape, which in turn proved better by nearly the same amount than tares.

IJMK WASH NO FRUIT TREES. Ai-conliiig u> tie liortiailtural expert attached in the Si .nth African Department of Agriculture, 'lie whitewashing of the trunks <if well developed fruit trees is "merely a harmless fad." He actus: — "The practice nf whitewashing the trunks from the ground to the fork is more cr less universal, "here is .real'v no reason why anyone should not follow this practice if they shoi Id so desire. It is not objectionable fn>m any point, of view, and denotes a certain amount of interest and care on the pa t of the owner of the fruit trees. But as a matter of utility and from an insertiri laI: point of view, it may he entirely neglected. It is hardly to be supposed that whitewashing the trunk of a tree is of any real benefit, excepting in such cases where the top of a tree has been removed in order that the remaining stump may bf grated to some other variety. Whitewashing then is justifiable and highly necessary, as it prevents the scalding of the bark by the hot rays of the sun, and thus prevents disease and consequent decay. Again, the whitewashing of steins of young trees during the first and second years of their growth, when they have not sufficient head with a spread of branches wide enough to *hade the trunks from the sun, is ex treme.v desirable; or some other method mav be adopted of shading the stems.

A REMARKABLE RECORD. Last March, in America, a two-year-old Tiwrnwi' heifer. Dully Dimple, finished ? year's official record of 14,009.131b milk, 703.361b Hitter fat, which fcould be equivalent t<> 8201b butter. October 9, 1908, thi-. remarkable heifer dropped her second calf. During the last fifteen days of the month she gave 9271b milk, which contained 41.631b butter-fat. During the month of November she gave 1.898.61b milk, which tested 4.49 per cent., and thus contained 85.251b butter-fat. ACID AND CHEESE. The development'»f sufficient acid at the Various stages of the manufacture of cheese is most important. Vatting or moulding curd which is too swiet results in the production of a cheese which is weak in flavour, and sometime: gets discoloured owing to the work of harmful bacteria. These objection* hie organisms would ha.e been overcome lad here been sufficient acid in the curd If the curd is too arid, the cheese produced is too hard anr dry. and has a Hour flavour. Dirty milk makes a tainted cl eese. A taint in milk can often be overcome by developing more than the iiurmtl percentage of acid in the curd, but ' hen there is always the danger of spoiling the cheese through the development of oo much acidity.

POPULAR TASTE IN CHEESE. The i liange in the demand .states the Time.-1 ha.- been more proroun ed in the hard than in the blue-veined varieties of cheese. The Stilton, still regarded as the finest. cheese produced in any country, has undergone lit'le alteration, for the reason that there lia> been no call for an article appreciably different from that, which earned for it it.- high reputation. In Chedda' and Cheshire, however, a pronounced preference is now shown for a softer ( ice.-e and one more mellow in flavour. I lie piiblii demand a softer article, and they will nut be deterred from gratifying lli«ir preference by derations of t".-t 'I hey will study their palate rather than the amount of nutriment in the thee*.? -.hey buy. 'LOVER SICKNESS. A leaflet issued l.y the British Board of 'A"rii:uJtuie contains the following :'Hie old ilea that clover weknesh is due to the ex.iaust of some soil constituent essential fur the growth of clover is flow disproved, and it has been definitely shown that the disease ,e, of parasitic 'origin. The present leaflet dials with two distinct para'.iti'? which sie equally capable of promoting the disea-e; the one beinj an "e»|vr-.rn-." Tyleiichus devastat Kulin, and the i,titer a fundus called Slerotinia trifo||,,riiiii. F.i :k-si.n. Another parasite, the ( |~v , • r Call Onat, Amb'yspatha oriiit rorli j..,. (iji. Kiclfer «* Iso often prodine', in red , ]i,\er svmpti ins similar in a peiUiMii e to tho.-e of plants attacked "'lt 'he eil.'. ■ ;in di.-ease.

he ea.ilir.-t symptom of the presence of the eeluorm disease is a yellowing and viltinj of the leaves of small patches of clover 1 In. |, ; ,t< lies ly increase i:i h/ " as the li s,-.i.-o spreads, arid may be cask ion., J fr on, ,1, distance. Eventually tin- h* i\. - droop and die. leaving bare and -.-or. lied lookiin. patches in the fr °p Ihe above vmpti mi also exactly defer;!,.- lie appeal awe caused by the fungus —S. lero'inia trifolicrum —but )is true i a,use of the dim-asn can be read'l.V - • teiijiiiip<i bv an examination of a diseased plant In the .ase of the eelworm d -ens", the branches are much swollen and s]«in';y at the point where they spring from the crown. It a thin slice or section of the swollen portion of the stem 1,.j ex noiiud ui,d« . i microscope, HumeHiiis eelwonns will be seen in the tissue.-, and eggs are al-o generally present. 'I tie eelworms. as their name implies, resemble an i el in sin pe, and wrigfee and twist about m a 1 velv manner; the e/n- are oblong, with rounded ends, and are produced in immem e numbei ■.

This disease i.» always du'' to the presence of eelworms in the soil, »nd not to infected i lnvn M c<l The ease wi'.li which eelwoini- can be conveyed f'om one place lo another accounts for their presence in now localities If sheep are feeding on infected clover and afterwards removed to another pasture, their droppirgs frequently contain eel worms that tir le in no [wise suffered by passing through the alimentary canal, and this is itore especially true of the eggs, which an also capable pf resisting desiccation for a long period

without injury. Eel worms thus conveyed continue to live and increase in the soil, as they are not restricted for their food to clover alone, but can also attack many wild plants, and several kinds of cultivated plants, including oats; the latter become swollen near the- base, showing the disease known as "seguing" or "tuliprot. Eel worms -may also be distributed in the soil adhering to cart wheels, tools, etc.

Sulphate of potash is the most, effective remedy, applied at the rate of four cwt ptr acre. \\ hen a crop shows signs of the disease, this remedy should be applied at once to the diseased patches, taking care t-o extend the .dressing beyond the obviously diseased zone. This method will not cure diseased plants, but onlv prevent the spread of the disease by killing eelworms migrating from one ' plant to another. As this substance will not destroy the eggs it will be necessary to apply more than one dressing in order to kill the eel worms as they hatch out. Deep ploughing is'also beneficial, when conditions will allow, as it has been proved ! that when eehvonns are buried at a depth of five inches they are killed. Infection of the clover plant by eelworms can only occur during the seedling or quite young condition, hence sulphate of |n>ta-sh should be applied to the laud shortly before the seed is sown, so that it may be in full activity when the clover crop is quite young. ' . Sclerotica Disease '■ As previously stated, the manifestations of the presence of this parasite in a clover crop are identical with those indicating the presence of eel worm, The evidence that a plant is attacked by the fungus S, lerotmia is the presence of one or more black, wartlike bodies attached to the root and collar. These black bodies are known as Microtia, and consist of a compact mass of fungus spawn or mycelium, produced at the surface of the root from mycelium previously present in the tissues "of the plant. When diseased plants are dead, the sclerotia remain free in the soil, and eventually produce spores, which infect future crons. It is practically impossible to kill sclerotia present in tile land, but as the parasite, so far as .s known, tan only attack (lover, lucerne, and other leguminous plants which occur as weeds, land known to be infected should be kept free from all leguminous plants for some years. It is only by starving the fundus, through the destruction of its host plants that the land can be freed from the disease. PACKING OF WOOL. A note of warning was recently sounded with regard to the mistaken methods adopted by some growers in packing their wool. The subject is strongly emphasised by the Wool Record, which writes: — " Farmers a id buyers are warned to avoid next season the tendency to pack their bales as tightly as possible. This spoils the appearance of the wool, which can only be sampled from the bales in small broken handfuls; besides this, buyers will be shy about bidding on bales weighing 4001b to 5GOlb, and will give such lots a low estimate of yield. It will be quite as bad a fault to pack bales only to about three-quarters of their capacity because the wool settles down in transit, and the bales arrive there with a sagging appearance, and seem to be only half packed. If this new method of declaring the weights of wool has any effect upon values at all, it will be in the direction of improving the price of wools that are lighter than they look, and decreasing the price of wools that are heavier in condition than their appearance indicates. In other words, it should tend towards helping to arrive at intrinsic values.

SCIENCE AND THE FARMER. Professor A ins worth-Davie recently said that among the results of the scientific study the soil was the discovery of the bacterial nature of the process of nitrification. On the other hand, denitrifying organisms were also discovered, and the problem was to destroy the latter without detriment to the former. More recently Dr. Russell and his colleagues at Rothamsted liad found that partial sterilisation of the soil was followed, after a short interval, by a marked increase in fertility. The theory put forward was that the soil preyed upon the nitrifying bacteria. These animal organisms were destroyed by sterilisation, which at the same time was not sufficient to destroy the bacteria. Notable work had also been done in the production of new varieties of crops. At Cambridge the application of Mendel's theories had borne fruit in Professor Biffen's experiments in the crossing of varieties of wheat, and the production of a wheat that had immunity from rust combined with strength and yield. The next development that agriculturists would look for in Mendelian research would be the production of a good potato free from potato disease.

DRY FARMING. In the semi-arid regions of the United States which have been made productive by the adoption of the dry farming system, large yields of crops are obtained with ail apparently totally insufficient moisture supply in the shape of an annual rainfall of 15in, aftd a bulletin recently issued by the United States Department of Agriculture sets forth till? result of an inquiry into how far this insufficient rainfall is supplemented by nn underground water supply. In South Dakota the soils are derived from the undcilyiug clays and shales, and where the latter are exposed in wells, railway cuttings, etc.. they are moist almost to the point of satin ation. and the moisture increase? uniformly with the distance from tie surface, suggesting a subterranean rather than a superficial source of supply. The whole district may be looked upon as in artesian area with a catchment .ne.a 111 the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, whence the Dakota sandstone conveys the water to South Dakota, the watiir gradually leaking into and thrrlupL the- overlying clays and shales- The rate of percolation and seepage cannot be accurately stated pending systematic observation, but it has been provisionally mated at. over 12in per annum—sufficient to supplement the 15in of rainfall and produce an abundant crop.

Another portion of - the region of the Great Plains was studied in. South-western Kansas, and a detailed description of the ground-water condition if given. ' The conclusion in drawn that the district is underlain by a reservoir of moisture flowing eastward, and derived both from the local rainfall and from catchment on the mountains 01 higher parts of the plains. The water table occasionally comes to the surface and rife to perennial streams md 'ermaipnt pords. but though within reach of the surface hv capillary movement ii usually lies at an average depth of 301 1, and may F>e considerably lowered by .'xassive use. A provisional estimate wa< made that 6in to Bin of water per annum would rise, from the underground Hp ply and be available for plant growth It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of thrse results for the areas where the subterranean movement and supply if water are indicated coincide with thoso where dry farming has been most successful, and it may be inferred that there is a (lose connection between the two phenomena. Moreover, if this be the case, it will also explain why the system yields such far less satisfactory results when applied to other parts of the world where diffirent geological conditions obtain.

The tick which causes red water in European cattle is the common cattle tick, Ixodes Ricinus. These ticks may be found in winter on the skin of cattle' or sheep. Only the sexually mature females obtain .a large size, and the immature escape observation. The males do not become distended with blood, and it ia douttful whether they suck blood at all. The stages of red water tick are interesting. The females, becoming fully engorged, lay as many as 1000 eggs, which may require about six weeks to incubate. The young ticks as they emerge from the egg ire of microscopic size, and the larvae are remarkably active, and seize the opportunity of passing on to a cattle host. When distended with blood, they drop off and seek the protection of herbage. Then they attain the nymph stage, being distinguishable from the larvre by their size, and having four instead of three pairs of legs. Finally, from the nymph stage they pass into maturity.