THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1915. DAFFODILS AND TURNIPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16010, 31 August 1915, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1915. DAFFODILS AND TURNIPS.

To-day, in Auckland, is Daffodil Day. The hundreds of growers of this favourite flower will thereby achicve a double purpose: they will give pleasure to thousands of buyers in the streets of Auckland, and they will raise further funds for the comforting of our gallant soldiers. During August and September the daffodil reigns unrivalled in the gardens of Auckland next week he growers will again select their choicest blooms, meeting in friendly rivalry at the Spring Show. There the critics will meet to discuss the merits of the various exhibits, but chiefly to appraise the new creations from the few enthusiasts who each year present to the public entirely new varieties, each specimen the result of years of careful, study in selection, 'fertilisation, germination,! and development. Each season these new varieties are forthcoming. differing in, size, colour, shape and perfume, until their culture has reached a popularity that- has rarely been surpassed. But much as there is to commend in this fascinating hobby, there is at the present moment a line of botanical research that promises results to the successful grower and to the community in

general of- such importance and magnitude that by comparison the culture of the daffodil pales into insignificance. A suggestion has been made at "Whangarei that might well engage the attention of all enthusiastic gardeners. ..This is the production of a flavourless turnip. The value of turnips, or " swedes," is highly estimated in the country districts, but it may not be generally known to dwellers in town that this crop is by far the largest of any produced in New Zealand. In actual acreage it leaves wheat and oats far behind. Last year 'the acreage in turnips exceeded the combined area '/devoted to wheat, oats, barley, and/ maize, being no less than 514,105 '■ acres,'/the/next largest, planting being.;the'2B7,s6l acres; devoted to oats. If ,the weight of production be taken into account, ; the: importance cof the turnip crop is still more marked, for it yields 12 to .15 tons per acre, giving a feeding value per acre which no crop in New Zealand, can, even \ approach, and this in the; depth,; of [winter, the very time when other

feed is scarce.

It is sometiints claimed that turnips have been the' making'' of the Waikato, although there the area in

turnips is quite) small in comparison to" the large areas found in Canterbury and Otago, where stock would otherwise starve during the winter months when grass is at a standstill. Turnips are eaten with avidity by horses, cattle, and sheep, and-offer this notable advantage over: other

winter crops, and over most summer crops, that they can be fed off in the field with no labour beyond the erection of dividing fences to concentrato Stock. But the usefulness of this useful feed is sadly depressed,

in so far as dairy' farming ; is. concerned,' by the imparting of. an objectionable, flavour to milk; and butter. , , Soft turnips do not have this, fault, but they have not the feeding value of. the true "swede." What is wanted is a " swede" without flavour. Dairy farming/is the most valuable industry in this -province, but the carrying capacity of the ordinary farm is limited to the stock that can .be * carried ■ through the winter, or that can bo fed during : a dry summer with the assistance of maize or oilier fodder crops.

Farmers arc gradually beginning to solve the difficulty .of, summerfeeding, but in dealing with the winter problem they arc. immediately handicapped by " turnipflavoured" butter. During the three worst ' months of our agricultural year— July and August—turnips will carry at least ten times as many cattle as a similar area of grass; from this some idea may be obtained of the extent to which the dairying industry would benefit

were a variety of, " swede" produced that could be advantageously feel to dairy cows during the first few weeks of the season, to say nothing of the assistance it would render towards the end of a dry autumn. Though abnormal warprices will certainly pass 1 there is not the slightest danger oP peace bringing depression to New Zealand if production is increased by bringing into use tbo • land at present lying idler, and by adopting methods of intense cultivation that will increase the carrying capacity of all our farms. The fortunate " intor" of a flavourless turnip will gain a name that will survive in high honour when the fame of any creator of daffodils has long sunk into oblivion. ■ '• ■ a - / .