COMBATING TURNIP FLY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22332, 1 February 1936, Page 8 (Supplement)

COMBATING TURNIP FLY

AN INGENIOUS PLAN Where gardens suffer from attacks of the turnip fly or birds, either of which may play havoc with the newly-sown crop, there is an ingenious plan described in the Journal of Agriculture (England) which might be tried with advantage. About half the quantity of seed that is usually sown is put into a close-woven canvas bag, which is soaked in water for 12 hours' until the seeds are swollen. The bag is hung up to drain in a place with a free current of air. The seeds may bo used as soon as they cease to stick to the fingers, or they may be kept for a week before use if stirred three or four times a day. To sow, mix with an equal proportion of dry seeds and drill or sow along the rows. Fewer seeds will be used than is the case if all are dry. The soaked seeds germinate at once and the seedlings grow away quickly before the turnip fly or birds can cripple them. If, however, damage is done, there are the dry seeds to germinate about 14 days after the soaked seeds, and give a double chance of success.