NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2152, 23 May 1895, Page 7

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The Stock department Las discovered iv Ofcsga tbit disease so much dreaded by Outbrcnlc of British and American breeders Swine Fever, of pigs, swine fever — or at ail events the Government veterf* nary authorities diagnose the complaint thug. Although there have been suspicious deaths amongst pigs elsewhere iv the colony, it was only recently that the actual occurrence of what is alleged to be swine fever was discovered ad Stirling, in tha Clutha district. In Britain fcbis disease hns beon a costly one for the fa'iuers, as the following figures will allow :— Iv 1891 it was computed there were 2,883,773 pigs ia Great Britain. In 1893 the number was reduced to 2,113,530, a decreaso in two years o£ 775,243. During the period from 1879 to 1892 inclusive 319,182 nwine were reported as attacked with the disease. The loss to the owners on the affected animals has been £900,000, for the value of the animals alone ; and the total expenses brings the loss ap to about £2,000,000, or an average of £150,000 annually. During 1894 swiao fever wag repotted from 72 counties in Great Britain, ana about 70,000 animals either fell victims to the disease or were slaughtered to eradicate it. swine fever is never produoed spontaneously, and always arises from the entrance into the liviDg animal of the virus derived from a diseased animal, and without this germ there can be no swine fever. Now that there is un« fortunately good reason for .believing that swine fever has reached our colony, the oo operation of all connected with pig-breeding will be re* quired to combat and otamp the disease oat. Like all baneful micro-organisms the bacillus oE swino fever possesses marvellous vitality, so that the gorms may exist potant for evil long after the whole of the swine have been removed from an infected area. The most complete; measures mußt therefore be taken to destroy the diseaso germs wherever the complaint, if lfc actnally is swine fever, has made its appearance. Everything that has come in contact with the swine— bedding, styes, fences— musb either be burned or treated with antiseptics. The soil over which the affected pigs have depastured must be deeply ploughed down, and above all things no pigs should be run on the same are* for years afterwards. In face of the discovery made by the Stock department every suspicious case of swine sickness ought to be promptly reported. It is only by taking every precaution that this justly dreaded disease osn be isolated and prevented from spreading. A few months ago Metsn Eempthorne, Progser, and Co. rnado pablio their in« The Sunflower tention to supply all farmers ns a who wished to try this crop with Fiold Crop, eeed at 6d per lb, and also signified their willingness to bay sunflower seed next year at £10 per ton. Ap the time of this announcement being made I drew attention to the opportunity thus afforded [see Notes on Rural Topics of February 21] of trying a new crop now that the old familiar crops are not alone to be depended on for giving profitable returns. I then gave certain infor? mation auent the culture and uses of sunflower seed, but as the editor has informed me that he has bad various queries put to him recently upon this subject I deem it expedient to touch, - upon it again in the hope that a number of small farmers will give the plant a fair trial and satisfy themselves that the old groove is not the sole resource in this time of depressed prices. In the first place, it may be stated that a good crop of sunflower seed, gathered in without much loss from birds or gales, will yield about a ton to the acre, and as the seed will only cost about Is 6d an acre (31b thinly drilled in rows 2ft apart is enough for an acre) the whole expense of growing will consist of work that cob be done in the ordinary operations of the farm. An analysis of the ash of the stalk and seed o£ sunflowers show that silica and potash are largely present, therefore it follows that any good wheat soil is also suitable for growing the sunflower. Probably a deeper tilth than is usually provided for wheat would be better for the sunflower, and a good dose of farmyard manure (ploughed in as for potatoes) would ba a good tiling. The plant is a pretty gross feeder, and the more the soil is worked ana manured tho larger the heads will be and the heavier the seed. The ground should be deeply ploughed now, and reploughed after the frosts, and bo made kind and mellow for the seed. If a plant of this sort is once stunted in its growth, it will not do much good, hence the uecessity of so choosing and preparing the soil that ft quick and strong growth is ensured from the etari). The soil must be pretty clean, oil else weeding will be necessary while the plants are young. I should say that the plants require plenty of room ; it would be a good plan td dibble the seed in about 3in or 4in deep flftec the land is harrowed. The rows should be at least 2ft apart, and each seed should not be olosor than lft in the rows, so that if drilled there must be a lot of thinning done afterwards, while by dibbling each seed is put in its place, and the spacing must be right without any further trouble. Let us nay we are going to plant an acre, and that the plot is m shape 10 chains long by 1 chain wide, A chain is 60ft, so that there would bo 33 rows of seed, and each row 660 ft long. The plaute, at lft apart and 2£t between the rows, would number 660 multiplied by 33, or 21,780 to the acre. Two or three smart boys would soon dibble in that nubmer of seeds, and then they would be safe from birds, all at the same depth, and no thinning required. The weeding, if necessary, can bo done with a horse hoB between the rows, and as the summer gets on the plants can be moulded up with a plough, and that we know is a spJendid thing for any crop of this kind, especially if tha season is inclined to be dry. I have said that a good crop should yield a ton of clean seed per acre worth £10 per ton. If there are 21,780 plants to the acre, that will allow nine heads to the lb and etill give a ton to the acre, and I think they must be very poor heads that won't weigh more than l-91b, or less than 2oz. I had a few heads grown in my vegetable garden which shelled of good ssed each, but a field crop cannot be expected to average a yield like a few heads in garden ground. The harvesting must be done by hand, and as the seed might be lost by rough handling it were better to cub off the heads and put them into bags till they can be threshed or shelled, which work can ba done in the winter time if a barn is available for storing and shelling the heads. The stalks make good firewood, and if not required for that* purpose can be gathered in heaps on the land and burned to ashes for manure. The crop should have plenty of sun, a fair share of moisture, and shelter from gales ; therefore it would be well to choose a bit of low-lying ground facing the north, but protected on the northwest and south-west. I do not think a good crop of this seed would exhaust the soil more than a crop of wheat or linseed, but the stumps of the stems might be a little troublesome until rotted awdfr It is not liable to rasts or blights, and small birds are probably its worst pest. The oil is very little inferior to olive, and a bushel of seed is computed to yield a gallon os oil, and the refuse cake is good cattle food. I have mentioned all the good pointe in eona^

tfit>n with the crop, bat I do not mean to saylthat ib Will tttrnoat an uaquatifi&d sacces3 in every respect, nor will it mate all the difference between prosperity and rain to struggling farmers. Ab any rate it will be ono more egg in the farmers' basket, and it is not so likely to turn out addled qs (lome that we are raising year after year Without any question.

- Bftfereeting Central Otago

I must thank your correspondent " K. L ." for his letter on the subject of reforesting Central Ofcago. My personal experience in New Zealand has been confined to coastal districts, and I was guided rather by the few fine plantations to be seen in parts of the Ofcago Central region. At various places around the shore of Lake Wakatipu I have seen plantations of Finns insignia growing magnificiently— much better than th«y grow on tome pat ts of tho Canterbury "Shin — and tall, wide-branching, healthy-look-ing blnegams. No farther inland than Lawxebce I know the frosts kill off Wuegams, even after years of healthy growth. I h&ve no personal experience of other parts of Central Otago. I hare perhaps taken too enthusiastic a view of the question ; but in my note I never contemplated the making of extensive plantations for the production of timber. My suggestions were rather in the direction of plantieg shelter belts. The reference to timber was rather more in the direction of growing a limited supply for home use. I have found both blaegoms and maorocarpa trees extremely useful when a fencing post or shed prop was wanted in a hurry. With regard to the branches of Pinus intignus meeting in 10 years' time, I stated the proviso "if properly treated." My own plan ie to trench a geosi deep hole, in which the young trie is planted after working in a good supply of manure. Then if the succeeding season is dry the young trees must be watered occasionally. The following winter the area round each tree is dug larger and trenched and manured as at first if necessary. This of course could only be done with shelter belts such as I have suggested, and wherever done I think even in Central Ofcago the treea would meet in 10 years at 20ft apart if properly trtated. If left to Nature unaided after planting oat of course they would not meet in that time. But if shelter is wanted quickly, then ploot 10ft apart. That would double the first cost of planting out, but the cost need not be great. My enthusiastic vision was a conception of what the future might be if a start were made now to plant trees along boundaries ; or' what tk« present might hive been if a start had been made years ago. The rabbits, I know, make tke work of tree-planting doubly difficult, bat ii Ihs newly-planted trees are protected by wrapping something round them to keep the rabbits off for a time they will leave the<n alone afterwards.

The various phases of the rabbit question are freely diftouised in the columns TJwFwaudity of tbe Witness from time to of the Babbit, time, but I doubt if one person in ten has any approximate idea of tbe rate of increase of tbe little rodent. Of coarse it is well known that they breed freely and fpeqoently, but it is necessary to go into figures to show what tremendous powers of multiplication these little pests pcsaesi. I remember givieg a calcuUtion in these notes some years *go concerning the ' breeding powers of sparvows and other, small birds, but rabbits in this respect can lick the sparrow, into a cocked hat, us the saying ie. Rabbits begin to breed when fiveerax months old, and the gestation is about 30 days. It may justly be allowed that a doe will breed seven times a year, and have, on an average, cot less than five yousg ones each time. The first year, then, sbe will produce 35, and herself will mnke 36. Of theee 35 youug cnes we will suppose that about half aie does, £O that there will bo 17. They start at five months old, breediug 3i limee during tbe last six months of the year, and rearing five young ones each time means an increase 01 292, making with the original 36 a tots! of 328 at the .end of the first year. For the second year there will be about half of the S2B as breeding does, or, say, 164, and -these breeding as above would produce 54,112, and with 164 bucks in addition make 54,440 as the total at the end of the second year. Again, allowing that one half of the second year's increase are does, there will be 27,056 busy breeding at the beginning of the third year, and at the same reckoning tho total at the end of the third year will be the astonishing number of 9,928,160 ! or, in round numbers, 10 millions from ono pair in three years : and the probability is that this wrald be muoh under the actual increase, as five young ones at a time is a very low average. Calculating at the same rate for the fourth year, the grand total from one doe in four years would be 1,464,218,240 ! It is computed that rabbite live on an average from seven to ten years, so that a roomy old doe with a good constitution would be reaponeible, by the time she died ol old age, for enough rabbits to 6tock a continent.

From a report recently issued by the Warminster Technical Education Experimental Committee, Wiltshire, England, Potato a few interesting facts may ba Plots. gleaned relative to the successful growing ofepotatoea. Aji present prices ia New Zealand not muoh. merest attaches to potato-growing, but since every farmer requires to grow a few foe his own tlbnie ose, it is always an advantage to know hoist to produce ths besti crop with too least lflibonf and expense. On the Christchurch

allotments, in the experiments conducted in Wilt-hire, 30 plots of one parch each were planted with the same variety of potato— the blue giant, which appear* to bs almost blightproof. On some of the plots farmyard manure [ was used, on others chemical manure, I while still others were nob manured at all. Tbeve plots had been used for a slmi'ar trial in two previous years. The result for the third year showed that complete -chemical manure — a mixture of nitrate of soda, superphosphate of lima, and kaioit— g*ve the heaviest I yield. Up to a certain extent the crops were increased with increasing manure. On some of the plots incomplete manuring was tried— c y. t omission of nitrogen (two piots) ; omission of potash (two plots) ; and onrssion of phosphorus (two plots). Tho result demonstrated, as it had done in previous years, that neither ingredient can be omitted without loss. In another group of experiments 24 varieties, of potatoes were planted in plots under the game conditions. The two sorts yielding the heaviest crops were the Sir'uu (18 toaa 13cwt per aore) and the imperator (16 toss 4c wt) . The average crop for the 24 varieties was 13 tons 12c wt, the average for the County of Wilts beiDg six tons per aore. The comparison shows the advantage to be gained by scientific agriculture, in the matter of pobato-growing at any rate. Deep cultivation and proper manuring i 3 tho seoret of saccessful potato-growing as damooßtrated by these experimen's. The reeults of spraying to prevent potato blight hardly apply to us as yet, but there was sn allround gaio. equal to something over two tons per acre against the unsprajed plots. The blue giant alono showed very little variation whether sprayed or not. These experiments afford to us an) object lesson in the art of potato-growing. The pos»ibilities under a system cf high cultivation do not appear to stop -far short of 20 tons to the acre. Six tons constitute • a fair average crop in this couutry, while 10 tons to the acre is looked upon at an excellent crop. If by a system of high cultivation the yield- can ba nearly doubled, then certainly tho high Bja'.em ought to be adopted. I know it is a theory generally accepted that medium-sized potatoes are best for table use ; but I have aeen that theory completely set aside by growing some of the newer varieties of potato. With the effete Derwent I believe high cultivation produces a rank potato liable to be hollow and partly rotten in the centre. With some of the more recant kinds, however, this defect i» not very common, potatoes averaging nearly lib each boiling mealy and white to the centre. The experience of some of the farmers during the past dry summer has shown the difference between the Derweut aud some of the newer kinds. In places where the yield of Darwents has been as low as three tons to the acre, the yield from the Bruce and imperator has been at least double, on the same dry ridge land. My advice to all my farmer ft iends therefore is — till the soil deep, manure liberally, plant now and approved kinds of potatoes and cultivate only half the area. One acre properly cultivated will give far better results than two acrea only half tilled. But above all I would say give up the grand old Derwent potato, which has lived its day, and go in for the grander new kinds. If for no oth9r reason than to prevent the risk of blights, the dying-out Derwent ought to be abandoned.

Of all the domestic British animals I suppose the sheep has been split up into Plinbllitjr the greatest number of types of the and breed?, and each of these Sheep's Nature, into a still greater number of different varieties. And, moreover, it may also be said that the sheep is more amenable to improvement than most animals, and is so pliant in its nature that a distinct type of sheep can be formed of a mixture of breeds, as witness the halfbreds of Allandale and other flocks. The transformation effected in the original Leicesters by Bakewcll in the last oentury is an instance of what care and gelec'ion can do in the improvement of a breed of shsep. During the present century, too, there have been some great changes in connection with this breed, and it may be said that there are now Ihree different varieties, and all derived from Bakewtll's Disblay flock. These three different varieties or branches of the Leicester sheep are ne»rly as differeut from each other as different ! breeds. The three I allude tp are the Border- ! Leicester ; the, true descendants of the Dishley sheep, and known as the English Leicesters, and the Yorkshire Leicesters, with larger bones, breadth, and depth than the true Lecestars. But f till quite different from the Border-Leices-ters Towards the end of the last century John BUman took in hand the Djwn sheep of Susses, now known *s the Southdowna. He did for the3e what Bakewell did for the great coarse sheep of hi 6 natrve country, but since Ellraan's time tho Soubhdowns have been further improved and developed, and the true sheep of this breed are now much heavier in carcase and fleeca than they were formerly. It is much easier to create new types of sheep than to maintain them afterwards ; bub the sheep's nature is so pliant, says a writer in an EDglish paper, that all things are posiibloto tho/je who work peraislently and with true artistic skill. As an instance of the high degree of early maturity in certain breeds, it may be mentioned that a pen of Oxford-Hampshire Down lamba at the Birmingham show, although only 219 days old, weighed 2421b eaoh, while a pen of $Quthdowns f_rom the Prince of Wales's Prize fleck only wejgbed 2191b each, though they were 630 dajs old. Thus one sbeep ia

made to weigh more at ton months old than another sheep at nearly two years old I Agkicola.