NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2509, 16 April 1902, Page 8

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

M.angels aie greedy feeders, and will not do much good unless tho land is Continuous richly manured, and it is Mangel generally thought that it is Growing. not good policy to grow them on tho same land time after time. Experiments at Rothamsted have proved, however, that mangels can be successfully grown for many years in succession, provided that the requirements of the crop as to manure and tillage are properly attended to. This root has been grown on the same land at Rothamsted for 26 consecuthe years, and good average yields are still obtained from various combinations of manures in sufficient quantity. The latest returns state that the best crops have been produced from a combination jf farmyard manure and artificials, and last year a yield of nearly 42 tons per acre was produoed, from an application of 14 tons of dung, 4ewt basic slag, the same of sulphate of potash, and scwt of nitrate of soda per acre. We should consider that a very liberal and expensive application, and I question whether the yield mentioned would pay at that cost, but it rnuFt be remembered that slag, sulphate, and nitrate ha\e to be imported to this colony, and therefore cost us much more than they do the British farmers. Another plot, which got the same dose of dung and nitrate, but no sulphate of potash or basic slag, yielded only half a ton of roots less per acre, and would therefore give a much better net return. The plot which got 14 tons of dung only was much lighter, only 25 tons per acre, and on the unmanured plot the yield was only nine tons and a-half. The came yield was given by the plot which got 4cwt of basic slag without any dung, and the same do:-e of slag with scwt of sulphate of potash gave only seven tons of roots per acre. The inference to Ije drawn from these results is that good farmyard manure is indispensable for mangels, and that an addition of artificials has a beneficial effect E\ery gardener knows that much farmyard manure maloes hi-, soil too rich and fatty, resulting in big, watery roots, and \egetables without much flavour or substance, and he corrects tins by applying lime now and again. But in the abo^e tests basic slag was used with farmyard dung, and slag, we know, contains about 40 per cent of free lime. A heavy crop of large roots is not always tho most profitable, a« has boon proved on various occasions. Johnstone, in his woik on agricultural chemistry, mentions a case in which Carter's mammoth long red mangels, were sown in two plots, of which one was much more riohly manured than the other. In the formei the plants were thinned to the ordinary distance apart and gave- a yield of 47 tons ppr acre; in the other wider spaces were left between the plants to allow them plenty of room to rpread and extend to a great size. This they did, and the yield was 70 tons per acre: but a careful an.Tj'sis showed that it wa-, inost'y water The 47 tons of the thicklysown, and therefore smaller and sounder roots c;a\eßtons 17c\\ t of solid or nutntne matter. wherea= the big. watery roots ga\© inly 5 ton-, 5t w t of nutntne matter from the 70ton yie'd.

I ha\e r(.cci\ed a letter from a Wairaiapa farmer, describing the manWild ncr in which the wild turnip Turnip. has spread over some of Lipaddock-, and asking if I can explain the ioa-on of the sudden expansion of the weed He siys theio has been a. srriall patch of wild turnip* m one paddot k for about ten years, and it did not becon •» any largei while the land «a« ( roppi d \eir afw r \c;>r. but 1 hir- season the tlidc patch hai Ixiomr 20 times a= large, and the weed -cc m- to be moie cr I<-, ;.!! o\er the pat'doek As tin- v • e<l lia- no creeping loot-, and can only -pr -.-d by n.e-in- of its teed, it i- (lifln tilt to >-aj how it should -uddenlv atijxai uV n\ < r the pad dc ( k m o-]o '(.i,on. aftci bcinjr confined to one -pot foi -o liiv.iy jeni-. It i- a \%e'll.'iowu fact tint .ill ■<< k of an oih nitiiie do not pori-h in tin- -oil, ami if bumd trrj fltcp to come up they \>ili !i< for y<\ir~. waiting until th.-y a.c turned up neai lln -urface an. Mii, wiih.n n'i'dt of the j;eiminaung infhiem c of an and heat. The moie v. orthlr ■- and mi-c ine\ on-, the -' ed tl-e more tenacious it is of hfi-. and the j-clcl- of wild tut nip, wild nm-tard (charlock), fathen, etc. l,a\e l-p<- n k.icwn to '.row after be m^ <!< e]ilv buried fo^ inoi< than 20 jear 3 . Hut. in tin- <ase. t! . ii-^h tin re ha-, been a ]),it< li -Imwiiiz '".'iv \rar. it d'd not c j"t- ip 'U n\u the ]j('-lo(L until th.s -rj'fii and cv.ie uoultl tl'ii.L- th.it if the k fpi had 1 ft ii mi Ihr X.nd

for years it would surely have been brought near the surface by some of the many ploughings the land has zeceived during the ycara it was being cropped. This farmer tells me that there has also been a small patch for some years in another paddock, and while it was in grass there was no enlargement, nor did the weed appear in any other part of tho field. Last spring he broke up the grass, and then he saw the young turnips coming up on the furrows all over the field. Now in this case I should say it is quite evident that the seed had been buried in the soil all the years that the land was in grass, and that the last ploughing brought it within a germinating- distance of the surface, and then it immediately sprang up These wild turnip plants run to seed the first season and form no bulb, or root, whereas the true turnip forms the root tho first season and goes to seed the following year, and is a true biennial. The best way of dealing with this pest is to plough in the young plants and seeds to such a depth than they cannot reappear until brought near the surface again. In fact, lhr>t is the best policy to follow in regard to all weeds that have no creeping root. First induce them to germinate, and then plough them under, thus destroying the weeds and enriching the soil at the same time. In recent notes I have advocated autumn cultivation for the destruction of weeds in stubb'e land, but the excessive rains have debarred the prosecution of such work, and in many districts the outstanding crops will require the farmers' attention for some time to come. Wild mustard is another annual weed that, like fathen and wild turnip, is a great peat upon arable land, especially among straw crops. It is a free seeder, as all pests are, and has a more straggling form of growth than the wild turnip. In the old country farmer" put on hands to pull it out of growing crops while it is in flower, and attempts have been made, both here and at Home, to invent implements, for killing charlock without injuring the grain or root crop. This is done by spraying with bluestone solution, ir Bordeaux mixture, which consists of lime and bluestone.

I ha\e noticed patches of this pe-t here and there, and a.-> it is not likely CloTer to be confinwl to one district Dodder. s word of warning anent it may be in season. It is very common m European countries, and is found among lucerne, hops, broom, and flax as well as among the clo%er. It beeds freely, and as the seed is very hard it w ill lio in the ground for years if buried too deep to germinate. Whenever a farmer tees a patch of dodder in his clover he should endeavour to destroy it before it ripens the seed. It is an annual, and if destroyed before the seeds aro ripe it cannot do much further harm. A good plan is to mow the patches of clover where the dodder is, and then when quite dry burn the whole thoroughly. Nothing weaker than fire or green vitrol will destroy dodder seed when once it is allowed to ripen. It cannot be mistaken when it appears among a crop of elo\er or lucerne. It has a great many bmall, threadlike branches or tendrils, and these wind firound the plant that is attacked, and suck tho sap from it. Presumably the seed must l.a\e been originally imported with do\er ti ed«, but as dodder Peed is much "-mailer than any clover seed is no difficulty in removing it when dre-s'ng clover peed. Dod der is related to the bind wcocK, and though there are about 50 kinds known to botanists they arc all included in one genii-, Custuta. e-tabli-shed by Linnaeus

It appeal- that there is no quo tion about tins colony home; left out in. That the cold, as Mr T MacSouth African kenzie says, in legard to the _>nt Contract, big meal contract, and it a much to be regretted that = uch i- tie ca-e. Though we hate iwoh to grumble at the factc t that tho imperial Go Mi'iiintnt did not <-t.pulatc that the Au=tial.is'.iu <oloiuc- 'l.ould -upply of the fiozfii meat leqmrrd foi .South Afrit a, it ■.eem-. to n c th. it it i-, not u^lit that we -honltl look upon our pdtiiotiO rnorts v-, c oii-titiiU'll4 :i claim to the consideration of th^ Irnpeiial autlioiitio-> m a mattei of this -cut. ()m a?-i-taiice in men and money wa> ijiwn freely and spoiitaneou-ly, and ba-ed tntnel} upon our patriotic enthusiasm, and without any -or'tid and '-elfish hope' of pe(iiiji.uv lewa-d for the <-amc. We hat c a i i^ht to feel hurt arcl di-app'i.nU d bcciu-o t'le inotli"! couutiy ha- otei looked her colonies in fa\our of a foieign country, but «c (C!\iiiiily caiiuot fi_cl aggne\cd becau-e we lri\c not rerenrj pecuniary beritfits fioin tl'e }i(>' L ical f oi in of iur patriotism. To do -o woi.M dc-troy all the j'atr.o'ic nr> "-ti/e wl'ih we llia r '^ai'i'fl, and in in mhiv. tliat a '■ordid ,ili(i ijia-iiim; firhpT; v. a at the 1 ottom of it .ill lor my p.; I I should not liLt. ts. il.,n'. tlij.t any fcinciic-s we- in.iv l««

about this meat contract should be expressed in such a way that Mi Chamberlain would feel inclined to say, "" Oh, ho, these New Zealanders have been very enthusiastic about assisting \ib in the war and ha\e made a great parade of their patriotic feelings, but now it turns out that they were looking for a quid pro quo and expecting a large financial return for all they have done." None, of us would like him and his colleagues to speak of us in that way, but,- setting aside altogether our loyalty to the flag, I say that the colonies should have had preference over outsiders in any trade relations with the old country, and I cannot imagine why such was not the case At all events, we shall derive an indirect benefit from the fact of these large orders for meat being placed elsewhere. Enormous quantities of frozen, chilled, and fresh meat will be diverted from English markets, and will thus reduce competition, and probably we shall receive better prices than would otherwise be the case. A.GRICOLA.