FARM NOTES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 12993, 21 October 1905, Page 8

FARM NOTES.

Items of interest from country read era' for publication in' this column wil c« welcomed. (By "Farmer.") While the potato blight lvis madi its appearance at the Maori pa a Urenui, settlers who have plante< strong growing seed in new or well manured ground have not suffered ai yet. This merely serves to bring home to one the advisability of inva riably using strong healthy seed fa laying down any crop, regardless o: cost. The few extra shillings expend ed per acre in buying the best seec obtainable is more than compensated for in the ensiling additional yield. The Maoris planted weak-eyed seed in ground which had already beer heavily cropped, with the result thai in all probability their crop will be ruined. The farmer cannot leave things to v chance with impunity, and when the blight has already shown itH self in the district it behoves him to spray his, potatoes at the first opportunity. It may happen that he is unable to obtain the time necessary to make his Bordeaux mixture, in which case common washing soda will serve his purpose ; only double the quantity must be used in order to neutralise the acid effect of the Milestone. It has been shown conclusively that it pays to apply the Bordeaux mixture if for no other purpose than to induce a more vigorous growth. Three or four applications of the mixture have in many cases increased the yield of potatoes 50 per cent., so that -no matter where the crop is grown, or whether diseases ' are present or not, the writer fpels warranted in recommending the application of the mixture on the ground that its use will yield a handsome return. For the benefit of those who have not had experience in the blight it may be as well to describe the symptoms. There a«e two kinds of blight, early and late, both having Latin names, which it is unnecessary to give here. Of these the late one i^* most virulent and contagious and the f?crdeaux mixture should be used as a preventive of both. l?he first indication of the early blight s / the appearance on the leaves of jrayish-brown spots, which soon become hard and brittle. The disease srogresses rather slowly, the spots gradually becoming larger, especially ilong the edges of the leaflets. At Axp end of ten days to two weeks half >f thf* leaf surface may be brown, wiihered and brittle, while the rest is >f a yellowish-green colour. ' Three veeks or a month may elapse before ill the leaves . succumb. The stems in ,he meantime remain green, but they oo finally perish through lack of lourishment. The tubers stop growng almost as soon as the leaves are stacked, and as a result the crop is tactically worthless. The late blight attacks the leaves, terns, and tubers. Generally the first loticeable effect upon the leaves? is the udden appearance of brownish or hush areas, 'which soon becomes soft nd foul-smelling. So sudden is the ppearance of the disease in "some cajs, that paddocks which one day

•' look green and healthy may withh the next day or two become blacken ed as though swept by a fire. Tin rapid .spread of the disease, which is caused by a parasitic fungus, is de pendent in a large measure upon cer tain conditions of moisture and heat A daily mean or normal tempi-ratim of from 72deg to 74deg F. for anj length of time, accompanied by moisi weather, furnishes, the best condition! . for the spread of the parasite. Tin tubers affected with the disease shov , depressed dark coloured areas on thi surface, while within are blotches anc streaks of a brownish, or black ist colour. Other diseases may produc< similar effects, so that in this casi the changes axn not so charact-ristie as those shown by the leaves. Foj many years it was bolieved that inos of the injury to the potato w.vs du< to this disease, but recent investiga tions have shown that view to b< erroneous.