RURAL NOTES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 14039, 23 October 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

RURAL NOTES.

Lsy Koradi. MANURING AND PREPARING SEED POTATOES. Referring to my note on October 2nd 011 "Planting Potatoes," " D.M." Cave, writes: —"There is not a farmer in the Dominion, however primitive and however unconscious of tho fact, but is now conducting his business more or less ou lines emanating front the laboratory.

Re your note on October 2nd, about planting potatoes at Willowbridge, according to Brctsclmeider, and other writers, China cultivated rice, wheat, millet, aad sweet potato, as far back as 3000 years before the Christian era. Griffiths in bis book, " manures and their uses," says so. Now I lived close by that district (Willowbridge) some 39 years ago, aud I saw sonic of the first crops that came off the banks of the Waihao. Wclhvood Bros, ploughed 650 acres on the south banks of the Waihao, and the ground was only ploughed once. and harrowed I twice. The yield was 100 bushels of oats to the acre. Part of it was in barley and the yield was 114 bushels to the acre. Wclhvood Bros, got 4s 6d per bushel for the barley aud 4s a bushel for the oats. Now as another instance of the productivity of this part, Mr. James Barker, with a spade turned up nine yard square pf the native soil. He used no manure.of any sort, and lie put the plot in onions. -Messrs John Manchester and Co. brought' the product of this plot from Mr J. Barker, and gave him £7 12s 6d. These people still live there and can verify these statements. Now you know this locality, I presume. The River Waihao lias no natural outlet to the sea and for centuries the wash of tlio river lias been all over those parts that Mr McGowan cultivates. As this wash or alluvial deposit is in a fit state for plant food, good cultivation is all that is needed to get a crop. Now the river AVaitaki is only about 10 miles from the Waihao. Take the first ten miles of that river from the sea and you will find a poor, scrappy ground on cacli bank for a good distance out from the river. This is the place for the expert to use his brains on, not a placo that has got- all the elements that are needed. Mr McGowan does not favour superphosphate for potatoes. He has too much of that in his ground already. Your note says that superphosphate gives potatoes the blight badly. Now blight being a disease that is bred by spores, surely the whole scientific world is at fault by using superphosphates. Here is a note bv Mr P, McConnell, a farmer whom all the British people are proud of:—"The results of experiments in manuring potatoes carried out last year in 33 centres, in 14 counties of Ireland, are reported in the journal of the Irish Department of Agriculture. The average crop without manure was 4 tons, 13 cwt; with 20 tons of farm manure it was 10 tons, 3 cwt; with 15 tons of the same manure S) tons 1 cwt; with the same and 1 cwt of sulphate of ammonia, 9 tons I6cwt; with' the further addition of 4 cwt superphosphate, 10 tons 5 cwt; and with the still further addition of 1 cwt muriate of potash, 11 tons ;> cwt. The sulphate of ammonia alone added to the farm manure paid; that and superphosphate paid much better. a«d the three artificials paid best of all! Now, surely these people know something of superphosphate. Mr MeGowan's method of picking seed is right as far as it goes. Hut Dr Truby Iving, of the Seacliff Mental Hospital, has got the scientific way of fixing seed [>ot a toes, by greening and sprouting. Dr Truby King will supply anyone his methods greening and sprouting in pamphlet form. As J have only part of his method, I send it on to von. Let the point be steadily borne in mind that Dr King's method is nob only the method of common sense and scientific fitness, but it is also the method warmly commended by agricultural authorities in Ireland, and the method advocated by at least one highly successful market gardener in England. More than half a. century asro James Cuthill wrote to the "Times" (in 1847), and after describing his method of airing and greening seed potatoes (the Seacliff method), said:—"My crops have never been attacked by the disease, wjiile it is committing its ravages oil all around! Cuthill was the. most successful market gardener of his day. and grew for the London market. McMillan's Primer, published some time ago lias this to say with regard to preparing the sets: —"The preparation of seed begins when the crop of the current year is lifted. Sound tubers, of medium size, are taken and set ''u end, the eyes kept upwards. Gradually during the winter a shoot as stout as one's little finger appears oil the upper end rif the tuber; by the end of August it is .surmounted by a crown of leaflets, and rootlets protrude from its base. AVheu required for planting, the sets are care-fully-removed and placed in the ground without the shoots beinn injured. Growth follows with marvellous rapidity, none of the pristine vigour of the tuber having been wasted., A full «-rop of large tubers is a certainty. This is very different from the old method of placing potatoes in a heap in a dark room or cellar, yet that was the only way, the crowded tubers making long white, weakly growths, which were rubbed ofT repeatedly till planting came, to lie followed by a weakly, uneven growth of haulm, und an inferior crop of tubers. Now as this method makes the crop come about a month sooner than the old method, those living near the sea coast can plant their potatoes early, and have them out by the beginning of February, when the late blight takes the tubers. The sea air neutralises the frosty mornings, and gives those farmers near the coast an advantage over those twenty miles inland. Now in the south of Scotland, near the sea coast, the farmers sprout their potatoes in the cow sheds. A few years ago those fanners got as high as £3O an acre for their potatoes on the. English market. July is the month that the blight takes the potatoes in the Old Country, which is the same season of the year as February in this country. This shows how essential sprouting is, and spraying will be in the near future. I have sent you this to draw your attention to this other method of procedure in regard to potatoes and the growing of them."

This long letter from " D.AJ.'' is of considerable interest, although it contains nothing new to those who have followerl the course of experiments' ill potato-growing during the past halfdozen years, in fact since disease was first noticed in the Auckland district towards the end of October in 1904. It is since that time that JNIr MeGowan lias distinguished himself as an experimenter in potato-growing, and he is now recognised all over the Dominion as au authority, and also beyond the shores of the Dominion. Me. has made mi secret of the fact that his land is exceptionally good land. It is just as necessary that experiments should he conducted on that class of land as oti the poorer kinds of country. i\lr JlcGowan in his leaflet says:—"Some readers will probably not agree with all that I have written. I li-u-e. just given inv actual experiences with extra good land, and a. good South Canterbury climate. Locality, soil, and climate make a vast difference to cultivation, for what will suit one place will not suit another." The same will

apply to manure as well as to cultivation. Mr McGowan finds that superphosphate gives his potatoes the blight badly. Usually it is the nitrogenous manures, such as nitrate of soda, blood, etc., that encourage the disease, while potatoes manured with potash salts and oliosohates often escape to a great extent. Where manure is used, one must be careful to use those which do not encourage disease, and although Mr McGowan finds that superphosphate helps disease in his .own case, it is evident that others do not. Some of us found, when the disease first appeared, that potatoes grown 011 land which had been dressed heavily with farmyard manure took blight badly, while others less heavily manured escaped almost totally. Dr Truby King says: "Attention, accurate observation and experiment alone can determine what is really needed (in manuring) and every farmer can find out this for himself without expense if he will take a little trouble."

1 must thank "D.M." for reminding mo of the "boxing" method of treating seed potatoes. When Dr Truby King's pamphlet "The Feeding of Plants and Animals" was circulated in 1905, it received a good deal of notice in tlie newspapers. Mr J. G. Wilson, president of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, compiled a leaflet, on the. subject, and it was published by the Department of Agriculture. It was pointed out in both these publications that boxing seed potatoes, always gave good results. Dr Trulby King gave the following directions for preparing sets:—"Sound tubers of medium size are taken and set on end—the eyes upward. Gradually during the winter, a shoot as stout as one's little finger appears on the tipper end of the tuber; by the end of August it is'surmounted by a crown of leaflets, and rootlets protrude from its base. When required for planting the sets, are carefully removed and set in the ground without the shoots being injured."'.[The dimensions of the travs are 2ft'. x 1 ft, and they have a kind of skeleton frame with a handle bar, so that the trays can be stored oiie ou top of the other while admitting light riiid air between them. Dr King says in his pamphlet that the battens needed for a thousand trays cost £2O, and a boy can make them. A thousand trays will hold about a hundred thousand tubers, enought to plant about ten acres. The trays with ordinary earc will last for ten years. Of course seed'cannot be kept thus exposed in very frosty localities but there are very few farmers, even in. mild districts, who take the trouble to box and sprout their i>otatoes. It is easier to pit tliem or to stow them away in bags. A great many growers spread tliem .out at the end of winter in a loft pr on a shed floor, and thus prevent them from sending out weakly sprouts that have to be broken off. There can be no doubt that boxed sets give an earlier And* a heavier crop, but as Dr Truby King sa.vs: —"Our New Zealand practice is still in the dark ages!" Too much bother, is tlie general verdict. As long as we get sufficient potatoes for our own use, we are satisfied. <• ROLLING. The nor'westers wo have been having during the past few weeks have made turnip and stubble ground to ho ploughed for rape very hard, and tlife land is* breaking up into large lumps. It is 'therefore necessary' to use the roller in order to reduce these lumps. Rolling certainly does the ground good in many ways, but many farmers are afraid to use the roller for various reasons. The chief of these icasotis are the facts that the roller presses the weeds back into the ground, causing them to sprout again if showery weather comes, and also that the ground is made so fine that it runs together in a wet time, especially sticky clay soil. But one cannot helr> noticing that wherever the ground is compacted, on headlands for instance, the crops and grass grow the best. Perhaps the chief reason for this is that the soil being so closely packed together; the water passes upwards from the subsoil much more readily than it does in loose soil. The seeds therefore got a : greater quantity of moisture, and they germinate more quickly and more evenly. Even iu turnip paddocks where the crop has proved a failure, .good roots will always bo "found in the headland, and the largest roots arc nearly always there."" 4 It must be remembered, however, that if the surface is left in a smooth, hard condition after,the roller, much more moisture will evaporate than if the soil were loose on top. It is therefore necessary to "harrow after the roller so that a. surface muleli may lie formed through which the moisture cannot readily pass. Rolling compacts the soil, the tine or chain harrows forms a surface mulch and thus a waste of soil moisture is prevented as far as is possible. When rolling is done to break down clods, the work must not be dono when the soil is wet, because tlio land becomes cemented by tho pressure. When tho clods are about half dry is tho pro(>or because tliey will then fall apart easily. It must be remembered that crushing tho lumps of soil, fining them down to dust liberates plant food that is locked up in those lumps. Where there is any danger of compacting tho soil too much by rolling the clod crusher may be used. These may bo made cheaply on tho. farm. If properly constructed they have a great pulverising aud smoothing influence on the surface of tho ground. To make their work more effective, they may be weighted. The clod-crusher does not compact tho soil nearly as much as'the roller. . It puts the land in good order for the reception of small seeds, such as rano and turnips, and drags the weeds" to the surface, leaving tliem. looso for tho wind and sun to exert tlieir influence on as their fullest'extent. Tho roller is certainly-the better implement for looso, sandy soils, but for sticky clay land the clodcrusher is probably tho preferable. - In localities where the winds are . so hard that loose surface soil is lnible to be blown away, the ground should not bo left in a rolled condition. 1 he v ind seems to break the surface, and then work on the face so made. The- sod being fine, simply gets swept away :n tho gale. Moreover wind moves much more, rapidly over a smooth surface, than it does over a rough one. In some districts rolling has been practically discontinued, because it lias been found that it makes the soil so liable to lie blown away. SORE SHOULDERS. During tho spring the hot days, and dusty and often rough nature ol the work renders horses liable to become chefcd. If the irritation is allowed to go on, sores will at length develop, once raw. places are formed it is difficult to get them well again without spelling tho horse. The chief thing to attend to is the fit of the collar. It should fit the animal perfectly. It should be. perfectly firm. The custom of having collars stuffed till they arc very soft is a- mistake. '.I hey are, for one thing, far too hot, and they get very wet with perspiration. If a sore place appears the collar may be pounded to soften it at the spot, where it touches the sore, or a little of the stuffing may be moved to one side with a packing needle. Sometimes holes are cut in the collar with a oocket knife, but this often has the effect of making a sore appear in a fresh place underneath between the collar and the shoulder. Often a sack split iu two will be

found sufficient. These .false collars should bo frequently'removed, as they become wet and dirty, and then do more harm than good. If a very bad sore dovelopcs, and the liprsc cannot be spared, a breast-plate may be made of sacking, similar to the leather breastplate used in gig and doubleliarnes's. The horse will not do his work as well as with a proper collar, but it is better than constantly irritating the sore with an orthodox collar. All sorts- of remedies are recommended for treating sore shoulders with. Tlie best way is to prevent the sores if at aU possible, and this is best done by keeping the shoulders and the harness clean. After the day's work is done the shoulders should be cleaned, and if there is a suspicion of chafing they should be washed with cold water in which a little common salt has been dissolved. At mid-dav tlie collars' may be removed and hung up_to dry, and the shoulders "may also be rubbed down. Then when, the horses ha.ye to stand in the yoke for a few minutes much good might be done by moving the collars forward on the horses' necks, thus allowing the cool air to blow in on the shoulder. A steel collar has been found to sometimes effect a cure, the change from a leather collar, to a steeL one apparently making a lot of difference. Steel collars, however,' .are not suitable for general use,; althought. a few years ago .a: good many teams were fitted out with! them. If blue-gum leaves are to be procured, a wash made by boiling a. handful in a billy has been , found yse-' ful as a dressing fir sore shoulders. Carbolic oil or Jevo's fluid are also' used, as are'also a whole lot of so-call-ed cures. The best cure is careful at-' tention, cleanliness and a removal as far as possible of the Causes of the soreness. Horses that are poor in condition are the most liable to be troubled with sore shoulders, therefore one essential is to kefep horses in good condition and heart. JOTTINGS* This week's cables that wheat is firm in London, and tli'at lamb is rising, bring welcome news to the farmer. There may not be-many who have any wheat for sale, and the majority, perhaps, have sold tlieir lambs long ago, but the firmness and the rise, in the principal products, of South Canterbury speak well for next season'. The wet harvest in tlie United Kingdom, and the drought in the Argentine are among the reasons for the better aspect of affairs. The nor'-westers we have had of late have checked growth' a good deal. In the case of wheat just getting a start, the check wasmost but in the case of crops ih.it pre wejl '■■•rwarcl the winds will have had no bad effect. The grass is a good' deal harder than it was,' and stock arc all the better for it. ', A good rain, however. is wanted practically all over the district. . The stook threshing difficulty':is to go, after all, to the Arbitration Cfiiirt. It has been held by som6 Y,of. those who make a study of labour laws,.'that attempted conciliation is only a waste of time. In tlieir opinion disputes had better go . direct' to the Arbitration Court. The stook thresh iug/ d i ffieu Ity 'makes it appear as if. thci J c is something in that C-outention. The searing iron for docking lambs is gaining favour, among' farmers. There can be no doubt-that the bleeding that occurs after docking with the knife,' checks the lambs a good deal. If no bleeding took'.place, the lamb would probably go right' on without any hindrance. But on the other hand lambs do not do too well, they have a tendency to die from' what is practically apoplexy. The remedy for this is bleeding, aud docking with the knife may therefore be looked upon as a preventative measure. The usual way of using the scaring iron in docking, is to sear the tail right through. Some who use the iron fear however that the burning of the bone iu this way injures the spinal cord. They,. therefore, cut the tail off with a knife and immediately touch the main artery with a hot iron to stop the bleeding.