NEWS FOR FARMERS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14482, 1 July 1911, Page 3 (Supplement)

NEWS FOR FARMERS.

' THROUGH FIRE AND WATER. My friend "D.M.," Cave, sends ino the following interesting letter:—'ln jour Notes in the "Tiuiaru .JTnrald'' on June 10th, there _ was a note re . Formalin for oats. Now it is the method of steeping the coreals 1 wish to draw your attention to. I have no fault to find with, what you suy, but you have seen what Sir JUrown, the Agricultural Instructor, says about •'purples" or "ear-cockle" in wheat. The greatest car© should be taken to prevent tho diseased grain from being : sown. Should affected grains be used for food, as it may cause disease* in animals eating them? lam now going to speak of the millers fifty years ago, as I do not know anything of how the millers of to-day clean cereals, as there are many inventions since that tdme. Since the days of Archimedes, to tho present time, water has been one of the chief agents in finding out the base material in a compound; so it is with cereals. So what I have seen of the millers of 50 years ago, I will tell you. In tile South' of Scotland it is a great dairy country, and a pig-feeding place, so the millers have to import beans, peas, and. Indian corn to feed with. The peas and beans are affected with some of the same diseases, so tho millers have a vat that will hold as much as will be a kiln. This vat has a false floor in it, and this is perforated. I made enquiries of the millers what they washed the beans for. They told nie to wait and I should see. They had a pipe which came into the vat from ■underneath the false floor, and it let the water into the vat. First of all they filled the vat with beans, and ' then let the water in from the pipe in tie bottom of the vat, and immersed the beans till they floated in the water. All the dross came to the top, and was all skimmed off, and put in tfoe kiln fire, and then what was left in the vat was slowly stirred,, and all that floated taken off the water. Then they attain pave the beans a good stirring, and all the dross that came again was taken off. The water was afterwards let out, And the beans filled into bags, and sent .up to tho kiln to be dried. The miller I explained that there were two things I performed by the washing. It took all the badly diseased beans to the top, and the sand that is in foreign beans, went to the bottom of the vat, and the heat of the kiln destroyed all disease left in the beans. I asked if ever they washed wheat or oats, j They said thev washed ' wheat sometimes, but what for they did nob ,Bajv but I will give a. proof of wheat being washed to take diseased matter ont -'' About 35 years ago Messrs Wellwood Bros., who now live at Morven, had some wheat that was badly diseased wrth smut. The method they adopted was as follows: They took It to the old mill at Willowbridge, and put it in water, and stirred it up- till the smut floated, and they skimmed the smut off Ihey repeated the operation till the wh ? a * w "8 completely cleared of smut j P ut '"* out <«■' canvas and dried it. A splendid job was made o» a considerable quantity of wheat and they procured the highest priee for wheat that no one would buy at any price before ffc was cleaned. „.r OW once m <w* to your Bote: Would immersion not be the Oetter plan and run off all the diseased gain, and let it be kept in the vat for two tours in the immersed state, whatever treatment may be adopted. To ( oonnrm this method for ear cockles T . .£W? what is stated by Dr E 'l TasehenbuTE, namely, that these woVml Jets are destroyed at once by the effect ?-™ a< 5 d x l ? r L salts. It is mentoned + thatthe well-known steep of sulphate of copper, likewise dilute sulphuric acid, ara of use. in killing the wormlete in the "cockle-galls," thus • ?W^£? S ,^ eotion being sown the seed. Of course, as in all other cases, care must be taken that the «teep is not strong enough to injure the growmK power of the seed ' T,7^T+l,? ethod <? f *PPl»catioh i« to SSfS *i. ¥%: , ln a T «sel with the above the surface of the corn. Then ?„?i *"£ "S *???%< skim off the f?t ( 'sS? kta >*• to the surS™" i, .1' ?Z- aptly S? ¥ X *y° fli< * with P onl blow." All the American experimental stations say that after treatment seed pram should be spread out on a clean r *° -**• Tl *> floo" % I!?' T. an & J 3 Jn wiic " grain is placed should be free from smut Seed grain may be easily re-infected bv K «* ««5 This letter from "D.M." i s an m- *£*%£& J** lead - us the oeuer that if all seed grain were im mersed loosely in. water? whendressSit. manv tnipunties and a good lot of dirt could be skimmed off In foot some of the recipes I have seen fo? toSSS Wh f ttt COntain directions to steep it in water, and to allow the light grains to rise to the surface On most farms, however, seed grain is M^PS^J 0 that no oPPortimSv fe grren of floating off diseased cralns However j, good deal mavlT^^ eeea grams before sowing.

EAR, COCKLES IN WHEAT. Griffiths in lus little book "Diseases Zify^ J at ,' affected (with, ear cockle) m the growing crop ,™; +f ■ ■- mis-shapen, acquire the iorm and size of pepper corns, and very nearly resemble cc'elde seed and wild vetches. The vetch has a. smooth skin, whereas the ear cockle has a rough, surface. If see n in tlic standing grain, they may be at once recognwed. as the glumes (chaff) of tK diseased grains are spread open to an abnormal degree, while the are considerably twisted. If one of the ™™i e diseased grains is cut in two! „.T,-1 PJ. f< m°d *<> contain a mass of white, cottony-looking substance, which so resembles the meal .found in wheat as to be passed by the ordinary farmer as suc-h If a small portion'of this cottony-looking substance is placed in a drop of water, and examined under a microscope it will be seen that there are a number of minute worms wh'ch twist and wriggle abaut in the most excited manner. No sooner does the moisture dry up than they at once become inactive, and remain dormant until again supplied with water. small nematoids. are c.-mable of beirr" dried and revived many times before they are killed. They have the extraordinary faculty of retaining vitality Mir many years, even though they are perfectly dessicated. Four or fivo years is by no means an uncommon duration or hfoin such conditions These, nematoids are nropogatcd to an unlimited extent when a few car cockles are sown among seed wheat They travel through the soil to Vj„', ■ adjacent wheat plants, ascend the stalk until they reach the flowers, whore th» attack commences."

Griffiths sires throe methods of prevention: (1) -Tim land must I>~ well drained, for these pests lore moisture. (2) The- farmer should n? e every precaution. If once ln's farm is infested with this p3st, lie will find great difficulty in exterminating it. Fortunately the palls containing the "worms'' are easily detected. 001115; hlnck. and only half the size of wheat jrrains. Griffiths jro-es on to sav that the parasites may he spread In-"moans •f infected chafi, and bv ' feedin"

USEFUL HINTS AND INFORMATION

(By Konuli^

animals on tho bran from infected grain. Apparently the grinding does not hurt tho paras.to. The third method of pievoniion recommended by Griffiths, is tho land w.th what we would oou o :der a most expensive manure, namely, 1 cwt. each of kainit, nitrate of soda, and superphosphate, and 1J cwt. of salt. A mixture, j»uoh as that, would cost as mucli as tho land. Nothing is said about dressing tlio seed for the pest. It is, therefore, good news to hear, per "D.M.," that the well-known steep of sulphate of copper is of use in killing the wormlets. SALT AS MANURE. One often finds that salt .is <used as a manure for roots, in conjunction with other artificial fertilisers in a mixture. Thoso who use salt in this connection are following a very ancient custom, for salt has been used, as a manure from the onrliest times. It is alluded to in the Old Testament. The Italians, Persians and Cluuese, are said to have used it from time immemorial. Thoro always has been, however, a good deal of difference of opinion as to tho exact method of its action, and as to its merits in promoting vegetable growths. This is not to he wondered at seeing that tho action of salt is more complicated than any other manurial substance.

Salt is not absolutely necessary to plants; at any rate pla"nts only need sodium and clilorine in very miuuto quantities. At the same time soda is used as a constituent of nearly every plant, and in many cases one of tho most abundant. Mangels and cabbages, for instance, contain soda in fairly large quantities in their composition. It has been found that plants that grow on the sea coast contain soda in the largest quantities, and it is thought by some that salt is necessary for thoso. Mangel is a maritime plant, and the fact that it has been found to respond to applications of salt has been thought to be due'to this fact.

The real explanation of the matter I appears to be the application of soluble salts to the ground results in rendering the potash that is in the soil available for plants. At Rothamstead | this has been amply illustrated. Five plots of wheat were treated alike as regards their supply of nitrogen and phosphoric acid. One received w. thing further, but the others also received sulphate, of sodium, potassium, or magnesium respectively, and the fifth •plot all three of these salts. These experiments were conducted over a period of fifty years, and it was found that at first the . salts could render soluble enough potash in the soil to satisfy the needs of the crop; but as the treatment was continued the readily available potash in tho soil got used up, and the yield fell off in snite of the great store of potash in the Rothamstead soil. Still none of the nlots on which salts were used fell to "tie level' of the plot on which no alkaline sales were used at all. Exoeriments were also carried out with mangels and grass, with practaoally the same results.

Salt « both an ante-eeptic and a germicide, and if put on the soil in large quantities has a deleterious action on vegetation. For instance we use it tp kill or check Californian Thistle But it seems that if it is used in fairly small quantities, say at the rate of half a hundred-weight an acre, with other manures, it has a good effect. Un some of the esperimental plots, conducted on farms nnder the supervision of the Agricultural Department, it has been found advantageous, so l vL 1 !?' that f 0 *™ farmer* now habrfcuaUy ns* ft with mangels and LUOERNE FOR GRAZING. The Flaxhourne correspondent of the "Otago Witness," sends to his paper an article on lucerne as grazing for sheep. This article quite upsets many of the current beliefs concerning lucerne, and as this fodder plant is now attraoting a good deal of attention, especially by dairymen, I am having the whole article reprinted here, in the hope that farmers may be induced to trv a small patch of it, with a view to finding out its usefulness or The following is the article in question:— "In these days, when rape and turnips have so frequently failed! to do their duty owing to the numerous pests that have been so troublesome, farmers are passing and looking Tound 'for some old or new fodder plant to take their place. Under these circumstances it is strange that lucerne, being perhaps the oldest, and in many ways the best, fodder plant in the world," has not. received more attention.

. It is true that lately a, few articles on its growth and uses have appeared m farming papers. In most cases, however, there seems to be a great lack of practical knowledge of its grazing value, its uses in nearly all cases bein°couhned to stock after being cut and carted off the ground. Now, in this article I wish to give mv experience of lucerne, which has been used extenf. 1 j ?i. s '>«ep-grazinE, and has never had the mower over it at any time. I will take as an example a paddock of 2o acres. This paddock is a sandy loam resting on papa. It had been down in grass for about 15 rears. It was then ploughed and put under rape, alter which a very heavy cro» of Oane barley was taken from it. "Then followed a fairly deep autumn ploughing in the spring it was worked with the cultivator, borrowed, and sown with a drill in the beginning of October. \ s .lb ot seed was the most the drill would sow conveniently, it was drilled with that quantity, and then crossdrilled with a like amount. This was followed with a stroke of the harrows after which the ground was rolled and , 1-1 , s ro!Im S after the sowing of the seed was, I think, a mistake, i,s ram coming on .soon afterwards the pound had a tendency to bake and harden on the top. The proner time tor the rolling would have been just before the drilling, and this would have t ? ffrouud solid underneath in about a week the seed begiui to come through and at first appeared to be a splendid strike. However, from then until they were three weeks o cl, a great many of the olauts disappeared, tins be ng, as I f omi<l 0 £ afterwards, the critical time with them pa»t. their delicate stage, and began to !_roi very fast. In the middle of Dc-oember-tl,llt is, about nine or ten T^lt" m «""».«f-tto crop showed signs or coming into flower It was rati 1 ! ,d carried lillub * a * «ie rate ot 2o to the acre for a fortnight. LB.™ SP ° led ]t for «* wace of two weeks, and on measuring the -Towth rcr that time found it iTad grom, be Art-si tins I continued feeding it o ff every fortnight till the middle o? April gradually reducin K the number of stock at each feeding as ['°!.Lf approached. In the winter it', seemed to disappear altogether ■ I thotrX it was done f„ r , a-,d .hat T should" 1* T '* ? ueZn"? ,' t!, ° Pn(W ° ck - However mng or August, and by the middV of September was ready for stoc-Vi- * ..gam, ainl looknrj hotter than r f Jl j- : • ° T r£ ','' !i "' < - l!rl 'i the j.p-1. htpt shifting" froV''\ o reak'to 1! W,ife

fortnight, iil) a mouth after shearing, when nearly all wont to the freezing work.". The paddock was then stocked with lambs ut something oyer '2O to the acre. These it carried till tho end of April. Of conrso, the number was lieiiig gradually reduced as the fat ones were driifted"oiit. From tins on it carried eight or 10 to tho aci'o till tho middle of June, niter winch it was .shut up for tho winter. All this time it neither suffered from hi' Slit, moths, drought, nor caterpillar, though the rape at that time was suffering from all four. It is true that the lambs did not fatten as quickly as thev d:d on rape, and I should certainly not advise auv ono to rely entirely on lucerne for ti lushing them; but in drv districts that are subject to peats and to long periods ot drought, lucerne is a grand standby, growing a largo quantity of fattening toed when there is not a. green blade of anything else to be seen. 1 have seen it stated in many articles ™ l . T OI ' ,K -\ tluit itr lmi st not be. glazed, tins, I think, must now be admitted to be not tho ease. Of course, the grazing must be done carefully, so as not to eat the crown too bare; hut this being watched, it does not seem to deteriorate the plant at all. It has also been stated that sheep die on it badly. Tins ns far as my experience eoes, is onlv true to a very limited extent, as I have not lost more than six or eight sheen for the two seasons they have been grazing on this paddock.

AJI soik may not be so well adapted P/'K paddock for growing lucerne, but 1 think where any farmer has soil at all suitable for the purnose it is well worth bis while to nut in a few acres as an experiment, as, if it is successful at al , it will pay him for Ins trouble. 4i l }'" nk '* ]lt, s been practically provedthat almost any soil will grow it. provided the water dees not stand within four feet of the surface, or perhaps even three feet. If nearer than that the ground is too sour, and that is tho one thing that lucerne will not stand, i'rost does not seem to hurt it after it is established. In fact, once established' manency" <** lO ° ked on . as a P^" CTjLTTJRES for lucerne.

Lucerne is a leguminous plant, and has tne power ot forming nodules at its roots. If lucerne, clover and similar plants have an abundance of these nodules at their roots, the crop will be a healthy one; if .they are absent comparative failure will result. Plants which possess these tubular nodules have been found to possess the power ot utilising the nitrogen -n the air by virtue ot these grtwths. These nodular growths are caused by bacteria, which enable the planes to obtain nitrogen It is possible to obtain cultures by which soil, deficient in these bacter.a may oo inoculated, and thus made suitable lor growing leguminous plants. It has l«en suggested that the State should prepare cultures and sell them to farmers. But is it possible to obtain inoculation by sowing soil, in which leguminous plants have been growing, over the surface of soil that it intended to p-oduce lucerne, clover or peas. It is therefore strongly recomnended that m starting lucerne it should be sown on soil that has previously carried leguminous crops, or the land should bo inocu ated before sowing to complete success. i„ wL'? g * an factor Sr^'r"" 6 especially on heavy w / 1 <>",; °ft«n devoid of carbonate of lime. But where mixed farmCn Cflrried on ' a eood deal lfe r ,? f™". and it -s therefore probable that there is not n great deal of land in which nitrogen fixing bacteria, are entirely absent. There can be no doubt but that luoe-ne is good for the land. Besides possessing the power of gathering nitrogen from the its deep-reaching roots bring up fertilising elements from the subsoil, and place them h. the surface ground! When it is ploughed undor it forms humus and adds nitrogen to the soil, gnttinK the land into sptendid condition for other crops. But if one gets a paddock established in Iveerne one does not want to go breaking it up until the lucerne has run its course; fretted tell for many yearS *

JOTTINGS, llie employees on one of the East Coast stations, beyond Masterton, axe ot an enterprising turn of mind. They nave formed a Club among themselves, and hare purchased a billiard table. Witn tie profits from the table" they Hare secured a, gramaphone, and they now propose establishing a library the Amerioan wheat orop (United States and Canada), latest newspaper advices from Heme stated that it was anticipated that it would be the largest on record. The area S?nm wmte wheat Wl,s B«n at 81,. d 6/,000 acres, which is 2,300,000 acres above last season, and it was estimated that the yield would be 520,000,000 bushels, 56,000,000 bushels above the last crop. The record crop was that of UM (492 853,000 bushel) The Washington Bureau report gives the conation of the winter wh 9l t on May of' 9 R n approvement since April «%' ii ■• , ab time 81 5 i think country land Is much 'too Little River, "and we have reallv no margin fo r a drop in our produce >hj« reasoi for these extreme pricest' tW mormr-g, through

LONGER AGO THAN YESTEtaIAY Yesterday is not long ago tnt long ago, and to, have bfen weil ever since, surely means a permanent cure s^oUif an oamaru m - Mr J. Cajderwood, Ayrshire board-ing-house 40 Tees street, Oamaru says:-" Over 20 years ago' I bur? my back, and for some time after that I was m a very bad condition, and then it appeared to get well. But as tune went on I began to feel the weak back and to make matters worse, about a year; ago, I strained my back, and the old pain returned " just as bad rt eVBT -i, J hes& extended from the small of my back right down the egs to the ankles, and were so bad that I won't attempt to descrihA what I suffered. lUs helpless!T^r ; my bed I had a rope by which i uled to raise myself. When walking I had to use sticks I heard about Doan's Backache Kidney Pills, and thought that as they were owing othors, thev may do me good and I sent for some After I had taken the second box I felt much better, and from then on every dose did me good. Now I have taken seven boxes, and lam f ree of the backache and the sciatic pains bave gone. I can move about quite rreely I have recommended these pills to others, and they all bear out my praise of the remedy." Eight years later. Mrs Calderwood says:—"My husband's cure has t ,-od tlie test of time; he is still absolutely free of backache and weak back T am convinced that there would be'less suffering in the world if people knew the value of this grand kidney remedy." Doan's Backache Kidney Pills are a sneciiil medicine for the kidnevs and bladdor. they are for men and women, old and young, nnd m>» be tak- n by all with perfect safety. ' po. sa ] 3 by nil chnmist-; and storckpeiv..-5 ~* 3s per hottlo (six nettles 16s'fid')" or will But, be sur& -t,a 'get LOAN'S. , I