EARLY POTATO CROPS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18352, 24 August 1929, Page 10

EARLY POTATO CROPS.

For early crops the sprouting of the sets before planting is important and much better results are obtained. The plants come up more evenly and there is not the same risk of the tubers rotting. Before planting, carefully examine the sets and discard any that show weak spindley shoots. In planting sprouted sets the tops of the shoots should be only lightly covered, as the roots need all the warmth they can get during the next two months. Keepign the plants well earthed up as they advance in growth is in every way preferable to deep planting for early crops. If the soil has been well worked and manured for a previous crop no fresh manure need be applied at the time of planting. Sprinkling the rows with manure after the plants are well above ground and at the time of earthing up will give better results. Asparagus, if treated as advised in previous notes, by opening out a light trench around the sides of the bed to provide for free drainage, will soon be on the move. At this time nitrate ol soda applied at the rate of about an ounce so slightly more to the square yard over the whole bed will do much w strengthen the plants and invigorate growth.

A sowing of tomatoes should be made for later planting. Sow the seed in ;bellow boxes filled to within half an inch of the top with good sifted soil. Place the box in a warm part of the greenhouse or failing this on a slight otbed. or even in a sunny part of the verandah Cover the box with glass and shade with paper during the hottest art of the day until germination takes jlace. Then remove the shade.

The experience of a Thames Valley farmer this season will convey a little how the economic position is affected by mammitis, which ranks with vaginitis and abortion as the most serious complaint dairy farmers have to meet with. His herd is a large one, of good quality, there being 240 head, writes the correspondent of the “Herald.” Thirty of the cattle, 12* per cent., contracted mamitis and had to be put out. The average cost of these cows, which were among the best in its herd, was £l2, and as culls they brought only from £3 to £4. Thus the direct loss was £270. Far more serious than this, however, was the loss in butterfat. As the cows contracted mammitis within two months of calving a . season’s milking was lost. An estimate of the loss in butter-fat was 50001 b., whigh at Is 6d per lb. is the equivalent of £375. Thus the total loss in this herd was £645. To those not closely associated with the dairying industry the prevalence of disease in dairy stock is not fully comprehended.

Roses, Shrubs, Hedge Plants: Hardy Trees for cold climates; the largest available collection. A choice selection for your seasonable requirements. Secure lists: Colin Johnson, Dunedin. —l2 Bright Showy Roses for £1 posted, all different named varieties; strongly grown. Write now.—Scarlet Oaks, Liquidamber, Prunus, Copper Beech, Sumach, Spindle Trees, Flowering Cherries, Maples, Flowering Apples, etc. —Fruit Trees: Apples, Pears, Plums, Peaches, Cherries, Apricots, Logan Berries, Gooseberries, Currants, Raspberries, etc., Selected Stock.—New Zealand’s Premier Pansies: 20 Giant Named Wonder Varieties. Enormous Size. Wonderful Colours. 18/- dozen. Colin Johnston, Specialty Seed anti Plant Merchant, 12 Water Street, Dunedin. Write for 1929 “Novelty Seed List.” ...