French Agriculture.

Western Star, Issue 346, 24 April 1880, Page 2 (Supplement)

French Agriculture.

' ' '’V” ’ ,k Paris, January 1. j M. Louis Faucon’s plan for destroying the phylloxera by submersion, having beta called in question, that gentleman now examines ; the subject of-destructive • agents employed against the bug generally, and also investigated on the spot the instances where inundation failed. . At the outset it . is'well to state that M. Faucon’s vineyard; of 56 acres has yielded during the recent •vintage'over 46,000 gallons of wine, where 1 formerly he had almost none, and that in the Medoc, of claret district, his system is becoming, rapidly The system is to flood ,the ; vines during the repose of the sap, that is to say,, after, the vintage; in the' case of strohsr clays, t the submersion ought to endure 55 consecutive days; for more friable soils, 65 days, and more permeable land, 75, The sheet of water ought to vary from-6 to 9 inches in depth ; the pressure is, greater in proportion to the depth, and by forcing the oxygen out; of the water suffocates the bug more , effectually. .For a similar reason, the.water' should remain stationary of stagnant/ In the trenches made to conduct the water, care should : be taken that no root of the vine he left exposed j as if so, the phylloxera will seek ayefuge on it as if it were a raft. ; It is to this circumstance that M; Faucon has found a few undrowned insects .in- his and which opponents seized,as evidence of failure. After the, flooding copious manuring must be employed, .the tnofe liberal :the greater the yield and the more;; superior ;the .quality of the fruit; Without citing.the special cases, M. Faucon has found from personal examination, that where is ‘system was alleged to have.failed, the insiiccegs was to’ he attributed eftheir to ■ insufficiency of flooding, or .excess, or commencing too late, and the subsequent inadequacy of manuring. At the National Agricultural school of Montpellier, he has fairly experimented the submersion plan, side by the side with the chief insecticides ■f—th.e sulphurets of carbon, and potash---here is an importaint factor in t he question, the conditions were equal, and his system proved a success. In vineyards of the plains and alluvial land, where the vines are planted in a surface soil from 6 to 12 1 feet in depth, the toxical vapors from in 4 ceoticide preparations must be limited; if they kill the plant and the cost

of the agent is increased. The submersion and manuring are annual cultural operations. In spite of these precautions, How explain the invasion of the phylloxera in summer ? M. Faucon.; has traced the caustTto the insects coming to the surface during the warm months, and marching soil to wherever the vine roots 'are most juicy. 7 He has demonstrated this iii the case of his neighbors’ vines, where the infection rages.'- He went farther ; he placed in the direction of infected vineyards a ban d of oiled paper 10 inches by 6 on a stick, in July and August; the oil was constantly renewed; and many insects caught, but no phylloxera till 29 of August, when a strong north east breeze of a few hours duration, projected 19 young aptere phylloxera on the paper. What then must be the numbers carried by the? wind, during the two or three months the insects remain] on the surface of the soil ? This is the origin of the summer infection, or re-invasion of the disease. -- M. Faucon has never been able to find in the south of France either the eggs of the insects, or sexual phylloxera capable of producing them. In testimony of his successful efforts against the.scourge, M. Faucon has lately been entertained at a banquet, and elected president of a societyto promote the submersion process. The extremely rigorous winter, now . hoped to have shown its worst, has so far ; not been; bad for. autumn sown crops, which were; effected'under very favorable condition i and were protected during ,the severe frost by a heavy layer of snow. The dahgfe'r lies 1 in the weather ceasing to be henceforth' a wihtry-spriag. The ordinary clearing-up of out-door farm work has been brought- to a stand-still; even threshing operations had been'suspended. The manufacture .of sugar; from, beet has had to be. conducted under, exceptional difficulties, as the pulp—where the juice is extracted by the cold process—becomes frozen in the bags, ! and the press-work: Js very trying for the work-men. Further, a good deal-of beet yet remains afoot, or preserved in trenches, and tons of it are lying more or-less well-stored on the’banks ; of rivers ; and canals. Trees,: young ones ■ especially, have suffered severely-from the intense cold,' and Seed potatoes stored in cellars,’ have been positively destroyed, so that farmers will have to buy in spring. Forage of all kinds is very scarce, which has led to a reduction of price ini, cattle, owing to inability to feed- them,,-they are ; sent to the market. .The. preserved residuum of grapes and] apples, marc,: is given t 6 stock' with advantage when warmed, v, All agricultural produce, save life-stock;* is sold either by weight mr measure f the price of cattle is* the subject of mutual debate, where the .most; knowing;- succeeds.. Now between the price . which an. animal ,is r sold at for the slaughter house, and .that demanded for the cafcass in ,the butcher’s stall, thhfe is a difference of ! 100 per cent. Many agriculturists are highly satisfied with, their new plan, and which Consists in discussing, not'! the total value of a beast, but, its price ;per lb, this,.agreed i upon, the apimalds .weighed, . and the tag?, count closed satisfactorily,.. ■? : . Denmark is a powerful rival with Normandy and Bfitany in the manufacture of butter ; the former 1 country' pays more care to its preparation* though it never can be so rich, or possess naturally so delicate a bouquet as that obtained from the fat, pasture lands mf France, . When, formed,, the Danish dairymaids knead the butter jnq; adtitieh of § Ibs each, against the side ol a, wooden tub, first' by the hand j these? morsels are ranged on a board along side, salt being shaken between each layer j the layers are afterwards cut cross-ways, into pieces of 3 lb .each; kneaded a. dozen: times with the hands joined, against the bottom, of the tub, to well inix up the salt. . ;The final kneading,'but;hhver with the' hand,; is made oh a board; where it reposes some time to allow the salt to mix with any milk remaining... Then it is placed in firkins, each cbntaihihg the results of one churning. In summer, the tub is fitted inside an iron case,, the latter is then placed in contact with water, or let down a certain depth into a well, to cool. Attention is being directed to a hew leguminous plant, Sojd Jiispida, common to 'China, Japan, and India ; it is very productive, and its seeds can be eaten either green, half-matured* or dried. M, Layalle finds it resembles haricots, and,in addition toyieldingabundantly, is, capable,, of resisting drought. ; At Proskau, in Germany* two sheep were fed on the shells and the cut straw of Soja exclusively, and which they relished. In nutritive qualities, the fSqjcu stems are ranked as equal to average nieadow hay. Professor Gerard, of the Veterinary School of Gureghesra, has been consulted as: to the effects of beet pplp oh cows and! heifers in-calf. As cothmonly prepared the pulp of beet from a distillery is' more nutritive] than that from a sugar l: factory, save, when the latter’s pulp is prepared, by the diffusion process, in this case it is richer in nitrogen, and if freed from its excess of water,~wpuld be, very valuable./ Pulp ought never to be musty or altered, and should never constitute fhe sole diet for stock, it is not sufficiently rich in' protein matters? in any case it is better

suited for fattening purposes, than milch cows or working bullocks. Mixed with cotton seed cake, pulp can be safely employed. Not more than half the rations for cows, and two-thirds for neat cattle, ought to consist of pulp ; otherwise cows may slip calves, and stock have a chronic diarrhoea.

A. ,M. Legarde 'states v that he finds buck-wheat a capital remedy for getting rid of noxious grubs ; in spring, when no frost is to be feared, he sows it thickly ; it grows rapidly, and when in flower he ploughs it done in narrow furrows ; he imagines that the grubs dislike the potash which the plant contains in notable quantities.

During the years 187.8 the stallions belonging to the Government studs of this country, a sum of 763,573 fr. for serving . mares ; each entire covered on an average 59 mares. For the information of implement manufacturers, there will be twelve regional shows this year in France, the first commencing in May,' and the last at the close of August. These are capital opportunities for any foreigner to introduce agricultural novelties., ( . . •• The French government 'intends' to introduce some serious modifications in the agricultural schools, in order to make them more practically useful. They are too dear. The experiment will, be tried as in Bavaria, where an agricultural, mining,; and trades’ school form one establishment, and all pupils can attend free, a certain number of boarding houses being registered at fixed prices; also, music Will likely be encouraged, and the planting of roadi ways with fruit trees instead’ of poplars, elms, &c. Nor will the text books be forgotten .; these will have a dess scientific character, and will familiarize the young with the rearing. ; and caring of farni aniniala. * In a ‘ Word ; the instruction will be utilitarian. ; V ‘ ; v *■' ■