AGRICULTURAL ITEMS

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 6930, 1 February 1906, Page 1

AGRICULTURAL ITEMS

1 lie crips around (jrreyto.vn are ii speidid condition, and givo promise t.» good yields. H ignort is reported to bj ngim becoming a source ot a\noyunce .n the Seventy mile bti-h. • hreugii iMfi'fui cir ing. flm Dtn« g.»t a leturn «-u the avr.iageof :500ib ..t butter-r .1 i t-r C'-w, which is a l-atg way -lheal of wiaf ew Zetland dnirjnio;. ol ta''J. i lie num'er . f hin's eg/s and h ■ i<f~ pu.chase i by thu A-nbuitou e.' -urM ('•■ tin clit u' i itt>* ; y Hvn'Ji . cii 1 { ♦-1 ii.ii • rid lias iied an c\p' , itu • . A'-le. i. ih ticket pal liUi wis ti ' le i>f JCI I. s (h». i ii. ■ pr-'Spc t-" ft the Tasjoauiati wh-at h:.rv..'oi fui t.,ir til!-r uud ar»r-tye are -•ood. Oats generally ,ire low. ll.y.vdibe plentiful, but in themrtl. the bailey ci\.p is r. port, d a failure. Ii ~>t .Tops used no oi rt moistur , -.ni unlci lain falls so jn the p- tato i-rop will beli^ut. During a hailstorm in tlio Ashburion district, Mesers JEv)a:i Bios., had an hO acre paddock of o its situated near Fairfield cut '.•.bout as if by a man with a flail, while several paddocks of oats in the Dundas district w> re b! j o threshed out and complete}' ruihed. Ihe En. iis'n fL-ld rat has made it? appearance in the vicinity of Christchuich. 1 here if. one colony a: Dean's Burh, another at Fendalton, and third at New Brighton. These rsts must have been introduced iutenti nally, as they w oU li not come in chips, as the Norway rat did. 'i he\ are pretty little creatures, and nest in trees.

'l'he cultivation ot canary Bei-d has been successfully established iu Queensland. Last ye ir about 100 sacks were harvested ou the Darling Downs, and the area sown has been steadily growing for a year or two past. At present thu cultivation is confined to lands near Clifton and Toowoomba, where the seed meets with a ready sale at from 163 to ,£1 per cwt. The grass which produces it (Phalaris canadensis) is indigenous to the Canary Island*, but it has been easily naturalised, not only in Queensland, but in many parts of Europe. The Bruce Herald says that the effects of the wet season are plainly seen in the very mixed condition of thegr.iin crops tnrough out the district. With the exception of a few favoured spots, the crops are much belcw the average. In the low-lying parts the almost continuous rains in the early part of the seas; n have had the eii'ect of rotting out the seed completely, and even on the higher j,r. uad the crops appeal thin and irreuul;;r. tuiut has also made its appearance iu many of the wheat crops. The unfavourable season is stated to be the cause of this. Certainly the trouble io far prevalent than is usually the case.

l'he I.ytteleton Times relates that Messrs A. MacPherson, H. T. Turner and J. C. Biackmore, representing the Agricultural Depaitment; paid a visit to the Kaimata p:iddock, oil the Harewood Roan, one of the Government experimental staiions. This paddock waF badly infested with Californian thistle abut two jears ago, and was taken over by the Government in order to test vari us methods of extermmat ng the pest. The only method so ta~ successtul has bi'en persiftent cultivation, in order to prevent the thistle getting above tie surface, ana th s seems to have weaker ed it considerably. The weed is still ready, however, to appear directly it gets a chauce. This season the paddock has bee i used for the purpose of experimenting with manures, t'otatoes, maEgels and turnips havo been put in with various manures and combinations of manures, and the results are being carefully noted. Mr Biackmore sprayed the potatoes, which occupy three acres, as a preventative against the potato diseas.. It is claimed that the spraying improves the crop, apart altogether from the dise se, and in order to test this a strip will be left unsprnyed. Experimeuts in the direction of sterilising the chambers fot chilled beef carriage says an English letter) have been carried on for eighteen mouths. At pre sent Mr Joseph Lindley, who will be remembeted in c mnection with the Aus'raliati btef export trade, is completing some trials at Liverpool which are reported to be successful. The ageut, Mr Lindley, uses Ido not. know, l'he great danger ut employing sterilising p.g -nts is the possible di-c >lourati'in of the meat or the imparting to it of a bad flavour; this was the result of a trial sh pment ti> m Argentine Bviiie years ago. Iheariu another direction of the use of ol 'De; a company has been funned for the supply of this agent for practical parpjses, and the claim is made that ozone thoroughly sterilises the atmosphere where it is applied. Ozone for this purpose can be generated by electricity from the electric plant on board ship, A Glasgow firm is trying o/ me for ine.it.

In conversation with a reporter, Mr H. E. Kugelmann, a visitor to Christchurch, male s.>mu interesting suggestions as to tH« possibility of developing s„mesnj;.il industries. Mr Kugelmann is a member of a large American tirm of botanic d:uggists, and he explained that dru-.'gists mike use of some very homely commodities in Urge quantities These commodities have found a market of some proportions in the Australian States, and supplips are obtained from Australia by America. The bloom of red clover, dried, baled aud pressed is much used, the output in Australia being sometime like fifty tons a year, and the price is 41 per lb. Yarrow, practically i weed in this country, is also useful, a-id the plant, dried when iu full bloom, commands a price cf .£lB per ton. Kib similarly dried, is another on the list of druggistc' materials, aud is worth as much as £l2 per ton. The last mentioned by Mr Kugelmann was the beto noir of gardeners, the übiijuittus, inep essible dock. The root, sliced and dried, is largely usel, and the price made by thi- common cause of cursing is nn less than JC'lB per ton.