ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XII, Issue 6, 20 June 1916, Page 491

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

1N every instance a question to which an answer is desired in these columns must be accompanied by the full name and the postal address of the inquirer, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. The question should be written on one side of the paper only.

: . SALTING DOWN BUTTER.,.- ; “ Avoca,” Streamlands : - ' ■ / Would you be good enough to inform, me how butter may be salted down to keep, say, four to six months. The Dairy Division : ( . Where no refrigerator is available, the butter should be salted with from f oz. to i oz. of salt per pound, and a little butter-preservative added, amounting to, say, J. to i per cent. A parchment-lined white-pine box, or an earthenware jar with a glazed surface, make very good receptacles .holding the product.. -The cream should be held for sufficient time to. develop . a nice mild. .acid, flavour . before churning, and care should be taken to extract all the buttermilk by churning the cream at a low temperature and washing the grains of butter with cold water. When packed the butter should be placed in the coolest position possible and kept free from exposure to the air. . . . . KILLING WILLOWS WITH SULPHURIC ACID. . ' . “ Pohara,” Tahuna •' • I have a number of willows growing in a large creek. Will you kindly inform me of best method of killing the trees ? . Can poison be used ? The Horticulture Division.: —- . ■ Willows can be destroyed by the use of sulphuric acid. Bore a few holes with an auger in the base of the tree, fill with sulphuric acid, and plug. The holes should be bored on an angle so as to better retain the liquid. . . BUDDING OF FRUIT-TREES. . Subscriber,” Mount Albert,. Auckland : . . ... I would be glad of a little information regarding budding fruit-trees. I have tried peaches on several occasions, both early and late, but with very little success. I generally find that as soon as. the wet autumn rains come the buds which up to then had looked very promising have.all been destroyed by gumming of the tree. What .would be. The. best time for the Auckland District to bud peaches, apples, pears, and lemons ? . ■ .

The Horticulture Division :-

You should experience no great difficulty. in budding. peaches successfully, provided that the work is carefully done and.the proper bud used. The bud must be. a healthy mature leaf-bud, either single or the centre one of a triple set. Care must be taken in removing the wood from the shield of bark when preparing the bud for insertion, otherwise the wood will be torn out of the bud, which will then

fail to grow, and the subsequent result will be practically the same as that described by you. After inserting the bud the edges of incision should be held in place by lightly binding with raffiathe material generally used for this purpose. January and February are generally recognized to be the most suitable times for budding the classes of fruit mentioned, but the work can be successfully performed over a longer . period. Budding generally is more likely to be successful if carried out shortly after a moderate fall of rain. ‘

MILLET AS GREEN MANURE.

G. L., Te Puke :

Is millet of any value to plough in for green manure ? How does it compare with other things for that purpose—say, barley ?

The Fields Division :

Pound for pound barley contains a little more nitrogen and ash than millet, but as the latter would produce a greater bulk of green material it would equal, if not surpass, barley for green-manuring purposes. Of course, barley could be grown during winter .for the same purpose when millet could not. ' ’■

ARTICHOKES.

D. G. Gordon, Taoroa, Taihape :

Could you give me information as to growing Jerusalem artichokes, and their value as pig-food ? What kind of soil do they need, and are they subject to frost or blight ? '

The Fields Division

The two varieties of artichokes principally grown are the white and the purple-skinned. There is practically no difference between them. They provide good feed and shade for pigs, the pigs helping themselves to the tubers. Artichokes grow well even on gravelly or sandy soils that otherwise might be waste ground on the farm. The soil requires to be well worked,, however. The tubers are planted out like potatoes in hills about 2 ft. apart in drills 3 ft. apart. Place one set in each hill. Potash manures give best results. We would advise a little superphosphate (about 1 cwt.’per acre) and wood-ashes (3 cwt. to 4 cwt, per acre). The tubers can be planted in the early spring (August or early in September). They respond to systematic intercultivation as do potatoes. As far as is known, they are not usually affected with a blight of any kind. .

LUCERNE ROOT-FUNGUS.

T. P., Ohaupo :

Some sort of blight or decay has made its appearance in my lucerne. It starts in a few plants and gradually, spreads, the tops turn yellow and die off, and. the roots rot, so that when they are pulled they break off a" few inches below the surface. The paddock was laid down in December, 1913, with 1 ton of lime per acre. The first’ affected patch appeared about twelve months ago. As soon' as I noticed it I spread lime very thickly over it, and dug it in right back into the good lucerne, which checked it for some time, but it has gone on spreading this summer and several more patches have appeared. lam sending a sample, of soil and decayed roots.

The Biology Section :-

•'. The lucerne specimens, forwarded, are attacked by a fungus root-disease known as Rhizoctonia, which forms a dense mass of minute interweaving threads, mainly about the roots, upon which it lives parasitically. The roots of many other plants are attacked by this disease, notably beans, beet, carrot, cabbage tribe, and potatoes. Acidity of soil through poor drainage favours its spread, but the

application of lime in your case should have neutralized such an acid . condition. Freshly decayed vegetable-matter also fosters this fungus. If the affected patches are small enough they could advisedly be well watered with a solution of sulphate of iron, using ijlb. to 3 gallons of water. This is destructive to the fungus threads in the soil, where they may otherwise persist for many years. Several applications of this wash may be found necessary. Where the affected patches are small they should have a trench dug round them a foot or two beyond where any diseased plants show, and the soil should be thrown on the inside of the trench. In addition to spraying with iron sulphate a dressing of burnt lime at as high a rate as from Ito 2 tons per acre may be applied. Where this disease appears in lucerne great care has to be exercised in cultivation, and in no case should the cultivatingimplement be allowed to pass over the affected patches. If this is allowed to occur wholesale infection of the field is likely to result. Plants that are quite dead should be dug out and burnt on the affected areas themselves. When the disease is general over a lucerne-field there is no practical method of control.

MOLASSES AND STOCK-FEEDING. W. F. Pannett, Scargill:—

Will you kindly afford me some information as to the nutritive value of molasses ? Last winter I used five or six casks, and I find it very useful as an adjunct to chaff. I save the husk or chaff of wheat and mix molasses with it, and find the stock eat it well. I have never been able to obtain the results of an analysis showing its food-value, or any statements as to how much should be fed in a given time.

The Live-stock Division :

The constituents of molasses are as follows (per cent.) : Water, 92-0 ; albuminoids, 2-o ; carbohydrates, 4-4; ash, i-6. Molasses, when diluted with warm water and sprinkled on hay or mixed with chaff, stimulates the appetite, but is of itself of no great food-value. It should be used with discretion, as cases are on record of serious digestive troubles through encouraging animals to eat indigestible food by adding molasses.

ERADICATING WILD BUTTERCUPS. “ Subscriber,” Makuri: —

I have a 5-acre paddock of newly cleared land on a river-flat. I had a good crop of rape on it last season, and there is still a lot of feed on the land. The wild buttercup has had possession, of the land for years. Can you advise me the best way to get rid of it ? I thought of laying the paddock down in Western Wolths grass in the spring for fattening bullocks.

The Fields Division :—■

The most feasible way to deal with the wild buttercup would be to plough up the land between now and early spring, and cultivate with spring-tooth ‘ cultivator and tine harrows from, say, the end of August up to near the end of November. Cultivate fairly frequently during that period, then seed at the rate of at least 30 lb. Western Wolths and 4 lb. cow-grass per acre, using about 1 cwt. basic superphosphate and 1 cwt. blood-and-bone manure per acre. The systematic cultivation, together with the liberal grass-seeding, should beat the weeds.

- TREATMENT OF ROOTS FOR PIG-FEED. T. C., Ngaruawahia :

■ • Does it pay to boil swedes and mangels for pigs ? I pulp them before boiling. Would the results be as good, if I mixed the pollard dry with the raw pulpsame amount in each case ? - ' 1

The Live-stock Division :

It does not pay to boil swedes or mangels for pigs. Raw swede or mangel pulp mixed with pollard is excellent pig-feed, quite equal to boiled feed. This does not apply to potatoes, which must be cooked for pigs.

• LUCERNE IN ORCHARDS.—HONEY. G. S. Clarke, Kihikihi: —

Be good enough to inform me (i) whether lucerne would be injurious grown in between young fruit-trees, about 6 ft. from line of trees; (2) how honey should be treated to prevent (possible) poisoning.

The Horticulture Division

(i.) Lucerne could be grown for a time between young trees on the lines suggested without injury to the trees, provided the 6 ft. strip of soil between the lucerne and the trees were kept well worked. (2.) Poisonous honey is gathered from two sources in New Zealand— ranunculus (rivularis), a swamp-weed, and rangiora (Br achy v epanda and B. rangiora) shrubs. Honey gathered from these sources contains a volatile ‘ poison, which, in the process of ripening by the bees, is evaporated. Honey' is ripe after having been capped by the bees, so that if no ; honey is extracted until capped there is no danger of injurious results. ■ ■ ;

CONTROLLING THE KEA PEST. “ Sufferer," Oamaru : - •

Will you kindly inform the writer the most efficacious manner of treating the kea pest Our station in Central Otago suffers very much from : these birds. So far we have tried shooting them. Some stations, I believe, go in for poisoning, but the latter method is objectionable because the dogs run the risk of being poisoned by the carcases left for the keas. - • -

The Live-stock Division :

Shooting and poisoning are both recommended by those who have had experience with the kea pest. In this connection we may quote the remarks of two reliable sheep-farmers with many years’ experience . on kea-infested country. One says, “ I consider that paying a fair price per head is the best way of'getting quit of them.” The other, who also does a great deal of shooting, states, “The best means I find of getting rid of . keas is by poisoning with strychnine a . sheep they have just killed. I have got as many- as forty dead round one sheep.”

CONTROL OF GRASS-GRUB. •_. J. A. Rayne, Carterton : • I have a paddock which I have just sown down in grass and Cape barley. I notice that the. grubs have started in it. Could you recommend anything to eradicate them ? . . ‘

The Fields Division :

' There is, unfortunately, nothing that could be applied to the land that would be feasible on a large scale. In general, we would advise breaking up your field often and growing temporary pastures until you rid the land of this troublesome pest. As clovers do not appear to be. so readily attacked, make use of these as much as possible. Practise a short rotation. If you keep pigs or turkeys, turn them into the ploughed field, as they are good destroyers of the white grub. You should make a practice to grow temporary crops, making free use of clovers in them. The object is to keep the soil stirred up as much as possible. Do the ploughing in the autumn or early winter as far as possible, so as .to expose to the frost.

After two or three years of a succession of temporary crops the land may be sown down with a permanent grass mixture, but not until the grubs have practically disappeared is it advisable for such mixture to be sown. Where the grub is bad only in patches a good heavy application of kainit to these spots has been recommended. Rolling the land heavily is also said to have some effect. Apterite or Vaporite has been used also as a spray for crops attacked by the white grub. These remedies may be of service to you where the grub is confined to small areas later on, but meantime the short rotation, embodying the use of temporary pastures of clover crops (” catch “ or otherwise) with grain and root crops, is your best method of combating this difficult pest.

WOODLICE IN HIVES. —CROSS-MATING OF BEES. “ Inquirer,” Dannevirke :

i. Can you tell me how to prevent “slaters” (woodlice) from entering and destroying comb in hives ? The hives are about 9 in. off the ground.

2. I have the two races of Italian bees—Leather and Golden. Will the crossmating of these two be in any way detrimental to the breeding of pure Italian stock ? Are they looked upon as hybrids, and will it affect their ability to gather nectar ? ‘ - . . ■ ■

The Horticulture Division :

/ i. “ Slaters,” or woodlice, become prevalent in hives situated in damp places. Keep surrounding grass cut away and dry mats over the frames. A good unleakable cover should be on all hives. These insects do not usually cause material damage apart from being a nuisance and undesirable.

2. A cross between the Golden and Leather coloured Italians would not affect the honey-gathering qualities of either race, and they are not termed hybrids. Hybrids are a cross between the Black and Italian races.

METHOD OF APPLYING LIME. Charles McKenzie, Ngaere :—■

Would you kindly tell me through your Journal if it would kill seed to plant it with ground or burnt lime— mean to run them both through the drill at the same time. Might not the lime when it gets on to the damp soil cause too much heat and so kill the germination ? ' '

t" The Fields Division

The sowing of seed and burnt lime together is not a desirable practice, because of the caustic action of the lime and so much of it coming in close contact with the germinating seed. You had better sow the lime separately, working it thoroughly through the soil when working up your land for the seed-bed. You could apply the lime on top of, the. ploughed ground and work it in with the disk and .tine harrows.

WATTLE AND OTHER HEDGES. “ Hedge,” Makikihi: —

Could you inform me what kind of a fence wattle makes for a vegetable-garden, alsojfor a road boundary-fence that has to be trimmed ? , ,

The Horticulture Division :

Wattle will stand cutting, and, can be made to serve either purposes mentioned by you, bat for purely hedge purposes' there are other plants preferable; such as Lombardy poplar for a boundary-fence, and Pittosporum crassifolium, broadleaf privet, or elaeagnus for the vegetable-garden. To provide a hedge quickly for the latter purpose tagasaste is very- suitable. --

ERADICATING RATSTAIL-GRASS. O. M. C., North Auckland

Would you be so good as to advise what, is the best, method of treating limestone land that has been allowed to run to ratstail?’ The Fields Division - - ■ If your land is ploughable the method of eradication is first to plough shallow and let this lie for some time, particularly during a dry . period of the year, then cross-plough deeper and work away with spring-tooth cultivator and tine harrows until you have brought all the grass to the surface, where it can dry out and die. To put'the finishing-touch on this summer fallowing,. seed heavily with rape or white mustard, to smother.. the grass. If the land is not ploughable it is practically impossible. to eradicate the ratstail? The only feasible method that might be tried is to burn off the grass at the right time and broadcast a mixture ,of Kentucky blue-grass, cocksfoot, Poa trivialis, white clover, cow-grass, Lotus angustissimus, alsike, hard fescue, and - a little Chewings fescue ' and Danthonia pilosa. . . Seed fairly liberally and when rain is imminent. Turning a?good flock of sheep on to -the', sown area immediately afterwards should cause the seed to be trampled in and manured somewhat, thus giving the grass every chance of taking hold.

Notices.; —The name of “Subscriber,” Dannevirke, is required before his query regarding C. macrocarpa seed can be answered. The name, of course, will not be published. ’ ■• - A letter without signature of any sort, inquiring i as to ma'nurial advice, has been received from Enfield. It cannot be dealt with in its present form. -