ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXX, Issue 2, 20 February 1925, Page 137

ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES.

IN order to ensure reply to questions, correspondents must give their name and address, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Letters should be addressed to the Editor. NATURE OF FOOT-ROT IN SHEEP. ■ J. Hudson, Waimimi: — Would you kindly tell me if foot-rot in sheep is a primary infection, and what cocci one would expect to find in the pus from an affected hoof and in the inflamed tissues near the rot? The Live-stock Division : Foot-rot in sheep is generally considered to be a primary infection, caused by the necrosis bacillus, and following injury or some other agency, such as dampness, whereby the organism can gain entrance to its predilection seat. Other organisms at once take advantage of the necrosed tissue to multiply, , and, by their toxic action, cause greater inflammatory changes that would otherwise be caused by the primary bacillus above. Any coccal inhabitants of the soil would thus be present, but those most often found are Staphylococcus aureus and S. albus. HOME STORAGE OF APPLES. A. E. Kemp, Cape Runaway : In regard to storing apples for home use, should the fruit be dead-ripe on the trees or will they keep longer if picked just before they are quite.ripe ? lam proposing to build an apple-house in a shady plantation—a roof with fairly wide eaves, open sides (wire netting), and shelves with straw on, over, and under the apples. Could you tell me any better way of storing apples for the winter ? The Horticulture Division : For such storage as you suggest apples require to be quite ripe, but . should be picked as soon as that stage is reached. If picked on the green side they are inclined to shrivel. Building the store in an evergreen plantation is a great advantage for the natural insulation and coolness it affords. Spreading apples on shelves with straw for storage is little practised here now, the usual method being to carefully grade out the sound fruit into' standard bushel fruit-cases (benzine-cases will do) till they are about three parts full, and then stack them- in the store up to about six cases high. Many varieties of apples keep well in this way until the average temperature commences to rise in spring. CONTROL OF ST. JOHN’S WORT. “ St. John/' Urenui: — Will you "kindly give me some information on St. John’s wort ? I have a paddock which has got away in this weed. It has been cut but seems to come away stronger again from the roots. It has been heavily stocked with both sheep and cattle. I heard of salt being a good thing, but tried it. on a small patch without effect. The paddock cannot be ploughed. The Live-stock Division (Noxious-weeds Inspection) : : This creeping weed, which is a perennial, is difficult to eradicate on rough unploughable land, as its roots are deeply penetrating, and form runners from which new growth springs up. Where land can be cultivated, deep ploughing, followed by a crop such as potatoes, turnips, or the like, for two years is considered the most effective method of eradication. • In ■ unploughable land probably the only method is to keep it cut and thus prevent it seeding. As it is a fairly heavy seeder it should be cut before the seeds are formed. In some of the drierparts of the Dominion, where the land is stocked solely with sheep, there is little or no trouble with the plant, except on roadsides, as the sheep keep it well cropped. In your case, where cattle are kept also, and where there is a growth

of pasture throughout the year, the stock probably make no appreciable diminution of the plant. There are other means of control, such as spraying with a strong arsenious weed-destroying mixture, but the cost of this would be prohibitive. There is also a danger of poisoning stock after heavy dressings of a poisonous preparation. ELDERBERRY WINE. . . A. J. Boydell, Parkhill— Will you kindly inform me if white elderberries can be used for winemaking, and do they make as good wine as the red ones ? If the- white variety are suitable, what would be a good colouring-matter to make the wine red? Would cochineal do ? The Horticulture Division : We have no knowledge of the white elderberry being used for making wine. A mixture of caramel and cochineal would be preferable as a colouring-matter to cochineal alone, which gives a carmine colour. A still better and more stable colour could be obtained by mixing a sufficient proportion, for the depth of colour required, of the ordinary elderberries (Sambucus nigra) with the white berries. FLEAS ABOUT OUTHOUSES. “ Subscriber,” Papanui : Can you tell me how to get rid of fleas about sheds, fowl-runs, &c. ? I have just bought a place with buildings which have been up some years, though they are in good order. There are large numbers of fleas about somewhere, and I think they must be in the dust of the fowlhouse and sheds. The Live-stock Division : Fleas do not thrive in clean places, but only in corners, &c., where dust and dirt collect. It will therefore be necessary to thoroughly clean up the fowlhouses and sheds (including all corners and cracks), by thoroughly sweeping all walls, floors, &c., and burning or - disinfecting and burying all sweepings. After this has been done' you should thoroughly, limewash the buildings with a wash to which from i to 2 per cent, of crude carbolic or one of the standard disinfectants has been added. If it is not convenient to limewash, the buildings should be thoroughly sprayed with a 2|-per-cent. solution of any of the disinfectants. The following has also been found satisfactory as a spray for such purposes : Soft (potash) soap, 5 per cent. ; cyllin, 2 per cent. ; kerosene, 2 per cent. ; water, 91 per cent. ; applied with a spray-pump or mop. If you keep fowls it would be advisable to make a sand-bath for them composed of about 4 parts of sublimed sulphur to 96 parts of sand. SMOTHER-CROP FOR CALIFORNIAN THISTLE. “ Settler,” Raetihi :■ —- I have been informed that if cow-grass is sown on land' infested with Californian thistle (after ploughing) the thistle will disappear or be choked out by the cow-grass. Could you tell me if this is correct ? The Fields Division : Cow-grass will not choke out Californian thistle or . control it to any extent. In districts where lucerne grows well this plant is frequently sown on Californianthistle areas as a means of control. The heavy growth and the frequent cuttings combine to suppress the thistle. KAITANGATA COAL-ASHES FOR THE GARDEN. A. F. McPherson, Christchurch: — Would you kindly let me know if Kaitangata coal-ashes are of any use to mix with garden-soil ?

The Horticulture Division :

Coal contains i or 2 per cent, of nitrogen, a valuable fertilizer. In ordinary burning it escapes up the chimney, although most of it can be reclaimed in the soot, which forms a valuable dressing for'the land. In gasworks, where coal is cooked in' an oven (retort), the nitrogen is saved and separated out from the coalgas, and this'is sold to the farmer as sulphate of ammonia. Coal-ashes, where properly burnt, contain only very slight traces of useful fertilizers, being composed chiefly of lime and silica—materials of benefit only to very stiff land, and then only in moderate quantities. Lignites, such as Kaitangata, have a large proportion of sulphate of lime in the ash ; an analysis shows 30 per cent. ' Such ash applied to soils when fresh is injurious to plants, and should first be exposed to the atmosphere and allowed to oxidize. . TWIN HEIFER RETURNING TO BULL. F. H., Takapau : I have twin heifers, a year old, from a cow at her first calving. They were recently put to the bull and one of them comes back" every few days. Can you tell me the significance of this ? 'ls she probably barren, and are twin heifers ■often infertile ? Both heifers are of a very feminine type, with well-developed udders. The Live-stock Division :■ —• Twin heifers are not as a rule infertile. Infertility, however, often exists in the case of twin calves of different sex. With regard to the trouble you are ■experiencing with one of your heifers, we would advise obtaining the services of a local veterinary surgeon.