ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 54, Issue 2, 20 February 1937, Page 125

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.

FOOT TROUBLE IN DRAUGHT HORSES. W. L. 8., Waipara : . A complaint that the draught horses have in their hooves here appears to be similar to thrush ; the feet have a septic discharge, sometimes from the cleft of the frog, and sometimes from the depressions at each side of the frog, and the discharge has an offensive smell: The complaint develops in front or back feet, and it recurs every three months or so. y The Live-stock Division : - The symptoms you have described are caused by an inflamed condition of the membrane, which secretes the horn of the frog. Under these conditions this membrane forms weak and degraded horn of a cheese-like consistency, which readily liquifies under the action of moisture and produces the offensive discharge. ' For treatment you must first endeavour to keep the feet dry. Carefully remove any diseased or loose portions of the horn, then thoroughly work into the parts from which the discharge issues one of the following applications : (i) burnt alum, or (2) calomel, or (3) iodoform 1 part, eucalyptus oil 8 parts. If you wish to keep the horse at .work the dressing should be packed in with cotton wool or tow, over which is smeared Stockholm tar in order to keep out the wet and dirt. Unless the discharge is profuse, the dressing may be left in place for two or three days. CROP FOR LAND INFESTED WITH YARR. F. M. R., Springfield : , A paddock which was sown in turnips, partly owing to the wet season, was. an almost complete failure, a weed which we know as yarr taking possession and going to seed. It is now proposed to lime the land with f ton of carbonate of lime per acre, and sow a smothering-crop to be later cut for silage: Would you suggest the most suitable crop to grow, the rainfall is 40 in., and we are 1,600 ft. above sea-level. The Fields Division : ‘ A satisfactory result may be expected from sowing a mixture consisting of 2 bushels of oats and 1 bushel of Partridge peas or Scotch tares. Garton’s and Algerian oats are both suitable for the purpose, but if a late spring sowing is anticipated the Garton variety, a rapid upright grower, is likely-to be preferable. With quantities of 3 bushels per acre of the mixture suggested it is often an advantage to drill and cross drill the seed—that is to say, sow if- bushels each way, and 1 cwt. to if cwt. of superphosphate per acre can usually .be applied with profit to such crops. . KEEPING-QUALITY OF SPRAYING MATERIALS. T. W., Otekaike : , • ■ How long will the following materials keep without detriment : Bluestone in solution, lime in solution, Bordeaux mixture in solution, lime sulphur in solution, and most mixtures for stone and pip fruits. The Horticulture Division : Stock solutions of bluestone and lime may be stored separately for long: periods without deterioration. Other solutions and mixtures of -spraying materials depreciate in various ways, some very quickly. They should be used the same day, and, better still, applied as soon as made, with the agitator working to keep all ingredients in suspension and thoroughly mixed, especially where large quantities are being used.