ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



The Staff of the Department has been organized to a large extent for the 

 purpose of giving information to farmers. Questions in every branch of agriculture 

 are gladly answered. Write a short letter, giving as full particulars as possible, of 

 your local conditions, and state precisely what it is that you want to know. All 

 inquiries must be accompanied by the name and address of the writer. 



Potato Scab. — Treatment for this disease was given in the last report of the Depart- 

 ment. The seed potatoes are steeped in a solution of corrosive sublimate, consisting of 2^ ozs. 

 in 15 gallons of water. The corrosive sublimate is first dissolved in a few quarts of hot 

 water, and then made up to the proper strength, using a cask or wooden vessel, as the solution 

 corrodes metal. The seed i)otatoes, in a loose bag, are steeped in the solution for two hours ; 

 then, after being allowed to dry, cut and planted. 



Feeding Artichokes to Breeding Sows. — Potatoes are recommended before artichokes 

 as being a far better food in every way. Green barley or lucerne is very good for sows and 

 the young pigs. 



Smoking Hams. — As to whether straw or straw chaff may be used in smoking bacon and 

 hams : — there is nothing so good as kauri sawdust spread on the floor of smoke house • it 

 should not be spread too thickly. The bacon must be well dried before smoking. 



Sow Rolling on her Young. — An unfailing and simple plan to prevent a sow from rolling 

 on her young is to place a rail round three sides of the pen 12 inches high, and 14 inches 

 from the wall, so that when she lies down, the little pigs will go within the space protected 

 by the rail, and find their way to her teats. 



Sow Eating Her Young. — To prevent a sow from eating her young, add a good handful 

 of salt to the food given after farrowing. It is not a good practice to allow sows to run about 

 a paddock directly after farrowing, as three weeks should elapse before this is done. 



Knocking off Sapling Suckers. — This work is usually done to advantage towards the end 

 of summer, or very early in autumn. Many of the Eucalypts have great vitality of stool or 

 sucker growth after the young tree is cut down even at a height of two or three feet from the 

 ground. 



Recipe for the Preparation of Poisoned Wheat for Sparrows. — In furnishing the 

 following recipe, Mr. French states, as Ornithologist to the Department, he cannot recommend 

 its general use : — Dissolve 3 ozs. of strychnine in a little hydrochloric acid. When dissolved, 

 add 2 gallons of water. Mix well, and into this put a bushel of wheat ; and when the water 

 is absorbed during mixture, dry the wheat. When dry, it is fit for use. Wheat, prepared in 

 this way, may be purchased in ^-bushel tins at the wholesale chemists in Melbourne, for 3d. 

 per lb. 



Manuring Sandy Land. — Sandy soils are usually deficient in the essential plant foods, 

 and a manure combining nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash is generally beneficial. The 

 growth of peas for ploughing in adds vegetable matter to the soil, improves its capacity to 

 hold water. For these classes of soil, grasses such as alsyke clover, Mediterranean clover, 

 prairie, and others, will succeed if sown in the autumn, and manured as above. 



Grasses Best under Winter Conditions. — The following all stand winter conditions well, 

 and may be recommended for any fairly well drained situation : Prairie grass, Phalaris com- 

 mutata, white clover, crested dog's tail, hard fescue. 



Strawberry Clover on Sandy Loam. — (W.Y.) — The (juestion as to the growth of strawberry 

 clover on sandy loam in the Goulburn Valley may be studied from the results achieved from 

 the experimental work at the show ground, She;)parton, where thirty-two varieties of grasses 

 have been sown. 



Ploughing Stony Land.— (A. E. E.).— The disc plough is preferable for breaking up land 

 which is rather stony, sticky, and slightly crab-holed. Immediate fallowing to a depth of 

 5 inches, harrowing the land occasionally throughout the summer, and cross-ploughing it next 

 autumn, prior to sowing, is advised. 



Best Cross for L.\mbs .and Whol (Melton District). — ^^Vell-bred, good-framed merino 

 ewes, and shapely good fleeced English or Border Leicester rams; or large coarse cross-bred 

 ewes and shapely fine woolled Shropshire rams would be the best cross for lamb raisin" and 

 for getting a fair sample of wool. 



Sheep-proof Fencing. — The cjuestion is whether wire netting 2 feet high against a 4-wire 

 fence will keep sheep in? — The fence described would keeji merinos, but not cross-breds in. 

 For the latter, it should be placed in the ground 4 inches (if the country is not stonv) 

 and tied firmly to a wire at the top edge; it would want another wire 6 inches above that again. 

 Breed of Sheep for Lamb-Raising (Ringwood). — Shapely good fleeced coarse cross-breds, 

 mated with the best Downs rams procurable are recommended. To procure them watch for 

 clearing sales of managed properties ; or agents may have particulars of this class, off^ shears. 

 Roomy, well-bred merino ewes and shapely good fleeced English or Border Leicester rams 

 produce a good lamb. 



