lo Oct.. 1910.] Answers to Correspondents. 675 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



The Staff of the Department has l)een organized to a larg:e extent for tlie ))urpose of giving information 

 to' farmers. Question* in every branch of agriculture are gladly answered. Write a short letter, giving as 

 full paiticulars as possible, of your local conditions, and state precisely what it is that i ou want to know. 

 AU inquiries forwarded to the Editor mnst be accompanied by the name and address of the writer. 



Vermin Destructiun. — r.G. ask for best method of poisoning water with 

 arsenic or strychnine for destruction of rabbits, foxes, &c. 



Answer. — The use of poisoned water is not recommended. It is altogether too 

 dangerous, and also the Victorian seasons are usually not dry enough for the purpose. 

 In any case it would be far safer and just as effective if the water was netted oli 

 and any of the ordinary rabbit poisons placed outside. Further, arsenic is never 

 used by the Vermin Destruction Branch. It is not effective enough, and it is 

 always dangerous. Being a mineral it will practically last for ever and is conse- 

 (|uently a menace and a danger wherever it has been used. .Strychnine can be 

 ■dissolved in a little vinegar. 



Cape Weed. — J.R.M. states that his lucerne plot is being smothered with 

 Cape Weed. He asks whether any crop can be put in to overcome it. 



Answer. — The land was probably fouled with Cape Weed seed before the 

 lucerne was planted. If the lucerne has been planted in drills the weed is best 

 suppressed by the use of the hoe. It dies without seeding if cut just below the flat 

 leafy crown, and ceases to grow as soon as the warm weather begins. No crop 

 can be planted which would suppress it without recultivating the land and destroy- 

 ing the lucerne. Once the stand is well established it is usually easy to keep 

 Cape Weed under, but if allowed to flourish in spring it will completely suppress 

 the young lucerne seedlings. The use of cold cow manure collected from the fields 

 is often responsible for the sudden abundance of the plant in cultivated laml. In 

 fermented manure the seeds are destroyed. Experiments with Cape Weed are in 

 progress, but no chemical or other means of dealing with it have been found 

 practicable. 



Orchard Planting — Trees Per Acre. — G.A.B. inquires as to number of 

 trees per acre when planting on the "triangular" system. 



Answer. — The '' triangular ' or " alternate "' system of planting gives approxi- 

 mately the same number of trees as the " square " system — 17 x 17 feet, 150 per 

 acre; 18 x 18 feet, 134 per acre; 20 x 20 feet, 100 per acre. Allow room for road- 

 way and for turning of plough all round block. 



Mouse-proof Stack Site. — G.A.H. asks how to keep mice from hay stacks. 



Answer. — Erect enclosure consisting of galvanized iron sheets 2 to 3 feet 

 high around stack, and about 3 feet distance from the walls, directly the building 

 of the stack is completed. See also article in March, 1908, issue of the Journal. 



Summer Fodder Crops for Echuca District. — H.A. asks which varieties of 

 maize are most suitable for the Echuca district. He also asks about other summer 

 crops. 



.Answer. — (i) Hickor\' King or Yellow Moruya at the rate of 5 bushel per 

 acre in drills 3 feet ajtart ; inter-cultivate between the rows during the growing 

 period. (2) Japanese millet is recommended. Mangold seed (Mammoth Long Red 

 variety) may be sown at once at the rate of 4 lbs. of seed per acre in drills 2 feet 



6 inches apart. If necessary, it can be irrigated later on in the season. 



Fodder Crops, Swan Hill District. — H.C. asks for list of crops to grow in 

 rotation under irrigation and suitable for hand-feeding cows. He has a silo. 



Answer. — Sow immediately after first autumn rains the following mixture : — 

 I bushel of Abundance or Stout White oats, 5 bushel of Cape Barley, i bushel of 

 field peas. Manure at the rate of i cwt. of superphosphate and ^ cwt. of bonedust 

 per acre. This will be ready under normal conditions to cut for the silo during the 

 month of October. When cut, re-plough and sow with Hickory King maize seed in 

 drills 3 feet apart and at the rate of 20 lbs. of seed per acre. This will be ready 

 for the silo about the latter part of January. Not less than 10 acres should be 

 thoroughly worked into a fine tilth and sown with good sound lucerne seed in drills 



7 inches apart and at the rate of 10 lbs. of seed per acre during September. If 

 mangolds, sugar beet, and pumpkins are sown in season with the crops already men- 

 tioned an abundant supply of nutritious and succulent fodder should always be in 

 reserve in the silo throughout the year. If farmyard manure is available the land 

 should be manured before sowiii" with maize, at the rate of 20 loads to the acre. 



