664 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



May, 1914 



Potato Growing. 



The necessity of working the 

 land to conserve moisture and to 

 keep dow-n weeds whilst the crop 

 is frrowinji is appreciated hy near- 

 ly €\ery potato-farmer, and on 

 the whole crops are fairlv well 

 looked after whilst thev are grow- 

 ing. \Miat is urg-ently needed is 

 greater attention to the prepara- 

 tion of land before the crop is 

 planted. ICarlier ploughing is re- 

 quired, and systematic working of 

 the fallow. In short, thorough 

 fallowing should he practised in- 

 variably for the potato crops. Cul- 

 tivators of the spring-tooth type 

 for shallow surface working of the 

 land should be largely used. It is 

 im])ossil)le to overrate the benefit 

 of such preparation. The subsoil 

 is stored with m.oistiire which 

 promotes good sprouting of the 

 seed and ensures a regular growth 

 through even very dry spells. 



Further, it renders active the 

 agencies which increase the fertili- 

 ty of the soil. 



The soil is sweetened, and the in- 

 soluble m'aterial is rendered avail- 

 , able for plant use, and the soil is 

 thus brought into better condition 

 to support plant life. 



Fertilisers are used only to a 

 very limited extent, and yet the 

 ^'ield can be very largely increased 

 h\ their use, especially when the 

 soil is prepared to receive them 

 by a system of fallowing. Fertilis- 

 ers may fail to benefit the crop 

 when the land has been roughly 

 T)repared and a dry season has 

 ensued, but there is not the slieht- 

 est doubt of their value to the 

 trood farmer. The yield may be 

 increased by from ,so to lOO per 

 cent. The proHt accruing through 

 the application of a few hundred 

 potmds of fertiliser to a valuable 

 cron, such as potatoes, is very 

 evident. No farmer can afford 

 when dealintf with a crop such as 

 I)otatoes, which costs so miich for 

 seed alone, to attempt to save a 

 few shillings on manure. 



.Another matter which requires 

 more attention is the selection of 

 the seed. The present method 

 leads to rapid deterioration. The 

 prac tice is to save the small sound 

 tubers. A small proportion of the 

 f-ed pickf-d up may, and indeed 

 \'.-ill produce strong, vigorous 

 plants, but much of it gives only 

 poor degenerated plants. Plants 

 u-hi,:h have reverted or run out 

 i-roducc n large number of small 

 ibers. These when planted pro- 

 luce the same class of plant. Such 

 I plant may carry twenty such 



tubers. A good plant may carry 

 half a dozen large table potatoes 

 and only one or two small ones, 

 which are suitable for seed. These 

 small potatoes reproduce their 

 kind faithfully, but it does not re- 

 quire much perception to see that 

 when small potatoes are picked up 

 indiscriminately for seed that 

 very soon a great proportion of 

 the seed will consist of run-out po- 

 tatoes. Some expert growers fol- 

 low the practice of going throtigh 

 their growing crops and pulling 

 out any degenerated plants they 

 detect. Ey this means thev are 

 able to eliminate the run-out 

 plants to some extent, and a fair- 

 \y vigorous strain is miiaintained. 



It is with only some varieties, 

 and then only by expert growers, 

 that this system can be practised, 

 as it is often very difficult to de- 

 tect degenerated plants. — Agricul- 

 tural Gazette of N.S.W. 



^ 



Scab on Sheep. 



To the Editor. 



Can you tell me what is the 

 cause of a scab trouble that affects 

 sheep, more particularly weaners 

 about the middle of surnmer. The 

 scab affects the lips, both top and 

 bottom, and in bad cases the nos- 

 trils almost close up with the 

 scab, which renders breathing dif- 

 ficult ; the trouble is frequently to 

 he met with in the western dis- 

 tricts of Victoria and nearly every 

 sheep owner gives a different cause 

 for it. Most owners say Scotch 

 thistles is the cause. The trouble 

 comes on quickly and the animal 

 is unable to eat grass for some 

 days, and consequently becomes 

 very weak. The scab is black and 

 becomes quite a quarter of an inch 

 thick, as far back as the corner of 

 the moiith. The trotible is not an 

 annual occurrence. 



The first attack I had in my 

 sheep, I at once hit on a qiiick 

 and simple remedy. I folded the 

 sheep, caught all the affected ones 

 and put their noses, right up to 

 the corners of the mouth, into a 

 vessel containing castor oil. The 

 result was marvellous, in two days 

 the scab fell off and a new red skin 

 took its place. T can highly re- 

 commend this remedy to all your 

 readers. 



Yox\ may have the trouble in one 

 paddock and not in the next. I 

 -am inclining'- to the opinion that 

 the trouble is contagious. Would 

 be glad to know if any of your 



readers can 'g're the cause. I 

 gladiy gi\e them this simple re- 

 medy. I am a subscriber of over 

 20 3'ears. Yours, etc., 



Albert Schinckel. 

 (roroke, Victoria. 



We are much obliged to our old 

 friend. Perhaps, as Mr. Schinckel 

 suggests, some of our readers may 

 be able to reciprocate his kindness 

 in making known a cure by help- 

 ing to determine the cause. In a 

 general wa}' one would suppose it 

 to be due to some bodily condition 

 or perhaps one confined to the 

 jjarts affected, peculiar to weaners. 

 Possibly the thistle or other 

 vegetable irritant is the culprit, 

 oh the other hand the fact that" its 

 appearance is intermittant would 

 lead to the opinion that the cause 

 is periodic in its visitation. One 

 would like to know whether the 

 trouble is common to all farms 

 one year with the possibility of 

 being absent from all farm the 

 next, or is it always more or less 

 present throughout a district. We 

 rather gather the former to be 

 the case. If there is any condi- 

 tion either of season, state of the 

 natural grass, herbage, or sown 

 crops which is common to all 

 farms on which it appears it would 

 probably be easy to determine the 

 cause. On the facts as presented 

 we should say that it is probably 

 due to some plant irritant which is 

 possibly of somewhat local occur- 

 rence, which is more marked in 

 its effect under special conditions, 

 such as an extra dry season or the 

 reverse and which naturally shows 

 its effect more readily on young 

 animals. Thistles, burrs, etc., are 

 said to be one of the causes of a 

 certain amount of inflammation, 

 usually known as sore mouth, pos- 

 sibly the case referred to is a 

 fonn of this complaint aggrav^ated 

 by local conditions. 



4 



It is of the titmost importance 

 that agriculture should have the 

 means of recording its ascension or 

 decline, must not suppose, 



because it is an ancient art, and 

 one that has been iirosecuted in 

 its simplest forins, it is therefore, 

 otherwise than an art which, of all 

 others, perhaps, affords the most 

 varied scope and the largest 

 sphere of development to the pow- 

 ers of the human m^dnd '; it is 

 most essential that it shoidd have 

 the best and the most efficacious 

 means of comparing its state in 

 one year with its state in another; 

 of recording for future encourage, 

 ment the projrress that has been 

 achieved in the past. — W. K. Glad, 

 stone. 



