February, 1909.] 



13? 



Edible Products. 



to the acre have been harvested here. 

 These are classified as the richest of all 

 natural vegetable foods, and should be 

 used to strengthen the ration in protein. 

 With their aid pigs can then be fed 

 with potatoes, maize, barley, rye, or 

 other starchy foods. As a green forage 

 crop they are highly appreciated by 

 pigs, and afford a more nutritious diet 

 even than cowpeas. The plant can be 

 converted into hay in a similar way to 

 that of cowpeas. 



As silage it has been found most suc- 

 cessful when mixed with twice its 

 weight of green maize. 



The soy bean requires a good loamy 

 soil well drained, although like the cow- 

 pea it is adapted to a wide range of soils. 



A deep, firm, well-tilled, moist seed- 

 bed is required here. It should be 

 ploughed to a good depth about the 

 end of July or beginning of August 

 and worked (harrowed and rolled) to a 

 tine tilth. Should fertilisers be required, 

 use that recommended fur cow-peas. 

 The seed should be sown when all 

 chances of frost are over ; as a rule the 

 beginning of October is best when some 

 warmth is in the soil. 



Sow in drills 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. apart. 

 One plant should be permitted to grow 

 every (5 inches. From 8 to 10 lb. of seed 

 per acre is needed. Shallow cultivation 

 should follow until the plants are well 

 grown. The quickly maturing plant 

 and pods ripen in from seventy-five to 

 ninety-five days. It is a good drought 

 resister. 



As a food for pigs, either as beans, 

 green forage, or hay, it has a high repu- 

 tation. The animals fatten quickly, are 

 always thrifty, with strong appetites ; 

 the hair and skin acquire a glossy look, 

 and the skin feels as if they were fed on 

 oil meals. 



Velvet Bean. 



So far this leguminous plant has only 

 been grown in an experimental way to 

 test its capacity as a fodder, but suffi- 

 cient data have been secured to war- 

 rant extended trials for its use as green 

 summer forage, for green manuring, 

 and as a cover crop. 



Its leading drawback is that it requires 

 a long summer for its proper develop- 

 ment, as it is a native of India and 

 thrives well in a hot, dry climate. 



Both plant and bean are useful as 

 fodder tor stock, and pigs relish the 

 food and provide good returns on it. It 

 grows freely on light, sandy land, pro- 

 vided it is fairly well-drained. When 

 moisture is available with summer heat 

 the plant produces enormous yields. 

 Under ordinary conditions it will give 

 a return above the weight ot cow-peas 

 16 



per acre. The plant grows in a trailing 

 state and produces vines running from 

 29 to 30 feet in length; they twine 

 around any obstacle, and are often 

 grown in conjunction with maize. 



It is a heavy cropper and has been 

 known under favourable conditions to 

 produce thirty tons of green forage per 

 acre. The seed may be sown in the warm 

 districts in October. The roots go well 

 down into the subsoil and necessarily 

 require a deeply ploughed soil. The 

 seed should be sown in drills 3 ft. 6 in. 

 apart with a space of one foot between 

 each. The best fertiliser is :— 



Superphosphate ... 150 lb. per acre. 



Sulphate of Potash ... 80 ,, 



Cultivation should be pursued as long 

 as the plant growth will permit. Owing 

 to the entanged nature of its growth 

 it is difficult to cut for stall green feed- 

 ing or hay. It is therefore best used as 

 a grazing crop, and the pigs should be 

 turned in to eat it off.— Agricultural 

 Gazette of N. S. Wales, Vol. XIX., Part 

 10, October, 1908. 



THE CO-OPERATIVE MARKETING 

 OF CITRUS FRUITS. 



The California Fruit-Growers' 

 Exchange, 



The Honourable the Minister for 

 Agriculture is in receipt of a letter from 

 Mr. A. Downe, a resident of Los Angeles, 

 California, who recently visited New 

 South Wales, and made a careful inspec- 

 tion of the citrus groves of the County of 

 Cumberland. Mr. Downe has an orchard 

 of some 24 acres at Duarte, California, 

 and can therefore speak as a fruit- 

 grower to fruit-growers. Mr. Downe 

 refers to the prevalence of fumigating 

 with cyanide in preference to spraying, 

 declaring that the latter process has 

 been abandoned, as it causes " die back" 

 of the fine twigs and sprouts. 



The freight from California to New 

 York is 4s. 6d. per 100 lb. box a distance 

 of 3,000 miles. 



Oranges are shipped east to New York 

 and London and throughout Canada, 

 and arrive in condition. 



The new crop for next year promises 

 to be a heavy one, probabiy the heaviest 

 for years, due no doubt, Mr. Downe says, 

 to liberal fertilising and fumigating. 



The marketing of the enormous crop 

 is as important as growing it, and 

 California fruit-growers have established 

 the California Fruit-Grow T ers' Exchange 

 to perform this work. As there is 

 nothing of this kind in existence in this 



