‘June 1, 1904 
Lettuce —Sow a little seed occasionally, 
and plant out any strong young lettuces 
that-may have been raised. 
Onion.—Sow a little seed, and look well 
after and keep weeded any young onions 
that are above ground. 
Parsnip.—tThis vegetable may be sown, 
-as largely as may be required. The soil 
should be dug deep, as the parsnip is a very 
deep rooter. Sow in drills. 
Peas.—Sow largely in rows from 2 to 3 
ft. or more apart, according to variety, for 
‘some kinds grow to a height of 1 foot, but 
others to a height of 5 or 6 ft., and the tall 
growing kinds need a good deal of space 
between the rows. The general average 
height is about 3 to 4 ft. ‘ 
Radish.—Sow occasionally during the 
month a little seed of different varieties. 
Herbs.—In warm parts of the State 
_plant or take up old plants if they have 
become evergreen, then divide and plant. 
Onions.—Seedlings 3 or 4 in. high from 
the early sowings may vow be planted out. 
No: better weather could be selected than 
that ‘prevailing this season. The soil 
should be fairly rich, sandy, and well 
‘drained. Land that has been occupied 
- with some leguminous plant or crop is 
best, and well tilled to bring into its finest 
cendition. - A sheltered situation is ad- 
vantageous. Cut off the top leaves where 
' they join the stems. They will give best 
results with a good manuring of well-de- 
cayed stable manure.. If it be not well rot- 
ted the trouble of getting rid of tiie weeds 
from it increases the labor. 
supply of the right sort it will be better 
‘to use bonedust or a mixture of superphos- 
phate three parts and blood manure one 
part. ‘3 
Beans, Vetches, and Peas.—These do best 
on soils containing lime, and where lime is 
not available basic slag is best suited to 
their requirements; in all cases, however, 
the land containing a natural supply of 
lime is most suited to a maximum growth. 
A. heavy dressing of superphosphate or 
basic slag with about 4 ewt. of kainit will 
give the best results on poor land for peas, 
beans, or vetches. For sowing peas an 
ordinary maize drill will answer best, 
Plant 2 to 3 ft. apart. Pea straw con- 
tains in its ashes from 35 to 40 per cent. 
of lime and 12 to 15 per cent. of potash. 
This indicates the class of soil it requires. 
Sweet Potatoes—Arrowroot—So far 
the sweet potatoes have been somewhat 
late in maturing, and the crop has not been 
so prolific. They should be dug and stor- 
ed in sand for future use. The arrowroot 
tubers after boiling can be used exten- 
sively for pigs. They form an excellent 
heat and energy-producing food for pigs in 
winter. 
Sorghum.—The recent rains, where the 
sorghum crops are late, will interfere, with 
‘the operation of converting them into hay. 
Sorghums of all kinds this autumn have 
made very satisfactory growth. Where 
silos are available they have been converted 
into chaffed ensilage. That which is not 
needed for stall-feeding the dairy cattle may 
Failing a 
-THE.- AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
be converted into stack ensilage, with 
every prospect of good results. In the 
former case, the crop may be left standing 
for the next two or three weeks to be cut 
daily as required for the cows. ‘ 
Rape.—This crop is yearly becoming 
more popular, and its feeding value is be- 
coming recognised. It is evidently- re- 
placing several root crops. It is very 
rapid in its growth, and in favorable sea- 
sons is ready for feeding in from. twelve 
to fifteen weeks. It is being especially 
appreciated for feeding sheep and _ pigs. 
The most forward variety grown is the 
Dwarf Essex. When sown in drills, and 
well cultivated, few crops will act better as 
aland clearer. It gets rid of weeds. The 
growth now is very luxuriant and fleshy, 
and may be eaten down by sheep or pigs 
when it reaches 6 inches in height. The 
crops are best where bonedust two parts, 
with one part of blood manure, has been 
used as a manure on light sandy soil. The 
advantage of eating the rape crop down’ 
this month is that a vigorous second crop 
follows. This naturally depends to some 
extent on the class of soil and the abund: 
ance of moisture. We may now safely 
predict favorable conditions. Sheep, when 
eating the first crop, are liable to eat it off 
‘too close. This can be avoided by turn- 
ing them off when they remove the first lot 
of leaves. They generally eat those first, 
and return to more closely remove the 
_ lower tendrils, leaves, and steme. Horses 
and cattle will eat rape, but in doing so 
they injure the plant and retard a good 
second growth. Further, fresh rape will 
taint the milk in dairy cattle, which’ can 
be avoided by feeding the rape imme . 
In every case ani- - 
diately after milking. 
mals, when very hungry, especially cattle 
and sheep, eat it greedily, and are liable 
to sudden attacks of hoven or bloating. It 
is advisable to break them into feeding it 
gradually, and after a week’s attention 
allow them free use of the paddock. It is 
good practice to feed all animals half on 
grass and the balance on rape. Hoven 
is more prevalent during wet weather or 
when heayy dews fall. Whilst on rape, 
cattle and sheep do best when given free 
access to rock salt. An, average rape crop 
should feed ten to fifteen sheep to the acre, 
and fatten them for market in sixty days. 
A series of tests at Wisconsin and other 
experimental stations have shown that in 
pig-feeding an acre of rape is equal to 2.657 
lb. of grain. The pigs proved to be more 
thrifty and in healthier condition when fed 
with rape than when fed with grain alone. 
Considerable saving in, labor is effected in 
grazing pigs on rape. Moreover, the 
- ground is enriched from the exereta of both 
sheep and pigs when fed in this form. The 
dry matter of rape, from analysis, is prov- 
ed to contain as much protein, or flesh- 
forming material; ag clover hay. “The past 
season has brought home to many large 
poultry-raisers the need to substitute green 
feed of a heterogeneous character for the 
more expensive nitrogenous food such as 
bran and pollard. Amongst the most use- 
ful of the green feeds for poultry is rape. 
Jé 
Repeated trials have fully demonstrated 
the value of this fodder for poultry. 
Mr. G. L. Sutton, experimentalist atthe 
Hawkesbury Agricultural College, fux- 
nishes the following report concerning ex- 
periments with rape: The following re- 
sults in connection with an experiment 
conducted at the H.A. College will pro- 
minently illustrate the great value of this 
splendid forage crop for alleviating the 
effects of a drought when the drought has 
broken. The crop was planted Aprik 36, 
1903. A sowing had been made on the 
same ground five weeks previously, bute 
germinated so badly, owing to the dry 
weather then prevailing, that the land was 
disk-harrowed and resown, on the date stat- 
ed. Shortly after the second sowing the 
drought broke, the seed germinated well, 
and within a month there was good grazing: 
for sheep. On May 15, 1903, less than. 
seven, weekg from planting, the various 
blocks were cut for pig feed, and the fol- 
lowing computed yields per acre obtained : 
Rape for Greenstuff: First cutting, six 
_weeks three days from, planting—Broad- 
cast, 11 tony 4 cwt. 3 qr. 16 lb. ; Drills, 18 
in apart, 9 tong 17 cwt. 3 qr. 17 lb. ; drills, 
24 in. apart, 7 tons 4 cwt.; drills, 30 in. 
apart, 6 tons 4 cwt. 1 qr. 5 lb.; drills, 36 in- 
apart, 5 tons 0 cwt. 1 qr. 22 Ib. 
It should not be inferred from these re- 
sults that broadcasting is the best method 
for growing this crop in ordinary seasons— 
they indicate how rapidly this plant grows- 
Another point of interest to our farmers 
in the semi-arid districts is, that during 
the late drought it was observed that the 
seed of this plant would germinate under 
conditions too dry for the germination of 
many other seeds, wheat included. 
£400,000 A TON FOR POTATOES. 
The London “Daily Mail” states that at 
a sale of seed potatoes at Spilsby, in Lin- 
colnshire, all existing records for extra- 
ordinary pricés were eclipsed. Six tubers 
of the Eldorado variety were disposed of 
by auction, the lot weighing only 5 oz 
They realised £56/3/6, and as this works 
out at £402,658/13/4 per ton, it constitutes 
a world’s record. One potato sold for £11. 
and another for £10/10/; £9/9/ was paik 
for a tuber that weighed only 4 oz. A stone 
potato, of a new variety, which has been, 
named the Sir John Franklin, and which 
has only been on the market a fortnight, 
sold at the rate of £3,000 per ton. 
POTATOES—OUT AND UNCUT SETS. 
By W. J. Manpen. 
The experiments which have been car- 
- ried out for nearly a century on cut versus: 
uncut sets have generally shown that there 
is a’stronger crop from uncut sets; and the 
‘popular mind has accepted this view, 
which within certain limits is correct. A 
whole potato is encased in a skin which 
retaind moisture ; moreover, many insects, 
-such as wireworms, eelworms, and other 
scavenging insects de-not so readily attack 
“an unwounded set as one which has beer 
cut, or is in any way decaying. A cut set: 
is ati once acted upon by surrounding con— 
