4.50 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 June, 1900. 
rise in the price of the product in the home market, but the price was not 
obtained by the farmers. ‘The increase only came after the crop was practicaly 
out of their hands. Attracted by large quotations, many novices will plant 
extensively the coming year. The result will be an enormous over-production 
of brush, much of which will be of inferior grade. It is, and will always 
remain a little industry, because the demand is not only limited but small. 
Isolated individuals, and those remote from recognised methods, are at a serious 
disadvantage. To produce a ton of broom corn requires about three acres. 
The cost of production, under the best circumstances in the United States, 18 
50 dollars (about £10) per ton; the average selling price is about 70 dollars 
(£14) per ton, though it has sold as low as 30 dollars (£6). This is a crop 
requiring an immense force at harvesting, and a threshing gang numbering not 
less than twenty. The business requires a special outfit of tools and sheds; 
costing 800 to 1,000 dollars (£160 to £200), which are of little or no value 
for any other purposes. ‘The crop is a precarious one that may be ruined by # 
few days of bad weather, and its successful growth and harvesting require 
a high degree of knowledge and skill. 
SMUT IN BARLEY. 
Is blue vitriol a preventive of smut in barley? asks a correspondent of we 
Farmer and Stockbreeder, to whom that journal replies:—Yes; sulphate 0 
copper (blue vitriol or bluestone) is used as a preventive of smut in barley: 
One pound of sulphate of copper dissolved in 6 quarts of water is sufficient 10 
dress 6 bushels of the seed. The crushed or ground sulphate gives less trouble 
to dissolve than when in the form of large crystals; therefore, if not already 
ground when bought, it is better to crush it at home previous to use. 4° 
prevent any loss it is advisable that the sulphate should be spread thinly inside 
a bag when pounding it with a hammer or wooden mallet, or it will fly about 
and some be wasted. Like sugar, it dissolves more readily if suspended in ae 
water, or well stirred; very hot water will also hasten the dissolving, but, 1 
used, requires to be cooled sufficiently before thrown over the seed. The 
sulphate of copper, supplied by Strawson, is specially prepared and requires 1° 
grinding, and is instantly soluble in cold water; this gives it a great advantage 
over the old kind. The quantity of seed which will be dressed at a time shou 
be measured out and spread in a heap on a good floor, and the dressing sprinkle 
over it, during which time the heap should be stirred and immediately after 
wards turned over several times; a brush should be used between the turning® 
so that any scattered grains are swept to the bulk; none should be allowed 1 
escape their share of the mixture. 1t is very important that every grain shou 
be dressed properly, or some of the smut may escape destruction, and prov? 
harmful in the crop. 
EARLY RADISHES—UTILISING MANURE HEAPS. 
On all farms and market gardens, heaps of manure are to be found—ernde, 
fresh, and containing alarge amount of heat. Now, this heat can be utilised by 
market-gardeners to get very early crops of radishes and other vegetables. 
writer in the Farmer and Stockbreeder says on this point:—Advanced farme tS— 
market-garden farmers in particular—habitually turn such heaps over, W be 
large enough, to increase or prolong the fermentation, in view of reducing ute 
bulk, and making it amenable to the more immediate requirements of fe 
roots it is intended to supply with nourishment. Whether such heaps # 
turned over or not, they are an excellent site for crops of early radishet 
Whichever plan is followed in furtherance of this intention, it is neces th 
level down the heaps and extend them as far as they will go, leaving 4eP 
enough for some further amount of fermentation. Light, free soil to the deP 
