Life Sciences Commons^™

Automatic Waterers For Day Old Chickens, P Smetana, W. Ward

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ONE of the most tedious and time consuming tasks on a poultry farm is the provision of water to chicks from day old up to the age of three or four weeks.

Most poultry farmers use half-gallon glass fonts with metal bases for the first few weeks, until the chicks are old enough to use the automatic watering system usually situated along one wall of the brooder house.

This cumbersome glass font system can be replaced by the cheap and easily installed automatic watering system described below. This system has already been adopted by several local poultry farmers.

Potassium Deficiency In Medium Rainfall Areas, William John Toms

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IT is well known that potassic fertilisers must be used for the successful growth of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) on many soils in the higher rainfall districts of Western Australia.

Recent investigations have shown that some soils in medium rainfall districts are also too low in potassium to grow healthy subterranean clover pastures.

Preserving And Pickling, O. Evans Scott

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

AT this time of the year many housewives wish that fruit trees would bear little and often throughout the year rather than a lot in a comparatively short space of time.

We preserve fruits to try to spread this short period, and to have them on hand to vary menus when fruit is out of season.

A cupboard shelf packed with bottles of colourful, neatly arranged preserved fruits is indeed a satisfying sight.

Bottling is the most popular method, with pickling being done to a smaller extent.

Let's Look At Dairying, Maurice C. Cullity

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

FOR several years there has been a lot of gloomy forebodings about the future of the dairying industry.

It has been said that there is a drift from dairying; the industry is declining; or even that it is finished.

The Open Range System Of Pig Farming, S R. Dunstan

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THERE are several satisfactory systems which can be employed in planning a piggery, but under West Australian conditions, the paddock system has much to commend it.

Grazing admits an animal to the healthy influences of sunlight and stimulates exercise. The digestive processes of the pig are also stimulated and this helps to bring about more efficient utilisation of the feed.

Weed Control In Cereals : Aerial Spraying Trials, G R W Meadly

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

SPRAYING cereal crops for weed control is now standard farming practice in Western Australia. Almost 500,000 acres of cereal crops, mainly wheat, are sprayed each year, and approximately three-quarters of this area is treated by aircraft.

Recent trials have shown that aerial application of 'extra low" volumes of hormone-like herbicides, with oil or water solvents, does not damage cereals if spraying is done at the right stage of growth.

Incubation, R V. Vagg

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

TH E artificial incubation of eggs is not a recent innovation. For many centuries, some species of birds—our mallee-hen being a typical example—have hatched out their eggs by the heat generated in mounds of decaying vegetation.Furthermore, they have shown considerable skill in maintaining the mounds at uniform temperatures throughout the hatching period.

A number of reptiles employ similar methods to hatch their eggs, although in these instances there does not seem to be the same need for carefully-controlled temperatures

An Improved Method Of Utilising Strychine In The Preparation Of Dingo And Fox Baits, L A. Harrison

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

AT present dingo and fox baits are made from fat or other material attractive to the animal to be poisoned, into which is inserted either alkaloid or soluble strychnine.

Cheese : As I Know It, E W H Maslin

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IT is probable that cheese was made accidentally in the first instance, by the carrying of milk in the stomachs of animals, when the milk clotting enzymes of the stomach converted the liquid milk into a junket or a solid mass.

Fossils And Farmers. 2. The Ice Age, D Merrilees

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

What did the giant Australian marsupials of the "Ice Age" look like?

Fossil remains found by farmers could help reconstruct them, as well as giving some idea of conditions on the Australian continent at that time, says D. Merrilees, B.Sc, acting Curator of Palaeontology at the West Australian Museum.

Fleece Weight : The Best Culling Guide, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Flock owners' thoughts are now turning towards culling.

Culling should remove the worst sheep and keep the best to fill the bales and breed replacements.

A valuable aid to this annual task is Culling by Fleece Weight during shearing

Broom Millet In The Market Garden, James P. Fallon

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

WHEN we think of broom millet we usually regard it as a crop for growing either under flood irrigation or in summer moist swamps for the sole purpose of producing straw for brooms.

However, the particular characteristics of the broom millet plant make it adaptable for use in the market garden as an excellent windbreak and rotation crop.

The Feeding Of Pigs In The Wheatbelt, S R. Dunstan

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ONE of the biggest costs in pig-meat production is feeding, and it is of vital importance for the farmer to understand what presents a balanced and economic ration, in order that he can take steps to achieve maximum efficiency.

Leaf Spot Of Celery, S C. Chambers

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

T EAF SPOT is the most serious disease of celery in Western Australia, and causes heavy losses in many crops during the cold wet months of June, July and August.

The disease is incited by the fungus Septoria apii Chester, and was first recorded in this State at Osborne Park in 1923.

Since then it has become a limiting factor in the production of marketable celery during the winter months.

Vitamins And Their Relationship To Animal Health, J Shilkin

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

NUTRITIONAL problems are assuming more and more importance in stock as the years progress and while much stress is sometimes placed on the role of vitamins in nutrition, one should not lose sight of the fact that they are only part of a balanced ration which should include other constituents, such as proteins, carbohydrates and fats in suitable proportions.

A New Type Of Seed Bed Cover For The Market Garden, R R. Bell, M. Hardie

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ALL market gardeners use seed beds in their gardening programme. However, the basic design of seed beds and covers has not greatly altered over the years.

The availability of cheap good quality plastic materials has now shown the way to improvements in the design of this type of gardening equipment.

Preparation Of Vegetables For Market, James P. Fallon

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

PROFITS in commercial vegetable growing depend as much on proper harvesting, handling and marketing as on good production practices.

Many gardeners who are experts as producers are perhaps not so expert in presenting their produce in a manner which will command the most favourable return.

Honey Flora Calendar For March, R S. Coleman

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A look at flora available in March

Citrus Growing In The Home Garden, Frank Melville

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ALTHOUGH well suited to our climate, citrus trees do not always thrive in the metropolitan area because of the unsuitable soil conditions in some suburbs.

Lemons can usually be grown successfully and grapefruit are worth persevering with, but oranges and mandarins are better suited to the loamy soils of the Gosnells, Guildford and Hills districts.

Collecting Plant Specimens. 1. Specimens For Identification, Robert Dunlop Royce

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

PLANT NAMES and the naming of plant specimens are of fundamental importance in many branches of science, including agriculture.

To the farmer, too, accuracy in naming poisonous plants and weeds, as well as fodder and pasture species, can save much trouble and expense, and may be responsible for avoiding heavy stock losses.

Healthy Pastures, F E. Ryan

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN sweeping away forests to make room for pastures we have taken on the responsibility of maintaining these areas in a condition suitable for the growth of pasture plants.

This is done by a choice of suitable species, fertilising, cultivating, drainage, control of grazing and by weed and insect control.

Cover Spraying For The Control Of Celery Leaf Spot. Part 2, S C. Chambers

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

SEVERAL additional cover spray schedules for the control of leaf spot in winter celery, have been evaluated during the past two years.

The most satisfactory of these is one in which Bordeaux 4 : 4 : 40 is replaced by Ziram for the last two applications before harvest.

Bare Patch And Poor Emergence Of Cereals : Factors Under Investigation. 2. Depth Of Planting, S C. Chambers

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

DEPTH of planting appears to have an important influence upon the emergence of a cereal crop. Increasing the depth by one inch within the range 1-5 inches, not only depressed the emergence counts of wheat seedlings, but also increased the number which emerged abnormally.

Hoary Cress (Cardaria Draba (L.) Desv.), G R W Meadly

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

HOARY CRESS, known also as Hoary Pepperwort or White Weed, is a perennial plant native to t h e Mediterranean region and Western Asia.

It has spread as a weed to northern Europe including Britain, as well as to other temperate countries among which are North America, New Zealand and Australia.

Factors In Weed Propagation, G R W Meadly

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

I N crop and pasture plants, seed production and harvesting are of vital impartance.

In a negative way, the formation of seeds by weeds can be equally important.

Baconer Carcase Competitions, H G. Elliott, S. R. Dunstan

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

TO further the implementation of its policy to foster the production of high quality bacon, the Australian Meat Board in 1960 again conducted for pig growers in Western Australia, its annual Baconer Carcase Competition.

The Use Of Lime In Market Gardens, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE term "lime" when used in relation to agriculture means any calcium containing material that is capable of correcting soil acidity.

While generally used for this purpose, lime has many other equally important functions in the soil.

Can Worms Be Controlled By Correct Feeding?, Laurence C. Snook

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE extensive losses which result from the ravages of internal parasites are a matter of serious concern.

Livestock owners realise this all too well and welcome advice concerning control measures which can be adopted. Unfortunately, it is not possible to give clear cut advice on the subject.

Much publicity is given to the use of drugs which will expel the worms. Various systems of strategic drenching have been developed.

It is well to remember, however, that drenching is only one of many methods which can be used to control worm infestation.

In this talk attention will be concentrated on experimental …

Winter Pests In The Pasture, P N. Forte

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ALTHOUGH the pests concerned in attacking winter pastures are known to most farmers a discussion of their control and relative importance will not be out of place.

The principal pests concerned fall into two groups. Firstly the red-legged earth mite and lucerne flea whose attacks are most noticeable soon after germination and secondly a group of caterpillars which appear about the same time and whose attack is not noticed until a large amount of damage has been done.

Net Blotch Of Barley, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

NET Blotch is the commonest disease of barley in Western Australia, attacking all commercial varieties and causing considerable damage to foliage of maturing crops.

Despite its prevalence, net blotch is rarely the cause of a serious crop loss.