The Garden Island. [volume], May 16, 1922, Page 6, Image 6

About The Garden Island. [volume] (Lihue, Kauai, H.T.) 1902-current

Image provided by: University of Hawaii at Manoa; Honolulu, HI

                
6
THE UNIVERSITY
EXTENSION LETTER
The University of Hawaii is
printing und distributing free a
weekly extension letter. A great
many of our renders do not re
ceive this letter, however, and for
their information we will print in
this column each week the parts
that seem to us to apply especially
to our1 farmers:
FIRST STEPS IN BEEKEEPING
While it is true that the field for
commercial beekeeping on a large
scale is pretty well filled by sev
cral apiary companies in the ter
ritory, still there are plenty of op
portunities for this industry on a
scale to furnish honey for home use
and 'lerhaps to snake a little money
Dii the side.
That there is wide inUreht in this
subject throughout the to utory U
indicated by the many rt.nue.'ts for
information on this subject that
come to the university, as well as
by the surprisingly largo number
who have enrolled in ihs extension
short course in bookkeeping.
The first step in beekeeping is
to learn something about it. Get
b.ii'.itins or a r,on. book on th-3
sabje-t. and l.i.l with experienced
bookkeepers. The best book is "el!e
kjepiii;;," by II V. rhiilirs, pub
lished by McMillen Co., New York,
V.I17). A pamphlet published by E. C
Smith, experienced apiarist, can b:
pun based for 25 cents. We can take
our orders for these, thru the Uni
versity Hook Store.
The best time to sta.i is in the
spring, in April or May or earlier.
in Hawaii it is possible to make a
start at most any period of th
year, but now is the best time when
the kiawe (algaroba) is in bloom
ur.A a long period of honey storage
is ahead for the colony.
Good standard hives only should
be used, for they are much better
and in the long run cheaper than
others.' Sufficient hives, a smoker,
a bee-veil and a hive-tool such as
Smith describes should be provided
before you get the bees.
Where to Get Bees
Established colonies. In standard
hives may be purchased for about
$n from any apiarist. Stray swavpis
occasionally may be caught and
l ived. A small colony of bees with
n good queen may be bought and
during the spring and summed
months the small handful will mul
tiply into a strong colony. This is
rot recommended as the best way
of making a start however. Anyone
who cares to may sen 1 us orders
for established colonies and wo will
piace them where they can best
be filled.
iieekeepcr's Supplies ire sold by
tnc Jordan Co., 203 iV.eCandle"B
Iiuilding, Honolulu.
Canning Tivits tmd Vej-tablei
We ha.vn fo, free aistrl'nitinn a
few extra copies of a government
bulletin (Farmers Bulletin 8.r3)
which ;;v(8 much valuable informa
tion mi tbo home canmuj of fruits
and vegetables.
WATER MAKES EGGS
:ne: the cheapest and most es
se:. 111.,; tl( ncnt, Is cl'teii lost
sh-hl of l-y ti.i average p.;-iltry inai.
Khpec.illy as 'be warm season of
tin? year approaches should ample
provision be made to supply plen
ty of water for all fowl whether, con
fined ir on free range. A dozen
medium sized f-'gs contain about
a pint of water and D5 per cent of
thi; bod- weight of a nen Is water
Water i: necessary in the crop of
the hen to keep the tood which
reaches there from beci niii'g con
Kivied. or crop-bound which n.ay
result from the lack of water. Wat
er iii'ii-iis the food and allow.-) it
to pass uniformly down tha il!et
into the glandular sto.-u.'h. In tli3
glandular stoma -h quantities of di
KcMivo juices my; poured li-. the
'food here it passes on to the kiz
zanl. ''ho action of the givard
grit (I' contents into a lino paste,
from l Ik-it it goes on thru ibe in-t'.-stlnoK
and is acted u-iou by Ibe
!iHr".iio iuici's at dif'i n nt po'nts
until it .s a sf-fli'ikjl solution In
the hn;".' i''ti I ;in-s Absoi piion of
the foctl mlo the bl-'d occurs whilo
i: a lit; iM : tale i:i the mt .-slinos
T he absorbed food is carried to
all parts of the body in the blood
stream.
Water is necessary for every one
of these processes. Many flocks pro
duce few eggs because of the lack
of water. Supply ple"ty of water
for it is the cheapest ind most
essential food for poultry.
ALFALFA IN HAWAII
The opinion seems to prevail that
alfalfa is not well adapted to Ha
waii. Many failures have been re
potted, due in some cases to ad
verse soil or weather conditions.
When it has been definitely deters
mined that alfalfa will not do well
in any given section, It would be a
waste of time and money to make
further attempts to grow this kind
of forage crops, but we must be
sure that a failure Is real and not
caused simply by failure to appre
ciate the habits of the plants.
At the university farm we have
just harvested the first crop of
Hairy Peruvian alfalfa on an acre
field that was planted last Novem
ber. Time and again it looked like
a failure. The weather was cool,
too much rain in January, the cut
worms ate up one quarter of the
field, but the plants came up again
from the roots, and now that the
hard-beginning perior is over we
feel that it will be practically proof
against pests and from now it will
easily hold Its own against weeds.
It is planted in three foot rows and
once between each cutting we will
run the cultivator thru. On the bas
is of our previous experience, we
expect to cut this field nine times
each year for the next five years,
an average of forty tons of green
forage per acre per year. No bet
ter forage for dairy cows can be
grown in Hawaii. These figures are
based on records of fields that have
been producing since IJ'16 on the
university farm. Forty tons of green
alfalfa are euivalent to ten tons of
dry alfalfa hay, which means a re
turn of over $400 per acre based
on the cost of alfalfa hay in Hawaii.
Here are some requisites for
growing this crop:
(1) The ground must be finely
pulverized for seeds will not ger
minate among dry clods. (2) Ger
minate and kill all possible weed
seeds before planting, by repeated
discings. It is cheaper to kill them
with a disc than to use a hoe after
planting. And the repeated discings
to kill the weeds will, pulverize the
soil at the same time. Six weeks
of discing may be necessary in some
weedy soils. Hemember that plant
ing before the soil is properly pre
pared is sure to result in failure.
In rainfall sections or in weedlesa
sections broadcasting may be pre
ferable to planting in rows. (3) The
seeds' must be new enough so that
they have their full vitality. Alfalfa
seeds lose much of their vitality in
Hawaii during the first year. They
may still germinate but produce
such weak plants that they cannot
survive the first adverse condition
The Hairy Peruvian variety has
been the best yielder on the univer
sity farm.
An alfalfa field once established
rpquires less attention than sugar
cane and no nitrogenous fertilizers
since it gets its nitrogen from the
air. Our oldest fields have produc
ed over forty ratoon crops. A for
age crop so valuable is entitled to
some attention in getting it started.
Visit the alfalfa field on university
farm when next in Honolulu.
BANANAS OUR THIRD CROP?
Sugar, and pineapples are estab
lished, leading crops here what
will be ouc third big crop? Rice
growing probably will not expand
farther, and avocado production will
soon reach its limit because the
quarantine prohibition against ship
ping this fruit to the mainland. Our
third big crop must be a product
which we "can market profitably
and on a large scale outside of Ha
waii, in competition with other
tropical countries.
Bananas are grown successfully
here on a large enough scale to de
monstrate the possibilities. The Pa
cific coast cities absorb enormous
quantities of bananas and Hawaii
Bhould be able to supply this demand
better and more cheaply than any
other country provided we can get
the necessary transportation. Prob
ably banana production will be our
third big agricultural industry.
Waiakea homesteaders, and oth
ers similarly situated, should con
sider carefully the proposition of
planting one or two acres of their
land to bananas now, in order to
make a start in this industry. This
will cost very little and yield large
returns in two ways (1) valuable
experience will be gained and (2)
a large number of young plants will
bo available when the time comes
for expansion. t
What variety Is the best to plant?
This important question will be
answered in the next fetter. Watch
for it.
SUDAN GRASS
This non-leguminous grass crop
has been widely advertised thru all
the southern states and apparently
it fits well into the agriculture of
those sections.
it has been grown in Hawaii long
before its popularity spread over
the southern United States, and it
has not proved to be an Ideal for
age crop hero, although it does pos
sess many merits. The forage seems
very palatable to both horses and
cattle, and with green alfalfa it
makes a good mixture for dairy
cows, since alfalfa alone may prove
too laxative.
Sudan gras3 seems rather immune
to insect pests and it is not hard
to establish a stand. During the
cooler mouths of the year the leaves
tend to be very susceptable to a
form of rust, which, however, does
not seem to kill the plant, but does
greatly retard its growth.
Us greatest drawback is that it
does not maintain itself very long,
thus necessitating replanting at
least every year, and in many of
our fields on the university farm
the yields have decreased to an un
profitable point at the end of eight
months after planting. The fertil
ity of the soil of course will largely
determine the length of time that
the field maintains itself. The
yields on the university farm range
from about 28 to 47 tons of green
forage per acre per year.
The yields decrease with each ra
toon crop. This field maintained
itself better than the average. We
seldom get a plart and seven ra
toon cr.ops from one planting.
POULTRL REMEDIES
(Tested by the Poultry Division,
University of Hawaii.)
Ordinarily a well kept flock needs
little medical treatment. Neverthe
less poultry of all kinds are sus
ceptable to many diseases, some of
which are highly Infectious. Cer
tain diseases respond favorably to
treatment; others resist all efforts
at treatment and cause heavy loss
es. During the past year, the univer
sity flocks have suffered from sore
head or chicken-pox, especially the
young chicks. Also from eye-worm
and intestinal worm, all of which
complaints we have been advised,
are very prevalent thruout the ter
ritory. The following treatments
were tested and for the most part
gave excellent results.
Sore-head or Chicken-pox
Evidently a contagious disease,
perhaps transmitted thru sparrows,
or possibly mosquitoes. Affected
chicks were separated from well
ones as far as possible.
Treatment: Synol Liquid Soap
was -applied to the affected parts
with a stiff brush vigorously. Three
to five applications a day proved
much more effective than iodine or
blue dintment, both old standard
remedies. GOO chicks were treated
with vaccine, which, for Borne un
accountable reason proved less ef
fective in this case than in former
tests. Possibly the excessively hot
weather prevailing at the time was
responsible.
Eye-worm of Chickens.
This trouble .appears to be ex
tremely prevalent In Hawaiian
flocks, to judge by the complaints
that have come to us. A score of
birds have been successfully and
expeditiously treated by one of our
short course students as follows:
the fowl is held securely under, the
left arm and the head is held firm
ly with two hands. With the left
thumb press against the rear end
of the eye, and with the right
thumb press firmly across the nos
tril, or over the tear pocket at the
inner corner of the eye, toward the
other thumb in a slightly upward
movement. If rightly done great
masses, 10 to 50 of the worms may
be pressed out from under the up
per lid. We have found this a sim
pler and more effective remedy
than the 5 per cent solution of
creolin dropped in the eye beneath
the nictitating membrane. A lit
tle practice will make the squeez
ing out method very effective.
Intestinal Worms
Most chicks are infected with one
or more species of parasite worms
and these may become a sour.ee of
disaster unless the fowl are rid of
them. After testing out the cumber
some tobacco treatment and others,
we have adopted the iron sulphate
(copperas) treatment, attention
to which was was first called to
the writer by E. C. Moore of Hai
ku, Maui. Place in a gallon demi
Jon one pound iron sulphate crys
tals and fill with water. Shake thor
oughly, then the suspended liquid
will be a saturated solution. Of the
solution add a tablespoonful to each
quart of drinking water, sufficient
for one day's supply for a dozen
hens. Supply to the flock in alter
nating days, or if badly Infested
give daily for a week and alternat
ing weeks thereafter. The iron sul
phate appears to be a tonic as well
as a vermifuge.
DELEGATE SENDS
VEGETABLE SEEDS
to
The boar.d of agriculture and for
estry has just received a generous
supply of assorted vegetable seed
from our delegate to congress. This
Is now available, free of charge.
all who can make good use of It.
No flower seeds are in the lot.
The vegetablo seeds come ii
packages of three assortments sa
follows:
V-2 contains beans, beet, lettuce
onion and tomato seeds.
V-4 contains peas, beet,
onion and radish seeds.
V-7 contains beet, carrot
onion and tomato seeds.
This seed will bo mailed out to
all who will apply for it. Applica
tions should be sent to David
Haughs, Box 3319, Honolulu.
lettuce,
lettuce.
' V TIRES
2R
en I
fa!
0
TI THEN renewal tim
VV comes, equip your car
with Vacuum Cup Fabric ov
Cord Tires and forget the
dangers of "ekiddy" paYements.
Forget also the disappointing
mileage averages other tires may
have given you. Buy Vacuum
Cup Tires you pay only for
the quality the safety coats
you nothing.
C. B. HOFGAARD & CO., Ltd., Agents, WAIMEA
JUST ON HAND
DIRECT FROM THE FACTORY
UNIVERSAL"
Made by
LANDERS. FRARY & CLARKE
New Britain, Connecticut
Vacuum Botlles - quart and pints
heavy steel cash, hrowx enamel finish
Vacuum Botlles - quarts and pints
EXTRA HEAVY SEAMLESS P.RASS CASE
IIKU1LY POLISHED PULL NICKEL FINISH
Vacuum Food Jars - quarts and pints
HEAVY STEEL CASE, DARK (iREEX ENAMEL FINISH
NICKEL PLATKD SHOULDKR AND CAP
Fillers - Standard - for pottles and jars
Beverage Shakers - i u pints and i pints
MADE OF ISRASS. NICKEL PLATED
. 'HAS STRAINER WITH LEAK-PROOF CAP
FOOD CHOPPERS
P.I'TCIIER KNIVES
TARLE KNIVES
SHEARS
KNIVES AND FORKS
COOKS KNIVES
KITCHEN KNIVES
TRIMM KRS
FAMILY SCALES
The above on display in our Hardware Department
LIHUE STORE
KAUAI'S EMPORIUM