Planters’

Pacific

Round-Up

Guava Problems

IN season now almost everywhere in the Islands is the guava.

Popular with youngsters as a succulent in-between meals snack, the guava causes headaches rather than tummyaches to harassed farmers and planters.

The shrub-like weed —declared noxious in most Pacific islands — competes successfully with crop plants and pasture grasses for essential plant foods, light and water, and, as many a pastoralist knows, it takes no time at all to smother livestock’s grasses. In all types of plantings where guava appears yields are reduced and production costs increased.

Main disadvantage to manual control of the pest is the care needed to destroy all the weed’s root system when uprooting. Broken roots left underground die, but if exposed to the air send up new shoots or suckers even more rapid in growth and more difficult to destroy.

Experiments

Following the lead taken by other Islands groups, particularly Fiji, a Guadalcanal planter is experiment ing with the use of the chemical 245 T, which can effectively control guava if care is taken in its use.

There are several ways of using the selective weed-killer 245 T. 1, One to three cuts with a bush knife are made to guava trees as close to ground level as possible, and a mixture of two pints of 245 T to 4i gals, of diesel fuel are poured into the cuts by means of an oil can or else swabbed in With a brush. 2. The same mixture may be applied by painting individual guava trees completely around the circum ference from a height of two ft down to ground level.

It has been found that the above methods are suitable for small areas, and for large acreage the use of a misting machine is ideal. Five oz of 245 T per gallon of diesel fuel are used through the misting machine and the trunk of the guava sprayed from ground level to a height of two ft.

If the guava is growing in pasture and there is a risk of grass being

injured water should be used rather than diesel fuel. Under tropical con ditions where the rate of evapora tion is high a small amount of a wetting agent is advised.

There are on record cases where spraying with 245 T in mature plantations has resulted in heavier cropping but considerable care should be taken in spraying in the vicinity of palms under two years of age.

The Use Of Misting Machines

WHILE it’s difficult to assess the amount of business agricultural chemical firms are doing in the Islands, there is no doubt that in the past six years or so the Islands’ plantation and farm owners have become increasingly chemical-con scious.

The cane knife continues to play its own peculiarly large part in the land owners’ farming activities, lend ing itself still for use as hoe, garden fork, axe or secateurs.

But, as more modern methods of agriculture are being proven more rewarding, farmers are thinking less of their cane knives and more of the means by which chemical weed killers and fertilisers may be applied.

Sprays and misting machines have lost their novelty value in many areas of the Pacific. Their appearance is by no means commonplace, but they are enough in evidence, and are be coming increasingly more so, so that it is safe to surmise they have established themselves in this part of the world.

Several misconceptions are held about misting applicators. One is that they enable a reduction in the amount of material used per acre, and another, that they allow a superior coverage to that gained by good high volume hand spraying.

Advantages

To make the facts clear on the advantages as well as disadvantages of misting machines one large agri cultural chemical firm operating in the Islands has set out the follow ingl The advantage of the mist applica tor lies in ease of application, with cheaper labour cost. It enables rapid spraying of crops, two to three acres being covered per man hour.

It is ideal, for example, for bananas in hilly country where terrain is difficult, for the commercial vege table growers and for the dairy farmer who desires to clean up lantana on his property.

With a mist applicator coverage of a crop could well be equal, but not superior, to good high volume hand spraying.

Mist applicators are not recom mended for general orchard use.

Mist applicators do not enable a re duction in amount of chemical applied, when compared with high volume spraying. This has been demonstrated not only by general experience but in Government trials.

The amount of mixture needed to spray an acre varies with the type of crop and the stage of growth, as with high volume spraying. Six to eight gallons of water can be taken as an average for most crops.

For oil misting of bananas, only two gallons are used, whereas if water is used instead of oil, six gallons of water are used per acre.

If using hormone sprays such as 24D and 245 T, avoid the risk of drift to adjacent crops such as tomatoes and bananas. Be careful in all situations.

If it is desired to use fungicides or insecticides after using hormone weed killers, the tank and all filings should be flushed with water and rinsed well. Rinsing with kerosene is advisable, especially if ester 24D is used. Then fill tank with warm water containing trisodium phosphate (li ozs to 2 gallons), or washing soda (3 ozs to 2 gallons). Spray out a small amount and leave the remainder in the tank overnight.

Drain and rinse with hot soapy water.

Replace any packing or material likely to absorb hormone type weed killers.

Optimism On

Tonga's Bananas

AFTER ll days touring banana producing areas in Tongatapu, Ha’apai and Vavau recently, Dr. K.

Graham, Fiji plant pathologist, was optimistic about the future of the banana industry in Tonga.