NOTES AND QUERIES
195
to protect the under-growth, such as citrus which cannot withstand typhoons occurring in the summer months.
Liquid extracts of tobacco, derris root, and tea seed cake were sprayed by a simple syringe made of bamboo to control insect pests. The other means of control were light traps to catch June beetles and moths, and paper bagging to protect gourds and fruits from damage by wasps and fruit flies. Hand picking was employed to control insects on crops cultivated in smaller areas. Some farmers even used chicks of less than 10 days old to pick aphids and small larvae on young vegetables grown on the bed of the flood furrow irrigation system. Most varieties of rice showed some resistance to rice-stem-borer which was also controlled to some extent by natural parasites. Not much attention was given to the control of plant diseases. Crop rotation was necessary when insect pests and disease damage became serious.
Cattle and buffaloes were kept mainly for draught purpose. When the animals were not busy at the farm, they grazed on wild grasses on the hillsides and returned to the cattle sheds in the evening. Cattle manure and bedding materials, mostly straw were collected and piled up in a yard. Thus, the cattle not only helped the farmer in land preparation, but also collected plant nutrients in the form of grass from the hills to enrich the cultivated fields.
Pigs were kept for turning kitchen waste and crop refuses into edible meat. Sows and their litters were allowed to range freely in the village. Weaners were fattened in pens from which sunlight was excluded. They produced porkers with soft spareribs to meet the market preference. Some vegetable growers kept a small herd of pigs by utilizing the vegetable wastes as feed, and collected the manure for the crop. Sows were served by travelling boars. The local breed of pig is characterized by short body, fine bone and big belly which have been selected by using feed of low nutritional value such as sweet potato vine, rice bran, vegetable waste and swill.
A farmer in early days could hardly keep a big flock of chickens with the limited surplus of grain produced from his farm. The chickens ran free to search for grass seeds, worms and other insects in the soil around the village. They were fed with some grains shortly before they returned to their nests in the evening. Thus, the growth rate of the chickens, in general, was very slow.
NOTES AND QUERIES
195
to protect the under-growth, such as citrus which cannot withstand typhoons occurring in the summer months.
Liquid extracts of tobacco, derris root, and tea seed cake were sprayed by a simple syringe made of bamboo to control insect pests. The other means of control were light traps to catch June beetles and moths, and paper bagging to protect gourds and fruits from damage by wasps and fruit flies. Hand picking was employed to control insects on crops cultivated in smaller areas. Some farmers even used chicks of less than 10 days old to pick aphids and small larvae on young vegetables grown on the bed of the flood furrow irrigation system. Most varieties of rice showed some resistance to rice-stem-borer which was also controlled to some extent by natural parasites. Not much attention was given to the control of plant diseases. Crop rotation was necessary when insect pests and disease damage became serious.
Cattle and buffaloes were kept mainly for draught purpose. When the animals were not busy at the farm, they grazed on wild grasses on the hillsides and returned to the cattle sheds in the evening. Cattle manure and bedding materials, mostly straw were collected and piled up in a yard. Thus, the cattle not only helped the farmer in land preparation, but also collected plant nutrients in the form of grass from the hills to enrich the cultivated fields.
Pigs were kept for turning kitchen waste and crop refuses into edible meat. Sows and their litters were allowed to range freely in the village. Weaners were fattened in pens from which sunlight was excluded. They produced porkers with soft spareribs to meet the market preference. Some vegetable growers kept a small herd of pigs by utilizing the vegetable wastes as feed, and collected the manure for the crop. Sows were served by travelling boars. The local breed of pig is characterized by short body, fine bone and big belly which have been selected by using feed of low nutritional value such as sweet potato vine, rice bran, vegetable waste and swill.
A farmer in early days could hardly keep a big flock of chickens with the limited surplus of grain produced from his farm. The chickens ran free to search for grass seeds, worms and other insects in the soil around the village. They were fed with some grains shortly before they returned to their nests in the evening. Thus, the growth rate of the chickens, in general, was very slow.
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